OT... My new job

[thomas]

after 8 months unemployed (having a break) i now run a service desk at a Subaru/Daihatsu dealer. One of my duties is to drive and check the worthiness of our loan cars from time to time by driving down a road or two for 10 mins or so. i only needed 1 minute in a 53 reg impreza STi Wrx to realise just how plain awesome these things are! Even the Daihatsu copen is sweet...handles genuinely like a go kart and gets alot of attention...off hot chicks.

in one respect im sorry i got to drive the Sti as my HGT now seems REALLY dynamically flawed. in fact i'm just getting more & more dissapointed by my car all the time, so much so im missing my old 1.6 brava.

 

[Tom]

1.6 rules!

 

[thomas]

i dont know if its a case of my shocks being completely dead but in the HGT i find myself driving around any little blemish on a road which means it spoils the driving experience. hitting a small blemish in this car is worse than hitting a big pothole in my old 1.6 with known worn shocks

i also think that below 3000 rpm the 1.6 is quicker in 1st 2nd and 3rd gears. Perhaps the 1.6 has superior torque at these revs
For me the 1.6 is definately the most useable of the petrol engines in the bravo/a range.

 

[Tom]

What wheels did you have on the 1.6?

 

[thomas]

original 14 inch steelies.

i might put some on my HGT and replace my shocks with some from a 1.6 too

 

[thomas]

oh by the way...an impreza STI WRX is cheaper to run than an HGT bar on insurance. Fuel consumption is roughly the same...however id bet the impreza is quiker below 2500rpm than my HGT at almost any revs and it would then be using less fuel!

servicing wise changing a cambelt costs less than half that of any price charged by someone to carry a change out on an HGT and will not need changing as frequently. a full service costs less too

 

[Dan]

if we're gonna start comparing cars like this it's not really fair to compare a bravo hgt with an impreza - they are totally different cars.

however - when comparing the impreza with a car in its class - a mitsubishi evo - there is only one winner - the evo! i WILL own one one day!

 

[thomas]

i think it is fair as they are both cars that serve one main purpose.

also mitsi evo's dont sound anywhere near as good as impreza's. in fact they sound rather poo. its difficult to find a mechanic to service one and also arent as cheap to service either. Also think that the Evo's 7 and 8 are awful looking cars...the only attractive Evo was the 6 extreme and the tommi makinen edition. subaru have the P1, 22B, WRx Sti and the new WR1