No worries, I’m hard to offend. Re-reading DT’s writeup, it kinda sounded like I gave up on my sweet classics and my new dad-mobile was the Outback. Most definitely not the case. If anything, my wife asks me why I so rarely drive her car. (pssst... it’s cause I like the minivan better)
Ha, truth!
Well all you should have to do is tap the TCS off button and give it hell. When in doubt, add more throttle.
Same here. I can take my 6wagon or the MPV for a quick ride to the store and thoroughly enjoy the ride. If I take the Outback, it’s pretty much “well here I go in this fancy/shiny/boring thing.” That is, unless there’s snow on the ground.
Ha. While this is our new primary family ride, it’s really my wife’s car. She can’t drive stick and the 2.5+CVT is totally fine for her needs. I still rock my pair of classic 2004 Mazdas. The van is my workhorse DD and the 6wagon is a manual with every NA bolt-on you can add to the 3.0, it’s no slouch.
And that’s with the TCS off? Maybe killing the lane departure warning is part of the recipe? Would be odd, but who knows. Mine will spin like a rally car all day long.
She's got the CPO drivetrain warranty for another 4 years and 88k miles. Just need to make sure it's properly toasted before then.
I've read that. It's definitely inspirational, especially since his is red too.
Ha. Mine was so amused that she got out and filmed the footage above. The kids were relatively amused. I should have had them waving their arms out the back windows.
This is a very good point. And I keep telling myself that I'm honing my emergency response driving skills each time I purposely go down the street sideways in my neighborhood.
Ha. Likely.
Dodge of course!
No fuse pulling involved. Only modified settings were lane departure warning off (I always have that off, too much beeping) then I simply tapped the traction control button to turn it off (no hold needed). And if it’s snowy, I pretty much do that every time since I’d rather control the traction with my right foot…
The stupid electric button-actuated parking brake in the Outback is a total downer. But at least the power to the rear makes up for it. Amusingly, my beloved MPV has a proper handbrake for shenanigans. My boy Tom’s Turbo Garage showed it off nicely a few years ago when he got one.
Ha, nice. I'm 40, but usually drive more like I'm 23. Until the wife tells me to knock it off.
I wanted to love this car since I was a big fan of the 1st gen Matrix/Vibe (owned 2 of them between my wife and I). But it just wasn’t quite as good. Felt smaller inside. Hatch opening way smaller. No sunroof option at any price. I just couldn’t get excited when it felt inferior to our 2003's. Shame.
No, they do not. The best bet if you didn’t want to do body work would be to stick with fwd and do a Speed3 drivetrain swap into a wagon.
