I wasnt a "car guy" until I bought my Tr4 9 months ago (with the help of
Brian Sanborn, one of the unsung heroes of this list)...before, as a non
car guy, I drove a jeep as my year round car...(total POS)...its now
come time to replace the jeep, so I started thinking "why not get
something really fast" because my TR4 has gotten performance into my
mind...
So I went to test drive the Subaru impreza WRX (i want
4wd)...turbucharged intercooled 4 cylinder boxer engine (intercooler
vent on the hood looks realy cool), 230hp out of 2 liters of
displacement (wow). 0-60 under 6 seconds on dry cold days. Car could
not get better reviews for its price. I was VERY excited to try this
thing out...
All I can say is BORING. What a total letdown. This is my first ever
time driving a MODERN high performance car. did not make me want to
rush out and pay $24K for one. Its funny- it made me realize that what
matters for performance if you dont race is "perception of performance"
rather than actual performance...in my TR4, you stomp on it, it roars,
and it accelerates pretty well, and at 80mph it really feels like you
are going REALLY FAST. Its loud (in a nice way), and feels like it
should at those speeds...in teh subaru, you stomp on the gas, it makes
this little humming/whining noise (turbo), and all of a sudden you are
going 80 in third. You cant hear the redline- its just sort of a hum
that is not RPM dependent...beyond being pressed into your seat, there
is no perception of speed at all- quiet, no jiggles. How boring!
It made me realize that what matters is the feel of the whole thing, not
how fast it actually goes...
Also, considering that you have to drive under 2x the speed limit if you
dont want to get shot by the cop who pulls you over, its actually BETTER
to drive a car whose limit is a bit lower, so you can push the limit and
not go to jail (ive taken the TR4 to 100mph on the highway (where it
basically topped out), but I dont think I would ever take the subaru to
its 146mph limit on a road- that is REALLY fast))
Two sub points-
-That motor might be a really good donor for an engine transplant. Its
power/weight and power/displacement is huge. Its physically VERY small.
Might be fantastic in a spit or smaller TR...you would have about 8lbs
per hp (might give you 0-60 of under 5 secs, if you could keep the tires
on the road)...the only problems would be: a) you have to put air
through the intercooler. Might require some more venting b) it makes
the wrong noise- very high revving, sounds more like a japanese
motorcycle than a Triumph engine. No throat to the noise at all.
-When buying a high performance car new, make sure it has not been test
driven by someone like me- take it off a storage lot rather than a
dealer lot- these cars require a few K miles of break in at low revs,
but there is no way to test drive one of these cars without revving it
really high if you want to feel the turbo affect. So I was taking it to
the redline, and the salesman never told me to cool it...(I didnt know
about the break in thing till later)...so nobody buy the silver WRX
sedan from Cityside Subaru in cambridge. Let some old lady get that one
and its new attendant valve problems. (I think its valves- what parts do
you actually have to break in?)
I was so underwelmed by the lack of emotion of this car that Im not
going ot buy it. I think im going to get an outback instead. If your
going to be bored, no reason to pay more to be bored.
Thought Id share
Noah
_________________________________________________
Noah Freeman
Brookside Capital + Bain Capital
111 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02199, USA
voice 617.516.2922 fax 617.516.2910
nfreeman@baincap.com or nfreeman@brooksidefund.com
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