The Development and Evolution of Super Gramps

I'm standing next to one of the most impressive cars I've ever had the pleasure of owning, and that's no surprise given its rich history. The development of this car was a true labor of love for me, and it shows in every aspect of its design and performance. One of the key factors that set Super Gramps apart from other cars is its chassis. This isn't just about raw power or speed; it's also about finesse and handling. I attribute much of what makes this car tick to its development as a grand tourer, rather than a sports car like my trusty old STI.

As I put the pedal to the metal, feeling the rush of adrenaline as the engine roars to life, I'm reminded of why Super Gramps is so special. It's not just about numbers and specifications; it's about the overall driving experience. The way the power band unfolds, the smoothness of the transmission, and the responsive handling all come together to create a truly unique ride. Whether I'm cruising down the highway or carving up a twisty mountain road, Super Gramps always delivers.

One of my favorite things about this car is its sound. I've had the pleasure of driving many amazing machines over the years, but there's something special about Super Gramps that sets it apart from the rest. It's like nothing I've ever heard before – a perfect blend of growl and song that never gets old. Even after all these years, I still get goosebumps every time I fire up the engine and take off.

Of course, the sound isn't the only thing that makes Super Gramps so special; it's also about its performance. The combination of displacement and turbocharging creates a truly unique character that's hard to replicate with other engines. And let's not forget the exhaust system – there's something magical about the way the notes seem to dance together in perfect harmony. Whether I'm pushing the car to its limits or just cruising around, the sound of Super Gramps is always music to my ears.

As I continue to explore the capabilities of this incredible machine, one thing becomes clear: it's not just about numbers and specifications; it's about the spirit of the thing. There's something intangible, some kind of magic that sets Super Gramps apart from other cars. It's hard to put into words, but I think it comes down to a combination of its displacement, turbocharging, and exhaust system – all coming together in perfect harmony.

If you could somehow bottle up this spirit of performance, I imagine it would be truly unbeatable. But, alas, that's not something we can achieve in reality. All we can do is strive for excellence and create cars like Super Gramps that come close to capturing the essence of what makes a true driving machine special.

The Legacy of Super Gramps

It's been eight years since I first laid eyes on this incredible car, and over those years, it has become an integral part of my life. We've shared countless adventures together – racing, cruising, and everything in between. And through it all, Super Gramps has proven itself to be a true companion.

One of the things I love most about this car is its reliability. Despite being a high-performance machine, Super Gramps has never let me down. It's been broken once or twice over the years, but that's just part of its charm. The fact that it can take a beating and still keep on going is a testament to its exceptional build quality.

But what really sets Super Gramps apart is its handling. Whether I'm carving up a twisty mountain road or simply cruising down the highway, this car always delivers. Its balance and responsiveness make it an absolute joy to drive – and that's something that never gets old.

As for learning experiences, I've been fortunate enough to have had my fair share over the years. Building Super Gramps from the ground up was a true education in itself, teaching me skills that I still apply today. It was also an incredible opportunity to explore the depths of what's possible with Subaru's incredible engine technology.

It wasn't just about building a car; it was about creating something special – something that would bring joy and excitement into people's lives. And if I'm being honest, there's nothing quite like seeing the look on someone's face when they get behind the wheel for the first time. It's a feeling that never gets old.

The Sound of Super Gramps

There's something truly special about the sound of this car – and it's hard to put into words just how amazing it is. Whether I'm accelerating from 0-60 in under four seconds or simply cruising down the highway, the sound of Super Gramps is always music to my ears.

One of the things that sets it apart is its displacement – a whopping 3.6 liters of flat-six power that's hard to match with any other engine. But it's not just about brute force; it's also about finesse and subtlety. The way the notes seem to dance together in perfect harmony is truly magical.

Of course, no discussion of Super Gramps' sound would be complete without mentioning its exhaust system. There's something special about the way the notes seem to ebb and flow – like a fine wine, they get better with age. And let me tell you, this car has been aged to perfection.

Whether I'm pushing the car to its limits or simply cruising around, the sound of Super Gramps is always an experience. It's not just about raw power; it's also about finesse and handling – a true masterclass in engine design that never gets old.

The Spirit of Super Gramps

At its heart, Super Gramps is more than just a car – it's a philosophy. There's something intangible, some kind of magic that sets this machine apart from the rest. It's hard to put into words, but I think it comes down to a combination of its displacement, turbocharging, and exhaust system.

All these elements come together in perfect harmony, creating an experience that's truly unique. Whether I'm driving on twisty roads or cruising through the countryside, Super Gramps always feels special – like something truly special is happening behind the wheel.

If you're looking for a car that embodies the spirit of performance and handling, look no further than Super Gramps. It's not just about raw power; it's also about finesse and subtlety – a true masterclass in engine design that never gets old.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enover the last couple of months we converted this Subaru levorg to ej25 and manual using parts from a crashed STI and it's a wagon that Subaru never made but should have but the road was paved by the original OG which is super Gramps 3.6 liter six cylinder powered by ethanol this is a car that helps Define the Mighty Car Mods Channel and as such we're very excited to reveal the all-new super grants poster which we will autograph and send to you anywhere in the world it's available right now but today people it's time to dive into the wagon life with super Gramps and the STI of org foreign it's a 2003 Subaru Liberty GT it exists because my original Subaru wagon known as Gramps got left out in a rainstorm and flooded so I reselled the Driveline into a cheap blue high kilometer soccer mom car I got from Al and then he and Miles helped us fit the Driveline to the new shell I tried my luck with paint again this time without a rainstorm we made a custom color called squid juice and with it sprayed on the cart looked excellent after daily driving it for a while I realized it was actually by far the fastest and most capable car I owned so I took it to the track lower temperature high just gonna send it for this one see what on down to manifold yeah 151 yeah yes choosing not to destroy it by thrashing it constantly on the racetrack I tied it back to daily duties getting groceries and towing stuff around Nibiru levorks caught my eye when I realized that they are basically an updated Liberty with a different name the they all came out as automatic and not very fast so I got a cheap one and we rolled the dice with a crashed STI hoping all the parts would transfer across a few weeks later we'd extracted the Driveline from the STI and got it all bolted into the levor once it worked we started modifying and then took it out to the skid pan to see what it was capable of I was so thrilled with how well it drove we threw another round of mods at it for more power better handling and looks it made 205 kilowatts with a stock turbo then we completely reworked the interior added a stereo and got it engineered and registered the result is an excellent street car it's modern practical and it's brilliant car to drive but is it anywhere as good as the original Super grams today we find out so that's a little bit of history about each of these builds and now we have these two mad modified and very unique Subaru sitting here in super garage and today we're going to be going through a bunch of aspects of each of the cars we're going to be looking at exterior interior performance we're going to be driving both of the cars and hopefully at the end of this video we'll be able to Crown one of these as the ultimate Mighty Car Mods Subaru super wagon now why do people love wagons so much I reckon practicality and handling when you think of a twisty B Road or country road or a racetrack do you think of getting in an SUV do you think of getting in a dual cab Ute I I don't think so I mean look obviously people do lots of mods on Dual cab Utes and because we are the best four-wheel driving channel in the world we have been doing a bunch of work on our Hilux it is a car that can do a lot of things well but dual cabs you also do a lot of things not so well and performance driving on twisty roads and track days is uh they're normally driving can't do it is the truth so what you get with one of these is you can do a track day you can put your stuff in it you've got a big boot you got roof pods you can tow things you do have that practicality that means it fits with your life but also is a car you can just have the one car that you can go to a tractor you can go to the drags you can go to a mad Country Road and have a really really good time so that I think is why these things are absolute standouts FYI pertinent to this story my first car after my mini and Camira was a VL Commodore station wagon that's the last time I've had a station wagon it was uh over 20 years ago but anyway let's jump into the Subaru super wagon build off we're going to start with the exterior this is a Subaru Liberty elsewhere in the world it's known as a legacy this is a BP they've been making a legacy since the late 80s and 1989 and it was a very Progressive change this is the fourth generation a very popular one although the Outbacks which is the jacked up and slightly bigger version actually took away a lot of the Legacy sales around the world in terms of what it looks like I mean it's kind of fat for its age I guess it's not sort of fat as the Lavo but it does have the typical Bonnet scoop the designs of the liberty and Legacy was always a bit more safe than the WRX even though the chassis was similar it was also slightly bigger in terms of The Styling I guess it's of the of its era which is 2003 which means they probably started thinking about this thing and what it was going to look like back in the 90s now what's really interesting about this is that this car here is considered a large car this here is built on the same platform as the Impreza and WRX which is a small car but as is the nature people everything is getting bigger so this here is actually this is bigger than that isn't it like yeah this is actually a bigger car just about a tiny bit now around this era 2014's when they started making these everything started getting sharper so those big Smiley mouths that you're seeing on the front of cars turned into skeletors groaning mouth instead so these big aren't going to look everything is sharper there's way more angle to it really fat really low a little bit more what we call robot vomit which is kind of just machines to stick and stuff any way they think but it's when you look at this and you see these angles the sharp lines this kind of press down the door here which is a bit softer on this car it actually does start to make super Gramps look like its age which is a car that was designed over 20 years ago so as a general rule we're going to give some rough numbers out of 10 I'm going to give this look eight I reckon actually looks pretty good super Gramps I'm going to give her six it looks fat it looks white it looks nice but it just is starting to look its age which is old and I'd have to agree I reckon this I really like how this looks I think it looks really sharp angular and chunky and has a really good presence super Gramps is exactly starting to look its age and for its time it look on tough but Liberties and Legacies were always a softer thing because this is based on the same platform as a WRX and an STI because everything fits it it has way more aggressive looks so same score same score great all right let's move on to Interior people I feel bad saying it Marty it feels like I'm in a taxi oh really it actually does feel a bit there's some aspects of the inside which is really nice like the headlining which is custom I love a black headlining I like to feel like I'm kind of really encapsulated that's really nice but the rest of it it's just it's cheap I I don't care about the whole cheap most expensive interior except for when the cheapness is actually coming through in damage like all the cracks to everything well this was their Flagship model it was their fancy model it was supposed to be premium this is a premium interior leather I mean originally it was leather seats they kind of get worn out everything is worn out and the dashes are that bad that they actually record them and this is the third Dash this car has had and they're all cracked and turned white so it's just it has not withstood the test of time and this car has been looked after and loved in garage and everything and it still looks like rubbish after all this time so it looks it looks terrible it's not it's not great I think they actually messed up with this particular model and um yeah look I would give the interior three but I know that sounds brutal but I'm giving an extra one point for the recaros that came my Sylvia and then buy it too sexy because even though that has nothing to do with Subaru we're still we're looking at Wagon versus wagon yeah and that said I'm giving that an extra one so um I mean these are probably worth another five but let's let's just be uh let's just be serious for a second because of this I'm giving it a four dude yeah sorry man I feel bad that's okay I'm giving it a five it's got some nice things like you know climate control and and they've tried but they just have not withstood the test of time if you get other cars from the same year like 2003 they'll look way better than this yeah so five inside the lavogue with an STI Interior Swap this is a really nice place to be people always use Volkswagen golfs as kind of the litmus test of like it's not as good as a golf it's not I think this is the kind of the Mark 7 golf there's knobs buttons everything that you want one of the criticisms of the market is everything went too digital this year everything's right where you want it look there's a lot of knobs on the steering wheel and a couple of knobs are sitting in the car right now so what the first thing you notice is the dash kind of goes away from you so we're in a slightly different seating position to that car but the car is actually physically bigger so so we've got a little bit more room it feels a little bit more open area it definitely has like a plastic feel they went away from whatever was on those old dashes that sort of soft touch stuff which failed and they've gone to this sort of more plasticky stuff which people sometimes complain about but I actually think is good and practical and easy to keep clean and is going to withstand the test of time all the stuff that's in here is really easy to see good positions good good driving positions I think it's I think it's definitely a step up yeah absolutely and look with these things I mean look we're obviously just doing this for a bit of fun and to try and get our own heads around it you could say you give it an 8 out of ten which is what I'm giving the interior by the way and someone could go but it's not as nice as a Bugatti it's not as good as a whatever yeah the thing is it's functional it's clean it's nice it works none of it's broken for what it is in its other form I would have given it like a six in a slavogue form yeah definitely get another couple of points better seats leather I'm giving it eight out of ten I'm gonna give it a seven just because I think they have dropped the quality of it compared to what they went did with the with super grams and that era but I actually think it's going to be be more durable it just doesn't look quite as luxury as that did when it first came out when it comes to the technology in super Gramps it is Stark at best the highlight of course is the haltech ic7 which is a dash which basically comes up with all the different operating information about the car you can set that up in lots of different screens that has nothing to do with Subaru but we still got to give it a couple of points because that is in here we've also got this little Japanese thing that adjusts the coilovers that's probably worth losing half a point because we're pretty sure that doesn't work the steering wheel is a good way of kind of looking at what era cars there's nothing on it but when the car did come out uh it has cruise control which I gather was a bit of a feature and climate control that's it there's um there's uh it's got a horn there's electric windows and the only thing digital here um that zuru's put on there is your odometer over here um it's stuck it's stuck man it is a little bit I'm gonna give it a um I'm giving it a two and I'm adding three for the halting I'm giving it a five I'm giving you a six for its era it was pretty impressive but yeah yeah I mean it's basic now I mean we're not in that era anymore though we gotta judge it for now so do you want to adjust your score six I'm gonna do six I'd like to revise my score I just remembered that super Gramps doesn't even have a head unit in it uh and so I was scoring it as if you could actually listen to your favorite song which you can't so I'm taking another point off because I remembered this has got full custom stereo Dynamat everywhere Apple carplay which is putting the points up but in retrospect that needs to be lower so I'm putting that down to four Martin here we are we're in the SDI level we're in the Str level now technology in a car like this has come a long way there's been Leaps and Bounds think about what existed think about what existed in 2003 compared to what existed in 2014 or 2017 when this car was actually made 2003 if you had a gigabyte of ram in your computer you were baller again one gigabyte one gigabyte yeah so things have changed a little bit anyway so where can I I start so firstly we've got an engine start button so straight away we're in the future we do have the full climate control we also got a dual climate control in case you're not that friendly with the person who's in the past let's see up there look at that what'd you call me the MFD it's a multi-functional display oh that thing I'm not calling you on oh well anyway we've got a boost gauge we've got fuel economy we've got calendars this car will even tell you that it's your birthday and wish you a happy birthday when you set it in there I'm not even joking I remember because one did that and I'm deducting a point for that you can add one if you want no no anyway so we also have other adjustable means obviously we have this eye doing which we've put in which is awesome so that has the car plane Android auto and maps and navigation and all this other cool stuff which is really good the factory one that comes with is actually okay and you can get fancy Harman Kardon ones that are all tuned and actually sound pretty good on the steering wheel we've got a lot of buttons it's a little bit robot but all these functions are customizable and especially with the eye doing you can actually make them do whatever you want and they're not their actual real buttons we've also got a display up here so you can go through and you can change it from speed and you can do your fuel economy and all the other information you might want to see in front of you and importantly you also have your adjustable Center div now supergrams does have a six-speed and it's got a uh a center definite but it is not adjustable like this one is this is called a dccd system means you can change the way that the torque split works and sort of fine tune it especially when you want to do donuts as we saw this car does excellent Donuts thanks to partly the technology so I'm giving the technology in this car I'm giving it a nine wow I was going to give it an eight because it knows your birthday and says happy birthday I'm taking one off for seven but then I remembered that this car has Alpine splits in the front uh we installed speakers in the back it's got an amp and a sub which I'm giving an extra point so I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. let's have a quick chat about safety it's not something that a lot of performance car owners are often really into but it is important because these cars are from two very different eras that's right and Chassis development is a big one manufacturers are always pushing to have more rigidity and better crash safety as well which involves the kind of metal that they use and where they put it and how the car crumples and all those kind of things another big obvious one on our car as well is brakes so super grams does have the STI big four pot Brembo brakes that's why the wheels are different from the ones that it usually has because those wheels will not fit over these massive brakes the levorg has it even better it's got a six pot which is even bigger and just basically has better stopping power now when it comes to airbags there's just way more in the live organ it's also worth pointing out that the safety rating like the end cap safety rating is relevant for when the car came out and if you retested the car now it wouldn't score nearly as highly so if you put both of these cars side by side the levorg is going to rate much better the other big difference is that this one here is running Michelin Pilots board fours this is running Michelin Pilot Sport fives the Pilot Sport 5 is an evolution of the Pilot Sport for but it has got better grip in the wet and better grip in the dry and best of all increased lap performance as well so that one is a no-brainer both excellent tires but the Pilot Sport 5 also nudges that ahead so I'm going to give that an overall score of eight I'm going to give that a six yep I would agree on the scores and also I would say we're not talking about 50 year old cars like with you know these these do have quite good safety for what they are they are well built cars and they do have a good reputation but the lavogue is definitely going to win in this case now one of the reasons I love station wagons is you get all the features of a sedan but you also get the utility and a whole lot more space now let's kick off with some specs about the levorg now this one boot space 522 liters are compared to an Impreza which gets like 350 to 380 it's a huge difference this one here also has a what do you call these one like a quick release thing to stick your roof pot on yep so you basically kind of have your racks and your roof pod goes on there so you've got your boot space and that plus you've got your tow bar here and I think this has got about a 1.2 tonne towing capacity there Martin I've thrown you the ball what have you got I actually think in this case super graphs might have it now it's got a slightly smaller boot we're talking like I think 500 no 460 liters approximately so a bit smaller than level even though from the back windows it actually looks bigger it is smaller where supergrams wins though it also can take a roof pod even though I don't think the roof rails look as cool because these things always cause me lots of problems like trying to get them on off and paint them and stuff it's a similar idea but it's not as refined as lavorg has what this does have is a higher towing capacity now you'd barely be able to stick a mini on a car trailer behind the lavogue if you had the right trailer you might just scrape it in yeah with this you can do it legally so depending what engine you've got in it you've got either from it starts from a 1200 like the Lavo but if you get the bigger engine the two and a half liter or the three liter in my case 3.6 liter that increases to 1800 kilos wow now when it comes to utility I would suggest that you get more utility from a higher towing capacity than you get from an extra 50 liters or so of boot space because also once you've fold the seats down there's enough room to sleep in there and carry everything you need six so eight I'm gonna go seven nine oh okay cool so that's a that's a win for super Gramps when it comes to uniqueness and street cred they are two aspects of car ownership that has huge currency in the aftermarket scene now super grants was kind of built as a sleeper it was what it's for it looked like kind of a family wagon the kind of boring ugly thing that it is sorry uh and um that's what it did but it did it really well but when you pull up at a car meet mutton this is the car that's going to get the attention and the reasoning is if you do know your Subarus and let's be honest there's a lot of people out there that do you start to see subtle differences you see the big fat STI guards which did not come out on a lavogue you see the front end which is just a bit different then you see the skirts which are also just a little bit different what I like about it is it's subtle but it's there and you notice it especially with a bit that's not subtle is those massive yellow brakes and when you see that you know something is going on you can buy a Gen 4 Subaru that looks pretty much like that even with those Wheels which was an option on that car and from the outside except for maybe the big front mount on the front it could there could be anything which was also the purpose so I don't know street cred I'm leaning towards this I really love the sleepiness of that but this has a little bit more going on I think when it comes to Mighty Car Mods fans and I know there's a lot of ogs out there so hello to all of you because I know some people have been watching for almost 15 years this is going to have a special place in people's hearts but when you're just rolling up to a meet you look at this looking from this angle it's fat it's low I can see it boost gauge through the window you've got te37s on there you're like that's fancy you see the passport fives okay they obviously do some track days and stuff like that is the car that's going to get some attention so when it comes for Pure Street credness and I'm just talking about the looks now I'm going to give this a five because it looks like heaps that are out there I'm giving that a nine man like it's just it looks great it's a tough one that absolutely wins the sleeper category and this absolutely wins sort of the standout street cred look so that's that's a I'm getting five each because I don't actually want to choose now this car this is where it starts to get a little bit special under the Bonnet the whole point of this was to put the biggest engine that Subaru ever made into this sort of old grandpa wagon so this is an ez36 it came around in the big SUV Subaru tribeckers uh it looks a lot like it's ez30 cousin but just a little bit chunkier it's got dual ABCs it's got it on the exhaust and the intake cam it's got a big Garrett turbo there and to keep it all in one piece it does run ethanol plus some big injectors and some haltech management with an elite 2500 ethanol is keeping this engine alive this is not limited if you put Petrol in it you make basically no power because it will just detonate and that will kill the engine ethanol makes it run cooler Heats more fuel volume gets the turbo spooling up it only runs between 8 and 10 pounds of boost and makes 300 or kilowatts or 400 horsepower but on the track and I have found this a few times after a couple of laps it starts to get cranky everything gets hot the oil temperature comes up the water temperature comes up and you've got to stay out of it now luckily I haven't blown it up on the track which is awesome but I don't know if it's going to be quite as reliable as that thing now over here unlike super grams which once he's had a go he needs to have a bit of a rest before he can go again uh the Young Buck over here can just jump straight back in and get to it this here is the same pretty much exactly the same engine and setup that I had in my white 2018 SDI 2.5 liter four-cylinder boxer engine blah blah blah all the stuff that Subaru people already know these are not really famous for making a whole lot of power I know someone's going to go but my cousin made one with heaps of power pretty much the way that they respond to mods is you get an extra 50 to 70 kilowatts maybe after that you require turbos you require all sorts of stuff and what do we end up making with this two this make 205 on petrol on ethanol with a bigger turbo the engine itself is going to run out of ability at about 270 kilowatts absolute maximum yeah but that will do an 11. so but the power then is not really comparable and how the power comes on is not comparable super Gramps is just brutal everywhere the way it throws you in the seat and where that power comes on is incredible but over here this is kind of a good all-around kind of power that can get the job done and the difference is and that I found in mind you can just go to the track and drive around all day just round and round and round and round without having any problems super grams does need to come in for a rest every now and then just to cool down uh if you've seen the build videos got a top mount we've got a gfb blow-off valve there's an intake and this one's running a tune that is kind of all the basics and an exhaust so I think the important thing now mud is to actually take them both out onto the street go for a drive and then actually decide whether the spiritual beauty that is the Bellissimo of super Gramps can actually take the crown from what is the new guy on the street the new kid on the Block the lavog is back all right you know what I mean or something I do know I do know what you mean but I kind of wish I did alrighty so now we're going to take both cars for a drive on the street so we're just going to see what they feel like what the performance is like what the sound is like what the smell is like Martin straight away the levorg has that very iconic box of Rumble that people like yes and you know that real sort of rumbly Subaru sound um it's kind of noisy but not too noisy not comfortable seats are good inside's nice the aircon's working it's a pretty good place to be rolling start from 30ks now here we go three two one go it's it's quick it's all right it's quick yeah it's it's when that power keeps going yes that you really kind of lose your breath but right where you're like Ah that's where it kind of runs out doesn't it absolutely it doesn't have the massive torque hit it's quite smooth and quite Progressive it's a small Factory turbo yeah so what you do get is when it comes on at three grand it's holds it it just holds that power off of until basically six six and a half thousand RPM yes and just keeps pulling and it's kind of what you want for A Streetcar on the road um but it's trying to make up for the deficiencies in terms of capacity yeah compared to something like super greens but it is a nice place to be it feels modern it feels good yeah yeah I mean definitely there's a little bit of lag at the front which is like when you plant your foot you've got a second of kind of the weight like the breath in but then once it goes you do get a good push in your seat I just wish that push went for longer you know what I mean all went harder and the other thing is this car is on petrol so there's going to be limitations there compared to running something on ethanol the fuel and how much power you can extract but this is what a lot of and most ej25 Subarus when they've got a stock engine and they pretty much feel like this yeah this is it and it's good is it mind-blowing or face melting no but it is solid yeah in terms of the ride it feels firm it feels planted it feels slum confidence inspiring I guess you could say that combination of our wheel tire brake and suspension um it's a nice place to be you can drive around every day we didn't really lose anything when we went from lavogue to all the STI stuff either like it's a bit noisier because it's got a bigger exhaust on it and it's a little bit further because it's got Springs in it and sway bar links and stuff like that but not to the point where you've ruined it yeah so it's still a very usable car you could put someone in it who had no idea about cars and they go oh yeah cool it's a thing oh it's a bit noisy back here but aside from that it's just really nice to be in so for the next test Martin tunnel run the all-important tunnel run test it's all right it's okay we've got room for one more here we go here we go pretty good it looks all right I've gone through that tunnel in a VTEC mini on full song I've gone through that tunnel in an RS3 with an exhaust yeah gone through that tunnel in a Lotus yeah so I got a fairly High Benchmark a tunnel run sound all right that was mediocre at least were you towing anything no okay no neither are we what so that's a quick Street Drive in the SDI La Vogue now it's time to jump into the granddaddy super Gramps and everybody now we are in super Gramps to take it for a drive see how granddaddy rolls all right here we go rolling start 30ks now let's go oh that's his face melting it's so good holy moly it's so good ethanol big cubes Big Turbo actually a little turbo for what it is but just just hangs on doesn't it it knocks your block off man he's just pressed out of you I don't even I'm even shifting before the hard Red Line because it's like it's just got power everywhere when you drop it back to the next gear it still goes that is amazing yeah it really is isn't it I know that I gave its interior a really low score and I stand by that in terms of the broken stuff or whatever yeah but these seats in this car it's actually a really nice place to be pretty good it's pretty I actually think it's I actually think it's nicer than the level do you yeah I mean I just did a lot of that to the recaros but also it just I don't know maybe I'm just more comfortable with it because it's a bit old and festy like I am well straight away the the throttle mapping I love it's got the hell taking it we've been I've actually tweaked the throttle mapping over the time I've owned the car to have it exactly how I like it so it's a little bit doughy down the bottom which makes it easy to putt around and easy to control the clutch but then when you into it you get this really really Snappy response which I like the brakes don't feel anywhere as good as the Vol brakes and Lavo brakes are some of the best I've ever driven with ever they feel so good and sharp and really bitey and they have good stopping power the clutch is a bit heavier in this car because it is a heavier like aftermarket clutch than what's in the other one um but when you're cruising down the highway it's not that different is it really no it sounds different it's a bit noisier but not necessarily bad it's a different kind of noisy yeah so this is this doesn't have any drone at all the lavogue has a little bit not much it's fine you can live with it but this here it's almost at a lower pitch so it's not as audible that it's more a feel thing you know what I mean it's like you can feel it's like you can feel the power of the decibels without hearing it it's a it's a it's strange but it's good feels weighty it does feel good the steering is to be honest a bit vague it kind of always has been again this is supposed to be more of a luxury car than a sports car and so the steering is quite light which is good when you're parking but when you're driving and driving fast it's it's somewhat vague compared to the other car and I feel I would also attribute that to like development of the chassis as well and being there the fact the other one is basically an STI which is always about being a sports car and this was about being a grand tourer which is what we're doing here well one's designed to be sharp and the other's designed to be soft quite literally you know yeah but I'm in sixth gear right now just cruising around at 100 like pick whatever gear you want fifth gear puts at 100 puts in about 3000 RPM which is pretty much where your power band starts and so you roll that on in any gear and you're really moving like you can feel it straight away yeah so hang around in sixth gear the six speed is basically the same thing except this doesn't have the adjustable diff uh the ratio is very similar as well so it's amazing how well that engine just bolted in and worked it was a really really good result for the recipe foreign it's so good ah that's just that's that's ridiculously good far out I can feel it I can hear it I can taste it smell it smell it yeah that's so good man it's just not about the numbers is it it's not all about the numbers because this is just it's got some spice to it that you just you can't quite work out what it is in the recipe it's something that is greater and more magical than just the core ingredients you know yeah super Gramps you absolute weapon so that there is the two cars we got super grams we've got the SDI la vorg what's the conclusion well people if you just look at the numbers the STI swappler Vogue has it hands down like it's just kind of better at almost absolutely everything but would you judge a friendship by the Numbers Martin would you give him a rating would you give your friends a rating would you say you know it's all about whether you bought me dinner how generous you are how funny you are like would you rate someone like that I'd give you a nine no you wouldn't you you don't know I wouldn't you don't rate your friends is what I'm saying because sometimes there's something ethereal is that the word there's something there's something that's more than the sun that's part yes and as such regardless of the numbers remove the analytical mind for a second and just look at the Spirit of what the thing is I am absolutely crowning super Gramps as the winner which is why which is why it is going to be immortalized in the poster right there signed and sent to you anywhere in the world Marty what do you reckon mate uh look you know what this thing I really really really enjoying driving this thing around as I really really enjoyed driving this thing around for the last eight eight years ages it's been a really really long thing I love this car we've driven it we've raced it in so many different cars we've battled against everything and has been broken once or twice but it has always come back for more it still looks great it was a real like a ground up build and I really learned a lot during that process which I was able to apply when we did this because Subaru Lego but there's something about this and I'm going to put it down to two things the sound of it which I think is one of the best sounding cars I've ever driven or owned and a lot of people that jump in and agree I've been murdering journalists that jump in this and be like sounds like a Porsche sounds better sounds better take that and so I put that down to the engine the combination of the engine the turbo setup the way the Exhaust Works the way the intake works the way the intercooler works it's dosing the way the power comes on that power band there's no replacement for displacement 3.6 liters is huge in a flat six engine it's Unique and I just think that absolutely makes the car I I agree and that is the thing numbers aside the sound of that the feel of that it is just not replicatable now let's just be honest for a second if you could get that you could get a spirit of all of this I'm getting Goosebumps just talking about if you could get all of that and somehow put it into there yeah you would have the ultimate car yeah you would I mean that's that's not possible though isn't that I mean that's not a thing surely that's not a thing is it like imagine if you could get that the spirit of that performance I mean I'm just just imagine it people right now just take a minute close your eyes and imagine if that was possible then I mean can you imagine Martin can you imagine what if I'm gonna close my eyes yes what if I told you speak to me whisper to me I'll show you foreign foreignover the last couple of months we converted this Subaru levorg to ej25 and manual using parts from a crashed STI and it's a wagon that Subaru never made but should have but the road was paved by the original OG which is super Gramps 3.6 liter six cylinder powered by ethanol this is a car that helps Define the Mighty Car Mods Channel and as such we're very excited to reveal the all-new super grants poster which we will autograph and send to you anywhere in the world it's available right now but today people it's time to dive into the wagon life with super Gramps and the STI of org foreign it's a 2003 Subaru Liberty GT it exists because my original Subaru wagon known as Gramps got left out in a rainstorm and flooded so I reselled the Driveline into a cheap blue high kilometer soccer mom car I got from Al and then he and Miles helped us fit the Driveline to the new shell I tried my luck with paint again this time without a rainstorm we made a custom color called squid juice and with it sprayed on the cart looked excellent after daily driving it for a while I realized it was actually by far the fastest and most capable car I owned so I took it to the track lower temperature high just gonna send it for this one see what on down to manifold yeah 151 yeah yes choosing not to destroy it by thrashing it constantly on the racetrack I tied it back to daily duties getting groceries and towing stuff around Nibiru levorks caught my eye when I realized that they are basically an updated Liberty with a different name the they all came out as automatic and not very fast so I got a cheap one and we rolled the dice with a crashed STI hoping all the parts would transfer across a few weeks later we'd extracted the Driveline from the STI and got it all bolted into the levor once it worked we started modifying and then took it out to the skid pan to see what it was capable of I was so thrilled with how well it drove we threw another round of mods at it for more power better handling and looks it made 205 kilowatts with a stock turbo then we completely reworked the interior added a stereo and got it engineered and registered the result is an excellent street car it's modern practical and it's brilliant car to drive but is it anywhere as good as the original Super grams today we find out so that's a little bit of history about each of these builds and now we have these two mad modified and very unique Subaru sitting here in super garage and today we're going to be going through a bunch of aspects of each of the cars we're going to be looking at exterior interior performance we're going to be driving both of the cars and hopefully at the end of this video we'll be able to Crown one of these as the ultimate Mighty Car Mods Subaru super wagon now why do people love wagons so much I reckon practicality and handling when you think of a twisty B Road or country road or a racetrack do you think of getting in an SUV do you think of getting in a dual cab Ute I I don't think so I mean look obviously people do lots of mods on Dual cab Utes and because we are the best four-wheel driving channel in the world we have been doing a bunch of work on our Hilux it is a car that can do a lot of things well but dual cabs you also do a lot of things not so well and performance driving on twisty roads and track days is uh they're normally driving can't do it is the truth so what you get with one of these is you can do a track day you can put your stuff in it you've got a big boot you got roof pods you can tow things you do have that practicality that means it fits with your life but also is a car you can just have the one car that you can go to a tractor you can go to the drags you can go to a mad Country Road and have a really really good time so that I think is why these things are absolute standouts FYI pertinent to this story my first car after my mini and Camira was a VL Commodore station wagon that's the last time I've had a station wagon it was uh over 20 years ago but anyway let's jump into the Subaru super wagon build off we're going to start with the exterior this is a Subaru Liberty elsewhere in the world it's known as a legacy this is a BP they've been making a legacy since the late 80s and 1989 and it was a very Progressive change this is the fourth generation a very popular one although the Outbacks which is the jacked up and slightly bigger version actually took away a lot of the Legacy sales around the world in terms of what it looks like I mean it's kind of fat for its age I guess it's not sort of fat as the Lavo but it does have the typical Bonnet scoop the designs of the liberty and Legacy was always a bit more safe than the WRX even though the chassis was similar it was also slightly bigger in terms of The Styling I guess it's of the of its era which is 2003 which means they probably started thinking about this thing and what it was going to look like back in the 90s now what's really interesting about this is that this car here is considered a large car this here is built on the same platform as the Impreza and WRX which is a small car but as is the nature people everything is getting bigger so this here is actually this is bigger than that isn't it like yeah this is actually a bigger car just about a tiny bit now around this era 2014's when they started making these everything started getting sharper so those big Smiley mouths that you're seeing on the front of cars turned into skeletors groaning mouth instead so these big aren't going to look everything is sharper there's way more angle to it really fat really low a little bit more what we call robot vomit which is kind of just machines to stick and stuff any way they think but it's when you look at this and you see these angles the sharp lines this kind of press down the door here which is a bit softer on this car it actually does start to make super Gramps look like its age which is a car that was designed over 20 years ago so as a general rule we're going to give some rough numbers out of 10 I'm going to give this look eight I reckon actually looks pretty good super Gramps I'm going to give her six it looks fat it looks white it looks nice but it just is starting to look its age which is old and I'd have to agree I reckon this I really like how this looks I think it looks really sharp angular and chunky and has a really good presence super Gramps is exactly starting to look its age and for its time it look on tough but Liberties and Legacies were always a softer thing because this is based on the same platform as a WRX and an STI because everything fits it it has way more aggressive looks so same score same score great all right let's move on to Interior people I feel bad saying it Marty it feels like I'm in a taxi oh really it actually does feel a bit there's some aspects of the inside which is really nice like the headlining which is custom I love a black headlining I like to feel like I'm kind of really encapsulated that's really nice but the rest of it it's just it's cheap I I don't care about the whole cheap most expensive interior except for when the cheapness is actually coming through in damage like all the cracks to everything well this was their Flagship model it was their fancy model it was supposed to be premium this is a premium interior leather I mean originally it was leather seats they kind of get worn out everything is worn out and the dashes are that bad that they actually record them and this is the third Dash this car has had and they're all cracked and turned white so it's just it has not withstood the test of time and this car has been looked after and loved in garage and everything and it still looks like rubbish after all this time so it looks it looks terrible it's not it's not great I think they actually messed up with this particular model and um yeah look I would give the interior three but I know that sounds brutal but I'm giving an extra one point for the recaros that came my Sylvia and then buy it too sexy because even though that has nothing to do with Subaru we're still we're looking at Wagon versus wagon yeah and that said I'm giving that an extra one so um I mean these are probably worth another five but let's let's just be uh let's just be serious for a second because of this I'm giving it a four dude yeah sorry man I feel bad that's okay I'm giving it a five it's got some nice things like you know climate control and and they've tried but they just have not withstood the test of time if you get other cars from the same year like 2003 they'll look way better than this yeah so five inside the lavogue with an STI Interior Swap this is a really nice place to be people always use Volkswagen golfs as kind of the litmus test of like it's not as good as a golf it's not I think this is the kind of the Mark 7 golf there's knobs buttons everything that you want one of the criticisms of the market is everything went too digital this year everything's right where you want it look there's a lot of knobs on the steering wheel and a couple of knobs are sitting in the car right now so what the first thing you notice is the dash kind of goes away from you so we're in a slightly different seating position to that car but the car is actually physically bigger so so we've got a little bit more room it feels a little bit more open area it definitely has like a plastic feel they went away from whatever was on those old dashes that sort of soft touch stuff which failed and they've gone to this sort of more plasticky stuff which people sometimes complain about but I actually think is good and practical and easy to keep clean and is going to withstand the test of time all the stuff that's in here is really easy to see good positions good good driving positions I think it's I think it's definitely a step up yeah absolutely and look with these things I mean look we're obviously just doing this for a bit of fun and to try and get our own heads around it you could say you give it an 8 out of ten which is what I'm giving the interior by the way and someone could go but it's not as nice as a Bugatti it's not as good as a whatever yeah the thing is it's functional it's clean it's nice it works none of it's broken for what it is in its other form I would have given it like a six in a slavogue form yeah definitely get another couple of points better seats leather I'm giving it eight out of ten I'm gonna give it a seven just because I think they have dropped the quality of it compared to what they went did with the with super grams and that era but I actually think it's going to be be more durable it just doesn't look quite as luxury as that did when it first came out when it comes to the technology in super Gramps it is Stark at best the highlight of course is the haltech ic7 which is a dash which basically comes up with all the different operating information about the car you can set that up in lots of different screens that has nothing to do with Subaru but we still got to give it a couple of points because that is in here we've also got this little Japanese thing that adjusts the coilovers that's probably worth losing half a point because we're pretty sure that doesn't work the steering wheel is a good way of kind of looking at what era cars there's nothing on it but when the car did come out uh it has cruise control which I gather was a bit of a feature and climate control that's it there's um there's uh it's got a horn there's electric windows and the only thing digital here um that zuru's put on there is your odometer over here um it's stuck it's stuck man it is a little bit I'm gonna give it a um I'm giving it a two and I'm adding three for the halting I'm giving it a five I'm giving you a six for its era it was pretty impressive but yeah yeah I mean it's basic now I mean we're not in that era anymore though we gotta judge it for now so do you want to adjust your score six I'm gonna do six I'd like to revise my score I just remembered that super Gramps doesn't even have a head unit in it uh and so I was scoring it as if you could actually listen to your favorite song which you can't so I'm taking another point off because I remembered this has got full custom stereo Dynamat everywhere Apple carplay which is putting the points up but in retrospect that needs to be lower so I'm putting that down to four Martin here we are we're in the SDI level we're in the Str level now technology in a car like this has come a long way there's been Leaps and Bounds think about what existed think about what existed in 2003 compared to what existed in 2014 or 2017 when this car was actually made 2003 if you had a gigabyte of ram in your computer you were baller again one gigabyte one gigabyte yeah so things have changed a little bit anyway so where can I I start so firstly we've got an engine start button so straight away we're in the future we do have the full climate control we also got a dual climate control in case you're not that friendly with the person who's in the past let's see up there look at that what'd you call me the MFD it's a multi-functional display oh that thing I'm not calling you on oh well anyway we've got a boost gauge we've got fuel economy we've got calendars this car will even tell you that it's your birthday and wish you a happy birthday when you set it in there I'm not even joking I remember because one did that and I'm deducting a point for that you can add one if you want no no anyway so we also have other adjustable means obviously we have this eye doing which we've put in which is awesome so that has the car plane Android auto and maps and navigation and all this other cool stuff which is really good the factory one that comes with is actually okay and you can get fancy Harman Kardon ones that are all tuned and actually sound pretty good on the steering wheel we've got a lot of buttons it's a little bit robot but all these functions are customizable and especially with the eye doing you can actually make them do whatever you want and they're not their actual real buttons we've also got a display up here so you can go through and you can change it from speed and you can do your fuel economy and all the other information you might want to see in front of you and importantly you also have your adjustable Center div now supergrams does have a six-speed and it's got a uh a center definite but it is not adjustable like this one is this is called a dccd system means you can change the way that the torque split works and sort of fine tune it especially when you want to do donuts as we saw this car does excellent Donuts thanks to partly the technology so I'm giving the technology in this car I'm giving it a nine wow I was going to give it an eight because it knows your birthday and says happy birthday I'm taking one off for seven but then I remembered that this car has Alpine splits in the front uh we installed speakers in the back it's got an amp and a sub which I'm giving an extra point so I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. let's have a quick chat about safety it's not something that a lot of performance car owners are often really into but it is important because these cars are from two very different eras that's right and Chassis development is a big one manufacturers are always pushing to have more rigidity and better crash safety as well which involves the kind of metal that they use and where they put it and how the car crumples and all those kind of things another big obvious one on our car as well is brakes so super grams does have the STI big four pot Brembo brakes that's why the wheels are different from the ones that it usually has because those wheels will not fit over these massive brakes the levorg has it even better it's got a six pot which is even bigger and just basically has better stopping power now when it comes to airbags there's just way more in the live organ it's also worth pointing out that the safety rating like the end cap safety rating is relevant for when the car came out and if you retested the car now it wouldn't score nearly as highly so if you put both of these cars side by side the levorg is going to rate much better the other big difference is that this one here is running Michelin Pilots board fours this is running Michelin Pilot Sport fives the Pilot Sport 5 is an evolution of the Pilot Sport for but it has got better grip in the wet and better grip in the dry and best of all increased lap performance as well so that one is a no-brainer both excellent tires but the Pilot Sport 5 also nudges that ahead so I'm going to give that an overall score of eight I'm going to give that a six yep I would agree on the scores and also I would say we're not talking about 50 year old cars like with you know these these do have quite good safety for what they are they are well built cars and they do have a good reputation but the lavogue is definitely going to win in this case now one of the reasons I love station wagons is you get all the features of a sedan but you also get the utility and a whole lot more space now let's kick off with some specs about the levorg now this one boot space 522 liters are compared to an Impreza which gets like 350 to 380 it's a huge difference this one here also has a what do you call these one like a quick release thing to stick your roof pot on yep so you basically kind of have your racks and your roof pod goes on there so you've got your boot space and that plus you've got your tow bar here and I think this has got about a 1.2 tonne towing capacity there Martin I've thrown you the ball what have you got I actually think in this case super graphs might have it now it's got a slightly smaller boot we're talking like I think 500 no 460 liters approximately so a bit smaller than level even though from the back windows it actually looks bigger it is smaller where supergrams wins though it also can take a roof pod even though I don't think the roof rails look as cool because these things always cause me lots of problems like trying to get them on off and paint them and stuff it's a similar idea but it's not as refined as lavorg has what this does have is a higher towing capacity now you'd barely be able to stick a mini on a car trailer behind the lavogue if you had the right trailer you might just scrape it in yeah with this you can do it legally so depending what engine you've got in it you've got either from it starts from a 1200 like the Lavo but if you get the bigger engine the two and a half liter or the three liter in my case 3.6 liter that increases to 1800 kilos wow now when it comes to utility I would suggest that you get more utility from a higher towing capacity than you get from an extra 50 liters or so of boot space because also once you've fold the seats down there's enough room to sleep in there and carry everything you need six so eight I'm gonna go seven nine oh okay cool so that's a that's a win for super Gramps when it comes to uniqueness and street cred they are two aspects of car ownership that has huge currency in the aftermarket scene now super grants was kind of built as a sleeper it was what it's for it looked like kind of a family wagon the kind of boring ugly thing that it is sorry uh and um that's what it did but it did it really well but when you pull up at a car meet mutton this is the car that's going to get the attention and the reasoning is if you do know your Subarus and let's be honest there's a lot of people out there that do you start to see subtle differences you see the big fat STI guards which did not come out on a lavogue you see the front end which is just a bit different then you see the skirts which are also just a little bit different what I like about it is it's subtle but it's there and you notice it especially with a bit that's not subtle is those massive yellow brakes and when you see that you know something is going on you can buy a Gen 4 Subaru that looks pretty much like that even with those Wheels which was an option on that car and from the outside except for maybe the big front mount on the front it could there could be anything which was also the purpose so I don't know street cred I'm leaning towards this I really love the sleepiness of that but this has a little bit more going on I think when it comes to Mighty Car Mods fans and I know there's a lot of ogs out there so hello to all of you because I know some people have been watching for almost 15 years this is going to have a special place in people's hearts but when you're just rolling up to a meet you look at this looking from this angle it's fat it's low I can see it boost gauge through the window you've got te37s on there you're like that's fancy you see the passport fives okay they obviously do some track days and stuff like that is the car that's going to get some attention so when it comes for Pure Street credness and I'm just talking about the looks now I'm going to give this a five because it looks like heaps that are out there I'm giving that a nine man like it's just it looks great it's a tough one that absolutely wins the sleeper category and this absolutely wins sort of the standout street cred look so that's that's a I'm getting five each because I don't actually want to choose now this car this is where it starts to get a little bit special under the Bonnet the whole point of this was to put the biggest engine that Subaru ever made into this sort of old grandpa wagon so this is an ez36 it came around in the big SUV Subaru tribeckers uh it looks a lot like it's ez30 cousin but just a little bit chunkier it's got dual ABCs it's got it on the exhaust and the intake cam it's got a big Garrett turbo there and to keep it all in one piece it does run ethanol plus some big injectors and some haltech management with an elite 2500 ethanol is keeping this engine alive this is not limited if you put Petrol in it you make basically no power because it will just detonate and that will kill the engine ethanol makes it run cooler Heats more fuel volume gets the turbo spooling up it only runs between 8 and 10 pounds of boost and makes 300 or kilowatts or 400 horsepower but on the track and I have found this a few times after a couple of laps it starts to get cranky everything gets hot the oil temperature comes up the water temperature comes up and you've got to stay out of it now luckily I haven't blown it up on the track which is awesome but I don't know if it's going to be quite as reliable as that thing now over here unlike super grams which once he's had a go he needs to have a bit of a rest before he can go again uh the Young Buck over here can just jump straight back in and get to it this here is the same pretty much exactly the same engine and setup that I had in my white 2018 SDI 2.5 liter four-cylinder boxer engine blah blah blah all the stuff that Subaru people already know these are not really famous for making a whole lot of power I know someone's going to go but my cousin made one with heaps of power pretty much the way that they respond to mods is you get an extra 50 to 70 kilowatts maybe after that you require turbos you require all sorts of stuff and what do we end up making with this two this make 205 on petrol on ethanol with a bigger turbo the engine itself is going to run out of ability at about 270 kilowatts absolute maximum yeah but that will do an 11. so but the power then is not really comparable and how the power comes on is not comparable super Gramps is just brutal everywhere the way it throws you in the seat and where that power comes on is incredible but over here this is kind of a good all-around kind of power that can get the job done and the difference is and that I found in mind you can just go to the track and drive around all day just round and round and round and round without having any problems super grams does need to come in for a rest every now and then just to cool down uh if you've seen the build videos got a top mount we've got a gfb blow-off valve there's an intake and this one's running a tune that is kind of all the basics and an exhaust so I think the important thing now mud is to actually take them both out onto the street go for a drive and then actually decide whether the spiritual beauty that is the Bellissimo of super Gramps can actually take the crown from what is the new guy on the street the new kid on the Block the lavog is back all right you know what I mean or something I do know I do know what you mean but I kind of wish I did alrighty so now we're going to take both cars for a drive on the street so we're just going to see what they feel like what the performance is like what the sound is like what the smell is like Martin straight away the levorg has that very iconic box of Rumble that people like yes and you know that real sort of rumbly Subaru sound um it's kind of noisy but not too noisy not comfortable seats are good inside's nice the aircon's working it's a pretty good place to be rolling start from 30ks now here we go three two one go it's it's quick it's all right it's quick yeah it's it's when that power keeps going yes that you really kind of lose your breath but right where you're like Ah that's where it kind of runs out doesn't it absolutely it doesn't have the massive torque hit it's quite smooth and quite Progressive it's a small Factory turbo yeah so what you do get is when it comes on at three grand it's holds it it just holds that power off of until basically six six and a half thousand RPM yes and just keeps pulling and it's kind of what you want for A Streetcar on the road um but it's trying to make up for the deficiencies in terms of capacity yeah compared to something like super greens but it is a nice place to be it feels modern it feels good yeah yeah I mean definitely there's a little bit of lag at the front which is like when you plant your foot you've got a second of kind of the weight like the breath in but then once it goes you do get a good push in your seat I just wish that push went for longer you know what I mean all went harder and the other thing is this car is on petrol so there's going to be limitations there compared to running something on ethanol the fuel and how much power you can extract but this is what a lot of and most ej25 Subarus when they've got a stock engine and they pretty much feel like this yeah this is it and it's good is it mind-blowing or face melting no but it is solid yeah in terms of the ride it feels firm it feels planted it feels slum confidence inspiring I guess you could say that combination of our wheel tire brake and suspension um it's a nice place to be you can drive around every day we didn't really lose anything when we went from lavogue to all the STI stuff either like it's a bit noisier because it's got a bigger exhaust on it and it's a little bit further because it's got Springs in it and sway bar links and stuff like that but not to the point where you've ruined it yeah so it's still a very usable car you could put someone in it who had no idea about cars and they go oh yeah cool it's a thing oh it's a bit noisy back here but aside from that it's just really nice to be in so for the next test Martin tunnel run the all-important tunnel run test it's all right it's okay we've got room for one more here we go here we go pretty good it looks all right I've gone through that tunnel in a VTEC mini on full song I've gone through that tunnel in an RS3 with an exhaust yeah gone through that tunnel in a Lotus yeah so I got a fairly High Benchmark a tunnel run sound all right that was mediocre at least were you towing anything no okay no neither are we what so that's a quick Street Drive in the SDI La Vogue now it's time to jump into the granddaddy super Gramps and everybody now we are in super Gramps to take it for a drive see how granddaddy rolls all right here we go rolling start 30ks now let's go oh that's his face melting it's so good holy moly it's so good ethanol big cubes Big Turbo actually a little turbo for what it is but just just hangs on doesn't it it knocks your block off man he's just pressed out of you I don't even I'm even shifting before the hard Red Line because it's like it's just got power everywhere when you drop it back to the next gear it still goes that is amazing yeah it really is isn't it I know that I gave its interior a really low score and I stand by that in terms of the broken stuff or whatever yeah but these seats in this car it's actually a really nice place to be pretty good it's pretty I actually think it's I actually think it's nicer than the level do you yeah I mean I just did a lot of that to the recaros but also it just I don't know maybe I'm just more comfortable with it because it's a bit old and festy like I am well straight away the the throttle mapping I love it's got the hell taking it we've been I've actually tweaked the throttle mapping over the time I've owned the car to have it exactly how I like it so it's a little bit doughy down the bottom which makes it easy to putt around and easy to control the clutch but then when you into it you get this really really Snappy response which I like the brakes don't feel anywhere as good as the Vol brakes and Lavo brakes are some of the best I've ever driven with ever they feel so good and sharp and really bitey and they have good stopping power the clutch is a bit heavier in this car because it is a heavier like aftermarket clutch than what's in the other one um but when you're cruising down the highway it's not that different is it really no it sounds different it's a bit noisier but not necessarily bad it's a different kind of noisy yeah so this is this doesn't have any drone at all the lavogue has a little bit not much it's fine you can live with it but this here it's almost at a lower pitch so it's not as audible that it's more a feel thing you know what I mean it's like you can feel it's like you can feel the power of the decibels without hearing it it's a it's a it's strange but it's good feels weighty it does feel good the steering is to be honest a bit vague it kind of always has been again this is supposed to be more of a luxury car than a sports car and so the steering is quite light which is good when you're parking but when you're driving and driving fast it's it's somewhat vague compared to the other car and I feel I would also attribute that to like development of the chassis as well and being there the fact the other one is basically an STI which is always about being a sports car and this was about being a grand tourer which is what we're doing here well one's designed to be sharp and the other's designed to be soft quite literally you know yeah but I'm in sixth gear right now just cruising around at 100 like pick whatever gear you want fifth gear puts at 100 puts in about 3000 RPM which is pretty much where your power band starts and so you roll that on in any gear and you're really moving like you can feel it straight away yeah so hang around in sixth gear the six speed is basically the same thing except this doesn't have the adjustable diff uh the ratio is very similar as well so it's amazing how well that engine just bolted in and worked it was a really really good result for the recipe foreign it's so good ah that's just that's that's ridiculously good far out I can feel it I can hear it I can taste it smell it smell it yeah that's so good man it's just not about the numbers is it it's not all about the numbers because this is just it's got some spice to it that you just you can't quite work out what it is in the recipe it's something that is greater and more magical than just the core ingredients you know yeah super Gramps you absolute weapon so that there is the two cars we got super grams we've got the SDI la vorg what's the conclusion well people if you just look at the numbers the STI swappler Vogue has it hands down like it's just kind of better at almost absolutely everything but would you judge a friendship by the Numbers Martin would you give him a rating would you give your friends a rating would you say you know it's all about whether you bought me dinner how generous you are how funny you are like would you rate someone like that I'd give you a nine no you wouldn't you you don't know I wouldn't you don't rate your friends is what I'm saying because sometimes there's something ethereal is that the word there's something there's something that's more than the sun that's part yes and as such regardless of the numbers remove the analytical mind for a second and just look at the Spirit of what the thing is I am absolutely crowning super Gramps as the winner which is why which is why it is going to be immortalized in the poster right there signed and sent to you anywhere in the world Marty what do you reckon mate uh look you know what this thing I really really really enjoying driving this thing around as I really really enjoyed driving this thing around for the last eight eight years ages it's been a really really long thing I love this car we've driven it we've raced it in so many different cars we've battled against everything and has been broken once or twice but it has always come back for more it still looks great it was a real like a ground up build and I really learned a lot during that process which I was able to apply when we did this because Subaru Lego but there's something about this and I'm going to put it down to two things the sound of it which I think is one of the best sounding cars I've ever driven or owned and a lot of people that jump in and agree I've been murdering journalists that jump in this and be like sounds like a Porsche sounds better sounds better take that and so I put that down to the engine the combination of the engine the turbo setup the way the Exhaust Works the way the intake works the way the intercooler works it's dosing the way the power comes on that power band there's no replacement for displacement 3.6 liters is huge in a flat six engine it's Unique and I just think that absolutely makes the car I I agree and that is the thing numbers aside the sound of that the feel of that it is just not replicatable now let's just be honest for a second if you could get that you could get a spirit of all of this I'm getting Goosebumps just talking about if you could get all of that and somehow put it into there yeah you would have the ultimate car yeah you would I mean that's that's not possible though isn't that I mean that's not a thing surely that's not a thing is it like imagine if you could get that the spirit of that performance I mean I'm just just imagine it people right now just take a minute close your eyes and imagine if that was possible then I mean can you imagine Martin can you imagine what if I'm gonna close my eyes yes what if I told you speak to me whisper to me I'll show you foreign foreign\n"