Jason C
05-09-2005, 11:53 PM
Just came back from Stevens Creek Subaru, some notes and observations in rough chronological order...
-Walked to the entrance, past a Blue/Gold STi and went straight to an Outback LL Bean.
-Wow, this is a very nice car. They definitely moved the styling inside and out upmarket. Ride height is kinda high though.
-Sat in, examined the interior. I don't know WTF the car rags are saying regarding a junky door close sound and cheap interior materials. They're on crack. This is very, very nice (looks around). And the mag that went on about the *fake* wood? It looked perfectly fine to me. Fucking dash strokers, the lot of them. Too bad so many so-called *enthusiasts* have been influenced to think the same way.
-Went out after popping open the hood. No one has came over to help me yet. Maybe I should have worn an expensive suit.
-Surprisingly logical/uncluttered in the engine compartment. It's nice to know that someone out there is looking out for the tech. I notice that this car uses DBW.
-Went over to glance at the STi. "Market adjustment" - 39k selling price. Who are they fuckin' kidding.
-Went back to the jacked-up wagon. Walking around it when someone finally comes over and offers help. It's a young guy with a black "STi" shirt on, can't be over 25.
-Commented a little about the car, asked almost right away about their future vehicle. Mentioned that the possible addition of HIDs/Navi would make a 2006 very attractive to us.
-Walked over to STi. Casually brought up the "market adjustment" (As compared to the 30k-32k prices a lot of people are getting for STis now) to see what he had to say. He gives me the speech about suggested retail price and how the cars are supposedly worth "more" here in our wonderful state of CA.
-Mentioned to him in polite-but-stark terms about how quickly the Capitol-Mitsubishi 20k-Evo markup picture spread across the Mitsubishi internet boards. Turns out Stevens Creek Mitsubishi, Capitol Mitsubishi, and Stevens Creek Subaru are owned by the same guy! Figures. Talked about how many people were resorting to out-of-state, to which he responded "But a lot of those cars aren't CA legal, and if you want to bring it back here you'll have to legalize them." Right... :rolleyes:
-Talked for quite a while after that, turns out he's a general enthusiast too. We discussed the 95 M3 parked outside, what BMW's we liked, the new styling direction, Evo vs STi, a crapped-out WRX tranny in their shop (which we went to), STi color preferences, etc. Guy was obviously into his mechanical stuff but after I made a remark about the STi underhood ("Ooh, they mark High and Low sides on the AC fitting caps! How convenient!) he said "Well I know some of my things I need to know, but man, you're just covering all this stuff that's way beyond me." I didn't tell him what I do when I'm not visiting dealerships. :)
Outback: Overall, I fit well in this car. It has a low gloss, very subdued/polished air about it, almost as if it's not trying very hard to impress and is relying on general fit and attention to detail. Jacked-up look is not to my taste, but man they've taken this wayyyyy upscale. Steering wheel has imprinted MOMO on the bottom spoke, and kicks the ass out of anything BMW is putting in the E60/E65/E90. It was incredibly nice. A high-quality piece, and I'm not sure if someone could justify the more expensive Euro-Estates, especially if they weren't driving stick.
STi: I ended up liking this car a bit more than I thought I would, and I was already inclined to be receptive towards it. I fit very well in it. The revised interior is nice, though they should have put the Recaros with the beefier side bolsters in - I could feel the OEM bolsters immediately give way a bit when I was going in, not good. Nothing like the Evo's body-cast level of support. Hood scoop is WAY more prominent inside the car, it looks as though the hood is growing a ginormous blister or something. Funny thing, it didn't look THAT big from outside the car. Spoiler takes a great whackin' slice out of the rear view FOV. Steering wheel again is quite nice, even better than the one in the Outback. Perfect diameter and feel. Clutch throw was longer than I expected. I commented to the guy about it actually - my puzzlement over why BMW doesn't offer massive Brembos (or multi-piston equivalent), forged wheels, and the like on most of their Motorsport models, while the STi/EVO can get them for a half (or even close to a third!) of the MSRP. Maybe not regular BMWs, but come on! ///M? Guess ///Marketing really is a more accurate description.
The showroom STi was Blue with Gold wheels, the combo that I favor the least. Yet I must say, it looked nowhere near as vulgar in person as it does in any pics. The Blue looked toned down, even the gold was more of a dull subdued gold. Must have been the lighting.
Last note: Commented about test driving the STi. He immediately brought up how the dealership was very picky about letting anyone test driving STis, to which I replied "Oh, I'm not going to drive it today. But when the time comes, I'll drive it, along with the Evo and anything else I'm considering. These are 30k Mitsubishis and Subarus. They are not Ferrari Enzos, and I will drive them before signing or forking over anything." To which he had no response other than to agree.
-Walked to the entrance, past a Blue/Gold STi and went straight to an Outback LL Bean.
-Wow, this is a very nice car. They definitely moved the styling inside and out upmarket. Ride height is kinda high though.
-Sat in, examined the interior. I don't know WTF the car rags are saying regarding a junky door close sound and cheap interior materials. They're on crack. This is very, very nice (looks around). And the mag that went on about the *fake* wood? It looked perfectly fine to me. Fucking dash strokers, the lot of them. Too bad so many so-called *enthusiasts* have been influenced to think the same way.
-Went out after popping open the hood. No one has came over to help me yet. Maybe I should have worn an expensive suit.
-Surprisingly logical/uncluttered in the engine compartment. It's nice to know that someone out there is looking out for the tech. I notice that this car uses DBW.
-Went over to glance at the STi. "Market adjustment" - 39k selling price. Who are they fuckin' kidding.
-Went back to the jacked-up wagon. Walking around it when someone finally comes over and offers help. It's a young guy with a black "STi" shirt on, can't be over 25.
-Commented a little about the car, asked almost right away about their future vehicle. Mentioned that the possible addition of HIDs/Navi would make a 2006 very attractive to us.
-Walked over to STi. Casually brought up the "market adjustment" (As compared to the 30k-32k prices a lot of people are getting for STis now) to see what he had to say. He gives me the speech about suggested retail price and how the cars are supposedly worth "more" here in our wonderful state of CA.
-Mentioned to him in polite-but-stark terms about how quickly the Capitol-Mitsubishi 20k-Evo markup picture spread across the Mitsubishi internet boards. Turns out Stevens Creek Mitsubishi, Capitol Mitsubishi, and Stevens Creek Subaru are owned by the same guy! Figures. Talked about how many people were resorting to out-of-state, to which he responded "But a lot of those cars aren't CA legal, and if you want to bring it back here you'll have to legalize them." Right... :rolleyes:
-Talked for quite a while after that, turns out he's a general enthusiast too. We discussed the 95 M3 parked outside, what BMW's we liked, the new styling direction, Evo vs STi, a crapped-out WRX tranny in their shop (which we went to), STi color preferences, etc. Guy was obviously into his mechanical stuff but after I made a remark about the STi underhood ("Ooh, they mark High and Low sides on the AC fitting caps! How convenient!) he said "Well I know some of my things I need to know, but man, you're just covering all this stuff that's way beyond me." I didn't tell him what I do when I'm not visiting dealerships. :)
Outback: Overall, I fit well in this car. It has a low gloss, very subdued/polished air about it, almost as if it's not trying very hard to impress and is relying on general fit and attention to detail. Jacked-up look is not to my taste, but man they've taken this wayyyyy upscale. Steering wheel has imprinted MOMO on the bottom spoke, and kicks the ass out of anything BMW is putting in the E60/E65/E90. It was incredibly nice. A high-quality piece, and I'm not sure if someone could justify the more expensive Euro-Estates, especially if they weren't driving stick.
STi: I ended up liking this car a bit more than I thought I would, and I was already inclined to be receptive towards it. I fit very well in it. The revised interior is nice, though they should have put the Recaros with the beefier side bolsters in - I could feel the OEM bolsters immediately give way a bit when I was going in, not good. Nothing like the Evo's body-cast level of support. Hood scoop is WAY more prominent inside the car, it looks as though the hood is growing a ginormous blister or something. Funny thing, it didn't look THAT big from outside the car. Spoiler takes a great whackin' slice out of the rear view FOV. Steering wheel again is quite nice, even better than the one in the Outback. Perfect diameter and feel. Clutch throw was longer than I expected. I commented to the guy about it actually - my puzzlement over why BMW doesn't offer massive Brembos (or multi-piston equivalent), forged wheels, and the like on most of their Motorsport models, while the STi/EVO can get them for a half (or even close to a third!) of the MSRP. Maybe not regular BMWs, but come on! ///M? Guess ///Marketing really is a more accurate description.
The showroom STi was Blue with Gold wheels, the combo that I favor the least. Yet I must say, it looked nowhere near as vulgar in person as it does in any pics. The Blue looked toned down, even the gold was more of a dull subdued gold. Must have been the lighting.
Last note: Commented about test driving the STi. He immediately brought up how the dealership was very picky about letting anyone test driving STis, to which I replied "Oh, I'm not going to drive it today. But when the time comes, I'll drive it, along with the Evo and anything else I'm considering. These are 30k Mitsubishis and Subarus. They are not Ferrari Enzos, and I will drive them before signing or forking over anything." To which he had no response other than to agree.