BT pairing has been the single area of user interface where every rental car I've ever driven with it has been easier than my Foresters, at least once you find the right menu. VW, BMW, Kia: Enter a code on your phone, see the car name on your phone, turn it on, you're done. Subaru: Go through a whole rigamarole with…

My first "WTF" experience with a VW was actually getting the MT to go into reverse on my first test drive. Had never encountered a pull-up shifter before that. Was always used to it being on the lower right (Japanese) or upper left (German, American).

I totally forgot about that aspect of my mom's 84 Fiero. First and only time I ever saw the release button there.

It was easier on my old MT Forester, which had an analog gauge. The new CVT version has an electronic bar display. But I *think* there is a tiny digital arrow icon to the right.

Japanese makers are apparently inconsistent with regard to the fuel filler cap side. After like 15 years of Honda/Acura (driver side), I thought I would have a hard time adjusting to it being on the passenger side of my two Subarus. But amazingly, I don't think I've ever pulled up on the wrong side.

His name is J. Pearly Huffman? Reminds me of a p̶i̶e̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶d̶v̶i̶c̶e̶ generality handed down to and from my dad: people who put an initial in front of their names tend to be assholes.

I got it: the Washington Plutocrats.

I like this design better than the one Clarkson reviewed, sloping roofline and yellow accents notwithstanding. Full disclosure: my fondness for the Yeti could because I have a dog by the same name. Even thought about buying her Skoda's stuffed Yeti doll.

Still hard to believe MCA's been gone for two years already ...

If you leave, don't look back from your vintage convertible:

Heilige Scheiße, Die Toten Hosen. There's a name I haven't heard in a while. Had some CD of theirs I picked up in Germany or Austria during my study-abroad but can't remember which one for the life of mich.

My dad and I were at the Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago. What did you and the other drivers think of it? Is there anything you'd change for next year?

Also, where were you during that Saavedra/Aleshin crash? There was so much carbon flying around, I think I found some in my underwear afterward.

I'm still waiting for the "How much of the (insert high school sports team here) can it hold?" or "10 greatest sports practice taxi cars."

For the record, we got 6 members of my HS cross country team in my dad's 924. And I give my parents shit for not having their RV (used for track weekends) back in my swimming…

This is actually how I know if my dog has gained weight or not. At her fighting weight (25 pounds), she doesn't set them off when she climbs in the front seat.

Same goes for the '98 N/A Legacy my dad and his buddies use for Chumpcar. And it's even a 4-speed auto.

Well, the 9 p.m. slot on CNN is open ... How funny would it be if he got Piers Morgan's show?

Ah, memories. My dad had a '79 924 from the time I was in 8th grade until college. Ran OK, but at some point, rats ate their way through the transmission and there was a hole in the rubber shift boot. He drove my sister and me to school in it every Wednesday. I got to drive it ONCE before he sold it. I remember being…

Funny, we were just talking at the dog park about how (at least in DC), the Subaru=Lesbian axiom seems to be dying off. At least for the last two generations of the Forester and to a lesser degree, the Outback. Every Forester driver I know (and we have a shit-ton of them at the dog park, myself included) is straight…

And they're always that hideous shade of seafoam green.