Thinking of a new car

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: tontod

Originally posted by: Jumpem
I would seriously learn to drive a stick. It's not that hard to get the hang of. The 09 WRX has the new 265hp engine. The auto 2.5GT has the old 224hp version.

I'd love to, but where can I rent a manual car? I'm pretty sure the big rental agencies (hertz, avis, budget, etc.) dont have manual cars for rent.

Buy a sub $500 car off craigslist, some beater that is about to die within 6 months. Register it, put some basic insurance on it, and watch a youtube for the basics/read up on tips/ask questions here.

Then, on the weekends or in your free time, drive the hell outta that thing. You can fuck up all you want and not worry about hurting the car. Even if you go the dealership and ask them to teach you, you're still going to be hesitant because it's not your car, the guy teaching you could get impatient, etc.

If you really pay attention to the pre-driving-learning, you should be decent and can drive around town in a few hours. In a week, you'll be shifting like second nature.

Once you're comfortable, donate the car to some cancer charity and get the tax write off, then go out and buy whatever car you want.

 

[FHDelux]

I agree that the '09 WRX is a great deal, it feels like it has just about as much power in a straight line as the STI. I have owned an '05 STI and the 09 WRX is phenomenal. I currently own an EVO X MR and i have driven the Ralliart. The Ralliart has decent power in a straight line, but when you turn a corner it feels like the base lancer which is horrible. The Ralliart is no EVO or WRX competitor and it never will be, not even close.

Learn stick and get the '09 WRX, if it had been out when i purchased my EVO, i would have gotten that instead, great price to performance. At that point in time i bought my car, the loaded '08 STI and the loaded '08 EVO X MR were the same price and the EVO drove much better than the STI without a doubt.

 

[tontod]

Originally posted by: obscenethistle

Originally posted by: tontod

Originally posted by: Jumpem
I would seriously learn to drive a stick. It's not that hard to get the hang of. The 09 WRX has the new 265hp engine. The auto 2.5GT has the old 224hp version.

I'd love to, but where can I rent a manual car? I'm pretty sure the big rental agencies (hertz, avis, budget, etc.) dont have manual cars for rent.

Buy a sub $500 car off craigslist, some beater that is about to die within 6 months. Register it, put some basic insurance on it, and watch a youtube for the basics/read up on tips/ask questions here.

Then, on the weekends or in your free time, drive the hell outta that thing. You can fuck up all you want and not worry about hurting the car. Even if you go the dealership and ask them to teach you, you're still going to be hesitant because it's not your car, the guy teaching you could get impatient, etc.

If you really pay attention to the pre-driving-learning, you should be decent and can drive around town in a few hours. In a week, you'll be shifting like second nature.

Once you're comfortable, donate the car to some cancer charity and get the tax write off, then go out and buy whatever car you want.

I like this suggestion. Earlier tonight, a friend of mine allowed me to practice on his Geo Prizm, it has 230k miles on it, it failed inspection due to e-brake not working (not sure if there's other issues). I'm thinking it should be fairly inexpensive to get it to pass inspection, and he'll sell it to me for practically nothing since he's talking about donating it to charity. I want to drive it around doing my normal activities for a few months, see how I like it, get comfortable driving a manual, then go to the subaru dealership and test drive a wrx. I think I did alright, initially I kept stalling it out due to not giving enough gas, but got better near the end, hardly stalled it.

 

[Redfraggle]

I'm a complete Subie Geek, so I'm opposed to the Mitsu already. I've driven all kinds of WRXs and STIs (I used to sell them, that was great, esp. when I drove better than my male customers -- hah!). The auto WRX sucks ass and I wish they didn't make it. It's my highly obnoxious opinion that you shouldn't be driving a performance vehicle if you can't drive a stick. Learn to drive stick, then check out the Subie. The clutch is going to be massively different in terms of feel, the Subaru has a pretty tight clutch. You'll stall it, but the method is the same and you should be able to get the hang of it. I don't know why anyone would think AWD makes a manual tranny harder to drive -- what is that even based on? AWD handles better than FWD hands down. Personal bias aside, go for the WRX based upon reliability and resale value (even if you don't intend to sell it, this is still important). Either car is going to suck gas, so I guess that's not overly concerning for you. Get internet quotes too, they're usually cheaper. You can get really obnoxious and play two dealerships against each other. Every dealership is hurting right now, and will probably fall all over themselves to sell ify ou play it right.