I’ve driven the same car now for over six years -an automatic Honda Civic sedan. It’s been incredibly reliable and gets decent gas milage. But it’s slow and driving it is boring as hell. I never realized just how boring my work commutes were, until recently. There’s only so much performance you can eek out of a frontwheel drive, automatic. I was ready for a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it happened, my youngest son was going to need a car to go back to HS this fall and well, it was either get him a beater or give him my car with over sixty thousand on the tach. He was used to driving the Honda and he loved that it had a Ham radio already mounted. He’s my nerd and has his license too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was time for me to reconsider what I was wiling to deal with on my commute as a daily driver. I wanted performance, I wanted a manual transmission and I wanted a sports car. I know, not very responsible for a man in his 50’s. You might even suggest, as I have, that it was purly a mid-life crises moment. But when I was a kid, I never owned a sports car. Nothing even close. Not for lack of want, but purely for lack of need. I was too practical to pay for the insurance overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have always loved the sound of a flat four engine. My dad owned a ’68 VW Buss for years and my ear just yearns for that air cooled sound. There were two cars on my radar now, both rear wheel drive and only one had a flat four engine. The BRZ was a coupe and had all the curve hugging, style and sound that I was after. The other car was smaller and even more impractical, but it was a convertable – the Miata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I examined my options further, I decided to get a WRX instead of a BRZ. My commute is still hampered by winter weather and All Wheel Drive of the WRX would help with that. The extra seats would also be handy as long as I have a day job. The Miata is still on the horizon, but it’s further out there near retirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I went out and got a used, 2015 WRX in World Rally Blue. In the end, the kid is happy with the Honda and I’m very happy to drive a performance sedan. Look for more posts about the car in the future. I’m not much of a modder, but I will be doing regular maintenance and some minor changes to it in the future. For now I’m calling it the Blue Bomber, because – RUMBLE!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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