Aging

One of the most unfortunate things about life as a living organism is the process of aging. And unless your name is Heidi Klum, you can look forward to many fine years of balding, wrinkles, weight gain, bone loss, and liver spots.

If you eat healthy, exercise, and generously apply your SPF 50, maybe you can slow down the process, but there's no stopping it. 

Thankfully, most cars tend to age more gracefully than we do. And while they may get dinged up, become faded, or even rusty, that sexy young Porsche that you fell in love with 10 years ago won't ever end up looking like this: 

Erin Wurm's 'Fat Car'

There is another kind of aging in the automotive world though. It's the kind that turned a once-prominent sports-car maker of the 90s from this: 

230 bhp, AWD, turbo Celica GT-Four — 200 bhp, mid-engine MR-2 Turbo — 320 bhp Supra Turbo

To this: 

But now, with the help of Subaru, and the introduction of the new FR-S/GT-86/BRZ, Toyota is finally getting back into the game. Both Subaru and Toyota have completely reinvigorated their brands with the introduction of their new lightweight, balanced, RWD, sports coupe. It's the rebirth of affordable automotive fun with its 200 horsepower 2.0L Boxer inline-4 for just under $25,500. And judging by the public's reaction so far, it's going to be a hit—which is strange, considering how a car with nearly identical specifications was just recently scrapped by its manufacturer after eight years of production.

It was the same price, lighter, with more horsepower and torque—surprisingly, considering its engine—and even had a second set of rear-hinged doors for easy access to the back seats.

Likely to become the last rotary-powered car ever mass-produced, Mazda’s rev-happy RX-8 was killed off this year. The little 1.3L Wankel motor just couldn’t live up to today’s strict emissions standards, nor the general public’s tepid response to an underpowered, gas-hungry sports car with a spirograph for an engine.

So, why is the FR-S faring so much better? 

39% better fuel economy certainly helps, but it’s biggest advantage might be that its older brother isn't a twin-turbocharged, Corvette-killing legend. Living up to a 30-year-old Corolla with less horsepower than a Prius is lot easier than being as bad ass as this:

Rev Speed's FD RX-7 on Tsukuba [photo cred: Modified.com]

Check out the stats:

If you’re in the market for an FR-S or BRZ, consider that you can find an early, low-mileage
RX-8 for less than $10,000. Whereas a new BRZ will set you back at least $25,500. If you go the Mazda route, you’re left with an extra $15k for gas in the identical-, if not better-performing
RX-8. Which means if gas costs $5/gal, you would have to drive your BRZ 193,750 miles before you started to actually save any money on fuel. . . Just sayin’. [See the math]

The BRZ STI on the other hand . . .

I need one.

It’s as if Honda’s S2000 has been reincarnated as a Subaru, and the flimsy ragtop got left somewhere in purgatory. It even has a place to put luggage besides your passenger’s lap—praise Buddha!

In any case, serious props to Subaru and Toyota/Scion for bringing us this glorious machine.

And a word to the guys at Mazda and Honda: 

Give us back the RX-8. Exchange the Wankel for a Mazdaspeed3 motor and call it the Mazdaspeed8—Done.

Honda, fill the mammoth gap between the Civic Si and the perpetually conceptual NSX (preferably with something that doesn’t suck).

Sincerely, 

AR

8 Years

Remember 2004? 

Things sucked.

Bush was president – again,

Gas prices topped the once unthinkable $2/gal mark, 

And I had to close down my totally bitchin’ Myspace account – how was I supposed to make new friends on a social network with no ‘poke’ function!?

Luckily though, things weren’t so bad for us hoons. Honda was still making sports cars, Porsche brought us the exquisite Carrera GT, and Ford’s Special Vehicle Team delivered another year of the glorious ‘Terminator.‘ Known to most as the SVT Cobra, it was the mightiest of Mustangs with its 390 horsepower supercharged 4.6L V8. 

It became the undisputed king of the pony cars – although the fact that the Camaro and Trans Am were both dead, and the Challenger had been out of the picture since the beginning of the disco-era might have had something to do with it . . .

Fun fact: Yes, there was a second-gen Challenger made between '78-'83, and yes, I've chosen to negate it, like most things
made in the 80s.

So what was a 390 horsepower Mustang to do with itself besides mock its embarrassingly slow little brother? 

Enter Subaru’s blue and gold rally rocket:

Unleashed onto the shores of North America in 2004, Subaru’s WRX STI was a potent machine. Even though it had 90 fewer horsepower, the Subaru's AWD system and light weight gave it enough of an edge to outrun Ford’s boosted muscle car at the strip and the track (HotRod Magazine). To the horror of muscle car fanatics everywhere, it was beginning to look like there might actually be a replacement for displacement.

Fast-forward a few years to Car and Driver’s 2011 Lightning Lap competition though, and the tables have turned. The new Mustang lapped Virginia International Raceway a full second and a half faster than the STI – worth noting here, is that this was the base Mustang. Yes – the log-axle, V6-powered, secretary’s Mustang just beat the turbocharged, Terminator-killer of yesteryear. Could you imagine if a base Mustang had beaten an STI in 2004? All of NASIOC would still be trying to un-bunch their Monster-brand panties.

Over the last 8 years, Ford’s Cobra has grown up into Shelby’s 662 horsepower, 200-plus-mph monster. Even the GT and V6 models are both up 100 horsepower from their 2004 brethren. Meanwhile, the STI has picked up an impressively stagnant 5 horsepower – woof.

AR