The 2023 Wicked Big Meet Is A Big, Wicked East-Coast Subaru Show

September 1, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / 2 Comments

The 2023 Wicked Big Meet is one big east-coast Subaru show and part of the Subiefest family of Subaru-centric events. Held June 11, 2023 at Stafford Motor Speedway outside of Hartford, CT, Wicked Big Meet is billed as America’s largest Subaru enthusiast festival. It also kicked off the 2023 Subiefest series. Mercedes and I flew…

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New Small Cars Are All Nearly Gone.

August 23, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

Since 2008, we’ve run another website called Subcompact Culture, which is all about small cars. We wanted to create a place for enthusiasts of small cars; a place to show the world that some people drive small because they want to not because they have to. But the small car market has been slowly disappearing…

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Mitsubishi Cars Are Popular In Iceland

August 17, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

Imagine if you will, a parallel universe where Mitsubishi vehicles, specifically the Eclipse Cross and Outlander PHEV, are some of the most popular cars on the roads. They’re like every fifth vehicle! While a lot of them are rental cars catering to the masses of tourists on the Nordic island, needless to say, Mitsubishi cars…

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2023 NW Overland Rally: Trophy Challenge

June 19, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

Each year, a host of attendees at the NW Overland Rally in Plain, Washington participate in the Trophy Challenge. This is a lighthearted competition that mixes semi-precision driving and Nerf gun shooting! Go too fast, get disqualified. But if you complete the course above the set time and shoot some cups with the Nerf gun, you could be crowned the winner! I put together this video from the 2023 NW Overland Rally Trophy Challenge for you, so enjoy!

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Mitsubishi Pajero Radiator Redo

June 8, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / 1 Comment

Well, if you’ve ever wondered what a 1992 Mitsubishi Pajero radiator looks like, behold. You may be wondering: why is Andy here with a Pajero radiator? Well, wonder no more. Here’s the scoop.

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Adding a Light Bar, Lights, and Armor to our 2022 Subaru Crosstrek

April 15, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

Our goal with our Crosstrek was to add just a bit more capability to it. We want to hop in it and go pretty much anywhere we want (within reason). So after we added the 15×7 Reika Seeker wheels and 215/75/15 BFGoodrich KO2 tires, we added a light bar, lights, and armor to our 2022 Subaru Crosstrek. You can see how we did this in our Subaru Crosstrek video above.

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Finding Our Long-Lost Suzuki Sidekick, The Teal Terror

February 16, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / 1 Comment

Before our JDM Pajeros or Delicas, before our Jeep Cherokee, we had a great little 1995 Suzuki Sidekick. We called it The Teal Terror. We sold the Teal Terror in 2016, and I always wondered what happened to it. Well, we recently found out. Check out our sister site, Subcompact Culture for the whole story.

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Early Morning Airport Vibes, Wanderlust, and Travel

January 31, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / 1 Comment

Since the pandemic, I haven’t flown a lot. I used to fly all the time, but thanks to the Covid-19 thing and a back injury that sidelined me in 2021 and part of 2022, most of my travel has been on four wheels. But last November, I had to fly to the ’22 SEMA Show…

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Will Maine Reverse Course on Delica Deregistration in 2023?

January 17, 2023 / Andy Lilienthal / Leave a comment

It’s been over a year and a half since we first heard about Maine pulling Delica owners’ registrations on legally registered and imported vans. This was a story Crankshaft Culture broke and I’ve been working on for months. We’ve talked with the SEMA Action Network, been interviewed for numerous news articles, and even written about…

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Is it Time to Stop Obsessing Over the Manual Transmission?

November 17, 2022 / Andy Lilienthal / 12 Comments

Today, Subaru debuted its 2024 Impreza. It’ll be available only as a hatchback. It’ll now be offered in sporting 2.5 RS trim again, and it also drops the manual transmission. That’s right—no more manual Impreza—it’s CVT or nothing. Subaru also recently debuted its 2024 Crosstrek, but hasn’t officially said no manual transmission. But does the…

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