Makalu

So glad I chose a Scoob...

Just been sorting out the office and found some notes I made when I was shopping around choosing my car... thought I would share them with you.

When deciding which performance car I was going to purchase to replace my (company car) Accord Type R I looked at Scoob's, Evo's and GTR's. Yes, I love the whole jap turbo AWD rallying thing too!

The Evo was very fast but looked like it had crashed into a Halfords store after driving through a glue truck. Lets face it, (IMHO)it is not as pretty as a Scoob (yes, I even prefer the bugeyed jobby!) With out the wing on the boot, it would look like any other small to medium saloon. And at 150 miles to the tank, economy was a problem.... not because it used so much gas (Im very lucky in that my company buys my gas!) but because I would have to spend so much time stopping at the pumps! I think the wheels look a bit boring too... and they sound like any other pumped up 4 pot with a dustbin for an exhaust pipe!

Final opinion on the EVO - Verrrry Fast but just not practical every day! (And I thought it looked a bit odd too... didnt seem 'balanced' - if you know what I mean - kinda taller than it was long sort of thing. Looks better in Gran Turismo. (Sorry Evo guys...)

GT-R34
Saw one of these at a local Nissan dealer. Always fancied them... not tooooo 'in yer face' and, in dark colours, a bit of a 'Q' car too. Went like stink too but suspension verrry hard. Still had a rear wing the size of a park bench ('More downforce sir' said the sales rep.... yeah right! Since when can I do 120+Mph round the twisties in this country?) Economy was a bit of a joke here too and the interior reminded my of a 70's pimp mobile!

A serious contender at this time....


Then came the Scoob.
Its nothing special - a silver bugeyed jobby with a few extra bits.
It looks ... balanced. Not too tall, not too long, just low enough.
Very nice Subaru Split rims.
Interior is totally naff! Even with the carbon effect dash! Nice steering wheel though.
Rear spoiler is 'acceptable' - large but relatively discreet(ish), it doesnt stand up on legs making it look like the handle bar to a Sainsburies shopping trolley!
Economy - 300 miles on a tankful - even after a sprited drive...
OK, so its not the fastest of the three (about 250Bhp after PPP) but boy oh boy, neither of the others makes that fantastic burbling sound when booting it or on the overrun...

Yes, it sounds better than both the others by a mile.

Then I found that Scooby owners also felt all 'motional about their Scoobs the same way that Beetle owners (and then Golf GTi owners) used to (I was both) - I didnt see this kind of reaction from EVO or GT-R owners - they were more about "my ***** bigger than yours" rather than sitting a stuffed Scooby Doo puppet in your rear window!

Im not saying there isnt a place for both (I still love fast cars) but I chose the Scoob because it looked great, sounded amazing, performed more than adequately (for UK roads) and most of all, their owners were passionate about the character of their cars.

Mak.

polarbearit

My *** is bigger than yours

Seriously though, I regulary hit 100+ on the 'private' country roads round here, plus economy is the same as my scooby and range better, cheaper servicing and did I mention its much quicker too...

That said I do love impreza's, but the pimp interior of GTR is definitely better than the 'high quality' impreza interior

Imprezas are quite good all round cars really - just a little slow

slippyr4

I suspect a big part of your reasoning was cost... right now a 4 year old skyline costs the same as a new impreza.

The Crushinator

Congrats on the car, good choice But i think any Evo looks better than any impreza. maybe, just maybe the 2 doors look equally as good (i drive an impreza wagon btw)

Hope you enjoy driving it

Makalu

Cost was not the issue Slippy - I could have walked away with a new M3 or TVR on the budget I had - the issue was all about the 'experience' of ownership. I have had BM's, Merc's and Audi's nad find them too sterile... a bit bland. I used to race an old school air cooled 911 so tail out, driving by the seat of the pants stuff is something I am well versed in.

No, I wanted a 'rally bred' road car (another of my selections was the S3 but that was a little too 'soft' for my taste)...

For my liking, the scoob gave me all I wanted from a sporty AWD saloon. Im wasnt looking for a 750bhp road warrior - I wanted a reliable (I use it for work) car that encouraged a bit of foot down every now and then and that rewarded this with a nice sound and decent shove in the back. Something that was attractive to look at (in silver, the MY01 with a little bodywork tweaking such as Morettes and colour coded sides looks fabulous with its bulging arches) but most of all, a car that had character - and the WRX has this in spades! As do most of the people who drive the things! And that was what helped me decide.

Its easy to get drawn in to the tuning thing and start spending the national reserve of a small African nation on the latest gadgets... great fun if that is your main interest (been there, done that... Mk1 Golf Gti based racer developed to Group 'B' german touring car spec, 2.7 911 Carrera track prepared - 700Kg and 370Bhp!) but my priority had to be reliability (read 'Warranty'), fun (I spend a lot of time at the wheel) and satisfaction from the whole driving experience - this included not only the looks of the thing but also the community of 'fans' that also enjoy the product (such as 'ScoobyNet').

Im very happy with my choice. For a very modest outlay, I have something that scores high in each of my purchasing criteria rather than just the performance area or the largest spoiler category. Overall, as the 'all rounder' the car has to be for me, it simply scores higher than all the others I looked at.

Mak.

Alberick

Does that mean the idea of putting a stuffed Scooby Doo on the rear seat is emotional??

Makalu

Ahhhh - your from Luxembourg...

Er, not sure what you mean by 'emotional'.

Personally? I think its just a bit of light hearted fun.

Nice that car enthusiasts have a 'light hearted' side isnt it? You dont see so much of that with drivers of some other makes now do you...

Kinda says something about them dont you think?

Mak.

[Edited by Makalu - 8/20/2002 8:46:02 AM]

Spanpody.

Makalu,

Glad you enjoy the Scooby, definately the best sounding engine note out of the 3 and probably the most sensible/budget choice.

However where does all this "150 miles to a tank in an EVO" come from, is it some urban legend . Ive found them not to be that much worse than a Scooby, I regularly get >200 to a tank, maybe I'm bot driving her that hard

If you think the EVO sits high (Eibachs@£200 sort this) have you seen the new WRX/STi ? its like it just came off a Pari/Dakar stage, more clearance than a BMW X8

Happy Motoring

Alberick

Yeeees, I'm from Luxembourg, but don't consider me being a luxembourger, I just live and work here.....

Also not sure what you mean by 'motional...........?

Bagpuss

Spanpody,

You are definitely not driving the Evo hard enough if you are getting >200 miles out of a tank.

When I had mine, the best I ever achieved was about 180 miles from a tank, and this was all motorway cruising.

Driving around town where I live, I could never get more than 140 miles from a tankfull.

Andy,

slippyr4

I'd still rather have the skyline. I sold my MY01 PPP to get one, and don't regret it at all.

chrisp

you would if you got it home and found it wouldnt go in the garage .

uxg

For the price range I had in mind i.e. about £13K the Subaru Type R was the best choice for me. I love Evo's as well and before I had driven my Type R would have said that if I had the extra 3 or 4 grand I would have definately gone for an Evo 5 but having owned my Type R for about 2 months now I am not so sure I would pick an Evo 5 over it as I love it.

The only Evo that would now tempt me away from the Type R is an Evo 6 Tommi Makkinen as that car looks awesome (must be my boy racer roots showing through) but for that sort of money you are getting into decent Skyline GT-R territory and I would pick the GT-R anyday of the week. They just have a road presence that IMO is unmatched by the Evo or the Scooby and of course that bomb proof 2.6 twin turbo engine