New 1997 SVX Owner from up North

[Canadian Mike]

Hello everyone,


My name is Mike and I am from Oakville, Ontario Canada (Just outside Toronto). I just picked up a 1997 Subaru SVX LSi last week. It is black and in great shape. Interior has hardly an imperfection and the exterior has very little rust on it. Car has (123,000km) (76,000 mi) on it and runs great.

My previous vehicle was a 2010 Subaru WRX Limited which I jumped out of my lease from since I rarely drove it. I am an automotive journalist up here in Canada and am in a different car every week so the WRX was driven once a week at most.

The SVX will also be parked most days at various manufacturers head offices but that should help keep the mileage low, right

Anyway, I am heavily involved in charity road rallies and am the owner of www.rallynorthamerica.com. Basically 80 cars drive for 3 days through historic parts of the US on a sort of scavenger hunt all for charity
(and partying and to make new friends) Last year we did Rally Appalachia through Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive


And two years ago it was Route 66


I caught the road rally bug after attending the start line for a Bullrun event 3 years ago in my RX-8 and a group of friends and I thought "Hey, we could do one of these for the average Joe and safely" So we did.

[Canadian Mike]

Anyway, since I bought my car on consignment, it was not cleaned up. Once I receive a few aftermarket parts I bought for it, I will clean it up good and post some better non-blackberry-crappy photos. But for now

[92snowmachine]

congrats man. looks nice.

[Blacky]

Is that the one that was on Kijiji? Hell of a deal!
If I didn't already have a '97 that one would have been on my radar.


P.S. I paid $1000.00 for mine

[Canadian Mike]

Originally Posted by Blacky

Is that the one that was on Kijiji? Hell of a deal!

Yup. 3rd one I drove. First one was mechanically great, but body and interior were rough. 2nd one I test drove I blew the radiator and got stranded; plus the rear diff was shot.

This one was just perfect for the price

[Rod.]

Very nice, Mike, and welcome to the 51 club!

Rod.

[jetboy]

Good looking! Please tell us of your perception of the SVX compared to the more sporty rally cars whenever you have something to say about that

[Canadian Mike]

Originally Posted by jetboy

Good looking! Please tell us of your perception of the SVX compared to the more sporty rally cars whenever you have something to say about that

Well so far, here are my findings:

-The SVX sits low. I knew this going in, but compared to my WRX I can't believe how low the car is. I love the the 1990's low/wide stance
-Power is obviously less then the WRX since the car is much heavier and less powerful. However, being a N/A 6 the delivery is much smoother. It feels like easing on the thrust in the SVX compared to the exploding rocket of the WRX. The RX-8 was slower than both.
-With the 205/55R16 winters on the car right now handling is not great. The steering is heavy and linear which I love, but the car plows into the corners. I had a thick rear-sway bar on the WRX to help neutralize the handling (more like the RX-8) and that helped greatly. Is there a rear sway bar mod for the SVX? I haven' searched yet. Having said that, the SVX is a 20 year old design and not many cars handled back then the way cars do now thanks in part to improvements in tire technology. When I get summer tires in the spring I plan to go to 225 width on either 17's or 18's. That might help.

[icingdeath88]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mike

Well so far, here are my findings:

-The SVX sits low. I knew this going in, but compared to my WRX I can't believe how low the car is. I love the the 1990's low/wide stance
-Power is obviously less then the WRX since the car is much heavier and less powerful. However, being a N/A 6 the delivery is much smoother. It feels like easing on the thrust in the SVX compared to the exploding rocket of the WRX. The RX-8 was slower than both.
-With the 205/55R16 winters on the car right now handling is not great. The steering is heavy and linear which I love, but the car plows into the corners. I had a thick rear-sway bar on the WRX to help neutralize the handling (more like the RX-8) and that helped greatly. Is there a rear sway bar mod for the SVX? I haven' searched yet. Having said that, the SVX is a 20 year old design and not many cars handled back then the way cars do now thanks in part to improvements in tire technology. When I get summer tires in the spring I plan to go to 225 width on either 17's or 18's. That might help.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58746

That is the one mod that we do have

Very nice car. Looks vaguely familiar...

[Canadian Mike]

Originally Posted by icingdeath88

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58746

That is the one mod that we do have

Very nice car. Looks vaguely familiar...

Sweet! I will be picking up one of those soon. Wish I didn't spend so much money on visual mods yesterday.....

[jetboy]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mike

Well so far, here are my findings:

-The SVX sits low. I knew this going in, but compared to my WRX I can't believe how low the car is. I love the the 1990's low/wide stance
-Power is obviously less then the WRX since the car is much heavier and less powerful. However, being a N/A 6 the delivery is much smoother. It feels like easing on the thrust in the SVX compared to the exploding rocket of the WRX. The RX-8 was slower than both.
-With the 205/55R16 winters on the car right now handling is not great. The steering is heavy and linear which I love, but the car plows into the corners. I had a thick rear-sway bar on the WRX to help neutralize the handling (more like the RX-8) and that helped greatly. Is there a rear sway bar mod for the SVX? I haven' searched yet. Having said that, the SVX is a 20 year old design and not many cars handled back then the way cars do now thanks in part to improvements in tire technology. When I get summer tires in the spring I plan to go to 225 width on either 17's or 18's. That might help.

Yes, I'm on 225/50 spiked winters now and can't wait to mount the Pilot Exaltos. I found the steering to be very good but haven't driven any good cars before I will primarily upgrade the bushings hoping I can still retain comfort and stiffness at the same time.

Jumping into my mother in law's Avensis sedan gives me SUV vertigo when I've driven the SVX.