Any one who knows me well, will tell you that I love to drive. I love the sound of the engine revving, working the clutch, and driving way to fast, where I know I shouldn’t, because I could probably die. That last part almost came true for me on a road called Live Oaks. Live Oaks is a small road in Southern California that is hidden way on another canyon road named Santiago Canyon. This is the first road that I ever drove that really got my blood boiling. This is the road that introduced me to canyon driving and technical driving in general. That was three years ago, at the time I had just gotten a WRX which to this day I still really really love, and miss.
Unfortunately while driving one night down Live Oaks I spun out hit a tree and roll. According to everyone who saw the aftermath I should have died that night but i didn’t. Some people would say that god was looking over me that night, others would say I have a guardian angle. I would much rather believe that the car saved my life. Unfortunately the car was totaled, the insurance company said they would not fix it and opted to just pay me off.
I remember when I first woke up in the hospital, my parent were there and they explained what little they knew of the accident to me. The only other person with me was my co-worker. He didn’t actually see the crash he just saw my car going into a drift, then the back end of my car broke loose. This cause me to spin out, hit a tree and then roll.
After my parent explained the fiasco to me my first question was not did I hit anyone else or oh god am i going to loose an appendage. My first question was, where’s my car and how badly damaged was it, followed by “the insurance better fix it.” To me that car was like a good friend. We shared many many good time together. Sadly its now gone.
After the insurance company made the decision to not fix the car and pay me off instead, my first though was to buy another car just like the one I wrecked, an 05 WRX Wagon. Sadly I could not find one that met all my requirements. So turned to buying a new one. Subaru had just released their new 08 model which was a complete about face to what they had put out previously. There new car was more civilized but according to Subaru still had the heart of a racer. I remember while in the hospital telling my friends that I was a Subaru owner for life now, because the car had saved my life. This unfortunately changed after test driving the car the first time.
The new 08 has softer suspension, more civilized engine, a low rent interior, and ho hum styling. I understand why Subaru made the decision it did when creating the new WRX. They want to appeal to a wider market, but what Subaru did not consider is that you do not ever want to piss off your core market. The last thing you want to do is take your core base and say to them, “Hey we know you love our product the way it is but its not really making us a lot of money, so we are going to take all the things you love about it and throw them out”. Essentially bitch slapping your best customers and evangelists.
The WRX is known for being a monster, thats why it gets purchased, that why I purchased one. I want a car that can out run a SL500 on PCH but can still seat four of my friends in relative comfort and hall the better part of a beach party in the back. Thats what this car is all about. Its not about being a comfy cruiser or a poser mobile. Its about taking a relatively sedate looking vehicle, putting a lot of horse power under the hood, followed by a rally bread suspension setup, then top it off with four doors and a hatch.
This may be just my opinion but i’m sure many others in the tuner community will agree with me. I don’t care about the hard ride. I don’t care about he road noise. Hell I don’t even care about the dismal miles per gallon. I just want a car that is focused and is not trying to all things to all men.