Perth-WRX.com - Bringing Home the Retirement Toy

Hi all,

As mentioned in my intro, I bought my son's 2004 WRX off him in January. Problem is he lives in Melbourne - problem? - not really, wife and I love the drive across the Nullarbor, and this was another opportunity to do it.

In April I flew to Melbourne, took the car out of the son's garage, and toured around Victoria for a couple of weeks before my wife had holidays and could fly over to join me. We had another couple of weeks there, then in early May, we headed off back to Perth. I knew the WRX was in good condition, had it serviced just prior to returning (it was on about 135000kms), and everything was good with the car. I was concerned about the engine accessory belts, as they are still original, but after seeing that they could be changed easily if necessary, I just purchased the belts and carried them in the boot. My other concern was the spare wheel, I didn't fancy heading off across the Nullarbor with a temporary spare (although it is pretty rare to get a puncture these days). Before I left Perth, I had contacted the popular Subaru wrecker in Moorabbin (Victoria), and he was very good to deal with - by the time I got there a few weeks later, he had a exact matching rim, style and colour, in good condition, cost me $100, well worth it. I fitted a brand new tyre, wrapped it in plastic, and put it upside down in the boot so I could load stuff inside it. With only 2 of us travelling home, the boot half full of spare wheel wasn't a problem, and good for the peace of mind. Put 38psi in all the tyres for the long trip. Had previously researched availability of 98 octane fuel and had written a list of all the supplies across the country, and was able to get pump 98 octane at least every 400kms, but had to stop at the right places.

During my tour of Victoria, I discovered what must be one of the best "WRX" roads in the country - even better than the Great Ocean Road, but not as long. It was climbing Mt Buffalo in North-Eastern Victoria, a 20 km fairly steep climb of 1200 metres, with endless tight corners (signs recommended 25 - 35 km/hr on most of them), 2nd and 3rd gear most of the way, with continuous gear-changing - beautiful - I began to appreciate what a WRX is on that road. One of the attached photos shows a view from the top, so you will appreciate the climb from the valleys below.
Also the Great Ocean Road, did it twice actually, once by myself and again when the wife came over. Very enjoyable road, as we all know.

Anyway, the trip home was probably the most relaxed crossing I have done, took it easy over 6 days, only driving between 8.00am and about 5.30pm, staying overnight in motels or cabins. Didn't even carry a thermos, just stopped at a cafe or roadhouse for a coffee or lunches, that also gave me a bit of a break from driving as my wife doesn't drive in the country. So we covered 500-700 kms per day, had no car problems, and we were both surprised at the comfortable seating and general ride quality of the WRX. There was a fair bit of tyre/road noise but got used to that. Compared to my usual Falcon, the WRX is geared a bit lower, and I saw 3200 rpm for 6 days straight! Although it was a very "cruisy" trip, sitting on or below the speed limit, I must say when it came to overtaking a road train, it is definitely the car for the job - the limit possibly got exceeded a little at those times!

For the record, on the Melb-Perth journey, we covered 3590 kms, using 315 litres of fuel, averaging 8.76 litres/100km (32 mpg), best was 8.4 l/100kms (34 mpg) between Eucla and Caiguna, so fairly consistent. Highest cost of fuel was Caiguna ($1.99), Eucla ($1.96), average $1.65 per litre, total cost $520, fuel was Shell V-Power, BP Ultimate or Caltex Vortex 98.

[URL="http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/WestAussieBloke/library/WRX%20Country"]http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/WestA ... %20Country[/URL]

Above is a link to my album on Photobucket - hope it works. Enjoy the photos of Victoria, the Nullarbor and the new toy.

Cheers, Chris.
(Copy of thread on WRX Club WA forum).