Subaru Crew Cafe

ateixeira · February 2013

I think the flared fenders only emphasize how small the tires are. The wheels are big, but the tires look like a rubber band wrapped around them.

Will get some before and after photos.

I went 225/60r16 on my Forester and didn't regret it. Stock sizes were 205/70r15 and 215/60r16.

It's not like a crazy Jeep with huge tires.

ateixeira · February 2013

One guy responded and says the ride is better, and he's had it for more than a year.

There is no spare and all 4 tires will match.

kyfdx · February 2013

The ride must be killing you.. I wouldn't want to do anything to degrade handling on a Miata.
That seems to be the main attraction.

ateixeira · February 2013

It is cold now so the summer tires get real hard, the actually don't grip well until warm. Also, it can get a little skittish on bumpy roads.

I could probably have waited a year but there is very little tread left anyway.

Unlike my NA Miata this one does not kick its tail out when you lift on the throttle. I wouldn't mind a little wheel spin.

Per my GPS my average moving speed is just 26mph, top speed 73. Depressing traffic here in DC.

volkov · February 2013

For Valentines Day I splurged on a plastic surgeon for a more handsome husband for Sandra. 3 boys had been away on a trip for the last week and despite being told multiple times to empty laundry and then take their suitcases to their rooms to put everything away they were left sitting in the hallway. I had come up from the basement and was heading to bed when I remembered I had not checked our front door was locked....
It is a trip I have made in the dark numerous times, but not with 3 suitcases lying in wait ready to pounce. As best I can recollect I stumbled on number 1 and my attempt to catch myself was thwarted by numbers 2 and 3. Not to worry, my fall was broken by the corner of the granite countertop on our telephone table as it gently cradled my face. Luckily there were only minor lacerations but as a doctor I knew that my nose wasnt supposed to sound like Rice Krispies when I pushed on it - something the rugby lads will know all too well. The kitchen was left looking like an abattoir as I stumbled about in the dark trying to get my bearings and make it to the bathroom. Pretty sure I had a concussion to go along with it which didn't help.
I did a basic home reduction to re-align things mostly but was still left with a face only Zara Phillips could love so Sandra called a friend of ours first thing in the morning who kindly saw me and did the proper job or so we hope. Thing is we have to wait a week to see how it turns out, so Sandra has another 7 days before her present is fully unwrapped. I said she might have to replace her 'trophy' husband to which she replied,"Aren't the trophy ones supposed to be 20 years younger?" Ouch! Happy Valentine's day to me!
Good news is that my eyes are no longer swollen half shut when I wake up, but that might be due to the fact I have resorted to sleeping sitting up. Post concussion fog seems to have lifted - even driving took a lot of effort and attention last week and following conversations was difficult.

fibber2 · February 2013

Oh man, what a mess! But at least your sense of humor seems relatively intact and appears to have survived the incident.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and for the successful unveiling of the new nose!

xwesx · February 2013

Dang!!!

I'll second Steve's comments, for sure. Hahahaha; your wife sounds like a realist, to me. Just remind her that, as with cars, it is far less expensive to keep the one you have than trade in for a new model!

My wife hates that I have these little LED nightlights strategically located throughout the house, but I've had my share of painful encounters with invisible objects, and those are all memories I prefer not to relive. That said, I've never had any contact as traumatic as yours (hey, at least I fully remember mine!), but I'll live vicariously on this one.

I think I need to get another pack of lights before I head home tonight.

Very glad to hear you're okay, even if worse for the wear, Nicholas.

volkov · February 2013

I really like that nightlight idea; I'm going shopping after work. We used to have a bunch but passed them on after the kids got older. I now have a much more serious appreciation of one of my wife's favourite phrases, "Move that or someone will trip over it."
I would much rather it had never happened, but given the options, I'll take the nose. An inch higher and it could have been an eye, and 2 inches lower would have been my teeth.

rsholland · February 2013

Ouch. It hurts to even read your post. Glad you're okay.

Bob

xwesx · February 2013

If you're serious about the lights, our local Home Depot (probably available other places, too) carries these little directional LED lights that come in two-packs. I like those because they're not too intrusive, but you can aim them down to light the floor without making the whole room light up.

The down side is that they are non-replaceable (bulb goes, you toss the unit). I haven't had one go out on me yet, though.

This model looks a little newer than the ones I last bought, but same basic idea.

xwesx · February 2013

Oh, here we go. These are the ones!

xwesx · February 2013

And finally, I couldn't agree more about the placement of the injury! Eye, teeth, or, if it was higher still, you might not be with us at all. Crazy all the stuff we can skate through without (significant) injury as children, but not so much as adults.

grahampeters · February 2013

G'day

Sounds like an overly adventurous way to get plastic surgery.

The nightlights are a great idea. We actually fitted motion sensing nightlights which double as emergency torches and switch on if the power goes out.

I have to admit the reason for them was safety for the dog, who is getting too elderly for climbing stairs without good lighting. I feel a little silly fitting lighting for a dog, but have also recently made a large step so she can climb onto my bed without having to jump; even made the top sprung and added 12mm thick rubber cushioning so that her joints are not strained. She is not spoilt!

I discovered last night that the step also doubles as a remarkably loud drum, when struck by a wagging tail. I stayed awake to the steady rhythm of a happy dog. There are worse ways to be entertained

Cheers

Graham

Cheers

Graham

fibber2 · February 2013

We probably have 7 or 8 strategically placed nightlights around the house, but likely only 4-5 actually working at any one time! I'm old school and still use the 4 watt bulbs. I tried LEDs a few years back, but well, they were pretty bad and I tossed them. I'm sure they are mature now and the investment would be worth it. With kids and dogs, tripping hazards are just a given!

The one area I have invested heavily is in decent LED flashlights, and we have them placed in multiple locations around the house. Sam's Club, etc. sell two packs of high grade aluminum body 150 - 200 lumen lights for around $20 - $25, that run on 3 AAA batteries. I bought a fancy battery charger and two dozen AAA NiMH 900 ma batteries, and rotate them regularly.

http://battery-charger-review.toptenreviews.com/alpha-power-battery-charger-revi- ew.html

If you haven't seen a charger like this, it's a must have item. Toss the chargers that come with the batteries.

robr2 · February 2013

I have these in my hallways to help the kids (when they were younger) and guests find their way to the baths in the middle of the night:

volkov · February 2013

I was looking too at the motion sensor ones, slightly higher output,but still not going to wake anyone. Thanks for all the advice.

ateixeira · February 2013

We leave the night light on in the hall bath.

As I was reading that story I looked to see if it was April 1st!

ateixeira · February 2013

Here's a photo that shows the before/after side-by-side.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aeGWyNBVVvPh9wte3zQzidMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm- 0?feat=directlink

Note the new tire is about 0.4" taller yet I still have tons of room in the wheel well.

There is still road noise, slightly less than before, but bump impacts have softened a bit, so I'm happy. You hear expansion joints still, but don't feel every little one as much.

I set cruise at an indicated 60mph, the GPS was reading 62-63mph, also as expected.

ateixeira · February 2013

Hmm, remove the dash and the space from the link, for some reason I can't post it without it getting cut in half. Should be ...fm0...

xwesx · February 2013

Nicely done, AJ! I love that comparison; it definitely caught me by surprise.

From what can be seen there, it looks nicely proportioned on the car. I'm curious as to whether you notice any handling differences as a result of the increased sidewall height.

xwesx · February 2013

That looks like a very nice charger, Steve! Good timing on the post, too, as my charger that came with some batteries (four years ago) just died a couple weeks back, so I'm in the market!

ateixeira · February 2013

Well, poetically, I took the summer tires off, and wouldn't you know it? Snow flakes started to fall!

The new tires are UHP all season, so I wasn't worried. :shades:

It was wet driving ~15 miles or so to work, so it was a bit noisy, probably in part because of the water.

I do think that visually they fill up the wheel wells a bit more, though there is still too much wheel gap even now.

Will have to wait for better weather to comment on handling.

xwesx · February 2013

I've seen those, but have been reluctant to try. I can see the point, given any nightlight is going to snag an outlet anyway, but with these there is no option to remove and replace with something else when two ports are needed.

You find them to be a good value, in terms of that trade off, the light produced, etc?

ateixeira · February 2013

I was all in for just $360 or so. Not bad, eh?

My boss' secretary replaced tires on her A3 and spent nearly 3 times as much at $1030!

robr2 · February 2013

You find them to be a good value, in terms of that trade off, the light produced, etc?

They produce plenty of light. I first installed them when the kids were younger and I worried about them stumbling down the hall to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Now that they are teens, they don't wake up in the middle of the night anymore - heck, the sun is usually pretty high in the sky when they like to get up. Downstairs, it's still handy for the hall between the guest room and the bathroom.

I replaced outlets in the halls which are next to central vacuum outlets. They are only used to plug in the vac power head so losing half wasn't a concern.

xwesx · February 2013

Thanks, Rob. I might try a couple out, just to get a feel for them. I like that they are so unobtrusive.

xwesx · February 2013

Sounds pretty sweet to me, AJ! I spent nearly $900 to replace the tires on my Forester last summer.

KCRam · February 2013

I was considering a handful of these... not that I specifically need them (I live alone, if there's something on the floor, I put it there), but they seem like the right size and brightness for an apartment like mine (2 bed, 1100 square feet)

Mr. Beams MB333 Wireless LED Spotlight with Motion Sensor and Photocell, White, 3-Pack - 140 lumens

kcram - Pickups/Wagons/Vans+Minivans Host

fibber2 · February 2013

I'm a big advocate of rechargeable AA & AAA batteries, but was disappointed in their long term performance. It wasn't until I started reading some serious journal articles about the recharging process (YES, WHAT A GEEK!!), that I came to realize that cheap chargers murder good batteries. Most $10 units charge in pairs or quads - and the charging stops when the first battery reaches the full storage potential. That leaves the rest undercharged, and they get progressively weaker with each sequence. I've brought batteries left for dead back to life! I feel so much like Dr. Frankenstein!

I have the older model (Lacrosse BC-700), with a max 700 ma charge rate. Still, 90% of the time I dial it down to lower. Each cell takes in what it needs, and all the data is there. I numbered my batteries, and matched up the most powerful set for the flashlight with the greatest need (like the one used to search for skunks in the woods before letting the dog out). With this charger, I've seen final voltages that top 1.51 v - from a battery chemistry only rated at a nominal 1.25 v.

Expensive, but worth every penny. OK, I get excited over weird stuff....

xwesx · February 2013

Hahaha, no I think that stuff is cool, too! I must say that I have had very good luck with the longevity of my rechargeable batteries (I've never had one stop working well yet, and I have some that are older than my house [10]). I tend to lose them before they stop working.

But, that's not to say they're getting charged well. I've already queued one up in my Amazon cart. I think I'll get the 500ma unit, as it looks compact, simple, flexible, and is less expensive. I can go for the "full monty" if this one piques my interest, as it clearly has yours.

volkov · February 2013

You guys are all motivating me to spend money. With 4 kids and 2 game consoles we have a constant stream of rechargeable batteries that now surprisingly are poorly managed by the kids who then have the gall to complain the batteries don't last. Really like the ability to identify the single bad battery in the charge process. As you say, one bad battery spreads its dysfunction like a virus as it "disables" its charge twin.

ateixeira · February 2013

Yeah, over $200 when Lana got a flat, luckily the other 3 were still new.

Another change - the wider section width means the tire protects the rim better than the old one did. It may have prevented the curb rash I got with the old tires.

ateixeira · February 2013

With 4 kids and 2 game consoles

I got a set for their Wii that comes with a stand inductively charges 2 at once. They have been GREAT! I think it was $25 or so but I've easily recovered that and it's so much easier than changing batteries all the time.

xwesx · February 2013

It may have prevented the curb rash I got with the old tires.

Well, better driving will prevent that, too. Bwahahahahahahaha; sorry, I just had to say that! :P

ateixeira · February 2013

I was forced towards a curb by a person who drifted in to my lane. Jerk didn't even stop to see if I was OK.

I thought I had a flat so I had to stop.

Happens a lot but this was the only time I hit a curb.

xwesx · February 2013

Oh, way to turn it around on me! Sheesh, now I feel bad about even saying that.

ateixeira · February 2013

It's a teeny little car, not hard to place in any parking spot. I usually have several feet to spare on all sides. :shades:

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

When it arrived at my local dealership I took a test drive and ended up taking it home. '14 version's possibly the best car Subaru has built, outside of the BRZ, and is _major_ change from the previous generation. Is solid: going over speed bumps that rattled and pogoed the '09 XT's rear don't phase the 14. Quieter: low freq road and a little wind noise; CVT doesn't whine and engine buzz's muted. Goes around corners with little lean, tending towards understeer. Fuel economy for 100 mile mixed mode trip was 28.5 mpg, and the car's not broken in yet. Heavy steel skid plate up front and plastic "trays" line the car's bottom. Bigger inside: more footroom than the larger Audi Allroad and BMW X3. Nicer finish to dash and doors. Seats kinda hard but seat heaters easy to reach now. Many, many electronic display modes give you all sorts of info about the XT (turbo speed, throttle opening, oil pressure, oil temperature, and others to choose from). Navigation system is not quite as bad as reviewers make it, :confuse: but is complex and takes getting used to: there is a 1/2" thick instruction manual dedicated to it. X_Mode's interesting as car takes a couple seconds to "get ready" in that mode; will be handy should we get spring ice.

My white tourer was built in 2/13 (they got here fast) so wasn't first off the line as was my '09 XT. Seems very well assembled - everything lines up and so far only minor soft rattle or two under the dash.

rsholland · March 2013

Congrats! You must be the first here to own one!

I too recently took a test drive of an XT w/Eyesight, and was very impressed.

My only complaints are that the seat has little if any side bolstering, not good for a car with sporting pretensions. I also think the rear camera is too small. Why they didn't integrate it into the navigation screen is a mystery. Must have been a cost issue, as this same nav unit is used on the BRZ and Impreza, neither of which currently offer a rear camera. The 6.1" navigation screen is also small, especially when you consider the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport has an 8" screen.

Other than that, it appears to be a great car.

Side note: I'm very wary of critics of factory in-dash navigation units, especially when comes to Subaru. Just like comments on Subaru styling, the automatic knee-jerk response is that it's bad, without really learning how the unit works. Having said that, I do think the screen is too small, as I mentioned above.

Bob

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

Yes, Bob, the front seats are kinda shy on bolstering and feel rather hard. Hopefully they will soften up a little in time.

The day/night mirror has a faint rectangular cutout that suggests it might have been designed to accommodate a rear vision display, but it would have been smaller than the current display screen. And yes, it was probably easier to connect the camera to a new display than reworking the nav unit to do the job.

I certainly don't miss the booming/bouncing the older XT did when going over speed bumps. The '14 is much better damped.

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

BTW my sales rep told me Subaru plans to have a presentation in Seattle very soon for industry folks and sales reps to drive the foresters. Who might a lowly customer contact to see if he might attend (providing he pays his own way to get there)?

rsholland · March 2013

Did you get Eyesight? I really like that feature. Hope it trickles down to lesser trim levels.

I also noticed that when you put the SI-Drive in Sport # mode, the gear indicator changes to gear numbers (1-8). As the vehicle's speed changes, so do the numbers. Pretty cool.

Bob

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

Neither Eyesight, HID nor Keyless start are on my XT. Eyesight was intriguing but seems wise to give Subaru another couple of years refining it. Also, didn't want to wait 3 months for another Satin White Pearl XT to show up (out of the roughly 200 foresters moving into inventory in Portland, there was only __one__ satin white peral XT).

Paddle shifters are very nice and make it easy to control engine braking when on hills.

Wrt 3 drive modes, I mode's relaxed, Sport mode's more responsive and keeps revs a bit higher, S/I mode somewhat hair trigger and offering more ratios to paddle.

Supposedly this turbo engine has good torque from 2000 RPM up: can't verify yet as vehicle's nowhere near broken in. It's nice to see Subaru getting away from the old "on off" switch engines (they may be fun on the track but are a lurch-y pain in city driving).

saedave · March 2013

It's nice to see Subaru getting away from the old "on off" switch engines (they may be fun on the track but are a lurch-y pain in city driving). Amen!

In 2005 I bought a 6 cyl VDC instead of the Legacy GT wagon after trying the GT in traffic. My 2010 Forester XT is both quick off the line and smooth.

How is initial tip in on the new 2.0XT?

rsholland · March 2013

The whole idea of having shiftable "gears" in a transmission without any gears seems really weird. But you what, it actually works!

It's all done with computer programming. The non-turbos have 6 gear/steps; the XT has either 6 or 8 gear/steps, depending on SI-Drive mode; and the recently introduced Aussie/Euro Outback diesel with CVT has 7 gear/steps.

Bob

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

So far Tip in varies per driving mode, but has proven smooth in I and S modes. SI mode can be a little hair-triggerish. I haven't driven the new base model but found the '09 model far more hair-triggerish.

The XT's new CVT, so far, handles acceleration smoothly, so the driving speed "swells" rather than goes up with a series of jerks. The older XT's auto, at least for me, had a tendency to downshift very abruptly on occasion (resetting the transmission adaptive logic helped for awhile).

In many ways the new XT beats Audi at its own game. My experience in an Audi Allroad was cramped, punctuated by harsh kicks whenever the car went over sharp bumps, probably due to 45 series tires.

xwesx · March 2013

Nice, Kurt! Congrats on the new ride! That fuel economy is pretty impressive considering that it is an XT and it's brand-spanking new.

It's a rare thing for me to hit 28.5 on a highway trip in my 2010 X.

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

A 60 mile trip to oregon coast, and back, netted 31.5 mpg total each way. That's per the XT's mpg indicator, which I'll check for accuracy soon.

Have not tried running XT on regular gas yet (supposedly '14 XT can, though you loose power and will be more suspectable to knocking). Only the good stuff for its break-in!

XT is having intermittent start-up hesitation, though :confuse: . Will keep eye on that.

kurtamaxxxguy · March 2013

Would be good to know how Forester CVT noise varies with model.

The XT doesn't make much CVT noise. Only time I hear anything is after starting up and driving while engine is cold, for then CVT revs go up a bit.
When accelerating hard after warmup, all I hear is the engine, which is substantially less raucous than in the '09 - '13 XT.

xwesx · March 2013

What the monkey.... it's -30F here this morning! Seriously? At the start of the month we came close to breaking freezing a few times, and it's more often -30 at night then. But now? This just isn't kind.

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