How tossable are SVXs?
 

I'm coming from Impreza-land, so accordingly my favorite past-time is tearing up back roads and the sort. I love blasting through twisties. The roads are pretty vacant around here, so I can do it safely too.

How well do SVXs handle compared to Imprezas? With minimal mods... rear sway bar, maybe springs too. They're heavy so I'm not going to be taking corners like I used to, but how well do they handle in general?

stock vs. stock, the svx owns the impreza in handleing but good luck finding your sway and strut tower bars, any suspension upgrade will be very spendy and with the small sidewall size, you'd better beware of potholes or you'll destroy the rims. I'd say, use a beater for back road speeding and the svx for highway cruising.

Greetings! It is definitely a good idea for you to take one for a test drive so you can see for yourself.

The car will be a lot lower, heavier and less nimble than the imprezza. Also, you'll probably feel very hesitant about taking turns hard, since you'll constantly be running the risk of screwing the wheel bearings up. I take turns a lot easier in the SVX than I used to in the Legacy 2.5 GT.

By far the SVX is a nicer smoother ride in general, but if you're looking for a 'rallyesque' type of vehicle for tearin up the windy hilly roads, the SVX is not what you're after. I'm not saying it can't be done in the SVX, but I am saying that it will most likely pose a bigger risk to the vehicle than you'd like.

ok. that's sorta what I expeced. This isn't a "justify my habit post" :D . I'm not looking to go drifting or anything. I just wanted some idea of how well they handle. The GF has an impreza, so I can take that down the back roads :D .

By backroads do you guys mean dirt roads?

I'm thinking the SVX would be excellent for 2 lane blacktop mountain roads with long sweepers. That's my favorite pasttime, any feeback on how it does on those?

-mike

It does quite well, especially if you keep the transmission in 3. A good set of tires (such as Dunlop P7000) makes a huge difference.

Yep I'm planning on putting Yokohama AVS intermediates on it when I get it in 245-45-16 size.

-mike