...

i think learning how to speak about art involves learning how to dissect any experience you have and be able to write about it as if it's art. with that being said let me talk about what it's like owning the holy grail of sleeper subarus.

let me tell you the story of this car. in 2007 i take a trip with my dad to a subaru dealership to replace his old red legacy GT, and mom had convinced him to splurge and buy a nice new car for himself because he deserved something that made him happy. out we drive with this. fast forward 15 years i am in the incredibly fortunate position to buy it off him for so little i'm not even going to say how much he let me have it for. he drove it almost every day for those 15 years and it shows. there's scratches all over the paint on the trunk from where stuff was stored when dad wasn't using the car, it took me an entire day to clean out the interior to a habitable state, i stuffed tennis balls into the space between the trunk and the body as makeshift springs so the trunk-popper actually kind of works. and i love it.

my previous daily before this was an 06 volvo v50 T5 AWD that i also really loved. it shared many similarities to the subaru - all-wheel-drive, 6 speed manual, turbo engine producing similar horsepower numbers in the low 200s, inconspicuous grey paint job, and a delightful place to spend a long highway drive. however for all these surface similarities the vehicles live very different lives. the volvo was a banker that with a steady gym schedule, the subaru is a history prof that doesn't show up for work one day because he got his jaw broken in a bar fight last night. the volvo's haldex awd system was much more reluctant to slide around in fresh snow while the subaru will do it before you've even turned off traction control. the volvo's boost came in sooner but much less noticeably. the subaru needs a moment to realize you're actually letting it off the leash and then suddenly you're 30 over the speed limit. the volvo made me smile because it mostly did what i wanted it to do in a supremely comfortable and controlled way, the subaru makes me smile because i just experienced something i didn't expect.

however i think nobody will be surprised that in my discussion about a subaru from the 2000s that my tone changes to disappointment when I start discussing the interior. there are positives, the seats have these neat blue alcantara inserts, the back seat has room for my friends to sit comfortably (especially since my 5'7" ass has the seat really forward), there's a functioning aux input, and the factory speakers are pretty good when playing cds (something weird happens to the EQ through the aux port though). that's about it though, the screen is delightfully low-res and janky with weird functions such as a calculator and about 30 different fuel economy readouts (so it's impossible to escape knowing how shit your mileage is because this is a turbo awd vehicle). the cruise shuts off if the check engine light is on (which, it's an old subaru so it will be on). the dual-zone climate control is malfunctioning in mine so i need to carry around a blanket for when im driving my friend who is always cold during the winter. you need to press one button repeatedly to cycle through the climate control vents (manufacturers still do this and they all should be punched in the face for that). the best part is, this was the absolute peak of subaru interiors at the time. and what do you get? heated seats, okay, infiniti was already doing seat cooling by then but i'll accept that as a feature. a 6 cd changer, volume controls on your steering wheel, a nav system that was outdated even when it was released so now i frequently am told im driving through a massive open field. my volvo had all that but also fun gimmicks like built-in garage door openers, a phone interface that i doubt actually worked with anything back in the day, and keyless start. as an fan of a good interior this is definitely my least favourite part of the car.

also it does this super annoying thing where the car always starts in "sport" mode which is not even the fast mode. it won't let me access the "S#" (the fuck is that supposed to be) mode until it's warmed up a bit which i get, especially in a turbo. however in standard sport mode the car is so easy to stall that it's become an accepted natural part of driving the car. my dad assumed the clutch was just really unforgiving but I believe its because they cut low-end power in regular sport mode to idk save on fuel? so i have to train myself to drive with a lead foot? i do not like it.

after two paragraphs of whining i really do need to get back to what i like about the car. despite being a barren and sad space on the inside, i'm not thinking about it when im driving. i'm thinking about how eager the car is to appease me at all moments. i'm thinking about how easy it was to downshift in that corner leading into the street i park on by school. i'm thinking about how on that on-ramp coming up i'm gonna treat myself to some butt-dyno measurements. the car knows what it's about, so the areas where it's lacking are less noticeable because you are in agreement with the car about what you're here for. and you get to be the hipster of the subaru community, which in places like canada where you can't go a day without seeing 5 WRXs aggressively undertaking you, is the kind of validation i need. so i'm going to keep this car going as long as i can. if it needs a new engine, the mr2 is gonna have to go. this car is very much the kind of person i want to be right now, so i'll tolerate the shit mileage, the occasional stall early in the morning before i've remembered to put it in the correct driving mode, the fact that despite being a japanese car i feel like i'm too small for the cabin. as calvin's dad always said, it builds character.