At the end of June I ordered a Subaru WRX STI after months of failed attempts to procure one ‘in stock’ from one of the many (24 of them) dealers on my region.

It’d of been nice of the local dealers to not have dismissed my interest and request for a new order from Subaru, as it cost them a sale and forced me to drive 600mi round-trip to a much better dealership. I am sad said dealer isn’t closer for any future needs as they seem great all around.

Subaru offers updates via their MySubaru website, but it proved only a rough estimate, as the car went from being ‘prepared to ship to your dealer’ on Sept. 1st to delivered on Sept. 3rd. A switch trip from Gunma, Japan, or the Richmond, CA port of entry to North Florida.

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.” -Moby Dick

Yesterday was the big day. My brother and I drove up in his 2021 Mitsubishi Mirage; which was a delightful, honest car that did the trip with ease and remained comfortable for most of the non-stop five hour drive. It is slow and the CVT is well, a CVT, but they don’t deserve the hate they get. It is a great fit for anyone that is not an enthusiast and just wants a good, simple car. He averaged nearly 50mpg on the way up (but that dropped to 40mpg on the return as I motivated him to drive a bit quicker on the way back home).

After hours of driving, a detour for an accident on I-10, and two subsequent goofs on my part that took us almost to the Florida-Georgia stateline, we were back on track and in Tallahassee. I was pretty lax about taking pics on the way up, so have a giant bull and knock-off Batmobile husk to represent Tallahassee.

Still plenty of time to get my new car and give Governor Ron DeSantis the metaphorical ‘finger’ on the way out of town, for making Florida a greater laughing stock to the nation than it already was.

Hark! A dealer ahoy!

My white, ahem blue whale in sight!

I requested they NOT wash the car as I have a detailer that will sort it back home and pleasantly the sales guy protected it from the normal process and looky-loos until I could arrive.

There was some conjecture regarding payment that took time to assuage. Mostly because I forgot to get a bank certified check for the downpayment, but it was not-so-quickly sorted and aside from that frustration, this may have been the smoothest, easiest, and fastest dealership transaction to which I’ve ever been a party.

The ancient texts. Why is the ‘owners manual’ kit so much like an old Bell phonebook!?

Yep, seems everything is there.

Finally inside.

Six miles? The bloody scoundrels sold me a USED car!

Cherry blossom? Check.

Absurd rear wing? Check.

Time to fuel up and head home.

One last stop and a candid pic of the new addition.

Home safe with 300ish miles on the clock now. Loving it so far; more updates to come as I get better acquainted with Stitch the STI.

… I know I do.

A 20 year old car as you remember:

A 20 year old car in reality:

@Taylor-Martin came down to Orlando for a visit this week. We ate delicious ramen at this crazy Dragonball-themed restaurant…

…then went karting at K1 Speed, where I found out he is a dirty, DIRTY, liar! He claimed to be a casual, but this heathen went on course and immediately ran K1 Challenge Series pace. He consistently beat me, and I’m so mad about it! Not really, it was a riot; only way I’ll be mad is if Taylor doesn’t keep karting or doesn’t get into AutoX, as I firmly believe he has some real talent there.

Reference image since we both failed to take any pictures…

Track:

Evidence of my defeat:

Afterward I let him drive the Mach1, because who doesn’t want to drive a 20 year old Ford with questionable modifications? Once done taking a few years off his knee joint with the mechanical clutch, we noticed a ticking sound on the driver-side of the engine, which was obviously Taylor’s fault. Naa, best I can tell it is just a slight exhaust leak on the manifold and has been slowly progressing for some time. I have new headers to install eventually, so that’ll be addressed then. Again, old Ford, 144k miles… things are bound to make funny noises from time to time.

I look forward to Taylor’s next visit, or maybe my lazy ass will road trip up north one of these days, wouldn’t mind seeing Fargo in person.

From the bottom of my wine glass I find myself needing to come clean about something Oppo.

I’ve been slack and not updated anyone (outside of Discord) on the fact that since February 10th, my on-going project Mustang Mach1 ( Making a Faster Horse ) has completed metamorphosis…

…Metamorphosis from its crusty, slushy automatic origins, to a not-so-beautiful butterfly that offers only row you own gears, five of them in fact courtesy of a Tremec TR3650 manual gearbox.

It makes noises and drives to boot!

I solemnly swear to make amens to the OPPOverse and write a nauseatingly nerdy and lengthly account of the process and how it feels on the other side of what felt like eternity with this project.

I’ve been smitten by the Subaru WRX/STI for a long time, going back to the GD-series of 2003-2007. I never bought-in, though I’ve test driven and considered many over the years. However, as impractical and uneconomical cars like my 2016 Miata, 2003 Mustang, and 2008 RX-8 increasingly hindered my comfort with anything involving the family, I did the most-sensible thing I could; I bought an impractical and uneconomical sedan.

Meet STItch, Our New Family Truckster

It’s been almost two months since I drove nearly to Georgia to pick it up with my brother, and I’m officially past the Subaru recommended “1,000 mile break-in”.

While I didn’t baby it during this time, I didn’t abuse it either and felt a post-break-in oil change was in order.

Subsequent changes will take place at 5,000mi and every 5,000mi afterward. The oil change itself was easy, though it is clear the EJ25 was not intended to live this long in Subaru’s minds. The rest of their engines in this chassis have top-mount oil filters, only the STI still has a bottom mount filter. While the underbody aero has an opening for the oil drain plug, the filter is sealed off, requiring removal of the entire forward under tray.

Most under-trays remove with ease and this one is much the same, save for the fact it goes up into the wheel wells and requires hunting for four additional clips behind the wheels to remove. I’m jealous of the FA/FB engine cars and the top-mount filters, but Subaru kept this car overall very easy to service, even with this ‘inconvenience’

Poof!

The oil was already ‘well used’ in appearance and smell, though It only holds a mere 4.5qts in the stock system, which is a small thermal mass for a modern turbocharged engine. Thankfully the EJ-family has been around for decades and is hardly modern.

Another detail for the uninitiated like myself; Subaru of America sources US made oil filters from FRAM (blue), while Japan and factory fit is Toyko Roki (black) filters made in Japan. Amazon and eBay are riddled with fake Japanese filters, so I’ll just stick to the US ones from the dealer.

Requisite blood sacrifice made to the new vehicle. This is the way.

Installation was in reverse, fill from the top and check fluids after.

So how is it now that I’ve had some time and miles with STItchy? I’m really happy with it.

It is not a beautiful car, but it is purposeful and I appreciate the styling and design choices made, especially in the shadow of the new model.

Interior is a healthy mix of durable, simple and higher-end finishes where it really matters.

There are a few touches of Piano Black Gloss plastic, but they are away from common touch points and should stay relatively clean. Seats are comforting in their firm grip of the torso. The steering, pedals, and shifter are all just the right amount of mechanical in feel and effort.

The powertrain isn’t as labor intensive to drive as the outgoing RX-8, making stop light take offs a more relaxed affair. The surge in mid-range power and aggressive gearing, makes the 6,700rpm redline arrives well ahead of expectations, leaving me in want of another 1,000rpm. Power is pleasant and plentiful as stock. While many may baulk at the modest 310bhp, it is delivered without a litany of electronic nannies beyond traction and stability control, resulting in a punchy and lively experience, all rough-edges left in-tact.

Suspension, driveline and brakes are all well sorted as stock, with little to complain about. It is astonishing how flat and confident the car is without being bouncy or jarring. All despite the relatively large 19” wheels and low profile Advan tires.

Fuel demands are decidedly premium ‘Super Essence’, and it is thirsty, with 21mpg average being generous at best. The age of the EJ shines brightest here…

I don’t want to dive too deep here as I am writing a full review which will echo and elaborate on the above and more. I doubt I will be sharing any secrets though; this car after all has been around a long time, across several generations, yet barely changed through to this final year.

I still mentally struggle to reconcile it is a 40k$ car, but inflation is a bitch, and when I look at my alternatives, I could have either drastically compromised my wants and saved several thousands of dollars, or went significantly upmarket by many, many more thousands for the next applicable vehicle. The few used options I considered were so absurdly priced it wasn’t worth a second glance, and sadly, a return to ‘normal’ for the market and society is unlikely to change that much for those particular vehicles.

It works for every practical reason I wanted and needed it to, comfort concerns were assuaged from my other cars, and it is still a lot of fun to drive. The fuel economy and initial cost were acceptable compromises to meeting the other target so well.

It will NEVER be this empty ever again.

Warning, I’m one IPA and a solid half-bottle of champagne into celebrating the closing of our new home. How are you guys tonight?

Hey guys, Duck here, still alive, just been too busy to really do much besides the odd Discord interruption.

Cliff notes:
--We've vacated the rental house.
--We've moved in to the new home but still have a ton of boxes to unpack. The living room looks like an active box fort battle ground, my office is useable but still needs work, and the garages are in a firm state of 'just get it in there and figure it out later'.
--All of our cars are 'broken'
--I found an IRS for the Mustang but recent issues with the cooling system may dictate missing out on it.
--We're going shopping for a TV, couch, and hopefully something MCM to store the audio equipment, wish us luck.
--Just completed a several-hundred user Microsoft Exchange migration to 365 and ready to sleep and drink, not necessarily in that order.

Relevant lyrics:

After months of feeling like political prisoners within our home, our two puppies being the insurgent guard, we had enough of their propaganda, shouting political diatribes, and relentless attacks on our humanity; and left to go swimming yesterday afternoon.

We returned home after an hour of enjoying ourselves to find they mutually agreed the vacuum cleaner had to die, and it appears they made good use of the hour we were gone to accomplish their goal.

Neither showed any interest in chewing cords previously, this was clearly and escalation to political tensions between factions in the home. Needless to say, the furless incumbents, the Bipedal Statehood was displeased by the riotous actions of the Furred Rebellion.

Repairs completed on our infrastructure and the machination of cleanliness has been returned to dutiful service for the state. We do not concede to the threats of terriers!!

The Duck household once again is venturing into the clumsy bumblefuckery of pizza making at home. First, before saucing the dough, we sauce the chef - kiddo abstained.

Flour!

Decided to use some olive oil on the crust, before adding the garlic and sauce. Not sure, but I think this helped crisp up the crust, almost like an egg wash.

I don’t have a cheese problem, YOU have a cheese problem!

Didn’t forget the parmesan or pepper this time. Standard ingredients again as the womenfolk mist be appeased. I did add smoked prosciutto to the mix this time. This was a solid addition that rounded out the sweetness of the ham and pineapple.

Kiddo did more of the prep this time, which she nailed, but it meant more dwell time for the dough on the peel, which I think caused sticking, despite copious amounts of flour. A little frisky prodding with a spatula freed the pie with minimal distortion, once started, it slid gently onto the pre-heated (to 500*f for 0.5hr) stone without any topping losses.

Mid-cookery;

All-done:

Basiled and plated:

The crust was better-still. Still no leopard spotting, but I’m not sure I or my oven have it in us to do better than this:

Not that I make a big deal about birthdays, but it did turn out a bike ride away from the perfect day. I’m 36 today, and spent it getting my car tidied up and listed for sale. Afterward it was Nintendo with the kiddo until dinner.

Wife prepared an incredible standing rib roast, roast potato and parsnip, with leeks. Was a standout dinner that I didn’t expect at the beginning of the day, but certainly appreciated. It also included one of my favorite wines that I picked up earlier in the week, Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon.

Finished it off with a Pav (Pavlova) before calling it a night. I hope today was good for the rest of the OPPOverse. How are ya’ll wrapping up your weekend?

P.S. - Don’t catch old, it’s terminal!

Side note, this makes me feel woefully lazy. Aside from a decent project at the beginning of the year I've yet to detail here, due to the aforementioned 'lazy', I have some significant work to do on both the Mustang and Jeep and I've done NONE of it. None.

You on the other-hand will have performed three engine R&R's in the course of two weeks.

@Qaaaaa said in Engine back out:

Foil from an oil jug in the pickup. And some RTV for fun. Some play in #1 rod. Oh well. Only an hour to pull this time…

Oh, hi Subaru.

It’d be a few more years before the Mazda Cosmo, Alfa Romeo Giulia of my favor, or even the Mustang would be available….

Plymouth Fury, convertible - although a slick Thunderbird is a classy way to perambulate.

Jeep FC150, tipper

Volvo P1800 for weekends at the track

@ClassicDatsunDebate you can, and I often do... I don't suggest it to people though only because I have heard of an instance where an ECU was shorted as a result, though I feel that related to a larger issue with the car's wiring in that case, which can be an unknown for any car experiencing sudden electrical difficulties.

@MattHurting if the new battery tests good and is fully charged, the next suspect in the line would be the alternator. Sadly self-diag of the alternator is difficult if the car won't start at all.

That error is usually BCU/ECU communication concerns with the immobilizer. If you had a weak/dead battery, it is possible that the memory was compromised for the key and your key will need to be reprogrammed to the car.

I'd first try leaving the negative battery terminal unplugged for 8hrs, then reconnect everything and see if issue resolves itself.

Silly question, but was the new battery confirmed to have a good charge/cells? I've seen new batteries be old stock and dead on the shelf from the store.

@wpgmiata maybe the stock Abarth wheel from the Fiat? Fits the Mazda airbag but has a thicker rim.

Maybe award points for lower sale price, so that while there is no limit, a less expensive car gets bonus points for affordability? Say 10pts for every 10k$ or whatever makes sense?

@farscythe saving this to show the wife. Tucka Fucka… bwhahaha

On a related note that maybe @MUSASHI66 could appreciate (depending how far into the prairie he has spent time), we were two months into clearing our property of these large, pokey asshole plants known as Yucca. We created a cobbled together contrivance on our ATV to facilitate the removal of yucca, which was affectionately referred to as the ‘Yucca Fucca’ for the remainder of the effort.

@AestheticsInMotion I’m dismayed to hear these issues, but also relieved I can mark it off my list of future bikes, given the cost of entry.