Subdriven | The Subaru Enthuisast Website

It’s that time of year again. While we may not all follow the same religion, many find a reason, religious or otherwise, to exchange gifts during this festive season. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a new list of interesting gifts you might consider adding to your own list, or the list of a loved one for 2005. Prices range, from very affordable to ones that are… not so affordable.

Whatever the case, we’d imagine most any of these gifts would be well-received. Happy holidays!

1. Automoblox

We love toys like Legos and Lincoln Logs. Play things such as these enable kids to use their imaginations as they go about their play. Mixing the thoughtful element of such toys with the automotive interest seems like a no-brainer, or at least it was for the makers of Automoblox.

This new take on an old stand-by is part set of blocks and part set of toy cars. If you’re young or young-at-heart and have the bug for building a car or truck just the way you want to, Automoblox are a great outlet and look plenty fun to play with to boot. Kits include a sportscar, minivan, pickup, compact, sedan and SUV. With more than one kit, a child can mix or match to make their own creations.

www.Automoblox.com

2. Christini All-Wheel Drive Mountain Bike

If you understand and value all-wheel drive on your automobile, then you can probably understand how welcome all-wheel drive might be on a bicycle. Enter Steve Christini, the inventor and engineer behind his own line of all-wheel drive mountain bikes.

Christini’s all-wheel drive system can be controlled via a “shift on the fly” clutch located within the rear spiral gear and controlled by a lever located on the handlebars. With the clutch engaged, the gear locks with the rear hub and transfers power to a forward spiral gear via shafts that run within the bike’s aluminum tube frame. A gear set in the head tube, viewable through a service opening when the bars are turned fully to one side, channels the power down through a telescoping multi-spline driveshaft where it drives a free hub.

Even with the clutch engaged, the front wheel of the bike is not powered under normal non-slip conditions due to gearing differential. Noticeable power transfer to the front happens either when the rear wheel slips or if the speed of the front wheel decelerates faster than the rear such as a front tire slipping out in a corner.

It’s great technology, and it seems about time such a feature made it to bicycles. Further, Christini shared with us that he’s also working on all-wheel drive motorcycles.

www.Christini.com

3. Kurgo Seasonal Tire Totes

Are you tired of storing your off-season wheels and tires in garbage bags? Or worse yet, messing up your interior hauling dirty wheels home from the tire shop?

The folks at Kurgo understand, that's why they created the Seasonal Tire Tote. Made of heavy-weight polyester, these totes not only protect your interior, they make moving your wheels and tires much easier too, thanks to their built in nylon straps. To prevent damage to precious alloys, Kurgo also makes Wheel Felts to cover the wheels while in storage. One size fits all passenger car tire sizes, and they are machine washable.

Whether you swap wheels out seasonally or simply carry your competition tires with you to the track, enthusiasts will find the Seasonal Tire Tote the ideal solution to this annoying problem. Kurgo also produces the Tire Garage, an eclosed "tent" for your wheels and tires designed to withstand the rigors of outdoor storage.

Seasonal Tire Totes sell for $22.00 for a pair of storage bags. Wheel Felts sell for $18.00 per pair.

www.Kurgo.com

4. Magellan RoadMate 760 GPS

No one hates being lost more than your wife or girlfriend, especially when you're driving. So, if they're smart and they're reading this gift guide, they may want to take note -- gals, with the Magellan RoadMate 760 GPS you'll never be lost with your car guy again.

The compact unit builds on an already great platform, and features a large 2.25" x 3.0" screen that's not only sharp and crisp, it's intelligent - it automatically dims or brightens itself, based on ambient lighting. And speaking of intelligence, the RoadMate 760 can get you out of a traffic jam by detecting traffic dillemas and suggesting an alternate route.

With a 20GB hard drive, users can simply "plug in and go." There's no need to load maps, or mess around with CDs or DVDs - the RoadMate 760 has all the information it needs to get you to where you want to go. It also features 7 million "points of interest," including ATMs, hotels, and restaurants.

And finally, if you own a PDA (Pocket PC or Palm), you can beam addresses to the RoadMate 760 via the infrared port. Dynamic "SayWhere" technology also ensures you won't miss an important turn or intersection - the Magellan advises drivers of impending turns, intersections, and exits by identifying them not only by distance but by name.

End the frustration of driving around "without stopping for directions," and pick up Magellan's RoadMate 760 this Holiday Season.

www. MagellanGPS.com

5. Piloti Driving Shoes

The term automotive lifestyle is practically worn out these days. But if you're looking for a subtle way to clue folks in to the fact that your automotive passion runs deep, one of the coolest "lifetyle" accessories is a pair of driving shoes from Piloti.

Since 1999 Piloti has produced the coolest line of driving shoes that can also be worn daily. The lineup now includes several collections, but their low-top models make the perfect shoes for a long road trip, a weekend autocross, or justa day in the office. One of the newest models is the G16. Like all Piloti shoes, the G16 features the patented Roll Control heel to make heel-and-toe footwork a snap.

The Piloti G16 is available in a handful of color combinations for $80 per pair.

www.Piloti.com

6. Pumgo Land Surfer All-Wheel Drive Skateboard

If all-wheel drive bikes aren’t your bag, perhaps an all-wheel drive skateboard will be.

What’s that you say? Skateboards aren’t driven by any wheels.

True, but the Pumgo Land Surfer isn’t exactly a typical skateboard. It doesn’t look all that traditional either, with its oversized wheels and drive system that appears more like a suspension, even though it’s not. Through a leg-pumping surfing action, the Pumgo drives all four wheels and propels its passenger along.

www.Pumgo.com

7. 'Rally' by Reinhard Klein

The book 'Rally' is not only an incredible coffee table book, it's packed with great historical information covering the history of rally. Tri-lingual, including English, German and French, this oversized hardback shows a stunning pictorial history of the sport with which Subaru is so closely aligned. Subaru's own history in Rally is only lightly touched upon, though that's hardly a concern. This is one impressive book.

We found it available for $50 from Santa Fe, NM-based Rallyview.com. As you can tell from the name, Rallyview focuses on products for fans of racing in the dirt. The company focuses on books, videos and calendars.

www.RallyView.com

8. Scosche Bluetooth Streaming Kits for iPod and other MP3 Devices

There may not be two hotter buzzwords in the electronic industry than “iPod” and “Bluetooth”. Most owners and enthusiasts own iPods and are constantly seeking out the best way to network Apple’s musical wonderbox with their car. However, it was from Oxnard, CA-based Scosche Industries that we learned of their kit that streams content from your iPod or other MP3 device to most car stereos via Bluetooth.

Specifically, the company has several fitment kits packaged for a range of OEM car applications that already feature harnesses that work with the factory head unit. They also have a generic kit that can probably be retrofitted to work with most factory and aftermarket stereos set up with an auxiliary input such as one for a CD changer.

As explained to us, the kit’s receiver is installed much as a CD changer might be to a factory head unit. Once done, and switched to CD changer, an iPod connected to Scosche’s Bluetooth transmission attachment can stream audio to the car from up to 30 feet away.

www.Scosche.com

9.Snap On Mini Air Ratchet

Every self-respecting do-it-yourselfer lusts after quality tools, so why not reward the DIY'er in your life with this hot new Snap On air ratchet? The PTR225A features a 3/8-inch drive, in a compact, cushion handled design, so not only will it reach those hard-to-access areas, it will do so comfortably.
With 30 ft/lbs of torque available, the 7.5-inch long ratchet won't bust loose lug nuts, but it will tackle most underhood jobs with ease, and thanks to a ten-position power paddle, RPM, speed, and torque are all easily adjustable. It weighs less than one-and-a-half pounds and consumes a scant 1.6 cubic feet per minute of air - much less than many of the bigger, more bulky air tools.
http://www.snapon.com.

10. SubieSport Magazine

Not all enthusiasts of a given brand get a magazine dedicated to the marque. In as much, Subaru owners should be happy enough that a magazine even exists. Perhaps then, it's iceing on the cake when SubieSport Magazine is of such good quality.

Large format, great design and 6 issues a year are just the tip of the iceburg with Subiesport. The articles are an enjoyable read and don't focus too much on any one Subaru model - a worthy whole-brand title. Further, their WRC coverage is quite thorough with impressive graphics, tables and race maps that help tell the story.

www.SubieSport.com

11. Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) Gear

SWRT doesn't operate in the USA. With no WRC race Stateside, enthusiasts must catch as catch can with reruns of events sporadically played on TV. However, SWRT maintains an online store for team loyalists and ships to the USA. Better yet, if you can get your order in by December 9, the store claims it can deliver orders across the pond to those of us in the USA by Christmas.

From official team sunglasses, to all sorts of apparel, model cars and lifestyle articles, SWRT's store is one place any Subaru enthusiast could drop a lot of dough.

store.SWRT.com

12. Wenger Alpine Swiss Rallye Watch

There’s a long heritage of automobile racing and drivers heralded by special edition watches. With that in mind, it’s rather fitting that Swiss Army brand manufacturer Wenger would focus on the Swiss Alpine Rallye when it decided to make a motorsport-inspired watch.

Subaru’s long history of rally makes this watch, with blue face and ‘Rallye National Des Alpes’ logo a fitting gift for fans of the marque. With leather band and stainless case, the watch features a 30-minute chrono function and retails for $375.00.

www.WengerNA.com


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