Performance:
The flat four-cylinder really holds its own throughout all of the rpm range. I was very surprised with the amount of torque you could feel even in the low rpm range for a four-cylinder. Once the revs passed about 3200rpms you could feel the turbo start to kick in.

The WRX seemed to have substantial body roll compared to most sporty cars. The suspension seemed loose and you could really feel the lean when taking sharp(er) corners on pavement, but when the car was offroad it seemed that the looser suspension made times of oversteer forgiving. Mind you loose or not it is a very balanced car on and offroad.

The AWD was really the forte of the car. You could launch at just about any rpm without slipping the tires (much). I believe this made the car very predictable in times of oversteer. You could basically put the pedal to the floor and aim the wheels where you wanted them to go without having to worry about inducing more oversteer (maybe a little understeer).

Build Quality:
Mind you my car had over 105,000 miles and even so there was not much noticeable wear on any of the plastic pieces. The only faded paint on the car was the hood, which I imagine was because it was replaced because of the accident.

The engine never had any problems for the 15,000+ miles I put on it before trading it in and I pushed it fairly hard daily. Then again I’m not a fan of redlining cars, slamming gears or dropping the clutch, so I could be exaggerating slightly.

The only problem that I had with this car was that the car never liked going into first gear while rolling, which from what I heard is due to having somewhat weak gears in the stock transmission so to anyone looking to drive your WRX hard refrain from slamming gears.

Appearance:
It’s a Subaru world class rally car, enough said. I love it, others hate it due to the “buyeye” lights. To each his/her own.

Cost of Ownership:
Spent a total of $600 in parts for regular maintenance (spark plugs, timing belt, water pump, thermostat, brakes, etc…) for the 15,000+ miles I put on. Luckily a friend of mine installed everything for only a few hundred dollars. Surprisingly Subaru parts are not nearly as expensive as you’d expect… then again I was not replacing the engine, transmission or a turbo.

Fun Factor:
This particular WRX had an intake and exhaust. When the turbo spooled the aftermarket AEM intake definitely amplified the sound from inside and the exhaust note on this car is unlike most four cylinders, it sounds beefy at any rpm. Not to mention the looks you get when you shift gears and the blow off valve releases pressure while passing those honda kids still waiting for vtec to kick in.

Overall this car is a fun car on and offroad and performs very well on all terrains rain or shine, but if I were to buy another WRX it will be an STI. I had the chance of test driving a 2004 STI recently and the difference is day and night. The suspension is much more solid, the extra 80hp+ makes the car feel like a rocket, you can adjust the torque distribution and the 6 speed transmission is more or less bulletproof from what I’ve been told.

Pros: comfort, awd traction, offroad ability, offroad handling
Cons:loose suspension, weak transmission ]]> http://www.nickparks.org/reviews/2002-subaru-wrx-review/feed/ 0 http://www.nickparks.org/air-traffic-control/graduated-mike-monrooney-academy-en-route/ http://www.nickparks.org/air-traffic-control/graduated-mike-monrooney-academy-en-route/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 05:28:42 +0000 nickparks http://www.nickparks.org/?p=207 I graduated today and moved to Memphis, TN to begin more training!

The only place that has been at least subpar is McNellies, which is a local 3 story bar/restaurant that gets pretty busy on Wednesday nights for their $3 burger special.

Anyone have any ideas where to go on weeknights in downtown Oklahoma City?

I actually lived at Candlewood Suites for the first month and had absolutely no problem with it aside from paying ~$1500 a month. You get room service once a month, a $100 giftcard once a month, free internet, fitness center and laundry facility. It’s more or less a studio than a hotel as once you walk in you have a kitchen on your right with a dishwasher, a desk, tv, a bed and night stand on the left, a decent sized bathroom and closet all stocked with the necessities (dishes, tupperware, coffee machine, ironing board bathroom products, etc…). I would definitely recommend Candlewood as they provide a shuttle bus to and from the Academy and it’s location is very convenient being within walking distance to plenty of restaurants and a fun night club called Club Rodeo with live bulls!

A classmate and I decided to move downtown to Park Harvey Apartments, since a lot of locals said Bricktown is one of the biggest attractions in Oklahoma City and we each save about $500. We’ve lived out here for a few weeks now and have loved it. We can walk to Bricktown on the weekends without having to worry about a taxi or a designated driver. We also have a great view overlooking the city and the drive is only about 10 minutes to the Academy. If you want more information send me a comment and I’ll see if Wendy at the front desk could send you a information package.

We have classmates living in other establishments such as Isola Bella and Mary’s place, but for the price you cannot beat the location and view of our place downtown!

As of right now I have attended about a month of basic training and I am now into my second week of phase two learning about strip marking and separation.

I apologize for such a small post, but if you all would like to know anything else as far as air traffic control goes, feel free to comment below!

Once you build a fairly large team you will be eligible for a new car from Lexus. The best part about Fortune Hi Tech Marketing is that to become an Independent Representative it only costs $299 and you only need 3 Customer Points to maintain the Independent Representative status, unlike ACN which you must maintain 5 customer points and the cost to become a representative is $499.

Although I feel that both companies have great potential, I believe that it’s not the company you choose, but the team that you build. If you surround yourself with other like-minded individuals to motivate each other, you can build a team bigger than you could ever imagine with FHTM or ACN.

Network marketing is network marketing, the platform all depends on the type of people you feel you’d better relate to. I feel that FHTM will attract people from all walks of life due to offering a very wide range of products, opposed to ACN which seems to be revolved more around technology and a younger crowd.

Useful Links
ACN Products and Services Page
Fortune Hi Tech Marketing Product and Services Page

Please post more information in the comments area below!

Thanks,
Nick Parks

Do you recommend Clickbank?
I definitely recommend Clickbank if you are good at advertising and marketing E-books online or have created a book or digital product that you want to sell.

For marketing E-books I’ve been told the most simple way is to create a review site reviewing certain products and E-books and you’ll be making sales in a matter of days. However, I have not tested this out. If you’d like you can even create your own E-book and have others promote it for you!

How does Clickbank work?
Simply put: you sign up for Clickbank, check out the E-book marketplace, find an E-book you’d like to support, copy the affiliate link and start promoting or create your own website to promote your own E-Book.

If you want more sales, I’ve been told that the best way is to actually buy the product and review it as it’s pretty hard to sell a product that you don’t know anything about.

How much money can I make with Clickbank?
It really depends on how much time and effort you put into promoting an e-book. Although I only made around $120 in the past, I spent about 4 hours promoting on YouTube.com and placing a few advertisements on facebook. I didn’t find it as easy to make money with as Google AdSense, but it’s definitely a way to make some extra income if you already have an established website.

How can I get started?
Sign up for Clickbank by clicking this link.

Recommended Links
The Rich Jerk – Most definitely the best E-book that I have ever purchased. Not only does he explain in depth how to make money with Clickbank, he also explains many techniques of making money on a wide variety of sites. Most of the ideas and techniques I have developed over the years have actually been inspired by this E-book. It was well worth the $50 or so dollars I paid for it a couple of years ago. I think it’s sold so many copies that the guy doesn’t even care to sell it for that price anymore. I mean when I purchased it he was selling over 400 copies a day.

Although, I only just signed up today, all of the content that I’ve received is very informational and definitely worth checking out if you feel that you want to generate some income with the internet.

The lessons cover practically everything you’ll need to know in order to start making money online, I just wish that it was around a few years ago when I first started, as it would have saved me a lot of time with researching as a beginner in every aspect.

Including 2 USB Ports, which becomes a pain in the ass when you use a mouse and an external hard drive and want to upload pictures from a camera or use an external webcam. I use my laptop more like a desktop as it rarely ever leaves this room, so I went out and bought a USB hub to connect my other USB toys to.

Including a 54g 802.11b/g wireless connection that runs flawlessly with the drivers provided for Windows XP (Compaq Presario V5303NR Drivers for XP). However, getting this wireless card to work well with other operating systems becomes quite a task. It took me quite some time to get it working with Windows 2000, which is what I am running right now. I believe I had to download a broadcom driver in order for Windows 2000 to recognize it. Anyway, out of the box the wireless network works very well.

The VGA Display Out is fun to play with on 42″ HDTV’s, but I’ve still found Windows to be quite a hassle when configuring the 42″ to be the main screen. This could be that the graphics card doesn’t like the idea since it is a laptop based internal graphics card.

The internal speakers, internal network card, touch-pad, keyboard, DVD Reader/CD Writer all get the job done, nothing extravagant, but you get what you pay for, right?

More Compaq Presario V5303NR Specifications…

Quality:
I’ve ran this thing to the ground many of times, where the processing speed is peaked and the RAM is at maximum usage with no major problems. The computer has crashed a few times from viruses, but you have to expect that with any Windows PC that you use with the internet. Takes about 45 minutes to format and re-install Windows XP, which is the best fix for any virus problems in my opinion. Other than the random crashes, everything works on this computer as it did when I bought it (Monitor is still just as crisp, speakers sound just as well, all inputs/outputs still work, CD drive still burns quickly, keyboard is still in-tact, etc…). Just remember kids, ALWAYS back-up your stuff.

Performance:
I can run Adobe Photoshop CS with my small amount of RAM and still run it quite well. This computer plays Counter-Strike: Source flawlessly at around 60FPS at the lowest resolution and I can keep a consistent connection of 40-50ms with my current internet connection with wireless. I’d say this computer does a great job considering the price!

Value:
It came with a good processor, enough ram for basic use and built in wireless internet connection all for under $400. I’d say this computer was valued perfectly.

Pros: bang-for-buck, screen size, decent AMD processor, XP compatible drivers
Cons: random crashes, lack of usb inputs, low amount of memory