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My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

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Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#321

Post by frollogaston »

alistairSH wrote: post #224
stronglikedan wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ELECTRIC CAR that's WAY FASTER (in a straight line) Why in a straight line? My Acura ZDX handles curves as well as any ICE car I've ever driven. If anything, it sticks to the ground better due to the low center of gravity from the battery pack.

Have you driven a Miata? Even if the ZDX is objectively better in every way (which I doubt, but I could be wrong), I suspect the Miata will be subjectively better when rated for "is it fun to drive".

Not even Miata, just any non-SUV.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#322

Post by mullingitover »

mfkp wrote: post #267
mullingitover wrote: post #34

I accidentally bought a midlife crisis car: a Subaru Trailseeker EV station wagon. It was cheaper (and more to form) than the 2026 Outback. It just happens to be the fastest production vehicle Subaru has ever sold. Rip-your-face-off speed wasn’t even what I was after, I just wanted an EV wagon and it’s the only one in existence. Still: stupid fun and very unique car, I’ve had it for two months and haven’t seen anothe…

Just had to look this up, impressive specs for a Subaru. They've had some pretty lackluster EVs in the past (along with Toyota), but this one actually seems like a good combination of range and performance (375hp equivalent and 281 miles of range). Doesn't have super fast charging, which isn't a dealbreaker at the pricepoint. I've got a Volvo C40 currently which is 400hp and likewise impressively fast, but the range…

I love the Trailseeker for being the anti-Tesla car. I rented a Tesla a while back and have driven friends cars: I hate everything about their UX. It's like people who never drove a car tried to invent a car from how they imagine it should work. Horrible. I won't go into detail about all the way's it's a superior design, I'll just say that it has normal door handles and that's gist of the design philosophy.

The new eTNGA platform has been bumped up to 150 kW and while it's not crazy Hyundai speed, but it's been fine on a road trip. The charging curve makes great use of that 150kw.

The only sort of gripe many have with Subaru/Toyota is their completely whiffing the software, particularly the route planner. The redeeming factor is that charging infra is becoming so common that you don't need a crazy software system to avoid running out of battery. There's a charger pretty much every 50 miles or less everywhere you'd want to go.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#324

Post by frollogaston »

yawnxyz wrote: post #54

I have a GR Corolla and it's great in the mountains! It's tiny light and fun and fits a car seat (barely). I wouldn't consider a loud GRC w/ catback a "sleeper" though - it's quite the opposite??

That, and all the other mods were visual. The car is mechanically stock.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#325

Post by spike021 »

yawnxyz wrote: post #313
spike021 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I switched to an aftermarket catback (sxth single exit, lol) over the past year and while I really enjoyed the difference in tone, the increased volume level was just barely intolerable. So I'm back on the OEM one.

the stock GRC exhaust is intolerable already; every time I pull into the apt complex where everyone drives an EV, I feel like we're the neighborhood hood rats

for MY2025+ if you're in eco mode it shuts the valve so that's not too bad for me.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#326

Post by anotherhue »

thepaultran wrote: post #306

Hi everyone, I am the author of this Corolla essay. My friend who works in the tech industry told me it was posted here. Thank you for reading it! I never expected a silly essay about a Toyota Corolla would gain this much traction, but it is what it is. It also made the LA Times, but in an abridged version. Here's the link: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-06-22/fast-furiou... I'm not sure if this is going…

I knew which car it was instantly based on the headline - I go back and forth on whether to get one or to continue to abuse my 2000s Matrix manual which is like the GRC's puny brother.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#327

Post by HDBaseT »

lightedman wrote: post #292
cucumber3732842 wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but as long as they're allowed to paintball you and sick draconian enforcement on you for whatever trivial things you do they deem to be slights against society. Like FFS, it's just fucking noise. It's a small minority of people. Can we just ignore them? There's so much bigger problems. Most people grow out of it after one car like that.

"Like FFS, it's just fucking noise" Okay, let me blast 110dB into your ears and you tell me how the fuck you like it.

110dB once a week isn't really a big deal. I don't really care if someone rips it down the highway assuming they aren't being completely reckless.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#328

Post by hallole »

ericyd wrote: post #293
brokenodo wrote: post #11

I love cars and driving them. But the modded Corolla/Civic/Accord/Camry (why) people have always driven me crazy because their mods often seem directed to inflicting their cars on everyone else, with loud exhaust, subwoofers, and (subjectively) garish cosmetics, rather than things that make it actually good to drive . I recognize this is judgmental and it's unhealthy to always be annoyed at these people on the road,…

I also dislike loud cars, but I've come to accept that the motivation of loud car owners is probably to gain kudos from other loud car lovers, rather than to inflict pain on us normies. One time I remember being on my bicycle and a kid car revved past me and another cyclist. In my head I though "what an asshole" but the cyclist next to me shouted "Sick!!!" I'm not really defending the loud noise, but I think it's use…

Either it's intentional and malicious, or it's unintentional and extremely inconsiderate. Either way, death penalty.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#330

Post by HDBaseT »

vitally3643 wrote: post #79
iamacyborg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Subwoofers are really fun though.

There are other people around you who probably don't think they're fun. Hot tip: the other people you see out and about are real, thinking humans just like you who have their own thoughts and emotions and world views. You should consider how your actions impact others.

A single 12 isn't really going to be too audible outside the car unless its being pushed very loud (excess of 600W~).

Most people don't have two alternators, with battery banks to drive multiple 12s or 15s.

There is effectively no point ever where my system has "impacted" others.

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