My Talon was a 1990, and was surprisingly good for a first year, brand new model.

I only got rid of the Talon b/c I needed something with more cargo space and better reliability.

I am currently eyeing a Forester XT, but we shall see.

AWD conversion is a heck of a project, I salute you!

The stock handling is surprisingly crisp with manageable understeer, especially considering what type of vehicle it is.

I say this as someone who drove an Eagle Talon Tsi AWD hard for 10 years. That was an excellent little car that could’ve been an all-time legend if it hadn’t been compromised by a horrific 62/38 weight distribution.

Several winters ago in Denver, I had a perfect ice skidpad in my driveway for a month or two. Every day I’d amuse my 8-year-old with a snappy handbrake turn into my parking space. Until the center diff started binding and making noises. Soon after, it had to be replaced, for about $1000.

I actually enjoy the handling of my stock ‘04 Forester. With the flat engine, it doesn’t feel nearly as top-heavy as it looks. Having a consistent 50-50 torque split puts some life back into the rear axle. Just don’t touch that e-brake, please!

Autocrossing events have a very minimal impact on a vehicle. I drive my own vehicles at these events, including the Audi Quattro I commute to work everyday in. All the rental company got was a bit less tread on their tires, and I’m sure that Subaru has seen far worse.

Plus, thats why the offer the rental insurance!

I’d also be faster in it, which is actually not that surprising. I’ve run in STS, STX, HS, FSP, and on rare occasion STU as well. I have also driven more Subaru examples of GC-body RSs, WRXs, and STis than I can count. The new Outback is easily the worst Subaru I have ever driven…and that was around town.

I have seen a determined individual use rental Kias and such to beat competitors…now that’s fun to watch because it really is the driver in that case and not the car, though the rest of the folks in the class are left going “HUH?” when they see the times. :)

And to think…people wonder why rental rates are high.

My 85 GL-10 Turbo has them on the front. The last Subaru to have them was the Loyale, which bowed out in 1994.

This sounds like it was fun, I might try doing the same thing one day, sans the Outback. Even if I came in dead last, which I probably would, it would still be fun.

I was curious if you took the back seat out since ours looks like a bitch to remove.

I disagree. Auto X is a race because you are competing with other drivers for the best time.

I’ve actually thought of entering a rental car in an Auto X as well after watching the tread melt off my $250 PS2’s.

Too bad you couldn’t get a car with a little less ride height, because I’ve seen some real sleepers do pretty well. There was a guy at one event with an 86 Buick Century that was turning in competetive times.

The Subie was the only option I had at an unamed rental location in Oklahoma City. Since it was short notice, my options were:

-Suzuki Forenza
-Pontiac G6 (4-cylinder)
-Chevy Malibu (last generation… shudder…)
-Lincoln Town Car
-And some SUV’s

I choose the Scooby as it had the tiptronic and AWD (I race an original Audi Quattro occasionally), and figured it would do alright. Boy was I wrong. The other Subarus laughed at it. And the 150lbs of weight came in the form of spare tire, rear seat, and various other stuff being removed (including the cigarette lighter).

And I did come in dead last… utter dead last. But that Toyota Echo was driven by two Kiwis driving across the US from Maine to LA. They were determined!

It was still fun though!

Depending on the course, you rarely get moving faster than the speed limit of your average suburban road. It just seems like racing because you spend as much time at high revs as you can.

–chuck

“I was outrun by a Honda Civic, a Dodge Neon, and an automatic-equipped Toyota Echo.”

Caused by that craptastic automatic, I swear it cuts the horsepower and torque down to 120.

That last one HAD to hurt. ouch.