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Warning, long story ahead! Don't bother if you have a short attention span, or actually have something better to do with the next five minutes.
Ok, some of you may remember (probably not) a couple months ago i had my beautiful '97 TLS stolen after only a little over a month of ownership. I'd had motorcycles for several years but had been driving the same '93 Ford Escort 4-door hatchback since I got my drivers license, 7 years ago. Now the Escort was actually a really good car. It was super reliable, hauled 5 people fairly easily, sometimes more, got pretty good mileage, being a hatch with fold down rear seats it could carry a TON of stuff, and it was actually fairly zippy with the 5-speed. But it was not a very exciting car at all, and it was not the coolest looking ride to be sure, and after 7 years I was getting very tired of it. I wanted some cool fast sports car soooo bad.
Then my TL got stolen. It was fully insured so i was reimbursed for reasonably close to what i paid for it. Around this same time my sister is needing a car because she will be turning 16 soon. So my dad takes the Escort for her, and with his financial assistance (ie. i'm still a spoiled kid) and the money from the TL I go to Phoenix to pick up a 2000 Subaru 2.5RS that i found in autotrader online.
Now why would i go all the way to Phoenix for a fairly common car? Well this one is not so common. It has a 2.2 liter turbo shortblock swapped in with the original 2.5 liter heads and an aftermarket turbo kit. With the right engine management this combination is capable of 400+ horsepower. This one is still using stock engine managment, with a few mechanical devices to provide fuel enrichment for the turbo boost. Currently it's probably putting out something like 240 hp to the crank. It's about as fast as the new Mitsubishi Evolution 8, but a few hundred pounds lighter, so it's probably 30-40 hp shy of the Evo's 270 hp. With about $1000 worth of engine management and larger fuel injectors it could be pushing 350+hp. It also has aftermarket adjustable coil-over suspension, leather interior, and a few other performance enhancing mods. You get the idea, this is not your ordinary RS, this is a pretty fast, cool little car.
Well it's just not much more fun to drive than the escort was. Maybe less. It's kind of scary because it's pretty fast, and doesn't give as much warning when it's about to let go as the escort did. To feel like i'm pushing it in this car I've got to be really hauling ass. The escort was like an overgrown go-kart, i could push it through some twisties feeling like i was squeezing all i could out of the car and trying to get the ass-end to kick out. All the while i wouldn't really be going all that fast. It was actually quite fun. The Subaru is a slightly different story. I've spun out once pretty badly at high speed (70-90, not sure exactly) already, and it's just generally not as fun to hustle 2900 pounds through the curves as it is a 400 lb motorcycle. Also, it's scary to drive my only means of transportation (and one that cost 3 times as much as my TL) in a very aggressive/high-risk manner.
Forgive me oh motorcycle gods for I have succumbed to the temptations of four wheels! I have seen the error of my ways and i beg repentance!
I think I'm going to drive the Subaru until early next spring, at which time i will try to find a cheaper car that is a little nicer than the escort, but it doesn't need to be particularly sporty. Maybe just a mid-late 90's accord, or one of those Protege5's. And then I will see if I can find another TLS in good shape. Hopefully the motorcycle gods will have mercy on me, and understand that this whole journey was a necessary evil for me. It has rid my soul of the four-wheeled temptation and I will never again look to a car as a means of satisfying my need to dance through the curves.
This is not my car, but basically identical.
I was gonna post a pic of my TL too but you know what they look like, it wasn't much different than stock.
Ok, some of you may remember (probably not) a couple months ago i had my beautiful '97 TLS stolen after only a little over a month of ownership. I'd had motorcycles for several years but had been driving the same '93 Ford Escort 4-door hatchback since I got my drivers license, 7 years ago. Now the Escort was actually a really good car. It was super reliable, hauled 5 people fairly easily, sometimes more, got pretty good mileage, being a hatch with fold down rear seats it could carry a TON of stuff, and it was actually fairly zippy with the 5-speed. But it was not a very exciting car at all, and it was not the coolest looking ride to be sure, and after 7 years I was getting very tired of it. I wanted some cool fast sports car soooo bad.
Then my TL got stolen. It was fully insured so i was reimbursed for reasonably close to what i paid for it. Around this same time my sister is needing a car because she will be turning 16 soon. So my dad takes the Escort for her, and with his financial assistance (ie. i'm still a spoiled kid) and the money from the TL I go to Phoenix to pick up a 2000 Subaru 2.5RS that i found in autotrader online.
Now why would i go all the way to Phoenix for a fairly common car? Well this one is not so common. It has a 2.2 liter turbo shortblock swapped in with the original 2.5 liter heads and an aftermarket turbo kit. With the right engine management this combination is capable of 400+ horsepower. This one is still using stock engine managment, with a few mechanical devices to provide fuel enrichment for the turbo boost. Currently it's probably putting out something like 240 hp to the crank. It's about as fast as the new Mitsubishi Evolution 8, but a few hundred pounds lighter, so it's probably 30-40 hp shy of the Evo's 270 hp. With about $1000 worth of engine management and larger fuel injectors it could be pushing 350+hp. It also has aftermarket adjustable coil-over suspension, leather interior, and a few other performance enhancing mods. You get the idea, this is not your ordinary RS, this is a pretty fast, cool little car.
Well it's just not much more fun to drive than the escort was. Maybe less. It's kind of scary because it's pretty fast, and doesn't give as much warning when it's about to let go as the escort did. To feel like i'm pushing it in this car I've got to be really hauling ass. The escort was like an overgrown go-kart, i could push it through some twisties feeling like i was squeezing all i could out of the car and trying to get the ass-end to kick out. All the while i wouldn't really be going all that fast. It was actually quite fun. The Subaru is a slightly different story. I've spun out once pretty badly at high speed (70-90, not sure exactly) already, and it's just generally not as fun to hustle 2900 pounds through the curves as it is a 400 lb motorcycle. Also, it's scary to drive my only means of transportation (and one that cost 3 times as much as my TL) in a very aggressive/high-risk manner.
Forgive me oh motorcycle gods for I have succumbed to the temptations of four wheels! I have seen the error of my ways and i beg repentance!
I think I'm going to drive the Subaru until early next spring, at which time i will try to find a cheaper car that is a little nicer than the escort, but it doesn't need to be particularly sporty. Maybe just a mid-late 90's accord, or one of those Protege5's. And then I will see if I can find another TLS in good shape. Hopefully the motorcycle gods will have mercy on me, and understand that this whole journey was a necessary evil for me. It has rid my soul of the four-wheeled temptation and I will never again look to a car as a means of satisfying my need to dance through the curves.
This is not my car, but basically identical.
I was gonna post a pic of my TL too but you know what they look like, it wasn't much different than stock.
You should have gotten another bike then a cheap car. You are forgiven I guess. Better hope that car never needs any repairs....$$$$$$ It will empty the bank for a serious repair to that motor.
Blue/White
Slapper & Crusher, well said!...
(I'm with him)
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