The Pursuit of Fun and Practicality: A Garage Strategy Evolution

As I reflect on my garage strategy, I've come to realize that it's essential to have two distinct approaches when it comes to vehicle selection. On one hand, I want something fun to drive – something that brings me joy and allows me to experience the thrill of driving a lightweight rear-wheel drive vehicle. On the other hand, I need a practical car for everyday use, with cargo space, ground clearance, and all the features I require for my adventures.

In recent years, I've been focusing on finding the perfect balance between fun and practicality in my vehicles. I've learned that cars tend to be more enjoyable when they're lightweight, rear-wheel drive, and have a two-seater design. The MX-5, Formula S2000, and Z3 come to mind as examples of these types of vehicles. While I haven't had the chance to drive all of them, my experience with the Mazda MX-5 has been exceptional. The Subaru BRZ is another car that I've enjoyed driving – it's incredibly fun, but could benefit from a bit more weight or power.

My current garage strategy consists of an STI and an Acura Integra. While both are high-performance vehicles, they're not ideal for my needs as a daily driver who wants to focus on practicality. The STI is too heavy, with limited cargo space, and the Integra has some issues with reliability in certain conditions. I've come to realize that these cars are not the best choices for me, given my priorities.

One of the mistakes I made was letting ego play a role in my purchasing decision. When I bought the STI, I let horsepower become a significant factor in my choice. However, if you're not planning on track days, the WRX is the better buy – it's significantly cheaper and offers nearly identical performance to the STI.

Despite the drawbacks of owning an expensive high-performance vehicle, I've been fortunate that Subaru models tend to hold their value well, especially in areas with heavy snowfall like the Northwest. My current car has only 14,000 miles on it, and as a result, it's retained most of its value – a significant advantage when considering the depreciation costs associated with owning a high-performance vehicle.

As I look to the future, I'm eager to trade out both my STI and Integra for two new vehicles that meet my needs. One car will be extremely practical, with cargo space, ground clearance, and all the features I require for daily driving. The other car will be a lightweight, rear-wheel drive vehicle that's specifically designed for fun – something like a two-seater roadster or sports car.

In this article, I hope to provide insight into my garage strategy evolution and offer guidance on how to strike the perfect balance between fun and practicality when it comes to choosing vehicles. Whether you're looking to upgrade your garage with a new set of wheels or simply seeking advice on how to find the right car for your needs, I hope that my experiences will be helpful in making an informed decision.

The Role of Ego in Vehicle Purchasing

One of the mistakes I made when purchasing my STI was letting ego play a significant role in my decision. At the time, horsepower became a major factor in my choice – I didn't realize that it wasn't necessary for me to have such a high-performance vehicle. As a result, I ended up with an expensive car that didn't meet all of my needs.

Looking back, I realize that I was caught up in the hype surrounding the STI's performance capabilities and let my enthusiasm get the best of me. While the STI is indeed an incredible car, it's not the right fit for me as a daily driver who prioritizes practicality above all else.

In contrast, when I'm considering purchasing a new vehicle, I need to take a step back and assess whether or not horsepower really matters to me. Am I looking for a car that can keep up with my driving style, or am I simply trying to impress others? By being honest with myself about what's truly important, I can make more informed decisions when it comes to choosing vehicles.

The Benefits of All-Wheel Drive

As someone who lives in an area with heavy snowfall, I've come to appreciate the benefits of all-wheel drive. The Subaru models I own have proven themselves to be incredibly capable in snowy conditions – they provide exceptional grip and traction, making them perfect for navigating treacherous terrain.

One of the advantages of all-wheel drive is its ability to distribute power evenly between the front and rear wheels. This helps to maintain stability and control on slippery surfaces, reducing the risk of skidding or losing momentum. In addition, many modern all-wheel-drive systems, such as those found in Subaru models, can adjust their torque distribution in real-time – a feature that's particularly useful when driving in inclement weather.

The Importance of Practicality

As I look to purchase new vehicles in the future, I'm becoming increasingly aware of the importance of practicality. While it's essential to have fun and enjoy the thrill of driving, it's equally important to consider the needs of everyday life.

For me, practicality means having a car that can handle a variety of tasks – from daily commuting to hauling gear for outdoor adventures. It also means ensuring that my vehicle has enough cargo space to accommodate all of my needs, whether I'm traveling or just running errands.

In this sense, my current garage strategy is shifting towards finding vehicles that meet both my fun and practical requirements. One car will be designed with performance in mind – something lightweight and rear-wheel drive – while the other will prioritize functionality and usability.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello everyone and welcome a slightly sad tone and fairly appropriate that it's raining because in this video i'm going to be talking about why i am selling my subaru sti now the biggest reason i think that it comes down to is that i didn't really know what i liked when i bought this vehicle i bought the sti before i had ever done any automotive journalism before i had said in any press car uh and so as a result you know i didn't actually know what i liked and the reason i bought the sti was purely based on the things that i had read um online you know in magazines things like that and from you know reading the spec sheets and comparing it with other cars and determining okay by the numbers i think i like this car the best i went and test drove it and the wrx and i decided you know what i'm gonna buy the sti and so i kind of went into it without enough information and i think that's probably really common for most buyers out there because it's not like all of us have the opportunity to get a lengthy uh you know test drive in of all the cars out there and so as i've started to get into these different vehicles i've started to learn more about what it is i like and originally i thought you know i wanted a car that could do everything and i would still say if you want a car that can do everything this is certainly one of the few out there hatchback plenty of cargo space it's got plenty of ground clearance in comparison to what it competes against and that's not necessarily true anymore they've lowered it for the newer model but the previous generation had good ground clearance uh plenty of horsepower it's got 305 horsepower out of the turbocharged engine um you know so it's it's a lot of fun to drive uh it can you know carry four people five people you've got cargo space you've got ground clearance you've got everything you need in a car especially the things that i would say that i would like to have it can do everything and yet it's a sports car and i didn't think i was necessarily making any sacrifices there and getting it and the reason being is because i hadn't driven the other cars out there and so one of the things that i've kind of learned about super the things that i like is they put a ton of emphasis in good visibility and not a lot of the car companies out there uh do this there's a lot the sacrifice visibility for aesthetics things like that um or because they don't want to use you know the right materials whatever it may be the point is uh there's a huge emphasis in subaru vehicles uh which i have found for comfort these seats are phenomenal and in a lot of other sports cars you don't get as comfortable with seats and as well as visibility you get great visibility in here also something that's often sacrificed and as i mentioned you know it's practical it's got all that stuff what i did kind of learn which i was giving up in buying a vehicle that can do everything uh is weight and so what i've come to learn as i've driven all these vehicles uh there's there's a lot of ego in cars and and everyone thinks you know the best car is the one with the most horsepower that goes the fastest everyone needs a hellcat right uh and the hellcat weighs what 4 700 pounds i mean it's just a stupid way and it takes a lot of the joy out of driving because it weighs so much and so there's so many you know there's all these battles oh this car goes around the nurburgring at this speed this car has this much horsepower this car has this top speed um and the reality of it is which i've come to find out is that what i enjoy most is cars that remove weight and the horsepower number isn't nearly as important as the weight number um that's kind of a decision which i didn't know going into this car i mean i knew it was a little heavier than kind of what i wanted coming from an acura integra uh but it had plenty of power and i would say certainly this is more fun than my integra but what i wouldn't say it's necessarily more fun than uh mazda mx5 honest 2000 bmw z3 porsche boxster these cars that remove weight they're smaller um they're not quite as powerful but they're a ton of fun and so you know driving the new mx-5 that was kind of the eye-opening experience for me that if you remove weight i mean that car has half the horsepower of this vehicle but it weighs a thousand pounds less and it's so much fun and you just can't help but smile the whole time you're driving in it city traffic whatever you're going to have a good time in that car because it's so nimble and so much fun to just kind of toss around and i think you know kind of what prevents a lot of people from getting into those is ego and there's just this huge amount of ego in the car community and people look at these mx-5s and s2000s whatever it's it's a chick card it's for girls it's for women um and women in this scenario have honestly figured it out because they don't have ego like us car guys i mean they don't they remove that from the equation and they buy what they want and these cars are a ton of fun women have figured it out they're the ones driving it they're the ones having the most fun they're having more fun than i am right now in this sti and that's you know that's kind of something that i've learned after driving all of these cars it's the most fun cars tend to be lightweight rear-wheel drive uh and you know two-seaters really small cars and you know that's kind of the the mx-5s the s2000s the z3s of the world and i haven't driven all of those cars uh but i've driven the mx-5 and that formula i absolutely love the subaru brz it's a ton of fun um you know it could use less weight or more power one of the other i think would make it the ideal vehicle uh it's a ton of fun but you get as a responsiveness in these vehicles that you don't get uh in for example the sti and so that's something i've kind of learned you know as i've kind of driven all these different vehicles and so i kind of want to go with a different approach with my garage strategy so right now i have an sti and an acura integra and what i'd like to do is trade out both of these vehicles and get something that's incredibly practical something that just does everything i need it to do you know it's got cargo space it's got ground clearance it's got all the things that i want in a vehicle to go on adventures which is what i like to do in my free time and then i've got something that's just a blast to drive and it's purely dedicated to fun and the reason why you know i previously didn't get something that was lightweight aside from not knowing that it was fun and aside from ego um is that you know they're not practical cars you don't have space you can't bring people with you there's barely any cargo space um they're loud interiors like because you've got these soft tops a lot of times and so you know there are some reasons why they're impractical but those impracticalities uh add fun and so you remove weight in that equation and fun goes up and so that's why i really like those vehicles i'd like to get something lightweight rear wheel drive um and hopefully a two-seater for my next fun vehicle and then get something that's extremely practical as like the daily driver and just so i can do all the things that i want to do and so that's kind of the strategy i'm going to go forward with i think another mistake i mean admittedly i have part of that ego problem where horsepower was part of the driving factor i don't think i needed the sti i never go to a track if i want to attract sure it's a better car hands down than the wrx but if you're not going to a track and you're just daily driving it the wrx is the better buy i mean it's eight or eight thousand ten thousand dollars less whatever it may be um and as a result you know you get nearly identical in speed especially the new one but back when i was buying this it was the other option uh and so you know you've got a car uh that's just as quick um and it's far less expensive and it's got a solid all-wheel drive system no it doesn't have three you know uh limited slip differentials it's just got one in the center of viscous coupling uh to split the power front to rear but you know it could have done everything that i needed in a car and it would have been much cheaper now i'm not that unhappy with my decision because subarus thankfully especially in the northwest don't depreciate so my car only has about 14 000 miles on it right now and as a result i mean it's practically not lost any value and it's two years old and so i'll still be able to make back a lot of what i spent on this vehicle and i've certainly enjoyed driving it is amazing in the snow it is unreal how much grip this car has when you put on the right tires i don't get any wheel slip and you know the snow can kind of bury up on you while you're out at the ski slope and then you come back to your car and you've got all the snow around and you're thinking oh am i going to be able to get out no problem it just cruises right over it and i think that's amazing one of the amazing things about this vehicle so i definitely do want something in the future that's still all-wheel drive still super practical all those things uh but i also want something that is more fun to drive when i'm just driving for the sake of enjoying it and so i hope you guys have enjoyed and kind of gotten a perspective of why i'm going to be selling this thank you all for watching if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave those belowhello everyone and welcome a slightly sad tone and fairly appropriate that it's raining because in this video i'm going to be talking about why i am selling my subaru sti now the biggest reason i think that it comes down to is that i didn't really know what i liked when i bought this vehicle i bought the sti before i had ever done any automotive journalism before i had said in any press car uh and so as a result you know i didn't actually know what i liked and the reason i bought the sti was purely based on the things that i had read um online you know in magazines things like that and from you know reading the spec sheets and comparing it with other cars and determining okay by the numbers i think i like this car the best i went and test drove it and the wrx and i decided you know what i'm gonna buy the sti and so i kind of went into it without enough information and i think that's probably really common for most buyers out there because it's not like all of us have the opportunity to get a lengthy uh you know test drive in of all the cars out there and so as i've started to get into these different vehicles i've started to learn more about what it is i like and originally i thought you know i wanted a car that could do everything and i would still say if you want a car that can do everything this is certainly one of the few out there hatchback plenty of cargo space it's got plenty of ground clearance in comparison to what it competes against and that's not necessarily true anymore they've lowered it for the newer model but the previous generation had good ground clearance uh plenty of horsepower it's got 305 horsepower out of the turbocharged engine um you know so it's it's a lot of fun to drive uh it can you know carry four people five people you've got cargo space you've got ground clearance you've got everything you need in a car especially the things that i would say that i would like to have it can do everything and yet it's a sports car and i didn't think i was necessarily making any sacrifices there and getting it and the reason being is because i hadn't driven the other cars out there and so one of the things that i've kind of learned about super the things that i like is they put a ton of emphasis in good visibility and not a lot of the car companies out there uh do this there's a lot the sacrifice visibility for aesthetics things like that um or because they don't want to use you know the right materials whatever it may be the point is uh there's a huge emphasis in subaru vehicles uh which i have found for comfort these seats are phenomenal and in a lot of other sports cars you don't get as comfortable with seats and as well as visibility you get great visibility in here also something that's often sacrificed and as i mentioned you know it's practical it's got all that stuff what i did kind of learn which i was giving up in buying a vehicle that can do everything uh is weight and so what i've come to learn as i've driven all these vehicles uh there's there's a lot of ego in cars and and everyone thinks you know the best car is the one with the most horsepower that goes the fastest everyone needs a hellcat right uh and the hellcat weighs what 4 700 pounds i mean it's just a stupid way and it takes a lot of the joy out of driving because it weighs so much and so there's so many you know there's all these battles oh this car goes around the nurburgring at this speed this car has this much horsepower this car has this top speed um and the reality of it is which i've come to find out is that what i enjoy most is cars that remove weight and the horsepower number isn't nearly as important as the weight number um that's kind of a decision which i didn't know going into this car i mean i knew it was a little heavier than kind of what i wanted coming from an acura integra uh but it had plenty of power and i would say certainly this is more fun than my integra but what i wouldn't say it's necessarily more fun than uh mazda mx5 honest 2000 bmw z3 porsche boxster these cars that remove weight they're smaller um they're not quite as powerful but they're a ton of fun and so you know driving the new mx-5 that was kind of the eye-opening experience for me that if you remove weight i mean that car has half the horsepower of this vehicle but it weighs a thousand pounds less and it's so much fun and you just can't help but smile the whole time you're driving in it city traffic whatever you're going to have a good time in that car because it's so nimble and so much fun to just kind of toss around and i think you know kind of what prevents a lot of people from getting into those is ego and there's just this huge amount of ego in the car community and people look at these mx-5s and s2000s whatever it's it's a chick card it's for girls it's for women um and women in this scenario have honestly figured it out because they don't have ego like us car guys i mean they don't they remove that from the equation and they buy what they want and these cars are a ton of fun women have figured it out they're the ones driving it they're the ones having the most fun they're having more fun than i am right now in this sti and that's you know that's kind of something that i've learned after driving all of these cars it's the most fun cars tend to be lightweight rear-wheel drive uh and you know two-seaters really small cars and you know that's kind of the the mx-5s the s2000s the z3s of the world and i haven't driven all of those cars uh but i've driven the mx-5 and that formula i absolutely love the subaru brz it's a ton of fun um you know it could use less weight or more power one of the other i think would make it the ideal vehicle uh it's a ton of fun but you get as a responsiveness in these vehicles that you don't get uh in for example the sti and so that's something i've kind of learned you know as i've kind of driven all these different vehicles and so i kind of want to go with a different approach with my garage strategy so right now i have an sti and an acura integra and what i'd like to do is trade out both of these vehicles and get something that's incredibly practical something that just does everything i need it to do you know it's got cargo space it's got ground clearance it's got all the things that i want in a vehicle to go on adventures which is what i like to do in my free time and then i've got something that's just a blast to drive and it's purely dedicated to fun and the reason why you know i previously didn't get something that was lightweight aside from not knowing that it was fun and aside from ego um is that you know they're not practical cars you don't have space you can't bring people with you there's barely any cargo space um they're loud interiors like because you've got these soft tops a lot of times and so you know there are some reasons why they're impractical but those impracticalities uh add fun and so you remove weight in that equation and fun goes up and so that's why i really like those vehicles i'd like to get something lightweight rear wheel drive um and hopefully a two-seater for my next fun vehicle and then get something that's extremely practical as like the daily driver and just so i can do all the things that i want to do and so that's kind of the strategy i'm going to go forward with i think another mistake i mean admittedly i have part of that ego problem where horsepower was part of the driving factor i don't think i needed the sti i never go to a track if i want to attract sure it's a better car hands down than the wrx but if you're not going to a track and you're just daily driving it the wrx is the better buy i mean it's eight or eight thousand ten thousand dollars less whatever it may be um and as a result you know you get nearly identical in speed especially the new one but back when i was buying this it was the other option uh and so you know you've got a car uh that's just as quick um and it's far less expensive and it's got a solid all-wheel drive system no it doesn't have three you know uh limited slip differentials it's just got one in the center of viscous coupling uh to split the power front to rear but you know it could have done everything that i needed in a car and it would have been much cheaper now i'm not that unhappy with my decision because subarus thankfully especially in the northwest don't depreciate so my car only has about 14 000 miles on it right now and as a result i mean it's practically not lost any value and it's two years old and so i'll still be able to make back a lot of what i spent on this vehicle and i've certainly enjoyed driving it is amazing in the snow it is unreal how much grip this car has when you put on the right tires i don't get any wheel slip and you know the snow can kind of bury up on you while you're out at the ski slope and then you come back to your car and you've got all the snow around and you're thinking oh am i going to be able to get out no problem it just cruises right over it and i think that's amazing one of the amazing things about this vehicle so i definitely do want something in the future that's still all-wheel drive still super practical all those things uh but i also want something that is more fun to drive when i'm just driving for the sake of enjoying it and so i hope you guys have enjoyed and kind of gotten a perspective of why i'm going to be selling this thank you all for watching if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave those below\n"