I find it interesting how a person's automobile frequently reflects their personality.
Therefore, let's see what the players of Aces High drive day to day.
I posted this here rather than in the O'Club, as many of the O'Club crowd are not subscribers to Aces High.
Here's my daily ride...
I commute just 11 miles, four days a week. I sold my 2002 WRX in 2005 after a series of clutch problems drove me to distraction. It was fast and it was fun, but clutch chatter (warped friction disks) was a source of great annoyance. This problem was well known to Subaru and commonplace. My local dealer replaced the clutch twice free of charge. Nonetheless, this problem and miserable gas mileage were wearing me out. If I needed to drive in snow, I had my wife's Grand Vitara. So, the WRX was consigned to weekend drives and I bought a new 2003 Suzuki Aerio SX, with 5 speed manual for daily use. Reliable, great utility, good fuel mileage, adequate power and handling made the little car a favorite for every day use.
After the WRX was gone, I still longed for a fun sport ride. The Aerio SX is no pig, but it was not designed to be pushed hard without a fair amount of protest. Thus, I began looking into after-market performance upgrades. I found a local engine builder who had experience tuning Suzuki's 1.8 liter engines. After almost $3,200 invested in engine upgrading and a more durable clutch, the 2.0 liter twincam was generating 188 hp at the drive wheels (about 210 hp at the crankshaft). No supercharger, no turbo. Requires 93 octane fuel, however.
I invested in a Progress suspension kit, but selected B-G springs. The thicker and adjustable anti-roll bars loaded the car to the point that I had to purchase a shock-tower brace from SWT (Suzuki Works Techno) to stiffen the chassis. I added a set of SWT wheels. I elected to avoid going to 45 series tires to keep the ride reasonably compliant. I replaced the 195/55-15 Falkens with a set of 205/50-15 W speed rated Kumho Ecsta ASXs. Brembo rotors squeezed by ceramic brake pads haul it down from speed.
Performance is superior to the WRX in every category, except 0-60 mph. The all wheel drive WRX gets great bite off the line. However, the Suzuki is faster to 100 mph, and its max speed is 144 mph (drag limited). In handling, the Suzuki is vastly better than the WRX. Around a skid pad, my WRX was capable of about .82 G. The Suzuki exceeds .92 G on the Kumhos. In terms of overall performance, it fits in between a 2007 GTI and a 2007 Mazdaspeed 3. Not bad for a car that could be purchased with low mileage for about $6,000 and another $6,700 in Engine, suspension, brake and wheel/tire upgrades. Compare that to $23k for a basic GTI and $26k for the Mazda. Insurance is dirt cheap as well.
I just purchased a set of Kumho V710 race tires in 205/50-15 for weekend autocrossing. These are mounted on a set of WedsSport racing wheels and were heat cycled by the tire distributor. These tires are replacements for my well used Avon R-A tires. I won't get to use them until Mid August as my weekend schedule is rather full with family things and vacations. However, the Zook should stick like glue.
My regards,
Widewing
