Another low mileage confession here. ~2,400 total covered since collecting mine in April 2023. A combination of opportunity, other commitments and piss poor weather have all conspired against it seeing more use than it has.
Similar to others I ordered mine feeling it was about the best combination of looks, performance, purchase price and running costs of anything that was on the market to buy new at the time. Is it perfect ? No, although the only real concern I have is the questionable flat 4 sat under the bonnet, Subaru engines, and come to think of it boxers in general have always been a fickle power plant. Hopefully frequent and thorough maintenance and doubtless aftermarket solutions to oiling concerns will make it a non issue.
I could see the writing on the wall for these types of cars and I wanted to own something that offered a more real driving experience again while I still had the chance. I toyed with a number of different 90’s to early 2000’s Japanese performance cars to scratch the itch. Spiralling prices of potentially tinworm ridden liabilities put me off. Having seen friends pour vast amounts of time and multiples of the purchase price simply keeping cars of that vintage running was a massive red flag. Add in likely invasive bodywork and the struggle to find someone competent to do the work was the final nail.
My intention was and is still to keep it until it’s either physically impossible for me to get in and out of it or legislation/taxation against ICE vehicles make it untenable to continue owning and driving. I do plan to modify it tastefully along the way but it’ll all be fairly modest changes to improve what is already an extremely fun car to drive. I don’t envisage me fitting a turbo or supercharger as it might not win the traffic light GP or a dual carriageway 3rd gear pull but that’s not really what it’s about. There’s plenty enough performance to string it along a winding road carrying momentum and enjoy the fact it’s far more nimble and modestly proportioned than its lardy peers!
The biggest issue I have with it isn’t the fault of the car. It’s the perpetual volume of traffic no matter where I seem to point it and absolute state of the roads I get to drive it on. At some stage I’ll find the time to get out to sublime ribbons of tarmac in the Swiss and French alps and fully enjoy it without the experience being lessened by the location.