I dunno man. It's a fantastic machine, but I think I'd get a ZR-1. It would kill me, but only because I did it to myself. Unlike a GTR which would make me the track hero, but only because it did everything itself. I was watching an episode of D Motor some years ago. My memory is fuzzy and it was in German but I think they had a Z06, a Gallardo, and a GTR. The guy said basically his favorite was the Z06, and this was why. The GTR you drove with your mind, the Gallardo you drove with your heart, and the Z06 you had to drive with your balls. Totally different theories on making a track car.
That is smurfing bonkers. Though if I could afford a GTR I would not say no for the record.
Right now I'm debating the best way to bleed the S-AWC system of air once I button this beast back up. "Super-All Wheel Control" with active yaw management and torque vectoring and active damping and every system works in tandem and communicates each other, and holy trout. A lot of the maintenance for this vehicle from the factory says you should flush the drive train fluids every 30k. Owners who use their car on a regular basis or for performance driving say to take figures like that and cut them in HALF. There's a shop in the U.K. that says to come in for a complete drive train fluid flush (so that's engine, transmission, front transfer case, and both types of oil in the rear transfer case) every six months. It's an affordable vehicle when you purchase it, but it's basically a budget Nissan GTR with all the finicky maintenance requirements that entails. It's a serious performance machine.
I could imagine. Not surprised the STI is easy to work on as far as the transmission and what not. I've never had the chance to actually work on one, but the positioning of the engine and transmission seems pretty well thought out. Especially after talking to one of our instructors who worked at a Subaru dealership about it.
Oh yeah, they're really neat cars. They're heavier than the same gen WRX STi, and they make less power, but they can still get around the average track faster due to all the techno wizadry they have. The problems pop up with working on and maintaining that level of sophistication in a car that really wasn't all that expensive for what you were getting. Owners don't expect it, but they're freaking complex.
The reality is that quick lune places have ruined car owner's perceptions of oil changes by using inferior oils, inferior filters, and paying the poor shmuck under the hood minimum wage. I've had so many customers start coming to me because they literally lost engines due to poor oil changes done at troutty quick lube places. My recommendation to people is to do it yourself to save money, or find a place that will do it correctly and understand that the price for doing it the right way is more than what they expect.
Yeah, that capacity changes things abit. I used Mobil 1 (German cars love Mobil 1) and a Mann filter (german cars like those) and it came out to around 60-70 dollars. I don't charge labor for oil changes, and most places do. Let's say it takes me a half hour, which is generously low considering time on and off the lift and cleaning up the car. My labor rate is 75 an hour. So we'll say that's 37 for the job.If I were to charge labor that still makes it 97-107, and I'm not making much or really making you happy either.
Still seems high to me though since her car only holds at most 5.5 litres depending on which sub model she has. Apparently her receipt said they charged $99/hour for the labour. On an oil change and the inspection they do with it. Still sounds a bit excessive to me based on what I've paid in the past at other places.
sweet zombie jesus...
Sucks, huh? Not too surprising though. Those German cars hold a trout ton of oil because they need the larger capacity for extended driving down the autobahn at high speed. My dad's Chrysler Crossfire, which is basically 80% Mercedes SLK320, takes around 90-100 dollars in oil and filters at our cost. It's mechanically 100% Mercedes. All the German cars we see have fun oil changes. I just went and checked the last one I did for fun. It was a 2007 Mercedes C230. Her oil change was 94 and some change, and I know I made zero money on it. I just did it as a courtesy because she was getting a few other things done.
