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Cruise the P&O with AWJunkies

So Cal all-wheel-drive enthusiasts unite

Sometimes you've just got to cruise. We found one that might have been missed.

Pull up to this bunch and you'll spy the aquiline countenance of at least 15 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions face-to-face with 30 or so round-eyed Subaru WRXs and their one-step evolved STi brethren. Some are street-prepped, others full rally-spec. A sleek, deep Audi S4 wagon sits on 19s nearby a ragged Mazda 323 GTX, and a dozen pre-WRX Subaru 2.5GT two- and four-doors are sprinkled all about. Add one VR-4 3000GT and its Stealth cousin, a handful of DSM-powa Eclipses, Talons and perhaps a Laser, a smattering of all-wheel driven VW product and the usual gaggle of hangers-on—and you've got a party.

The Where

The regulars have dubbed it the Pat & Oscar's Cruise—the P&O. You can call it a cruise, get-together, gathering, support group, weekly meet, whatever. Different people, like-minded in a single regard, arrive at the prearranged locale to shoot the breeze and hang around for a while. As long as you dig all-wheel drive, you're OK.

The core group making this particular pilgrimage to P&O in Mission Valley (just east of San Diego, CA) is the AWJunkies, doing it every first Thursday of the month. If you visit the web forum (www.awjunkies.com), you'll get an idea: aficionados of any all-wheel-drive automobile capable of high-performance behavior. Subaru WRXs and other Fuji-built stuff, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Evolution, more DSM cars, Audi and VW, and everything else automotive with four wheels doing the motivation, they show up. Stock, built, new, used, abused—if you can contribute to the knowledge base, it'll feel like home.

The Who

Judge this book by the cover and you'll call it a bunch of car geeks, much the same way a bar full of football fans are sports dorks. Fans. Judge by the covert and you'll see the AWJunkies banner flying over journalists, salesmen, stock brokers, mortgage agents, students, soldiers, cops, hackers, mechanics and every other slice of Americana—it's a wickedly narrow cross-section of the populace, all there for the all-wheel drive. Fans.

There are some folks out here who are just like people you know: the creator of AWJunkies who built up a lot of the kick-off buzz, but looks a bit burnt out; one local soldier who's been perfecting his WRX-powered Subaru RS for so long there's nothing left to mod; another marine who motors around in an STi so illegal he'd be arrested twice if not for the out-of-state plates. There's always some new guy with his bone-stock Evolution (can't call it an Evo in the U.S.—that name's owned by Harley-Davidson) or WRX with a wad of bills, buying hi-po springs or a used Turbo XS exhaust. Slick SDSU and UCSD student living from paycheck to paycheck, speed parts to rent and back. Big-bling show-bugs too pretty to drive, and road racers barely legal enough to cruise.

The What

If you're at a P&O, it's likely you (A) have something to brag on or show off, (B) need something to brag on or show off, (C) want knowledge, (D) want to buy or sell AWD-related parts or services, or (E) have too much spare time.

The fast guys come to talk about drag racing and road racing on the street and at the track (there's so much street racing in San Diego, legal and illegal). They come to unload used parts, and fill the holes in their "got-to-have" list from what's available in others' garages (fast guys always have extra parts). Slow guys—newbies to the scene—want to know who goes fast, and who to ask about how they can themselves. The old guys are usually happy to tell the new guys where to go, and sometimes can unload their used go-fast goodies to the unmodified believers, folks in need of their first high-performance fix.

Conversations revolve around who is tuning what, spending how much, went where and at what rate of speed. Friendships erupt, people drawn to each other's like interests and other coincidental attractions. Once in a while a group will gang up for a roll to the hills for some snowboarding (all-wheel drive, baby) or a fast loll East to the desert, with trunks full of wood for a bonfire.

The Why

Not good to forsake the hot-rodder and street-racer as so much leftover humanity. We drive a huge slice of the economy, taking more than our part in the hundreds of billions of dollars exchanged in new and used car purchases annually. There's also all of the almost $30-billion annual sales of automotive aftermarket (non-stock performance and appearance-enhancement) parts, not to mention feeding speed shops, tuners, and organizations that support this need for everything automotive. They're spending that cash to be out cruising the scene, with their go-fast buddies, to talk about performance and listen to the pretty notes chortling out of exhaust systems driving by.

As evidenced by the crowd of 100-plus at this month's P&O, there's going to be a few rowdies amongst 'em, as well as some loud cars that go "too fast" and cost "too much." That's just a slice of this slice, though—where you'll find them you'll also trip over just the same folks you work with, see in church, visit for a barbecue on the weekend. AWJunkies appear to hail from all slices of life. Are you one? Check awjunkies.com and let your friends know.