3 Million Subarus!

[brimic]

but freakin liberals drive SO DAMN SLOW and I always find myself stuck behind the damn things just barely making the speed limit

Funny thing, one of my friends is a lefty liberal and had a Impreza WRX STI- it got him a few speeding tickets He sold it and bought a forester, and he's becoming much less of a leftey with his disenchantment of Obama, his wife is a completely different story- moonbat doesn't even begin to describe....

[brimic]

Interesting how AMERICAN workers in places like Kentucky, North Carolina, and Indiana actually CAN make quality products, wheras those in Detroit . . . can't.

Or won't. 
 

I'm partial to Nissans myself. They are made cheap and are pretty much bullet proof. We've had several in my family with no problems- my dad has a 90-ish Altima that is still his daily driver with countless miles on it, mom has a newer Altima, sister's husband still has a 95 Maxima, dad had a 87 nissan P/u which might be still running if sister didn't crash it, I have a '95 P/u rusting away in my driveway (I rarely drive it because I can't haul both kid around in it-legally) with 180,00 miles on it- there are holes rusted all the way through it, but I start it once a week and it never gave me trouble.

Americans can make good cars- most if not all of the above listed cars were made in Tenn.

[roo_ster]

My 1997 Nissan Ext Cab PU was made in Tennessee by Americans.

I have 160K on the odo and no rust.  A few things have gone wrong with it, but fo rhte most part it has been reliable as hte day is long.

[280plus]

Funny thing, one of my friends is a lefty liberal and had a Impreza WRX STI- it got him a few speeding tickets 

Yes, not ALL Subaru driving liberals are sooooo sloooowww and I'm pleasantly surprised when I find one. 

Funny thing is I was following a Forester home today and yup, just a plodding along, not even doing the speed limit and not a care for anyone but themselves. So as soon as a passing lane came along I blew it's doors off.

Then I settled into a reasonable speed about 5 or so miles over the limit. 

[Lee]

Interesting article.  Now I'm wondering if they built my rodeo.  It was built in Indiana.  I wonder if they're marked differently.   

[Standing Wolf]

Did you buy a 2009?  I looked at the new Forester but it didn't feel nearly as sporty as the earlier models.

Yeah, mine's a 2009. It's definitely a mom car rather than a sports model.

[drewtam]

Did you buy a 2009?  I looked at the new Forester but it didn't feel nearly as sporty as the earlier models.  I ended up buying a 2009 Patriot that averaged 29 mpg while towing 1100 pounds cross country and hasn't hiccupped in over 11,800 miles.  My only complaint is the damn brake pads leave dust on the rotors and when I back up in the morning to get out of the driveway the brakes squeal.

I'm a huge fan of the Forester from 2001 to 2008.

Wait, did you just say the new model station wagon doesn't feel as sporty as the old model station wagon?

/car snobbery

I think people really need to take a ride in a real sportscar. A stiff suspension does not a sportscar make. And no, that big engined BMW is not a sportscar either. Its still a powerful luxury SEDAN. Mustangs and Camaros are not sporstcars either.
Most of what people call "sporstcars" are really high end touring cars, luxury GTs, or drag race muscle cars.
 
For a real sportscar, try one of these lovelies...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_MX-5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_S2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_C5_Z06
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Atom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_300ZX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Elise
well anything from Lotus really, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Cars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_Midget
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_MR2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Spitfire

I've tried to keep the list to low cost vehicle you could probably go find, test drive, and buy.

Or if you are independently wealthy, try this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_GTR

/car snobbery

[Standing Wolf]

Most of what people call "sporstcars" are really high end touring cars, luxury GTs, or drag race muscle cars.

Yep. I test-drove a Honda S 2000. I liked it a lot and had the money to buy one; I also called my insurance agent, who really wanted me to buy it.

[dm1333]

I said "sporty" not "sports car"!  The older Subarus felt more car like, is all.  I drive a Patriot which is even more truck like in ride than the new Forester so you can see how much a sporty feel meant to me.

I also prefer my 88 Harley over something like a Honda CBR.  (but I wouldn't turn down a free Ducati or SV650)

[Gewehr98]

Looks like somebody tinkled in Drewtam's Wheaties... 

[El Tejon]

Most of what people call "sporstcars" are really high end touring cars, luxury GTs, or drag race muscle cars.

I've always had a thing for the "touring car", mid-sized, big engine, lots of trunk room.  I am still attracted to the Dodge Charger and if it was not government owned and union run, I'd buy one.

Problem is the American designers always want to turn vehicles like the Charger into "muscle cars" or some such redneck/hilljack b.s.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

There are any number of German cars that are powerful, roomy, and not even a little hilljackish.

[brimic]

Problem is the American designers always want to turn vehicles like the Charger into "muscle cars" or some such redneck/hilljack b.s.

I have the same complaint. I always hated chrysler corps styling, especially when they slap outlandish decals and grotesque paintjobs on a car that only a high school tuner or an inbred goober could love. *puke smiley* Or put a 'Hemi' badge on a car - yippie, Honda Accords have them too. :rolleyes:

[El Tejon]

HTG, yes, I know, but if I could I would buy American.  It's just that American cars really stink.

At least the Germans had a hand in the Charger, until the brain dead Americans hilljackified it.

I still have not pulled the trigger on a new ride.  The Toyota Tacoma TRD is still my first choice.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I just bought a 2008 4Runner.  It's spacious, powerful, and non-hilljackish.  A very comfortable ride for being basically a truck.  The Tacomas are apparently built on the same platform, so I would expect them to be excellent machines as well.

[Boomhauer]

I still have not pulled the trigger on a new ride.  The Toyota Tacoma TRD is still my first choice.

Look no further for a smaller pickup truck.

[drewtam]

Looks like somebody tinkled in Drewtam's Wheaties... 

ehhh, not so much.

I was hoping the "/car snobbery" would translate into "I am passionate about sports cars but not so much as to take myself to seriously on a gun board".

Maybe it got lost in translation.

[Declaration Day]

I'm with you, drewtam.

I bought a new MX5 in 2001.  What a superb sports car.  It didn't have a lot of power, but its 5-speed trans was silky smooth, its handling pushed the limits of the laws of physics, and it was as stiff and nimble at 125 mph as it was at 25.

I did, on occasion, get the "girly car" comments, but every one of those people who got a chance to drive it shut their mouths afterwards.  

Then there were the Mustang drivers who thought that sporty sheet metal + big engine = sports car. Good lord, there are a LOT of those people.  :rolleyes:    I sometimes tried to explain the difference between a sports car and a muscle car, but it usually went over their heads.

My dad has that car now, as I'm in the minivan and pickup phase of my life, but I will have another one someday.

I won't ramble on, as this is off topic, but I understand.  

[Gewehr98]

Former Porsche 914/6 and 944 owner here.  Take it for what it's worth. 

[El Tejon]

How does one haul guns and ammo about in a car that small?

[Declaration Day]

How does one haul guns and ammo about in a car that small?

Leave it at home and use your truck to go shooting.  

[Gewehr98]

Yeah, that's what I did. 

I hauled guns, ammo, and other large stuff in my '60 Chevy Apache 20.   

[Silver Bullet]

Former Porsche 914/6 and 944 owner here.  Take it for what it's worth. 

The 914 was ugly and very compromised, IMHO.

The 944 was my dream car in the 1980s.  In fact, it was the only "dream car" of mine that I could actually afford, but I couldn't justify a new car at the time.  Usually my dream car, sort of by definition, is just out of reach.

Current dream car is a Boxter, but I also admire the Honda S2000.  I still remember a reviewer of a sample from its first year who described it as "the double espresso of sports cars" because you to drive it at nine-tenths to really enjoy the characteristics that made it special.

Maybe a third-generation RX-7, vintage 1995.  Yum.

[Gewehr98]

We always joked in my squadron that, "A Boxster is a Porsche with panties".   

Google 914/6 sometime.  If only a Miata could boogie like that. 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I have a friend who is an obsessive Porsche fanatic (he'd call himself a collector) who owns half a dozen Porsches, old and new.  He swears that the current Boxster-S and Cayman-S models (gotta have the -S models, not the regular ones) are the best sports cars ever made, better than any of the 911s he owns.  It has something to do with the location of the engine and the weight and balance of the Boxter/Cayman vs the other models.  Or somewthing like that.  I sorta tune out when he gets to rambling on Porsche minutiae.

He's also a pretty serious racer.  Obsessive about that, too.  I tried to hang with him on a track once, me in his 911 Carrera against him in his tuned Boxster S.  I couldn't come anywhere close to keeping up despite being in the faster-on-paper car.  It was darned fun trying, though.  Most of that is no doubt due to his superior driving skill, plus my reluctance to risk a $100k car that didn't belong to me.  But still, he swears that the Boxster platform really is much better.