danwrx1980

Tonight I was on the way back from the pub (been on Coke [a cola] so don't start the drink driving stuff.... ) in Newcastle Under Lyme (Stoke) when I pulled up at the lights on the A34 by the Lexus garage (locals will know where I mean) next to a stunning jet black Nissan Skyline. The guy in the Nissan gives me a nod and thumbs up and when the lights change off he goes.

Now I know Skylines are fast but nothing prepared me for the deep bass rumble of his exhaust and the flames that you could have grilled sausages on (you'd have to be shifting fast to do it tho!!!). He went like a rocket!!

Now on the A34 there are a number of lights in quick succession, so he didn't get too far before I caught him up, sat at the next set by the McDonalds. His window was down and so I dropped mine. he said nice car thought you were going to follow me. I said not yet wait til we get onto the open A34 after trentham.

So for years my dad and certain friends have always said why do I want a Subaru? A Skyline would p1ss all over one. So I fully expected to get eaten up and spat out by this guy.

Once we reached trentham and a bit of open road I was behind him at the island, and off he went. I was in 2nd gear and followed him, and actually kept up with him!!!
My gear changes were spot on 5500 revs, he crept forward a little, but he couldn't shake me. I actually caught up with him round the bottom island of trentham gardens, and I kept the correct road going line down the road whereas he ran wide using the apexes of corners etc. (dual carriage way)

he then left the A34 to turn into the village but not before he pulled over and we had a quick chat, and he was genuinely impressed at the speed I had managed to carry through the corners and said he never thought scoobs were as quick as that.

All in all a cracking drive home, it was nice to see another jap car owner giving the Subaru the respect it deserves, despite what a lot of the Impreza bashing community on this site at the moment think.
As well as that today I have been seriously thinking about my next mod. All I have ATM is a centre de cat and H&S back box, so I decided today on a high flow flat panel filter, organised it to be fitted next week. Then after that I may have to do the re map thing. Resisted it for so long now the urge has finally took hold!!!

So anyway, the point of the thread is that I was genuinely surprised at how quick the Skyline was, and i kept up with him. So my car must not be a slow hunk of cr@p as is so often remarked upon on here.

Oh and for all the boring people who claim to have never exceeded the speed limit, we only went to 80 on a national limit road, naughty but in the circumstances I decided it was safe enough.

Dan.

scooby222

hm, you seem to be quite happy with your impreza, not planning mods to take you up to 700hp and most shockingly, you actually drove it as its meant to be! and with care and consideration to the road conditions, you sure your on the right site?
nice to see someone enjoying their night, sounds like youve got a good one, what year/model you got?

danwrx1980

its an 02 (bug eye ssshhh don't tell anyone they're supposed to be cr@p!) wrx, totally standard uk model apart from the back box and de cat. You're right about the mods, just fancy a few more horses to play with. Test drove a new STi a few months ago, but trying to buy a new house so can't afford an upgrade quite yet.

I just don't understand why people buy a Subaru and then come on here and bitch when one member of the fraternity drive it properly, as long as its safe to do so. Its not like I'm a doped up Nova driver with no skill and a car that should be scrapped. I've got a serious car, and I'm serious about my driving, done a few rally school days and I have to do driving courses with the Army, so I naturally take a bit of pride in it. Having said that I'm no M. Schumacher!!!!

Jdub

robsw

Excellent story Dan, it's always fun to meet a fellow Jap-car lover on the road. Nice one!

Robin.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

So you both met japs-eye to eye late at night....... MMMMMmmmmmmm

robsw

You have a dirty mind, I havn't, honest!

Robin.

JPF

iTrader: (1)

Nice one Dan .Good to have something positive to read on this sight.
I've only recently become a proud owner of a 99 turbo and was surprised to see so many negative things on a scooby sight?! .Great story, sounds like you've got a cracking car.

zip929

Agree with you mate.
U buy a scoob cos u like some power and accelaration,

I once did a traing course with the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists)
and a Police traing course on my old fireblade.
One thing struck me was that the principles were good, spot on.
But, the reality is that we all (near enough) go quicker when there is not a policeman behind us.
On the road I could not enjoy the bike, riding like IAM advise you should.
An instance:: In a national spped limit zone, I and my instructor flew past 2 cars. Hit a 30 limit sign. We both slowed to under 30, now 2 cars right up our **** (probably wondering why we were in one minute in such a hurry, and the next crawling down the road). If was in my car I would have been pretty pissed off. To me the infatuation with speed limits meant I did not pursue any more advanced training. After the last incident we joined the motorway.
I could have easily joined with a bit of accelaration, but Speed limits !!! U cannot break these with IAM , so try to join as best u can.... after this I decided that IAM was not for me. Break the speed limit and they crucify you.
A fireblade at 29mph is not any fun!!!

danwrx1980

Totally agree with you Zip.
I totally disagree with the way our roads are being policed by these one eyed electronic piggy banks. I think they target the people who are least likely to cause accidents and more than that they show the government up for what they really are. they are obviously not concerned with road safety, because if they were they would have spent the money on funding more police officers, as in today's climate it seems we definitely need them.

I drive at the speed limit 90 - 95 % of the time, and never speed in built up areas like 30 or 40 zones, but there are stretches of road where if the road and traffic conditions allow, i may have a bit of a play. And despite what the majority of people on this site say, I reckon we all drive like that. Otherwise why would we be interested in the Subaru??? It certainly ain't for looks, its for the image and the driveability of a fantastic car.
I did a bit of training with IAM but the courses I have to do with the forces are so much better, as they are designed by real people with real driving experiences, and therefore are applicable to the real roads.

Ben v7

Nice one Dan... sounds like a fun drive and glad he gave you the respect you deserved.

Just wondered why you were chaning up at 5,500rpm though. This is just short of peak power but taking it to just over 6,000rpm will be faster. From this point compared with the rpm the engine drops into on the upchange the engine will produce more power over the range of revs. I shift at about 6,100rpm in such situations.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I agree with everyone's frustration about speed limits, we do all exercise some discretion about adhering to the speed limits where conditions allow. The problem is, this is a judgement call and I would respectfully suggest that not everyone is up to this judgement.

Playing devil's advocate for a second, we have to recognise that we are approaching the issue as -hopefully- responsible, educated, level headed people who own cars designed for high performance. For us, having a law that said: "Go easy in built up areas, have fun in derestricted areas when its quiet and the conditions are good, but don't take the ****" would be perfectly adequate.

Without wanting to be patronising, you've then got to consider what less responsible types in lesser machinery would do under the above circumstances. You can't impose a limit that is qualified by all the factors that might affect whether a person could be trusted to exercise appropriate discretion over their speed, so you end up with a absolute limits, some of which might be rather arbitrary or even inappropriate. This is where having trained policeman exercising discretion on whether to prosecute or overlook is so valuable; they make the qualifications that simple limits can't. Cameras don't do this.

Of course this is reucing the whole road safety issue to speed again, which is not doing the issue justice, other types of transgression/behaviour behind the wheel can be every bit as dangerous as speeding.

Cameras don't generally pick up on them either.

Ns04