My Lancer Evolution is here!
Well, after a month of having no car (being a pedestrian is not a good thing here in Okinawa; maybe you can pull it off in mainland Japan, where there is a decent public transport system, but not here), my car has finally arrived. I was so excited when I woke up on Monday morning and knew it would be arriving in a couple of hours - it was like being a kid at Christmas again. But at the same time, it was time to say goodbye to my loyal Mazda Carol. It’s driven me all over Okinawa, through fields getting to dive sites, and hardly given me a problem. I was a little sad to see it being dragged onto the truck, the front passenger wheel hanging off, but it was time for it to go. So it was goodbye Mazda Carol (sob sob) and hello Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Evolution (oh my…)
As mentioned in my previous article, the rear spoiler didn’t come attached to the back, but they were kind enough to put it on the back seat of the car. Their reasoning for this is that if I get pulled over by the police and say the car was fitted with it when I bought it, the garage gets into trouble. That was fair enough, and the spoiler was easy to put on, with just 4 bolts needing to be tightened on the back. Thought it looked a little strange when I attached it, but I wasn’t 100% sure how it should look so I left it as was. It was only later in the day that Brian pointed out, “I think your spoiler is on backwards!!!!”. We had to look at it for a minute or so until we concluded that I was in fact very silly and had attached it backwards. My pleas that I knew about it and that it was “a British style” fell on deaf ears, and I promptly turned it round when I got home.
This car is very nice though. First thing I did was go and get some car insurance for it (don’t want to tempt fate), and then after work I headed up to Chatan to meet Brian for a coffee and to show him my car. I was sticking strictly to the speed limit, but the car was just itching to be floored and let loose! Don’t worry mother - I’m not going to be flying around so fast and getting into accidents! I know there’s a lot to learn about the car and how to drive it. There are a few issues I need to raise with my friend when he comes back with his students from the States (the car seems to pull to the right a little, the electric wing mirrors are a little tempremental, and when should I use the aftermarket turbo timer), but I am very pleased with it. It feels so good to be mobile again!
I intend to take extra special care too with the car, and was out buying car shampoo, wax & other cleaners for it. I live near the coast and don’t want the salt in the wind to eat away at the paintwork or brakes. There are a couple of scratches on it too that I’ll sort out as the weeks go by, but for now I’m more than happy with it. My next blog entry will be part 2 of my DPRK travel report, so be sure to come back soon.
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Glad you got wheels again and can get yourself around.