Well, I wish I had a garage. Next house…

2002 Subaru Impreza WRX

I’ve entered into “… and I have a problem …” territory I think.

An even newer addition to the stable than the Audi, I came across this car at a local reposessed car auction in Lower Sackville. Since it was fairly high mileage I figured the car lots and such would shy away from it so a friend and I went over to check it over. Its was on the positive side of good condition, owned but not necessarily loved, maintained but not babied, and with zero modifications which was a big plus in my books. Theres a few cosmetic issues but it was a fine 10-foot car which is all I need. It started fine and looked pretty solid inside and out so I put in a bid that was definitely lower than market value but that I thought had a reasonable chance with a little luck. Sure enough auction day came around and it was mine! So far the car has proved to be quite solid. It needed a wheel bearing right off, a common problem on this model, and new tires but luckily the market in OEM parts for these cars is extremely saturated since many owners upgrade them mercilessly. In the end I still came out way ahead and have a great car worthy to succeed the Civic.

My plans for this car are moderate. It has more than enough power stock and I refuse to be sucked into that game again. A skidplate and diff protector similar to what we installed on the other Subaru are definitely in the books and possibly down the line a somewhat beefier suspension. The factory units aren’t known to be particularly stellar and often require replacement anyway. More as the plan develops! At the time of writing this I’ve had the car for less than a week!

1993 Honda Civic Si Hatchback
Sold, Feburary 3rd, 2008

I bought this car in 1998 to replace my aging 1989 Acura Integra RS. I swore after the Integra that I’d never own another white car again but this one fell into my lap at a particularly weak point so I bought it. I’ve always loved the design of the 5th generation Civic and the Si hatchback was always on my wishlist. For the first four years of its life this was my main transportation both summer and winter. In 2002 I began participating in AutoSlalom events and thus modifying the car. At its peak the setup included a completely redone suspension with Integra Type-R underpinnings, race compound tires and various other upgrades.

This car is a tank. I’ve never been nice to it. Its spent many hours at the track banging off the rev-limiter, going far too long between proper oil/fluid changes and just general owner abuse but its never left me in a lurch. Even now after all this time it still brings a smile to my face on an empty back road with the right music playing.

1990 Mazda Miata A-Package

I bought this car in the fall 2004 after searching for a Miata for quite a while. It lived all its life in Tennesee and Georgia making it a good, solid southern car thats never seen a winter. This is exactly what I was looking for. I haven’t come across a bolt on the car that doesn’t come off easily with hand tools. Its like night and day compared to a car from around here.

When I first got the car it needed some TLC. Struts are a common weak point in Miatas so they were first on the list. Since then I’ve followed my suspension-upgrade theme and pretty much entirely replaced the suspension from the frame down. New struts, bushings, sway bars and added bracing to get rid of that open-top flex. It really is like driving a go-kart on the street.

2002 Subaru Impreza TS Wagon

The ‘practical’ car of the bunch belongs to my wife. She’s a rally nut so a Subaru was a natural choice. In 2001 she bought a 1997 Impreza Brighton wagon which was a pretty decent car. Definitely bottom of the barrel in features/performance but it was fun to drive none the less. Unfortunately the motor on this particular car suffered from some pretty major piston slap fairly soon into her ownership. After owning the car for two years we came upon a 2002 with high mileage but a very low price and she jumped on it. The 2002 is a vastly better car in almost every way, more power, better handling, a LOT more creature comforts and an engine that doesn’t sound like a tractor!

The Impreza has been outfitted for the navigational rallies that my wife participates in at every opportunity with a front aluminium skidplate and differential protector from Lachute Performance and a set of custom-mounted Hella 500 driving lights from HSL RallySport as well as a set of 15″ aluminium rims from a 2001 Impreza TS. Bling is for suckers!

1990 Audi 90 Quatro Rally Car

This is the latest car in the stable and arguably the most exciting. Having participated in several years of RallyCross events it was time to take the next step. The Bluenose AutoSport club will be starting up a RallySprint series for the 07/08 season and this is our chance to try our hands at some real rallying.

The car is a 1990 Audi 90 Quattro with the original 2.3L 20V 5-cylinder powerplant. It’s fully CARS prepared and was campaigned by Steve Barnes at numerous events between 2001 and 2004. Really its quite a heavy pig and wasn’t particularly competitive nationally but for our purposes it should be fine. Its outfitted with all the proper rally gear we would have spent a fortune buying seperately… race seats, TerraTrip rally computer/intercom, Ground Control suspension with Billstein struts and most importantly a CARS legal roll cage.

The car is a joint venture between myself, my wife and another partner so while we’ll be putting three times the stress on the car expenses are also split 3 ways. Should be an interesting ride!