Welcome to the IHoP v.2

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I kind of like subies.  If they had DWB suspension, I would have a WRX with out question.

[sandt38 448]

11 hours ago, denim said:

I kind of like subies.  If they had DWB suspension, I would have a WRX with out question.

One of my best friends is "The" local Subaru tech. He worked for the only local Sooby dealership for ~20 years. He has 4 Bug Eye WRX in various levels of performance, from outrageous to bone stock.  He also happens to be the best driver I know... and I know some damn good drivers. Fun cars for sure!

I want a smaller car, so I think I am going to grab an Impreza Sport Limited. It handles very well, maybe a bit twitchy, but it's not really quick. I'm OK with that. I figure if I really like it after a few years I may grab a WRX as since selling my Grand National I am admittedly missing a car with some ass. I drove a Crosstrek, and an Outback as well. I was not impressed with the Outback, as the bigger size felt rather spongy and lumbering to me, so the bigger Forester was easy to eliminate. The Crosstrek was odd to me. It seemed to have the same front and rear legroom, same width, same square footage as the Impreza but it was taller, adding cubic footage. They offered a lot more options, but it felt topheavy and not as much fun to drive as the Impreza.

Ultimately the goal is to simplify inclement weather driving. I am way out in the country, and we rarely see plows or salt trucks for big snows. I am tired of struggling to get out and into town when the weather strikes. I hate trucks/SUVs too. I generally drive my pickup to work (a 2wd 94 Nissan pickup I bought brand new), but it is more like a car than a truck, and miserable in the snow.

I talked with them last night, and without push button start and "eyesight" (My request, I don't want either) but otherwise loaded they will give it to me for $23,600 with 0% apr with no trade in. Insurance is cheap too at ~$50 a month.

[nem 2,019]

I will keep my opinion on them to myself.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

1 hour ago, nem said:

I will keep my opinion on them to myself.

I know your feelings, and it added to why I side stepped them this time.

[nem 2,019]

40 minutes ago, denim said:

I know your feelings, and it added to why I side stepped them this time.

Maybe down your way they are better, but up here our dealerships are complete assholes.

Their 2.0 boxer motor is very nice, but anything newer (2.5 and 3.6) has an oil burning issue currently, but hey the dealership told my gram that was normal. Go figure, but on a good note when she had it in for her last service they over filled the oil by at least a quart to compensate for it. 

 

Don't let my personal experience up here deter anybodies decision. 

 

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

13 minutes ago, nem said:

Maybe down your way they are better, but up here our dealerships are complete assholes.

Their 2.0 boxer motor is very nice, but anything newer (2.5 and 3.6) has an oil burning issue currently, but hey the dealership told my gram that was normal. Go figure, but on a good note when she had it in for her last service they over filled the oil by at least a quart to compensate for it. 

 

Don't let my personal experience up here deter anybodies decision. 

 

Well it's that, and the local experience I have seen.  Too many people around here were seeing higher levels of service needed than my Mazda's.  In addition, track wise, a number of people were having durability issues.  From the smaller classes to the bigger classes, something seemed to be snapping on a subie almost every big track day.  I do like the new BRZ, but in comparison to my RX8, the BRZ feels so cheaply made, the sight lines are worse, the torque is less, the interior space is less, the hp's are less, the back seats are shelves, the car doesn't seem to communicate as much to the driver as the RX8 does, and its a strut front suspension.  It does seem to be much easier to throw a ton of boost on, and has a larger aftermarket support than the RX8.  

[nem 2,019]

My dad has a Tribeca and at 38k miles we replaced every bushing in the front end. The dealership told him that was normal for the Tribeca. Needless to say I did not use OEm parts, but rather moog when we replaced them.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

[nem 2,019]

What car wash do you all use?

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Between waxes I used whatever I can find the cheapest.  If I am doing a full cleaning/correction, I use Dawn to strip.

[nem 2,019]

That is what I usually do. Usually this 

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g7101-gold-class-car-wash-shampoo-and-conditioner-1-gal/#1rug1Hg2esuLj6M0.97

 

I am curious.

[sandt38 448]

3 hours ago, nem said:

Maybe down your way they are better, but up here our dealerships are complete assholes.

Their 2.0 boxer motor is very nice, but anything newer (2.5 and 3.6) has an oil burning issue currently, but hey the dealership told my gram that was normal. Go figure, but on a good note when she had it in for her last service they over filled the oil by at least a quart to compensate for it. 

 

Don't let my personal experience up here deter anybodies decision. 

 

My buddy steered me to the 2.0, which is where I am going. He told me he is seeing issues with the timing covers leaking. They went to a chain setup, apparently. No big deal, a few hours, silicone, and a crank seal. So really just a few $ out of my pocket ;). The dealership will, I assure you, never lay a finger on my car... remember my career path He bitched that I should grab an older car, but I don't want to deal with head gaskets. I HATE doing that job. After leaving Subaru he opened his own shop at his house. All he works on are Subarus.

Overfilling a boxer is a HUGE no-no! a V is not so bad, but oil resting in the cylinders can be a big problem.

3 hours ago, denim said:

Well it's that, and the local experience I have seen.  Too many people around here were seeing higher levels of service needed than my Mazda's.  In addition, track wise, a number of people were having durability issues.  From the smaller classes to the bigger classes, something seemed to be snapping on a subie almost every big track day.  I do like the new BRZ, but in comparison to my RX8, the BRZ feels so cheaply made, the sight lines are worse, the torque is less, the interior space is less, the hp's are less, the back seats are shelves, the car doesn't seem to communicate as much to the driver as the RX8 does, and its a strut front suspension.  It does seem to be much easier to throw a ton of boost on, and has a larger aftermarket support than the RX8.  

Not racing it . I drive like an old man. I have for years. Big loud Grand Nationals attract a ton of attention, so to keep cops from bugging me I learned to drive old.

I looked at the BRZ, but how does someone fit in that thing? I don't dig the whole ricer look, so it didn't do much for me.

Interestingly, I don't have to fix a lot of Subarus. We do a lot of maintenance on them, as they do seem to require more frequent maintenance. I don't mind spending $150 on fluids and plugs every 30,000 miles or so, though, so I'm not gonna sweat it. As far a broken Subarus... aside from axles binding ($50 for new axles) and wheel bearings (~$75) we really don't fix them.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

You'll find so many opinions on the subject and very little scientific data.   As long as you use a car wash that has no stripping agents, you'll be fine.

 

I've used the Meguiars before and liked it.  Their other washes have proven just as useful.   I'm currently using some greenTurtle Wax stuff that Rural King had on sale.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

Lighting off garlic infused charcoal briquettes because fuck it, the bag was five bucks.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

14 minutes ago, nem said:

That is what I usually do. Usually this 

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g7101-gold-class-car-wash-shampoo-and-conditioner-1-gal/#1rug1Hg2esuLj6M0.97

 

I am curious.

 

Always works good for me. Bought a jug the same time I bought these briquettes, actually. Same aisle, even.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

Effective for insect and crowd control, if nothing else...wow...

[sandt38 448]

Well, got a call from the lady at La-Z-Boy... apparently my furniture is ready for delivery. Awesome. 3 weeks early!

What I needed to do before delivery:

Replace ceiling fan - Done

Strip popcorn ceiling from:

living room - done

dining room - nope

Kitchen - nope

Hallway - nope

Mud all ceilings - nope

Paint livingroom ceiling - patially

kitchen, diningroom, and hallway ceilings - nope

Paint livingroom accent wall - done

paint livingroom/dining room/kitchen/hallway walls - partially.

Get crown moulding up in all rooms... nope.

Fuck I have been to goddamn busy lately! Well, I got to it today and managed to strip all the ceilings. I changed my tooling and it went faster. Now I have to work during the week, which was not in the plans. I work too fucking long and too fucking hard to come home to do manual labor. Tomorrow I will mud the ceilings and remaining walls. Tuesday I will sand and start painting. I have till friday to get it all done. Ugh!

I'll do the crown later. It will all be cut outside, so no mess on the new interior to worry about.

[nem 2,019]

28 minutes ago, Tirefryr said:

You'll find so many opinions on the subject and very little scientific data.   As long as you use a car wash that has no stripping agents, you'll be fine.

 

I've used the Meguiars before and liked it.  Their other washes have proven just as useful.   I'm currently using some greenTurtle Wax stuff that Rural King had on sale.

I was not sure if there was something outstanding. My father in law gives me cost on everything, so I just wanted to see if there was something else.

[nem 2,019]

16 minutes ago, sandt38 said:

Well, got a call from the lady at La-Z-Boy... apparently my furniture is ready for delivery. Awesome. 3 weeks early!

What I needed to do before delivery:

Replace ceiling fan - Done

Strip popcorn ceiling from:

living room - done

dining room - nope

Kitchen - nope

Hallway - nope

Mud all ceilings - nope

Paint livingroom ceiling - patially

kitchen, diningroom, and hallway ceilings - nope

Paint livingroom accent wall - done

paint livingroom/dining room/kitchen/hallway walls - partially.

Get crown moulding up in all rooms... nope.

Fuck I have been to goddamn busy lately! Well, I got to it today and managed to strip all the ceilings. I changed my tooling and it went faster. Now I have to work during the week, which was not in the plans. I work too fucking long and too fucking hard to come home to do manual labor. Tomorrow I will mud the ceilings and remaining walls. Tuesday I will sand and start painting. I have till friday to get it all done. Ugh!

I'll do the crown later. It will all be cut outside, so no mess on the new interior to worry about.

The only furniture I buy. Lasts forever or until the wife gets sick of it and wants something new.

If I lived closer I would lend a hand. 

[nem 2,019]

My brother got a just scored us a sweet deal! 2 S&P sport 15 II for $900.00!

[sandt38 448]

57 minutes ago, nem said:

The only furniture I buy. Lasts forever or until the wife gets sick of it and wants something new.

If I lived closer I would lend a hand. 

Love La-Z-Boy. I bought some Berkline about 10 years ago, and it has served us well. Prior to that we used La-Z-Boy, which was all my grandparents ever used. I bought some powered reclining "loveseats" with powered middle consoles. Loveseat being a misnomer as it is just 5 inches shorter than my couch.

Wish you did live closer. I would accept the help.

[sandt38 448]

1 hour ago, nem said:

My brother got a just scored us a sweet deal! 2 S&P sport 15 II for $900.00!

?

M&P Sports?

If so, nice find!

 

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

Briquettes worked fine, didn't impart even a hint of garlic to the steaks, just as I thought. Oh well, had wood grilled steak. Yum.

[MKader17 332]

2 hours ago, nem said:

That is what I usually do. Usually this 

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g7101-gold-class-car-wash-shampoo-and-conditioner-1-gal/#1rug1Hg2esuLj6M0.97

 

I am curious.

I have a bottle of that in the garage that I actually bought a few years ago.

I had since picked up my Zaino car wash from the folks house since then. I planned on using the rest of that, but wondered what I would use afterwards. Based on Ryan rec, looks like I'll be finishing it off as well.

[MKader17 332]

3 minutes ago, Penguin4x4 said:

Briquettes worked fine, didn't impart even a hint of garlic to the steaks, just as I thought. Oh well, had wood grilled steak. Yum.

Did you use briquettes in the egg???