Long term ownership update.
I still enjoy the hell out of the car. I have somehow managed to avoid door dings and only have a single rock chip in the hood. The paint is so thin. White wheels? They look awesome but Great McRae's foot they are a PITA to keep clean!
The car remains reliable despite me driving it like a rental car and Subaru service has been pretty good. I opt for the Elf synthetic oil and have it changed every six months.
The seat still pokes me in the ribs a little and the brake pads are a little noisy when cold. The windows squeak a bit going up and down.
The transmission is hard to shift when cold, but that doesn't seem that weird. Shifting into first always presents a clunk like the clutch is dragging a little. It's always done that and I thought it would stop, but it hasn't. I still don't like how weak the pedal resistance is and I think somewhere down the road I will swap in a WRX slave to increase the pedal effort and see if I can adjust the clutch engagement point; I don't think it's right.
The car still feels amazing to drive and is still the sharpest handling car I've driven. That's not to say it's the pinnacle, it's not, of course, but it is the best I've driven. I really wish I had a track around here so I could push it past the limit without the risks associated with doing that on public roads. Unfortunately, I don't so I continue to baby step to the edge of handling.
Recently I was presented with a wonderful opportunity. Catching a certain car making a U-turn to start his downhill run I gave chase, well, more like "chase." The driver was visibly better than me by the way he handled his machine and I already knew the car was out of the BRZ's league. It was a great benchmark though, a proper no holds barred driving machine along the line of the BRZ, but way down that line in all respects.
I tried my best, the BRZ did its best, we were never even close to keeping up. When the rear end started to step out 60mph in the tight corners I started to regret not opting for the STI suspension options. The brakes held up fine, though and never showed any signs of running out of grab.
I said when I got the car I wouldn't change things unless they demonstrated themselves to be a shortcoming. I think we are there as far as cornering grip. The tires are top notch so that's not it. I think if I am going to push the car this hard in the future I am going to have to sacrifice a little comfort and ground clearance for more cornering speed and grip.
What did we go after? What showed us what the difference between a $30,000 sporty car and a $60,000 sports car looks like? One of these.
http://www.lotuscars.com/elise-sport-220
Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight. I knew the guy was barely pushing it, but watching this, dam, he might not have even noticed I was trying to keep up!
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-AjRsS8qK0"]Lotus Elise SC 220 VS Porsche GT3 - Nürburgring - 01/09/2013 - YouTube[/ame]
I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave. It was cheesewhiz orange and watching it cut those corners effortlessly made me want more. Not sure I want to start chasing that goal.
