2002 Eurovan was perfect and still had H4 glass headlights and a casette player. And normal sized 16” wheels.
Keyless entry , Apple AirPlay are bare minimum.
I love the cruise control that works in stop and go traffic under 20 MPH. Not a requirement.
Overall I think newer cars tend to have way too many gimmicks and screens that detract from the interior appearance and usability, and mostly detract from the driving experience instead of enhancing it.
The limited slip diff was great in the Florida rain, instead of the newer F150's with open diff with e-locker and traction control applying the brakes on the spinning wheel and reducing the throttle.
That's the thing I don't really like about all the driver assistance stuff, people assume its going to do something better than they can, but I don't think its all that great at the difficult types of accident avoidance?After I almost killed some idiot riding an ATV doing a wheelie at night on a busy road, I'm looking at the Subaru tech. More is better.
I spent a couple of hours in a Tesla yesterday and experienced something surprising: we dere driving and the Tesla slowed fairly rapidly and moved toward the lane to our left. According to my friend who was driving the Tesla, it saw the car to our right, and closely in front of us, signaling to move into our lane, so the Tesla took evasive action.My main problem is that these promote less driver attention, when none of them perform anywhere close to the level of a driver paying attention...
Same here; one reason I preferred the C43 over a newer M240i or M340i (aside from the glorious AMG Performance Exhaust) was the fact that the C43 had physical buttons for most functions as well as multiple ways to access them. That said, I love my Club Sport as it provides a definitive analog experience, but I don’t begrudge the power or features of my newer cars.I like all the modern tech but appreciate vehicles that retain physical buttons for climate, volume, turn signals, etc.
I've got so used to driving turbo engines with gluts of low end torque that going to a larger displacement NA engine is odd. Turbos are great.
Ive had subaru on my mind for a bit and thats one heck of a pitchActually gone backwards in years from a Gen 4 (2010 to 2014) Outback to Gen 3 (2005-2009).
We only buy the H6 [flat 6 models). Relative to the more-common 4 cylinders, they have:
- 85 more horsepower. We remove the badge.
- 7 quart oil capacity
- 5 speed automatic vs 4 speed (manual version was never sold in U.S.)
- VTD drive system, a true full-time AWD system with a planetary center differential and rear torque bias
- VDC, Subaru’s 4 wheel skid control system
- Rear [mechanical] LSD. (Only the STI has front LSD)
- Outstanding road handling, with enough ground clearance (8.4”) for most snowy conditions.
- At 69.7” they are narrow, which is great for Boston city streets.
- Surprising towing capability - rated for 3,500 in the U.S. and 4,400 everywhere else in the world.
Our first Gen 3 was a 2006. We had a 2014 3.6 for a while. It felt like an SUV instead of a wagon. They are wider and a little taller. When it was totaled by a texting driver, we bought a 2005. Gave that to my daughter when we sold the 06 at 255,000 miles and bought an 08.
The biggest shortcoming of these cars was they were sold in the U.S. with a sound system integrated with the dual zone HVAC controls. They did not have BlueTooth support.
But in Japan they were sold with a double DIN bezel. So we bought the bezel there, and installed a Kenwood Excelon system with Garmin GPS, BlueTooth, wired/wireless CarPlay and backup camera.
We’ve goofed around with suspension over the years, from coilovers to various struts. We’ve gone back to KYB’s, which are stock. We changed the rear swaybar for one from a Legacy GT, and installed Rallitec springs. We used JDM BBS forged wheels and Nokian or Michelin tires.View attachment 252440