You will be happier driving a car, if it has enough space. The Element is a tall son of a bitch, but roomy. I tend to purchase new vehicles and keep them a long time, because I do the maint on them and they last. I am always a little skeptical that someone else will be as compulsive as I with respect to this, so am leery of used cars. Will you need a tow vehicle when you are transporting the Porsche to the track, I don't think any of the choices would be adequate for towing.

 

Go for the used Element, you can wash the back of that bish out with a hose! wOOt!

 

Element

 

I just put down a deposit for a red 5 spd awd ex Element...i looked at used XTs and they still wanted 22k for even those with lower miles and the only ones i could find that were ~20k had high miles 40k+

the 2.5x was ok to drive but its engine shakes creating a slight chatter when you are feathering the clutch (meaning you have to be more aggressive to engage it from a stop - leading to faster burn out of the clutch)...the element feels quicker in acceleration than the base subaru even though it is much heavier...must be the engine as it is much smoother and feels like you have 1-2k rpms more of tractible power

the engine i'll have to transport is a 2.5 liter 8v 944 engine...it it kinda tall and will just barely fit in the back of the subaru (i'd have to use a skid and a come along to pull it up and in) but with the element it is tall enough that i can use my hoist to get it in and out

the pull out table is really cool when we will be camping out and you have enough room inside to change in private...the seats folded flat aren't the most comfortable but we have an air mattress that we can lay across the top

all in all is i needed something to move dirty bigger things but didn't want to get a gas guzzler (4 cyl)...it needed to be reliable and a safe on road vehicle - meaning car based (don't want to worry about rolling over)

thanks for the input everyone...i'll post pics when i get it (manuals are rare so they have to get it from a dealer in another state)

 

i didnt know elements came in manual. h:

great choice :goodjob:

 

i love our element...had it for a year already, and it still keeps me smiling

 

good choice. How much was it?

 

after all was said and done (no accessories) i got it for 20k out the door even with with the dealer swap of 100 mile distance

 

here's some pics of it

 

that is one good lookin car.

:awais: add one more to the sig