OT - Car OML color

[Louis]

Mods, I'm an idiot - can you please move this to the GD area? TIA.

My '97 Integra is silver, and I figure it's time for a change, so I've been leaning very much toward a dark gray for my next vehicle (Subie Impreza).

My sister says that that would be foolish, because 1) St Louis is pretty hot to begin with, 2) a dark car will be way hotter than a light car, and 3) except for one or two days a year when I really feel like I'm going to die, I tend to act like a tough guy and don't run the A/C in the car at all (e.g. this has been a pretty cool summer, and so far this year I haven't run it even once) so if I'm not going to use the A/C I should try to keep it as cool as possible.

So, should I go with practical considerations and stick with silver? (they also have white, but I really don't like white cars) Or should I go with aesthetics and get the dark grey?

[stien]

The silver imprezas look amazing IMO. I got black on tan since that was the only car they could find in manual. Just don't get black interior if you want to stay cool.

[AngryScientist]

i like dark grey, and really, i dont think it will make a huge difference in the cars interior temperature either way. maybe the first few minutes you're in it, but once the car gets moving and airflow over the body, exterior color wont be a big impact on interior temps.

that said, i think you should remain flexible. it's just a color after all, and if it comes down to getting a car quicker because they locate one in stock for you, and your heart is set on one color or another, that's somewhat counter productive.

my current car, for example is not a color i would have picked if i had the choice, but i searched for a long long time before a car i wanted came up in the pre-owned arena. everything else about the car was exactly as i wanted, so of course i bought it immediately, and the color has grown on me, not even something i think about, really.

[markie]

If you like your car to look nice, silver is a great colour. It hides dirt and scratches really well. I ended up with two cars, one white and one black. They are both tough to keep shiny. The black one shows every speck of dirt and scratch.

[Mr Cabletwitch]

I like dark grey cars. My wife has a grey audi and I have a grey 3 Series BMW and both stay clean looking relatively well. Not as good as the silver VW GTI I had, but still no where near as bad as black. I'd say get what you want.

[avalonracing]

The dark grey Imprezas look pretty slick. Although no where near as slick as the orange XV.

We've chatted about our mutual love of Integras (I had all three generations) but I'll tell you from first hand experience that Suby is in no way going to be nearly as reliable as the Integra. My Integras were just breaking in at 100K which is when our Suby started to fall apart.

[mistermo]

Orange XV IS hawt, but...

The local radio show was recently blasting dark gray cars for their lack of visibility compared to the pavement. They seem to blend in with the gray asphalt. I once saw a Mercedes piece that ranked the safest car colors, based on visibility. White was number one. As one might imagine, the brighter the color the safer, while gray and black were last.

But please avoid that taupe colored XV. Nawt hawt.

[4Rings6Stars]

The dark grey Imprezas look pretty slick. Although no where near as slick as the orange XV.

We've chatted about our mutual love of Integras (I had all three generations) but I'll tell you from first hand experience that Suby is in no way going to be nearly as reliable as the Integra. My Integras were just breaking in at 100K which is when our Suby started to fall apart.

We have 5 Subies in our family currently on the road. 2 of them have over 200K miles and are still running strong, 2 of them are newer and one is actually a Saab 9-2X...

The 2005 Saab 9-2X (Impreza with Saab interior and body panels) is my brother's. He purchased it new and it now has ~180K miles, besides oil changes, the only maintenance was to replace tires, brake pads and plugs/wires. He recently did a timing belt job as preventative.

The only real issues we have had with the Subies (besides my stupid turbo LGT) were with the older 2.5 engine head gaskets and with rust in the body panels. Our Honda Prelude literally rusted to pieces in 10 years...the engine was bullet proof though. YMMV.

Oh yeah, go with the dark grey!

[eddief]

some models look their very best in white with subtle black accents. Ask Landshark.

[1centaur]

Time to get another sister.

Interior color may affect interior heat (black leather seats really soak up the sun) but an outside layer of paint, on metal, on sound insulation and wiring harnesses and air pockets, as a % of the identical glass greenhouse and bottom surfaces? Let's pretend the difference is half a degree, then think how important that half degree is.

a) Can't feel it

b) 1 minute of AC

c) The interior glow from having a color you prefer will exceed the heat difference from the paint.

[josephr]

Mazda's liquid silver metallic is a little darker than most silvers and not as drab as the meteor gray.

[Louis]

We've chatted about our mutual love of Integras (I had all three generations) but I'll tell you from first hand experience that Suby is in no way going to be nearly as reliable as the Integra. My Integras were just breaking in at 100K which is when our Suby started to fall apart.

This may be, but since Acura no longer makes the Integra / RSX, they just aren't an option anymore. Nor do they make anything that interests me. On Monday I drove an RDX as a loaner as they replaced the RR brake caliper on the Integra. I have no idea how expensive they are, but given the choice between a brand new '97 Integra and a brand new '13 RDX for the same price, I'd take the Integra every time. A while back I drove the thing they call a "Sport Wagon." Yeah, it's a wagon, but other than the body styling, I sure as heck found no evidence of sportiness in it.

So, it's goodbye Acura, hello Subaru.

[avalonracing]

Any possibility of an Integra "Barn Find". Hey, it will cost less than a Suby.
Hey if you find an unmolested second gen, let me know.

I keep toying with the idea of selling my MB C-Class and replacing it with an S2000 before the punk kids destroy every last one of those.

This may be, but since Acura no longer makes the Integra / RSX, they just aren't an option anymore. Nor do they make anything that interests me. On Monday I drove an RDX as a loaner as they replaced the RR brake caliper on the Integra. I have no idea how expensive they are, but given the choice between a brand new '97 Integra and a brand new '13 RDX for the same price, I'd take the Integra every time. A while back I drove the thing they call a "Sport Wagon." Yeah, it's a wagon, but other than the body styling, I sure as heck found no evidence of sportiness in it.

So, it's goodbye Acura, hello Subaru.

[rice rocket]

Had to doubletake to make sure this wasn't a MattTuck thread. My g/f has the blue, it's pretty common. DGM is nice if you don't get the sport/sport limited package. The dark-er exterior + the gunmetal wheels makes the car invisible. I'd go for a lighter color if you want the sport package.

avalonracing: Get an S2000, my favorite car I've owned yet. So easy to drive, so easy to maintain. Everything is so well thought out, it blows my mind. Everything from the interior layout, to putting the oil filter above the oil drain plug, so you can remove both at once and not have to move your drain pan...it's just so well done. Steering rack comes out with 5 bolts (don't ask me why I swapped mine so many times). It's really a treat to work on compared to anything I've ever owned.

[slidey]

Think outta your silvery grey box. I highly recommend something a bit more vibrant like blue, red.

[Louis]

Well, I decided to go with the dark gray metallic.

Now all I have to do is wait 8-10 wks (back when they were in "sell mode" they were quoting 6 wks). Looks like it will be a 2014, but I'm not quite sure if that means anything.

An image I lifted off the web:

http://images.gtcarlot.com/pictures/79968784.jpg

[oliver1850]

Think outta your silvery grey box. I highly recommend something a bit more vibrant like blue, red.

This is what I would say. I hate silver on anything, to me it isn't a color. Blah.

[fiamme red]

Dark red, to match the Kirk.

[Louis]

Dark red, to match the Kirk.

You know, the dealer had one in that color, and I looked at it, but it wasn't nearly as "exciting" a red as what I got for the Kirk. In the sun the Kirk really jumps out at you, but the Subaru Dark Cherry didn't do that. And the "regular" red was too showy.

[AngryScientist]

wow, is this the end of the line for the integra then?

trading it in or selling privately?

[Louis]

trading it in or selling privately?

Right now the plan is to sell it to a mechanic at the Acura dealership.

[professerr]

Orange XV IS hawt, but...

The local radio show was recently blasting dark gray cars for their lack of visibility compared to the pavement. They seem to blend in with the gray asphalt. I once saw a Mercedes piece that ranked the safest car colors, based on visibility. White was number one. As one might imagine, the brighter the color the safer, while gray and black were last.

But please avoid that taupe colored XV. Nawt hawt.

I've seen that study too, and another that said that metallic silver (real light silver, not medium grey), is the safest.

I had a light silver wagon which got totaled. I bought the exact same car again, but only a medium/asphalt grey was available. There is a section of road I drive almost every day that turns from double lane into 1.5 lanes. So someone has to yield, or at least steer to the shoulder. With the old silver car, people coming the other way would yield/steer to the shoulder 80 percent of the time. With the new grey car it is the complete opposite and most people just blast on through.

[MattTuck]

Late to this thread, as I wasn't on the internet this weekend. Given the other choices of color offered on the Impreza, dark grey would have been my choice as well. There's a relatively new rust colored paint that I've been seeing on Subarus that I like also... but it doesn't appear to be available on the Impreza.



Wishing you many miles with it.

[Louis]

The dealership had one of these parked outside and I walked by it a few times. I almost asked to take it for a test drive, but knew that it would be very hard to resist the temptation, so I didn't risk it.

They are HOT, HOT, HOT. (And totally impractical.)

http://www.roadandtrack.com/cm/roadandtrack/images/e2/2013-subaru-brz-006.jpg

http://www.roadandtrack.com/cm/roadandtrack/images/2q/2013-subaru-brz-2-md.jpg