[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

This ^.
Not everybody is driving their car the same. To say that "This is the way it is. End of story" is confusing to some and down right wrong for others. There seems to be a major disconnect with some people that can not grasp that not all these cars are track monsters (in fact very few are) that need major alterations or special fluids to operate.
Fluids seem to be one of the biggest debates since they are relatively easy to change and there are so many possible choices. Pick what is right for how and where you drive the car and don't worry about what the other guy is using. Oil is not a magical substance and brand hype aside they all work well at protecting the engine if used in the conditions they were designed for.

Well put.

I made a few mistakes early on with cars, making them really uncomfortable, loud, objectively and subjectively BAD for what I was trying to do, (have fun getting to work, and be able to enjoy myself when I hit the autox.)

I had a 1.25hr commute each way, so my mistakes punished me hard.

I've found slowly making minor changes is often the best way to get your car to reliably do what you want it to do.

Make change>observe and document your results>hypothesize the next change>repeat

A good example of that theory at work is the way I built my Forester XT. Dardly anything on it is stock. It will always be changing slowly, and hardly anything is as it was, but EVERYTHING has been touched very mildly. People often go for solid motor mounts on them, instead I opted for group n motor and transmission mounts. I'm happy with that method of modding, and I think it applies especially well to these cars where we're spoiled for choice in both component design/style, and pricing/availability.