My '06 "Hawk-Eye" WRX - Giving in to temptation...

**TurboC** · 10-08-2011 09:30 PM

When I moved to Singapore five years ago, I thought that my days as an auto-enthusiast were over: Singapore is a tiny but prosperous island state and while the number of people who can afford cars is going up exponentially, the size of the island and it's road network can't; so, the government taxes cars to the MAX... read all about it here: ExpatSingapore - Once you're here: Cost of owning a car

I recently switched to a new job on the other side of the island and while the (very efficient) train and bus system takes up 1.5hrs in each direction, driving there takes about half an hour! (And that was my "excuse" to finally fork out the money for a car here).

My better half and I had long discussions on "fuel efficiency", "leather interiors", "ride quality" ... and when the dealers would suggest Subarus I would turn them down with a scoff pointing to the cheap plastic interiors... and then one day I drove one! The grin on my face after that drive told my GF all she needed to know and she could just shake her head in surrender!

There was no turning back after that... "no Subarus" changed to "only a Subaru will do"... I was hooked! ... the feel and sound of that flat 4, the AWD handling, the TURBO!!!

I was bent on getting myself a WRX STI, but understandably and unfortunately, the first owners are not willing to part with the "well taken care of" cars, and the the only affordable STIs on the 2nd hand market were wrecks in disguise... I wasn't even looking at the "normal" WRXs till one day I walked up to "her" and I just knew that "she was the one" ...

My black '06 WRX, registered in '07, she was a very rare completely stock WRX in Singapore, right down to the original WRX muffler! All the little plastic bits under the bonnet that lazy mechanics and abusive modders throw away were still in place and even the interiors still had a hint of that "new car smell" ... I went on to test drive many more STIs and WRXs after that first "meeting" but eventually I came back.

She was priced high, insurance costed a bomb, the road tax folks started salivating when they heard about the 2.5L engine and the phrase "fuel efficiency" can't be used in a nice way in the same sentence with "turbo" or "performance" or "WRX" ...

I needed a car to get me to and from work and thru the daily Singapore traffic jams... what I "needed" was an automatic transmission 1.6L Toyota Corolla / Mitubishi Lancer / Honda Civic ... but I knew what I WANTED!

Y'gotta live a little... some call it "temptation", I call it "passion"... I gave into it!

A big Hell-o to y'all!