A.R.S.E.

Well it may not be that beastly but it's a great little car

2012 GTS with the factory aero kit, only 17k on the clock. It's an auto because there was no way I could convince the wife to get the manual but I actually am pretty happy with it now. The auto makes it so simple to putter around and if you want to have a bit of fun you just slot it into sports shift, paddles or shifter. by the way am I the only one to think it's backwards to push the stick forwards for up, back for down?

I will have one of these one day, when the family or financial situation is more appropriate.

Looks almost like an Integra Type R in that form.

Nice one! They look good in the pearl white.


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yes its backwards. Lancer does it too. Its just wrong

That said, thats what paddles are for

I loved my 86. Was a ripper car. What you have was the top of the line in new car pricing. GTS, Aero, Auto topped out the price chart. good stuff

Awesome Sars!! They're like a little go-kart. Shifting is definitely backward though.

I'll have one, too, one day. Just need to get it through with the financial department (wife)

I reckon the shifter is the right way like that. Logically - for me - forwards is up. But I've never used anything else.
Maybe it's an old system you guys were used to? Or simply our brains are wired differently?

It's a bit like the BMW/Porsche stick shifts were when I was younger. They were backwards compared to other cars, it was always giving me the shits. It was the same sort of thing; 1st gear was not away from you in those cars, but towards you.

ysu wrote:Maybe it's an old system you guys were used to? Or simply our brains are wired differently?

I've owned 3 cars with it and they're all the other way, I don't think the old, my current is a 2013 Clio RS.

Vilante wrote:

ysu wrote:Maybe it's an old system you guys were used to? Or simply our brains are wired differently?

I've owned 3 cars with it and they're all the other way, I don't think the old, my current is a 2013 Clio RS.

Ah ok; but you're still used to something else. That's a very strong reason, indeed.

A French car being backwards is no surprise to me, though

My old F6 the sequential was click down to change up. Felt natural to me, with the acceleration of the car pushing you back it kinda makes sense to just hit the shifter down.

Once the kids are old enough it's an 86 or MX5 (yes yes unleashing my inner hairdresser )

ysu wrote:

Vilante wrote:

ysu wrote:Maybe it's an old system you guys were used to? Or simply our brains are wired differently?

I've owned 3 cars with it and they're all the other way, I don't think the old, my current is a 2013 Clio RS.

Ah ok; but you're still used to something else. That's a very strong reason, indeed.

A French car being backwards is no surprise to me, though

Check out how it is in every sequential gearbox equipped race car. Pushing forwards to go up is definitely backwards - it's in the opposite direction to the forces acting on the body.

Nice pickup Sars! Shame it's auto but at least it still goes around corners as fast.

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Thanks, Exar, I'm convinced. And that's the reason I'm not buying one for christmas, now!
Bloody backwards gearbox!

Then just get the manual option ysu.


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Bauer wrote:I loved my 86. Was a ripper car. What you have was the top of the line in new car pricing. GTS, Aero, Auto topped out the price chart. good stuff

Yeah I think I did alright, only the one lady owner and she received money from a divorce and got every possible factory option she could lol. It would have been one of the first on the market in Aus too, built 11/12 and delivered 01/13, I'm getting a few small known issues sorted before the warranty run out in Jan

Originally I was thinking to just get a GT and I thought the rear spoiler looked a bit over the top but I'm glad I've gone this way now, coupled with the skirting it makes it stand out a bit more as the 86's have become fairly common. The white also wouldn't have been my first choice but I now think it's probably the best paint option, I think Dex mentioned the pearl which is really nice.

As for the shifter I'm used to sims where I've had it as per race cars, forward for down, back for up so I've pretty much avoided using it as I will no doubt stuff it up in the heat of the moment

Only problem now is in Darwin the only bit of twisty road is 40 minutes away down the Highway, which by the way is the same piece of road I nearly killed myself on when I stacked my bike, being there for the same reason that the roads in Darwin are dead boring to drive, do I tempt fate

DexterPunk wrote:Then just get the manual option ysu.


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Hard. I've never used a stick on my left. Plus I got lazy in the past 15 or so years

Sarsippius wrote:As for the shifter I'm used to sims where I've had it as per race cars, forward for down, back for up so I've pretty much avoided using it as I will no doubt stuff it up in the heat of the moment

I was lucky enough to drive a rather new, PDK equipped Boxster recently. It has paddles on both sides of the steering wheel that push forward from the front of the steering wheel to go up and pull back to go down, and both sides do the same thing... First time I put the boot in it I pulled back on the right paddle and (luckily) nothing happened... needless to save I gave that rev limit a good smashing!

Does anyone know why Japanese cars have there sports shifters in reverse? It used to shit me to tears in the Liberty.

Mitsubishi also use the 'backwards' gear shifter. It makes no sense.

Like Sarsi, pushing forward will go down a gear and pulling back will go up a gear. That is what makes sense, it is what is used in race cars.

Having said that, there must be a mod to reverse it....

AstrO wrote:Does anyone know why Japanese cars have there sports shifters in reverse? It used to shit me to tears in the Liberty.

Not just Japanese cars. Porsche's own tiptronic autos (before PDK) used to have it the wrong way around whilst their factory built cup cars of the same period had it the right way around. Just weird.

There is a DIY option to switch it the right way on the 86, looks pretty simple. The wires that hook up to the switches just need to be swapped around so I might give that a go soon.

I just got back from a bit of a hoon around the industrial estate which is not far from where I live. The sports mode works pretty well for the auto, more aggressive keeping the revs higher & kicking down gears sooner but not ideal on public roads when you need to slow down to a pretty low speed for an intersection and then want to blast out of it. It seems to stay in 3rd and then kicks down to 2nd once you get on the throttle which causes a bit of a delay just as you're trying to get on it and you don't get a smooth exit.

I used the paddles most of the time and they work quite well, I could change down to 2nd on entry and then get on it immediately for the exit. It's definitely a fun little car, sits low and feels firm and planted and doesn't get much body roll. I'm still getting used to it so I've kept it in VSC Sport pretty much which lessens the TC but isn't completely off. It really feels good pushing it a little and feeling it squirm around on the tyres and squealing a bit as they lose traction but there's only so much you can do on public roads. I'm not sure, I'm a bit precious about the car but maybe I'll have to take it down to Hidden Valley one day for a bit of a play, take the wife and freak her out a bit haha

Sounds fun!
I'm a bit jealous right now. I'd love to have a track of some sorts around the central coast to go to. Sadly the closest is Eastern Creek as far as i know. And that's quite a drive.

I gave the car a proper detail on the exterior over the long weekend, of course yesterday we had some storms but it needed to be done in any event.

shiny!

What rubber you on? Tried the Conti's?

They're still the stock tyres which are Michelin Primacy HP, they get a bad wrap but I reckon they are actually quite a good tyre for what they are designed to be. Most owners I guess are boy racers (not a bad thing) so they want super sticky tyres but I also want good wear and economy.

I did a fair bit of reading a few weeks back and decided when these need replacing I'll probably stick with Michelin in either the Primacy 3 ST or the Pilot Sport 3 being most likely for something a bit sportier. The Continental ContiSportContact 5 were a tyre I was looking at but according to reviews they wear pretty quickly. The Yokohama Advan Sport V105 are also meant to be a good tyre in this category.

I wasted my time a bit though, I checked the wear markers and I reckon I could get a few more years out of the stock tyres