Hey everyone, just needed an outlet for this crap I’ve been holding in my chest that my family/coworkers do not seem to understand (but supports anyways.)
In the span of only a few years I’ve gone through four cars. A 99 Corolla, 2005 Civic SI, 2006 Nissan 350z, Acura RDX, and now a 09 Lancer RA…
Gaining a wife and a daughter in 2010 necessitated the trade in from the Z to the RDX. 2 seat coupes are a no-go with a family. The right thing to do was to give up my driving enjoyment. It was a hard decision, especially beginning my vehicle ownership with a Corolla and eventually moving up to a 350z. The RDX (SUV) seemed like the right move, and although it kept me up at nights from time to time, I kept the desire for performance at bay by thinking of my wife and child. And how much money I saved by keeping to one family car.
Then I deployed overseas. I had a close call (two of my friends were not so lucky) which forced me to look at my life… I didn’t gamble, smoke, drink… and I always provided for my family. The one vice I have... is cars.
I thought I deserved to go back to my other “car enthusiast” family. Life is short. But did I really want to go back to the headaches of one-up-man-ship in speed, competitive attitudes by different car-make owners, kissing warranties goodbye, and the big black hole in our wallets?
From everything around me, it seems that America is transitioning to a less gas / less speed / less carbon footprint type vehicles… am I fooling myself? Can you guys look at everything that you’ve sacrificed for the sake of your performance habit and say it’s been worth it? Can car enthusiasts survive the eventual push for the death of performance cars?
Then my wife tells me… If you think about something for every day of your life, how can it not be worth going after? Money will be tight, you will add more spending. Your competitive nature will cause stupid behaviors. Weekends will be taken away. Your compulsive behavior of washing and waxing your car after every rainy day will return. But it’s all worth it if you have a smile on your face when you wake up in the morning.
It was a hazardous path but the RDX went bye-bye, I gained a Lancer Ralliart (performance sedan FTW!) and my wife got her hands on a Mazda 5 for happy family trips… which now I understand the RA is for husband happy trips : )
I’d like to thank all of you in this forum (I’d been hovering around here long before the purchase of the Ralliart). From the 16 yr old who riced up his civic, to the midlife crisis corvette owners, to the “I have a BMW, don’t talk to me econobox!” owners, the vendors who vacuum my pockets every payday, and everyone who says the Ralliart too is slow…. Really, thank you. This place had a significant part in my decision to purchase this car; It feels right being here.
You are all enthusiasts in my book. We sweat the same sweat, lose the same weekends, lose the same money, lose the same common sense on an open road, and talk the same amount of crap on the competition.
Here’s to the future… whatever it is for our cars… I may be crazy, but I hope my daughter grows up with the same headaches and struggles to keep driving in the fast lane with you guys getting sick and tired of her complaints at EVO M.
If you took the time to read all my rantings, THANK YOU. It feels better just writing this out and posting it somewhere.

 

I sort of understand where you're coming from. A year ago I moved from Miami, FL to South Lake Tahoe, CA. After my first winter up here, my 05 Lancer doesn't cut it in snow, not enough ground clearance. I'm looking at the Outlander and the new Sportage SX, but deep down, I really want an 09-11 Ralliart or an Evo X. Even though I know I may have ground clearance problems in them, I just love having my little car that's fun to drive and I can pour money into if I want to. The Outlander GT is fun to drive but it's not the same and I haven't driven the Sportage SX yet, but turbo-4 in an SUV probably won't be as fun as I'm hoping.

 

It sounds much like a battle between the practical need for the car, vs the car hobbyist. We all would love to have a purist track ready car, but the realities of life and finances dictate that we make compromises. The issue is how far do you want to compromise before giving up the thing that you love completely.

My next car, i'd like to be luxurious but with great performance. But my price range seems to be either entry luxury (like Lexus IS250), or economy performance (Like an Evo X). My wife is in the car with me constantly and if I go fast she starts screaming and flailing. Makes me start to think maybe I should just go straight luxury but I just can't bring myself to buy a slow car.

 

Performance cars aren't dying, they're changing, and are going to continue to change. What has all this crying for better efficiency gotten us? A whole slew of new engine offerings from many manufacturers. Some are direct injection, others are turbo, but these days we're able to buy a 300 HP car that gets 30 MPG. We're able to get 40 MPG from engines that put out the same power as engines that could barely touch 30 MPG a few years ago.

Down the road, once we finally (hopefully) have our battery breakthroughs, we'll see more and more electric performance cars. We'll lose the sound, but we'll gain even better performance.

 

^Yeah, I can kind of see that now... it's just the way that every car company looks to be turning their backs on performance struck a nerve.

That Tesla roadster is no joke... hopefully the rest of the world follows suit.

 

Honestly, I've only noticed one company turning away from performance - Mitsu Everyone else has been coming out with more and more performance oriented models.

 

If hydrogen fueled cars become feasable you will see performance. Rocket fuel for cars FTW.