It may not mean a great deal to you, the reader, but I have got a new car. This is a very simple statement for most people and for many it means very little indeed. However, for the hardened petrol head and motoring journalist it is a big deal, a very big deal indeed.
What Did I Have Before?
My previous car way a Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon (2002). For those who don’t know the Wagon is essentially a mini estate car. The Impreza has a rather sullied name that is associated with big exhaust pipes and the like. But step aside from that and what you have is a very capable, all wheel drive car that can carry lots of things including a family! The handling is sure footed to say the very least, traction is a given to the extent Subaru didn’t even bother putting in traction control…they just knew the AWD system would handle it. They were right of course! It is also quick! not super car quick but it will do 0-60mph in under 6 seconds and that is not bad at all!
Sadly the miles were clocking up so I had to wave goodbye to this reliable beast!
What Have I Bought?
After many months of searching for a family car that would be faster than the “Scoob” I settled on…well another Subaru. but not an Impreza. I wanted a bit more space so I went for a Forester. Now there is no doubting this is a “grandad” car. It doesn’t look very cool and that’s being polite, it also rides quite high so the rail like handling of the “scoob” is no part of this cars playlist. However, it has symmetrical all wheel drive and it’s fast!
The XT version is all but as quick as the Impreza but I managed to find a rare car that has had some Pro Drive work done on it. This means I have ended up with a car that looks considerably slower than the Impreza but is, in fact, faster but quite a bit! It is lower geared, has a big engine and with the tuning delivers fun by the bucket load. The power is all low down so it takes off like a car half it’s size and will leave all but the most serious competition wondering what happened.
I might do a review of it for my Velocity Torque channel if anyone wants to know more….but it is a great car. I do miss waving at other Scoobie drivers though, they seem to snub the Forester somewhat.