Date: January 2009Current Mileage/Months in Fleet: 26,519 miles/9 monthsAverage Fuel Economy/Range: 20 mpg/338 milesService: $340Normal Wear: $0Repair: $0
Here in Ann Arbor, we’re pretty used to driving in the snow. If enough comes down, as it certainly has this year, it can paralyze the city, but we shrugged it off as our hooligan WRX STI plowed through eight, nine, even ten inches of snow with ease. It’s been a whole lot of fun.
Remount the Snow Tires
When our STI arrived last March, we ordered a set of 235/45R-17 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60s and had them mounted on a set of black O-Z Racing Ultraleggera wheels. It handled the tail end of that winter like a champ and this year has been no different. Sideways shenanigans really bring this car to life, and we love the STI’s very liberal stability control system. Many a staff member has strolled in to work on mornings after a fresh snowfall sporting a huge grin from their commute—or play time—in the STI. Indeed, excitement over ice racing the STI again began in early November and continues to build for the start of the season later this month.
Hostile Navigation
The aftermarket Alpine IVA-W505 AV head unit we had installed is doing a fantastic job of pumping out our favorite tunes, and the accompanying upgraded Type-R speakers deliver sound leaps and bounds better than the stock setup. The interface is still a bit clumsy and volume levels aren’t accurately calibrated, though. Set the volume at level one, two, or three and you can’t hear the music at idle, yet the music is so loud on level four that you can hardly talk to the passenger next to you. It’s very frustrating, but not nearly as aggravating as the navigation function has been.
The portable Blackbird navigation system that came with our setup—it served as the nav “brain”—displays a very poor, pixelated image on the main screen, blown up from the small display on the Blackbird itself. With the Blackbird installed, the touch-screen buttons need to be pressed with the force of a bullet hitting a Kevlar vest, and even then they might not register the correct command. We have also experienced very poor or even no GPS satellite connection, which, of course, renders the navigation function useless. We recently acquired a dedicated Alpine removable navigation drive (NVE-P1) that will slot in place of the Blackbird unit, and we’re hoping it will remedy most of our issues.
Here in Ann Arbor, we’re pretty used to driving in the snow. If enough comes down, as it certainly has this year, it can paralyze the city, but we shrugged it off as our hooligan WRX STI plowed through eight, nine, even ten inches of snow with ease. It’s been a whole lot of fun.
Remount the Snow Tires
When our STI arrived last March, we ordered a set of 235/45R-17 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60s and had them mounted on a set of black O-Z Racing Ultraleggera wheels. It handled the tail end of that winter like a champ and this year has been no different. Sideways shenanigans really bring this car to life, and we love the STI’s very liberal stability control system. Many a staff member has strolled in to work on mornings after a fresh snowfall sporting a huge grin from their commute—or play time—in the STI. Indeed, excitement over ice racing the STI again began in early November and continues to build for the start of the season later this month.
Hostile Navigation
The aftermarket Alpine IVA-W505 AV head unit we had installed is doing a fantastic job of pumping out our favorite tunes, and the accompanying upgraded Type-R speakers deliver sound leaps and bounds better than the stock setup. The interface is still a bit clumsy and volume levels aren’t accurately calibrated, though. Set the volume at level one, two, or three and you can’t hear the music at idle, yet the music is so loud on level four that you can hardly talk to the passenger next to you. It’s very frustrating, but not nearly as aggravating as the navigation function has been.
The portable Blackbird navigation system that came with our setup—it served as the nav “brain”—displays a very poor, pixelated image on the main screen, blown up from the small display on the Blackbird itself. With the Blackbird installed, the touch-screen buttons need to be pressed with the force of a bullet hitting a Kevlar vest, and even then they might not register the correct command. We have also experienced very poor or even no GPS satellite connection, which, of course, renders the navigation function useless. We recently acquired a dedicated Alpine removable navigation drive (NVE-P1) that will slot in place of the Blackbird unit, and we’re hoping it will remedy most of our issues.
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