My new car! 16 WRX

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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by tankinbeans »

Ewilon1988 wrote:Would the SS members burn you alive if you bought an automatic lol? :wink:
Hairy eyeballs maybe, but cannibalism no. I briefly had an auto Escape and they still liked me.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by theholycow »

Yeah, all kidding aside, we don't see as much automatic hatred here as we may have in the past. Honestly, there's nothing inherently wrong with the slushbox. They work fine (at least the ones I've driven, mostly in domestic vehicles and a few post-2000 Japanese vehicles with decent power), are pretty close to maintenance-free, are cheap/readily available, etc. Due to their ubiquity and the fact that everyone knows how to drive them they make logical sense most of the time. While there are a few minor functional advantages to manual, we really just enjoy shifting for ourselves here...if I didn't then I wouldn't deal with the hassle of shifting (and the even worse hassle of attempting to acquire a car with a manual transmission) just for the minor strengths (which are offset by minor strengths of automatics anyway).
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by Ewilon1988 »

Couldn't have said it better cow. I do enjoy the uniqueness of being able to drive my car. Performance wise idk If it even matters anymore considering some automatics can shift better than most manuals racing wise.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by Rope-Pusher »

When I'm dead-n-gone, the hearse can be a slushbox for all I care...it's not like I'll get a chance to drive it, right?
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by potownrob »

well put, cow. manual and automatic are just two different ways to drive a car. i couldn't say in general that one is better than the other, for driving on our roads at least. from one day to the next, i could go from enjoying shifting and loathing autos to not wanting to shift. i am eying the DSG as a way to be able to enjoy both worlds, in a limited way of course. if i do (eventually) go forward with looking at the GTIs, i want to drive both the manual and DSG, to make sure i really want the DSG. Another benefit of the DSG is that my manual averse family would be able to drive my car too.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by potownrob »

Teamwork wrote: I just realized I never made my own thread on my car... only really posted in that community forum. I do have the PP package with the LSD though. I got it for the bigger brakes more than the LSD but the LSD is noticeable in the real world even if you aren't driving at the limits. I honestly am not quite sure how functional the LSD is in inclement weather but when I am going out of a high apron driveway where one of my front tires is planted and the other is kind of "hanging" I can feel the LSD engage if I accelerate moderately. Some spiraling entrance ramps using gas while turning you can definitely feel a shift as well. It's pretty subtle I'd say but noticeable enough to know it's working.
i'm tempted by the performance package, but i wouldn't be able to use the 16 inch winter wheels i have from the jetta (PP brakes too big for 16s). I'm really digging the lighting package, but doesn't look easy to find on the base S model.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by tankinbeans »

Rob, how os that a benefit. I have my car partly because there are certain people who can't drive it and thus won't ask.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by watkins »

tankinbeans wrote:Rob, how os that a benefit. I have my car partly because there are certain people who can't drive it and thus won't ask.
Seriously
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by Teamwork »

potownrob wrote: i'm tempted by the performance package, but i wouldn't be able to use the 16 inch winter wheels i have from the jetta (PP brakes too big for 16s). I'm really digging the lighting package, but doesn't look easy to find on the base S model.
I wasn't able to test drive the PP package before I actually bought it but I think that both packages are worth it for sure (especially being relative to cost). This is a unicorn set up though and was extremely difficult to get but I really think these type of things should be "standard". I got the PP for the LSD + the bigger brakes.. yes you can't put on 16's and 17's clear the rim by the width of two credit cards but I'd take it this way knowing this car has unprecedented stopping power. My only complaint about the brakes is that they become really over boosted at parking lot speeds and I forget you barely have to tap it to really slow down. I have experience with rear drum brakes... and it's really just a revelation the stopping power.

I wanted the S model specifically even though I had the budget for the SE + the two packages in mind. My mentality going in was the S model would have less things to break on a Volkswagen and it's plaid seats. The sun roof would've been nice but it's said to rattle and flat out "stop working" (even at this point, so I couldn't imagine 6 years deep). The back up camera would've been nice I think (which is now standard on all), and I'm really not a fan of leather in NY, personally...
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by theholycow »

Teamwork wrote:when I am going out of a high apron driveway where one of my front tires is planted and the other is kind of "hanging" I can feel the LSD engage if I accelerate moderately. Some spiraling entrance ramps using gas while turning you can definitely feel a shift as well. It's pretty subtle I'd say but noticeable enough to know it's working.
:shock: That sounds like it could upset handling at exactly the worst time to do so.
potownrob wrote:i'm tempted by the performance package, but i wouldn't be able to use the 16 inch winter wheels i have from the jetta (PP brakes too big for 16s). I'm really digging the lighting package, but doesn't look easy to find on the base S model.
Lighting package as in upgraded headlights and such? MOD TIME! Please upgrade responsibly with OEM stuff since it exists and is (hopefully) properly engineered so that I don't get blinded and accidentally run you off the road.
Teamwork wrote:I'd take it this way knowing this car has unprecedented stopping power.
I would be very surprised if you could find any recent car whose traction (even with upgraded tires) exceeds its braking strength. However, certainly if you drive hard and beat on it (or tow trailers down mountains) then your brakes will appreciate their increased mass and surface area for heat dissipation.
My only complaint about the brakes is that they become really over boosted at parking lot speeds and I forget you barely have to tap it to really slow down.
A lot of Fords are like that, at least trucks. That's a complaint I have with GM. I like a high, stiff, touchy brake pedal but GMs generally have a nicely linear, kinda lightweight brake pedal...I bet a lot of people prefer it but I don't.
I have experience with rear drum brakes... and it's really just a revelation the stopping power.
Properly engineered and maintained drum brakes have plenty of stopping power and better heat handling, but they are heavier. Older ones (as on my 1980 Buick) are completely ridiculous to service, a million almost-identical springs/levers/etc that require superhuman force to install if you even figure out the right place for them. (Modern hardware kits are color-coded, which really helps.) Newer ones, or at least the ones on my wife's 2003 Sunfire, are almost as simple as disc brakes (and simpler when replacing rotors/drums is involved too).

The worst thing about rear disc brakes (or at least the ones I've worked on) is the parking brake setup. They're all kludgy at best, and a pain in the butt, and sometimes expensive to service, and often don't hold for crap. A plain old cable-pull parking brake integrates easily and effectively with drum brakes and makes an excellent emergency brake too.
I wanted the S model specifically even though I had the budget for the SE + the two packages in mind. My mentality going in was the S model would have less things to break on a Volkswagen and it's plaid seats. The sun roof would've been nice but it's said to rattle and flat out "stop working" (even at this point, so I couldn't imagine 6 years deep). The back up camera would've been nice I think (which is now standard on all), and I'm really not a fan of leather in NY, personally...
I too dislike leather. My next car is probably going to have it and I'm probably going to slap on some cloth seat covers. I am 100% sure I will not buy another car without a sunroof though. I've always wanted one and I'm done accepting cars without them.
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Ewilon1988
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by Ewilon1988 »

tankinbeans wrote:Rob, how os that a benefit. I have my car partly because there are certain people who can't drive it and thus won't ask.
I 50/50 agree with both of you. It's nice being able to drive my car and know that my gf or anybody else can't so I don't have to worry about others with my car. The other part that sucks is like road trips or something where I'm stuck doing the driving because my gf can't drive it.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by Teamwork »

:shock: That sounds like it could upset handling at exactly the worst time to do so.
I don't beat on my car enough to really know it's limits but I do know that if I over cook a turn (coming in too hot) it's kind of just a point and shoot situation until the tires give up. I think the system works favorably though... it doesn't seem to unsettle anything but I really don't know in the background what's going on. I don't know the difference between the electronic XDS system and the actual LSD engagement. Guy's that have been taking these things to AutoX and time attack trials say the LSD is worth it's weight in gold though.
Lighting package as in upgraded headlights and such? MOD TIME! Please upgrade responsibly with OEM stuff since it exists and is (hopefully) properly engineered so that I don't get blinded and accidentally run you off the road.
HID Xenon + adaptive lighting package. It's jokingly cheap for a factory option and most people regret not getting it because the "after market replicas" are just as expensive and don't perform nearly as well or reliably so I've heard. The adaptive lighting aspect isn't BMW like yet but I wouldn't call it useless. The car identifies at a certain speed thresh hold and if you are indicating or have the wheel turned to a certain degree and turns on a side marker which lights up that corner relevant to what the driver is looking for. It also for me serves as a good indication of whether I'm in reverse or first gear at night... it will engage both cornering lights when reverse is selected to light up as much area around you as possible. I'm not saying I'm sloppy about choosing the right gear but it's been a problem for many because the amount of "force" required to getting into reverse is just about as soft as the clutch pedal in these cars.
A lot of Fords are like that, at least trucks. That's a complaint I have with GM. I like a high, stiff, touchy brake pedal but GMs generally have a nicely linear, kinda lightweight brake pedal...I bet a lot of people prefer it but I don't.
Going back to my old thread I think this car is extremely hard to heel-and-toe and this is one of the reasons why. If I even tap the brake lightly I've probably bled off too much speed to be deemed useful, if I haven't put my head through the steering wheel... It's fairly consistent that "too light of pressure" is better then too much (unless it's brakes or death) but I pretty much need to re-calibrate my mind and foot whenever I get into any other car especially the Matrix I drive at times which has rear drums/front discs (no abs or EBD) and pretty much require a foot to the floor on leisurely stops.
I too dislike leather. My next car is probably going to have it and I'm probably going to slap on some cloth seat covers. I am 100% sure I will not buy another car without a sunroof though. I've always wanted one and I'm done accepting cars without them.
Biggest complaint about VW (which might not vary since the days you had one) is the inability of doing things a la carte and weird packaging choices overall. A ton of guys who have SE/Autobahn levels of equipment would prefer it with the plaid cloth seats... I don't know if any of these marketing guys for VW ever visit a club forum but it seems like they've been willingly/knowingly screwing up packaging for generations. I know people who'd like a sun roof and cloth seats too... if anything a sun roof and leather seats don't even make any damn sense because the cover of the sun roof on this car is not OPAQUE... it's highly translucent (seems to be a euro thing?) and you'll still get head cancer and hot leather seats with the thing closed even. My last KIA had a sun roof which I really enjoyed actually... never had any problems with it but it felt like an after thought with the car. It had no windscreen or any type of deflection device which most cars have now- so even if you drove it tilted to the sky and cracked you couldn't hear yourself think. I still would've opted for it though...

EDIT: When I was going through the motions of choosing my next car I really thought Ford's packaging was the best. A ton of a la carte options that should be stand alone and their spec packages were pretty much OVERKILL but at decent prices. The car overall was incentives from the factory and stealership... so it made it even better. A ton of bang for buck to the point where it was overkill. THE ONE god damn thing that was force fed and ultimately the deal breaker was the Recaro seats which should've been A la carte but was force fed for anything but base.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by theholycow »

Teamwork wrote:Biggest complaint about VW (which might not vary since the days you had one) is the inability of doing things a la carte and weird packaging choices overall. A ton of guys who have SE/Autobahn levels of equipment would prefer it with the plaid cloth seats...
I looked for a base model and ended up with one that had a minor package of adjustable armrest and iPod dock, which went together because they didn't have space for the dock in the standard console. I didn't care for the dock but I required the armrest.

If I bought a car like that now with leather seats, I'd run right over to the junkyard and grab some decent cloth seats. Seats are easy to swap and there should be some good donors in the junkyard.
I don't know if any of these marketing guys for VW ever visit a club forum but it seems like they've been willingly/knowingly screwing up packaging for generations.
It's been a problem industry-wide for three decades now. Sounds like Ford is working on fixing it now, but that would be an exception.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by potownrob »

tankinbeans wrote:Rob, how os that a benefit. I have my car partly because there are certain people who can't drive it and thus won't ask.
the only people who would ask to borrow it or otherwise drive it so i can sleep in the passenger seat are family and close friends. i don't mind letting them drive my car and it comes in handy when i'm not up for driving.
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Re: My new car! 16 WRX

Post by potownrob »

theholycow wrote:
potownrob wrote:i'm tempted by the performance package, but i wouldn't be able to use the 16 inch winter wheels i have from the jetta (PP brakes too big for 16s). I'm really digging the lighting package, but doesn't look easy to find on the base S model.
Lighting package as in upgraded headlights and such? MOD TIME! Please upgrade responsibly with OEM stuff since it exists and is (hopefully) properly engineered so that I don't get blinded and accidentally run you off the road.
lighting package is a factory setup that is very different from the regular halogen lighting. For $1000 clams you get much brighter xenon lights that turn with the car and LED daytime running lights. I would care about the headlights since I drive a lot at night. Unfortunately, finding the base model with the lighting package isnt as easy as I thought. For ~$1k you get the lighting package, which would supposedly cost thousands to fabricate on your own. Not to mention the lighting package is covered under warranty and it probably adds at least some value to the car.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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