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Old 07-21-2015, 09:33 PM   #51
steeloyangster
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Drives: 14' FRS 6MT; 16' WRX 6MT
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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**UPDATE**

Alright, so maybe I've been overreacting and didn't give my father as much credit as he deserves.

After I changed the oil in my FRS today (Thanks Fumoto Valve for making my life a million times easier) I asked my father if he wanted to go for a quick drive in the WRX since I just got it and I wanted to show him the features that it had. Since most of these were new to him he obliged and was pretty impressed by the back up camera and heated seats/side mirrors. I asked him if he had anything to eat yet today and he said that he was too busy to eat breakfast. So we took a ride to the furthest Popeye's Fried Chicken joint.

I decided to start off by showing and telling him the main differences between the FRS and the WRX since he already had some experience in the FRS we had a good starting off point. He mentioned how much he loved the direct feel of the steering wheel in the FRS and how it had so much torque to pull you even in a high gear (I guess he hasn't driven anything with much torque lately and misunderstood throttle response?) I lightly chuckled to say "Wait till you feel it in the WRX."

On the smaller roads while at stop signs and lights I showed him how I kept the car in neutral and held the brake down to prevent clutch slippage and therefore extends the life of the clutch. I also told him about how accelerating only after fully letting out the clutch is also better for the clutch. I made up some lousy excuse saying that the clutch material is softer and grippier than his truck and that it can wear down faster. He nodded his head and said "I can see that. Harder isn't always better. And since it's softer it can stick better." I agreed zealously because I felt like he was actually being receptive to the information I was giving him.

Once we got on the interstate I put it in sixth gear and push the throttle to the floor to show him the boost gauge and how it affects his performance. "That's the turbo doing the work. When it goes past the '0' mark then it's actually working." The car built up gradual speed as the whooshing sound got louder. I explained to him that that is the sound of the turbo. He smiled and said "That feels good." I started feeling really enthusiastic that hopefully this can be his "CAR MOMENT".

Once at Popeye's I got out and told him to switch seats while I went to order the food to go. When I got back and placed the food on the floor he was actually already tinkering with all the dials and buttons on his own! (He left my heated seat on by accident and it was over 90 degrees outside.) I told him he should go when he felt ready. The first gear start was a little rough but I'm sure everyone's first gear start in any strange car will be rough. Once we pulled out and found a decent cruising speed he started asking me questions. He asked what gear I thought he should be in at this speed. I said the lower gears will give you more power but the higher gears will give you better gas mileage. He chose 4th gear while cruising at about 40-50 MPH. He then reached a little bit of boost and he pulled back immediately. I told him that that is the turbo and he shouldn't be afraid of it. He then looked at the boost gauge and pressed on the accelerator again. He started laughing uncontrollably as the power surged us over the speed limit and he opted to shift into 6th. "Man, that is so fast. Why do they make cars this fast?" All I could do was smile and let him have his fun. To be honest I was looking around to make sure there were also no christmas lights chasing us.

Once we got to a stop light he actually put it into neutral and kept the foot on the brake. HE ACTUALLY TOOK WHAT I SAID AND APPLIED IT IMMEDIATELY! Talk about an old dog learning new tricks. He kinda freaked out when the light turned green and he had to shuffle to get the car into gear but I assured him to take his time and fuck all the people around us. He even started waiting to release the clutch pedal all the way before he pushed on the accelerator. I was very impressed.

We've never talked like this before and it was kind of refreshing to want to be around him. Very interesting experience.

Way to go Dad.

TL;DR - Father showed me he is more receptive than I gave him credit for and that trying to teach him won't get me lashed by a Bamboo stick.

P.S.- I told him to take the Subaru to church next Sunday so the friends/family can be impressed that he gets to drive all these fancy cars whenever he wants. He gave me the best Asian dad response which was to nod and say "Um."
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