When I drive a car, the purpose is often different from what the general public does with their car. I don't always drive to get from the starting point to the goal, I often just drive to drive. For me, driving a car is something like a dialogue between me, the car and the road.
Sometimes wonderful conversations develop out of it. Often this dialogue has the joie de vivre of a carnival celebration on the Sugar Loaf. Sometimes the conversations between the car, the street and me are just as exciting as an ethics lesson in elementary school. I can't always predict how these conversations between the car and me will develop - of course there are expectations. Sometimes fears too, but in the end it always remains a surprise.
The trips, where you get along wonderfully, are really fun. When the car and the road speak the same language, when I understand what both are trying to say to me, when I have the right answers for our discussion. This feeling can also be compared to the birth of a friendship.
From small talk to the carnival in Brazil
There are cars with which I can't get beyond the level of a forced small talk. And there are cars in which I can find a soul mate. A friend, an honest conversation partner. Open minded. Open to dialogue. Clever. Quick-witted. Funny.
The Subaru BRZ seems to be that kind of car. During my first outing with the new Subaru Forester I also had the chance to spend a few minutes with the BRZ. Now the BRZ hardly differs from its twin with the Toyota logo, the GT86. So I'm just assuming that I could start a refreshing dialogue with the GT86.
Basically, the BRZ and I come from completely different cultures and even if I don't like the sober interior of a SUBARU at all, the pragmatic approach has advantages. It is possible to have a conversation completely free from influences. Focus on the content. On arguments and points of view. Similar to unnecessary empty phrases, the BRZ saves talking about the bush and gets straight to the point. And suddenly you understand each other. Tens of thousands of kilometers between the birthplaces, two completely different cultures and yet, seldom before have I felt so understood.
The BRZ speaks my language, we agree on a dialogue without false courtesy, honest and direct - no ESP and double network. I challenge the Japanese with his capricious boxer engine, he counters with competence and remains free from insidiousness.
Our stage is the driving safety center in Lüneburg, we jump over small knolls, drive across into the next hairpin and in third gear let our bums dance happily towards the edge of the curve. It is no longer a simple dialogue, it is a merging.
And sometimes -
- sometimes a love starts with a simple conversation.
The photo comes with the gracious permission of the gentleman driver Mechthild. Photo: Tobias Heil, no homo friend of Mechthild