A bit about cars:
There they are. Two cars which always seem to be in our church parking lot. One of them is my favorite. Houston and Katrina can't tell which one.
Okay, a little back-story. Recently, one of the adorable little girls we know got new glasses. They were pointed out to us, and i made some comment about how they're almost the same as her other ones or something. I was openly mocked for my cluelessness, but that's okay because nobody mocks you openly unless they're total jerks, or they like you. But anyway, i meant to respond on the Internet so the world (wide web) would find me vindicated.
Right. So which car is my favorite? Which is better? There is a clear answer to the last question, which might seem a little subjective. It's not. Okay, so here's the specifications.
One of these cars is all wheel drive. It's powered by an all aluminum flat-four engine, which keeps the heaviest bits of the car low to the ground, and yet the engine is flat enough to give the car impressive ground clearance. People buy these cars, install roll cages and some other structural enhancements, hop up the motors some, and race them in rally races -- the fastest, roughest kind of car racing there is.
The other car is front wheel drive. It's probably an automatic, maybe even a 3 speed auto. It has an iron block I4 engine, which is boring. The car has been almost exactly the same frame since it was introduced in 1982. Due to its antique underpinnings, this car can only score "poor" in crash safety. Even though it's swoopy and aerodynamic, you can hardly even get any performance parts for it. However, the availability of ridiculous body parts like trunk lid wings or body kits abounds. Nobody races these cars, except maybe people who think the movie Fast and Furious was both realistic and awesome.
The good one is the Subaru WRX -- the second picture. The bad one is the Chevy Cavalier. To me, the cars are so totally not similar that i can hardly believe they're both, you know, cars. But they are. They're yellow. They're about the same size. They get you and your stuff from here to there just fine. And if somebody gave me either of them, i'd happily drive it around. Not like if someone gave me a Suburban. I would sell one of those immediately. So if they look the same to you and i openly mock you, take heart. It means i like you.
Actually, i think it was i who was openly mocked. But thanks for trying to vindicate, um, us.
-- karen - 25 February '08 - 14:43Yeah, I totally mocked Karen. You tried to stick up for her (like a good supportive bra, I mean husband). That may have gotten you a little side mocking, but it was never directed at you.
See, Karen! I mock you because I love you! :)
-- Linda (Email) (URL) - 25 February '08 - 15:59Hey, that’s the same model scooby as mine, except mine is silver (‘cause that’s faster). Have you driven one yet? They really stick to the road in wet conditions, so they’re probably most excellent in snow too. Do cars in the US not have front numberplates, or is t did you take it off for the photo? Also, can you fix your comment box so that it wraps around a little earlier? I’m typing blind at this point ….
-- Andrew (Email) - 25 February '08 - 17:42Linda: LOL!!!
Andrew: no, the only Subaru i’ve driven was our old Loyola (??? GL in the US) station wagon, but it was the 4WD turbo model. The head cracked, and with the turbo making the manifold pressure above ambient, the car would whistle extremely loudly when hot. Exactly like a tea kettle, but much louder. A little embarrassing at stoplights. I loved it so much. It made me feel like a rally hero.
Rod (from Dordt) struck a WRX from his list of cars to buy. I tried very much to persuade him that he was misguided. And the comment box should be dynamic. If it’s too narrow, you need a bigger monitor. You have a WRX and you’re stuck with an 800×600 monitor? ROFL.
-- juanito - 25 February '08 - 22:22It’s my work terminal. My home computer has, ahem, a CRT. It was pretty big when it was new though…. I prefer to spend on cycling gear — like my new SIDI’s (italian cycling shoes). Slick.
-- Andrew - 26 February '08 - 21:26Just curious, why would you sell the Suburban immediately? Is it because of the poor gas milage and impracticality for most people, or is it some other reason? I grow up with my family always having a Suburban because there were 6 of us and my dad used it all the time to haul stuff. Plus we camped a lot with a pull-behind camper (ok, it can hardly be considered camping). Both Suburban’s we had were incredibly reliable and easy to work on, though not very fuel efficient, but I don’t think anyone cared much about that back then. Our first Suburban was a mid to late 80’s model and the second was, I think, a 1990 – so I’m sure there have been plenty of design changes since then. So anyway, just wondering what’s your beef?
-- Steve (Email) (URL) - 27 February '08 - 22:35First off would be the fuel efficiency issue. Then there’s the problem of antique engineering (pushrod V8, live rear axle, body-on-ladder frame) and poor usage of space (astonishingly huge, yet i can’t sit in any seat besides the front seats without my knees bumping the seat in front of me). Finally, when i first noticed Suburbans, back in the early ’80’s, i didn’t like the font they used for the name badges. I’m weird.
-- juanito - 27 February '08 - 22:42I guess that makes sense. I never had a problem with the middle seat (ours never had the third seat, but I do remember that you pretty sit with your feet straight out in front of you in the third seat).
You’re right, you’re weird about the font thing!
-- steve (Email) (URL) - 29 February '08 - 17:39I love my (non-WRX) impreza, even though it cost me $700 in the past year in upkeep. (It would have been much less if I had a place where I could work on it myself.) It gets me to work, carries 5 full-sized people, or even 4 full-sized people and one not-quite so full sized person in a car seat, and their luggage, as long as they’re all good friends, transports truckloads of computer parts I’m trying to find new homes for, has enough space to carry a large dog and a couple of bicycles at the same time, still looks good after 15 years, just doesn’t get stuck, pulls big pickup trucks out of ditches, and gets better than 8l/100km or 30mpg in real world driving. And it’s still fun to drive.
-- k351n (Email) - 06 March '08 - 13:56