2012 Subaru Impreza
We old farts wax rhapsodic about Panthers (can we be any more delusional?) and other totally average automobiles.
My 2012 Impreza is a totally average car. The only thing that makes it anything more is that it can make it up my driveway in the wintertime. But the dude is also a cruiser. It has no problem dealing with western US speed limits. Utah and Idaho have set a limit of 75 mph on Interstates which is defacto 84 mph. This will soon change, at least in Utah, to 80 mph on certain sections of Interstates 15, 80, and 84. On an all day drive, being able to cruise another 5 mph makes a difference.
Anyhow, Suzie and I had to make a trek from Salt Lake City to Goldendale, Washington (680 miles)- to observe/celebrate our one and only grandchild, Riley Paul Martin’s (RPM’s) first birthday. Not a bad one-day ride, including a leisurely lunch at the historic Geiser Hotel in Baker City, Oregon. Just make sure you have a good book on CD to keep things from getting soporific.
Lacey, Riley and Shiner
One of Riley’s birthday presents was his first horseback ride. Riley’s mother, Lacey, has been riding since she was four years old. She would saddle up her horse in the morning and set out to explore the hills surrounding her family’s home. Her only instructions were to be home by dinnertime. Riley and Lacey are shown atop Shiner, Lacey’s horse.
My guess is that Riley will become an accomplished horseman long before he learns to drive a car; or out west, a truck. You don’t need a license to ride a horse.
Riley, Karl, Lacey and Shiner
Riley’s grandfather on his mother’s side is Karl, a large animal vet and a rodeo fan. He generally makes the Calgary Stampede and the Pendelton Round Up on an annual basis. No charge, he tends to his friends’ mounts pro bono.
Lacey, Riley and Shiner
Generally Lacey boards Shiner in Goldendale during the winter, but once spring springs, Lacey tows Shiner back to Prosser, WA for the summer.
Lacey’s 2007 Silverado
For this, Lacey uses her 2007 Chevy Silverado which she bought new. Standard issue 5.4 liter V8, crew cab and all that. A very comfortable and quiet ride, but not particularly abstemious when it comes to fuel. Both my son and Lacey are schoolteachers with a daily round trip of 60 miles each to their respective schools. They drive in different directions. Up until recently Lacey has driven her Silverado on a daily basis and has racked up about 120,000 mi (193,000 km) on the clock. Quinn, our son, has driven his 2004 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8 V6, also a very comfortable cruiser, now with about 200,000 mi (322,000 km). Quinn and Lacey plan to drive the Bonneville until the wheels fall off, and today it is Lacey’s daily driver. It gets about 27 mpg on the daily commute, about the same as my Subaru with a two liter engine.
Karl’s Chevy and Quinn’s Escape
Quinn and Lacey recently bought a 2013 Ford Escape with the 1.6 liter Ecoboost turbo which is now Quinn’s daily driver. Very quiet and capable and gets about the same mileage as my Impreza.
Shown with the Escape is Karl’s “old” truck, a one ton Silverado with the DuraMax diesel. The bed is filled with a tank for some sort of liquid for squirting horses and cattle, in itself quite a load.
Quinn’s Escape and Karl’s One Ton
Thankfully my son and his wife have no illusions about owning pickups. They are heavy, and since Lacey teaches physics, she understands why these things suck fuel at the rate that they do. Washington state along the Columbia River gorge has numerous mountain passes in which all wheel drive comes can be handy, but excess avoirdupois ain’t. So far they are very happy with their Escape.
Karl’s new One Tonner
Karl also has a second one ton Chevy pickup, also with the DuraMax diesel. It’s his “daily driver”. Don’t ask. Why one would need a second truck that gets one or two mpg more than the other is beyond me. Come on, these things go for over 50G! I could outfit my entire household with little Subarus for less than one of these leviathans.
Greenie
But wait! There’s more! Karl also owns a 1969 GMC pickup with a 350 and a 4-speed, his “classic” collectible, a vehicle that neither Quinn nor Klockau will ever drive, as both of them are lacking in the ability to push down on a third pedal without stalling the engine or destroying the clutch or transmission. Lacey has no trouble driving “Greenie” as the GMC is affectionally known. She’s a western woman. My son comes from the east. But from all the soccer practices and games I drove him to, double-clutching both upshifts and downshifts in the Uber Rabbit, you think he would have learned what shifting was all about. I’m a failed father.
But the larger question is, will Riley care about cars and pickups, or become a rodeo star? Or better yet, a large animal vet.
Quite the family you have there! I suppose he is indeed a bit over-trucked, but who am I to talk? I’ve only got one car, but I’ve got nine bicycles, none of which I can ride right now on account of a broken toe…
One thing about having loved ones that live a bit far away: it’s a great excuse for a nice, long road trip.
Actually Utah has had 80mph sections for 3 or 4 years as a test, the recent bill made some of those areas permanent and added new test sections. Be careful in those areas as they do seem to do more patrol and enforcement on those sections.
If Riley becomes a horseman they he will likely be a truck guy too since there aren’t any cars left that can tow a horse trailer and with the passing of the Panther it is highly unlikely that there will be another.
I have travelled over two sections on interstate that are set to go up to 80 mph: I-80 from Tooele to East Wendover, UT; and I-84 from Tremonton, UT to the Idaho border. They are both still 75 mph, but I understand that will change this summer.
I was in Utah earlier this week. Much if not all of I-15 from Cedar City up to I-70 was 80mph limit. No highway patrol except on one section where the the limit was temporarily lowered because of roadworks.
We saw some of the 80-mph sections in Utah the summer before last coming up from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to visit an old friend of my wife’s in Taylorville. I can’t remember now if I saw any Utah troopers there or not, so probably not. I hadn’t realized how much empty space Utah has, rivaling Nevada in that respect. The hundred miles or so north from Mesquite, NV, through the mountainous NW corner of Arizona and up past Canyonville were particularly scenic.
I-15 between I-70 and Salt Lake is known to be a major drug trafficking alley. One trick the narcs use is to post temporary signs indicating a drug check ahead. This freaks out the meth heads and they throw out drugs that they have on board on the fly. This, of course, is observed by the narcs with high powered binoculars/telescopes. The ditched drugs and dopers are quickly apprehended. So the moral of the story is don’t litter and don’t exceed the speed limit by more than 9 mph.
Interesting thing I saw in an article I just googled about the 80 mph speed limit was that their studies on the sections of I-15 that has been testing the 80 mph limit was that the average speed increased from 83 mph to 85 mph. In other words the average driver had been doing 8 mph over, right at your 9 mph over threshold.
Driving an ’02 Impreza this week and am amazed by the room and power!
Based on my relatives’ experience, you’re at Peak Impreza. The 2002-2007 generation’s successors couldn’t match it in terms of driving enjoyment, practicality, and character.
I’m thinking about getting a new tour vehicle and this lil’ guy might be in the front running… All the practicality of a Prius with AWD, decent mileage and a driving position not unlike my 89 E30…great mechanical feel. I love it!
So in what city does Lacey teach physics? I ask that because many of the coaches for FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge teams are the school’s physics teacher and most but not all of the towns around Goldendale, on the WA side of the river have teams including Goldendale. Goldendale was a rookie team this season that actually won a Rookie All Star award and went to World Championships. Since one of the duties of my job is to expand the number of teams in my area, I’m always looking for any connection to physics teachers in WA and OR.
Lacey is a coach, and she does that at one of the Sunnyside, WA high schools, and it’s basketball and volleyball that she coaches. But if you want to get in touch with her, ask PN for my e-mail.
Thanks, there is already a FRC team at Sunnyside high, which I’m pretty sure is the only HS in Sunnyside. Since she coaches basketball, volleyball and has a 1 year old her plate is obviously full already. You should still have her check it out next year, if she hasn’t already, one of her fellow science teachers is the coach so I’m betting she is aware of the team.
I’m trying to imagine having this ordinary 2012 Impreza circa 1975, surrounded by Pintos, Vegas, VW Beetles and such. Yes, everything is relative, and my how things have changed.
I’m sure the car is fine, but I’m on an anti-Subaru kick, because I really really really really hate their advertising campaigns.
Which part of their advertising campaigns annoy you?
The one with the kids washing the car with the windows down and hosing the dash out for example, and then the stupid father comes out and laughs at the several hundred dollars in damage that they did to his Subaru, instead of beating them like they deserve.
I don’t pay any attention to Subaru’s advertising efforts. My wife’s last two Subarus, and their performance here in Happy Valley, sold me on the car. Why anyone in Miami would buy one of these is a mystery. This is a slippery state car.
I certainly preferred an old Subaru tag line: “Inexpensive. And built to stay that way.”
Well, when imports were only a small market share, part of their m.o. was being different. Now that they are 50% of the market share, they have to be more mainstream. That shows in their advertising and design.
Stay away from the turbos and Subarus are quite a good car Turbo models dont seem to last long but non turbo engines go for long time.
Give a wave on your way back through Boise. If you see a 2012 white with black stripes Mustang GT then that’ll be my folks on their way back to SLC. Another great horse for cruising (avgd 27mpg up to Boise doing 80mph).
An Impreza should not be a totally average car. It should be a compact sports saloon with WOW factor and a top notch Rally Heritage.
Very sad that they had to go and build hatchbacks.
The Silverado want equipped with a 5.4. That is the Ford triton displacement. I think you mean a 5.3, or even a 4.8.
A very nice family album. But none of you can call yourselves a proper grandparent until I start so see some Buicks in these shots. 🙂
I have a 13 Legacy on lease. Rides ok, handles great, decent power, I dislike the CVT transmission, looks great in navy blue metallic with chrome 18s, seats are comfortable, the economy is so so 18 in town 28-30 hwy,, and has the paddle shifts. Which I actually like more because I just can’t get used to the slipping feeling of the CVT. There is just something about the crisp shifts of a transmission. It looks a lot like a Honda Accord. It’s a good car for a lease. It has a MPG indicator instant and average by trip plus an economy gauge. Like the 70s cars had. My only complaint is the CVT I hate the feeling. After three years on to something else.