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Think about it logically, terming any gasoline powered car even hybrids, enviromentally friendly is an oxymorin, by their very nature cars are not at all friendly to the environment.
Subarus have been and will continue to be bought because they represent good value, do most everything that a large SUV will do and they are reliable and safe.
I believe that it is these virtues that make most Subaru owners repeat buyers, not some perceived notion that it is more enviromenally friendly than a large SUV.
Just because it uses less gas does not make it so.
Cheers Pat.
I couldn't find a used Legacy wagon in my price range, so I got the Outback instead. I'm hoping the "tupperware" on the sides might help resist some of the road salt they use around here in winter.
It has a connector on the back that will accept an external CD changer. Someone on another forum was able to tap into this and play his iPod through the stereo, but with mixed results (literally, since the iPod's signal was overlaid with whatever input was selected, be it radio or CD!). More work is needed to figure out the proper way to use the connector, specifically, there is a trigger that should switch the input to the CD changer connection and turn off the other inputs.
So, it's possible, but you'd need to be an EE to figure it out!
Hope this helps. Try a google search for more info.
Craig
LOL Pat, and you're right. I used to work in the Environment Division, and absolutely, most of those guys came to work by bicycle or bus. There are only 3 hybrids in our garage out of hundreds of cars. To be honest I don't think any of the 3 are owned by Environment staff!
Subaru is in the middle, not as efficient as most cars, yet much more efficient than most trucks. The rules were hurting them for making AWD standard. Is it fair that a 2WD Scion xB earns Toyota credits to sell more guzzling Sequoias, while Subaru pays fines for selling Outbacks?
-juice
http://www.saturnfans.com/Company/2004/gmhaltsproductioncvt.shtml
So GM never really got it right. Slow out of the gate, and still problematic even years later.
Very risky technology.
-juice
-juice
OB as a truck. Keep in mind that this "truck" will be lighter, get better gas mileage and run cleaner than my 01 "car". Of course, this is to help them with the overall product lineup in 05. I still get double the mileage as most SUVs.
Greg
These actually make my purchase more likely than before.
-juice
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/36107?r=354
You'll have to register though.
Mods: Please bend the rule a l'il, since the forum isn't related to automobiles, and not delete this.
-Dave
KEN EKLUND – BASE CAMP 2/26/04
The Challenge Driving Subarus
finish third, fourth, fifth overall, reap
two class wins and the Team Award
Many teams "driven by what's inside"
The Challenge Driving Subarus crossed the finish line 3-4-5 at the 2004 Winter Alcan. After nine days of competition and 4600 miles traversed, less than 10 seconds separated their scores.
The Subaru Forester Turbo of Paul Eklund, Kala Rounds and Gary Reid came in third overall and first in Class III (no rally computer), and dominated the rally ice races. The Forester gained on the front-running BMW teams on the final day but ended up 20 points (or two ice races) short. Still, it was the only time in recent memory when Class II (computer) competitors were hounded to the finish line by a Class III car.
Glenn Wallace, Greg Hightower and Francesca Carozza in a Subaru WRX STi held off pressure by the Horst/Willey car to secure first in Class I and fourth overall. The team, novices to the Alcan, ran an excellent race, leading overall in the early going and setting a competitive pace both on the road and on the ice.
Challenge Driving principal R.Dale Kraushaar, Jake Engstrom and Larry Richardson captured fifth overall and third in Class II. The team ran well in the early going, but suffered when R.Dale fell ill in mid-rally. He grew too weak to continue on Day 7. Jake and Larry kept the pressure on and regained position on the Horst/Willey BMW 325iX on the last day.
The rally winners were Rob Aherns, Pete Schneider and Gary Webb in one of the BMW X3s of Team BMW. The team drove a smart and clean rally, moving into the lead in the early days and avoiding mishap. In contrast, their teammates Henry Joy, Russ Kraushaar and Satch Carlson damaged their suspension pushing hard during an ice race, suffered its collapse later on the road, struggled with repairs, and found themselves riding the knife-edge of either going fast (and running out of gas) or slowing down (and being time-barred from the rally) -- a classic rally moment of the 2004 Alcan Winter Rally. They ran the blade successfully and finished second overall.
Eric Horst and Steve Willey captured sixth overall and second in Class I in the TeamD flagship, a BMW 325iX. Eric and Steve are strong competitors and finished only 40 points off the lead.
Andy Bornhop and Doug Kott finished seventh overall and second in Class III. In a Lancer EVO, they spearheaded the Mitsubishi team effort and ran an excellent race, running without serious mishap and finishing ahead of several computer-equipped cars.
Jim Hogan and Dan Comden finished eighth overall and third in Class I, an out-of-the-ashes effort for TeamD's Subaru WRX Wagon after their alternator failed mid-rally and saddled them with penalty points. The novice team's spirit and "let's press on regardless" attitude earned them a Subaru "Driven By What's Inside" award at rally end.
Rob Dunn and Nick Marcuse of TeamD finished ninth overall and third in Class III in the quiet little red Mazda 323 GTX. The team was weighed down by rough going in the middle stages, including an ice ridge in the Arctic Ocean that sliced two tires. They excelled at the ice races, setting best times for cars with non-studded tires.
Joel Wright and Richard Fuhrman were the top-finishing privateers of the 2004 Winter Alcan, taking 10th overall in their Honda Passport. The team faced many hardships, including a shredded tire and an incident where a fire extinguisher went off inside the car, which earned them an Honorable Mention for the Subaru "Driven By What's Inside" award.
Steve Brown and Will Morris finished 11th overall in their Subaru Legacy GT, in second place among the privateer teams. Novices to the Alcan, the team epitomized the spirit of adventure and seemed to enjoy every minute.
Michael and Jodi Weaver, 12th overall, won a Subaru "Driven By What's Inside" award. Driving a Subaru Impreza 2.5RS, the Weavers, novices to rallying, learned the ropes as they went. The two were unfazed when they discovered a broken axle in the early going, and set some excellent lap times in the final ice race on Big Lake.
Jim and Suzanne Elder are long-time Alcan enthusiasts. They can add this finish, in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO, to their adventure life totals. (For more, go here.)
In a class by himself, Rene von Richthofen and his son Lionel in the red Audi S4 were the lone "Touring Class" (unscored) rallyists of the 2004 Winter Alcan. The Baron's style, enthusiastic participation and gallantry earned him Subaru's third "Driven By What's Inside" award. Rene created another classic rally moment when he set a fast time during the first ice race - towing his elegant little travel trailer all the while.
Two teams did not finish the rally. Mike Miller, Paul Duchene and Katy Wood of Team BMW sacrificed their car for parts to keep their front-running teammates on the road. Paul Gilland and Paul Boyd overturned their Mitsubishi Montero on the Dempster Highway (a big truck contributed) and had their engine seize shortly after getting back underway. Paul and Paul also earned a Honorable Mention for the Subaru's "Driven By What's Inside" award.
The Challenge Driving teams - Team Forester, Team Baja and Team WRX - won the Team Award for the 2004 Winter Alcan. TeamD was the runner-up contender for this award, and Mitsubishi was third.
A special award was also presented to John Hubak, of Subaru. More about that later. Still waiting for the rally-end banquet stories and photos....
Bob
XM or Sirius? Or does it matter?
I think the subscription rates are different between the two. Also, one of them (I think Sirius) is not 100% commercial free.
Can Craig and I interest you in getting an iPod instead?
Ken
iPod is cool, but I would still need to take the time to load it up. With SatRadio I could channel surf.
Improperly routed wiring harnesses may interfere with parking brake mechanism, leading to fires. No actual incidences reported.
I don't cruise the boards for these models, so this may be old news to you all. (Edit: I see it has been posted in the Cayenne and Touareg fora. Not seen as impacting many Stateside Touaregs. Cayenne also recalled for transmission/transfer case problems.)
Ed
I took my iPod skiing the other day, and it was awesome. I had experimented with music a couple years ago when I took a mini-disc player along on a ski trip to Utah. That worked OK, but battery life was only a couple hours, and of course, the discs only held about 1:15 of music.
I made up an 80 song playlist on the iPod, and that lasted me the whole time I skied -- just turned it on, and tucked the iPod away in my pocket. It was really awesome. I'm going to spend a little time this weekend rearranging the tunes for the best flow, and I want to add some songs in from the soundtrack of a snowboarding game I have for my PS2. The only downside is that I started skiing more agressively to rockin tunes but luckily I made it through the whole day in one piece. It helped to have some good carving snow, which makes it easy to ski fast.
I heard Burton makes a ski/snowboard jacket that is wired for the iPod, including a sewn-in remote control on the arm. I need to check that out....
Craig
Oh heck yes. I love my iPod. I use it on my commute every day.
I also used it on my trans-Pacific flight to Japan recently. It's so nice to not have to think ahead and decide "OK, which CDs do I take with me on this trip". I just take my whole collection with me!
I believe there is a manufacturer that makes a sport strap for the iPod. It looks like one of those hip mounted water bottle holders, only that it holds you iPod securely.
Ken
Don't turn the volumn up too far on your iPod. Or you won't hear the avalanche behind you ;-). At "my" ski area some of the younger boarders use these devices. You can hear the music as you ski by them. We've ended up hauling a few of them into the first aid room when the "music" drowned out the noise from other skiers/riders or they got too "deep" into the music.
Remove Ski Patrol jacket (& crack a brew after the shift).
MNSteve
Craig
Craig
I like the Alfa 156 crossover.
Bob
I really like the 156 wagon, had a chance to ride in one in France last summer.
I also like the Fiat Trepiuno, I guess because I admired the fact that I saw so many well-kept old Cinquecentos in Italy.
Ed
Yes, and quite likely a hint of what the 2010 Outback might look like.
Bob
The event began with the usual technology and safety pitch inside the registration tent. Volvo is clearly positioning the S40 in the near-luxury sports sedan market. During the presentation, they drove in a TSX, 325i and an A4. For each of the competitors, they basically picked apart their weaknesses: power, saftey and price. Interestingly, they failed to mention that with the TSX, you basically get every possible option other than Navi for under $28K.
One of the demonstrations tried to feature the safety aspect of the S40 by comparing the beams used in the side doors against those in the 325i. The S40 uses a specially stamped bar that's designed to be extremely stiff. The 325i uses an aluminum tube. To show the difference in stiffness, they brought out samples of the door beam and a contraption that applied pressure on one end of the beam (your basic stress vs. strain test). Naturally, the demo was designed to show how much more rigid the Volvo part was. However, I kept thinking to myself how a one dimensional static force isn't going to accurately represent a crash scenario.
After the demo it was off to the test drives. The vehicles were all shipped in from Sweden -- all the S40s bore European lisence plates. There were four vehicles to choose from: 2.4 5-speed, 2.5 Geartronic, 2.5T 6-speed and 2.5T Geartronic. All the 2.5T models were equipped with the "Dynamic Suspension" package consting of firmer supension settings and 17" wheels. Two courses were laid out -- a "saftey course" with a bunch of slalom turns and a longer more sweeping "road course".
During the event, I got to drive the 2.5 6-speed, Geartronic and 2.4 5-speed.
2.5 6-MT: Lots of fun. Very smooth shifter and easy clutch. Although it didn't pull quite as hard as the Forester XT 5MT I test drove, the engine reved nicely and pulled hard. Nice throaty engine note as one approaches red line. Very flat torque curve -- power right there at all times. Volvo estimates a 0-60 in 6.3 seconds. Felt about right.
All through the test drive, I kept thinking, this thing "needs" AWD. At the start, I gave the vehicle a modest start and managed to spin the tires for a second. Down the first long straightaway, I noticed the constant tug of torque steer pulling the steering wheel to the left. Everytime I upshifted, the steering would get a little jerk. C&D in their preview mentioned only small amounts of torque steer. Perhaps I just got used to our Subies, but it was quite noticeable to me.
In the slalom, the chassis felt solid and the suspension tuned for a sport sedan designed to be a daily driver. The speed sensitive power steering kept the steering effort the same whether I was crawling or taking a high speed turn. The steering was far more communicative than any other Volvo I've driven, but it could have used a little more feedback. I left DSTC on and it didn't seem intrusive.
2.5T Geartronic: Volvo estimates a 0-60 in 6.7 seconds, but it didn't "feel" as fast as the 6MT. Engine note seemed more subdued. Otherwise very similar drive feel. I would get the 6MT between the two.
2.4 5MT: On the straightaways, the 168HP engine felt pretty good. Not explosive like the 2.5T, but it was solid NA performance. The shift throws were slightly longer and clutch grab point higher, but not bad for the entry level offering.
Where the difference showed was in the slalom. Without the optional Dynamic Suspension option and lower profile tires, the 2.4 leaned and rolled quite a bit through the slalom.
Other comments:
- The optional 400+W surround sound system ROCKed. Even FM radio sounded fantastic. It was loud but solid. Not bad for a option.
- The 2.5T with all the options (no AWD) tops out around $34-35K. Ouch!
- The lines for the Geartronic models are the longest. The 2.5T Geartronic line hardly moved at all as they were down to just one vehicle each.
- The line for the 2.5T 6MT was surprisingly quick. They had plenty to go around and I was able to get several runs in with this model. It was funny watching people who normally don't drive stick stall and lurch at the start.
- To maximize drive time, I suggest sticking to the MT models first until the crowd thins out, then try the Geartronics.
- All the 2.5T were dark grey, the 2.4 were red. The S40 is one sharp looking vehicle.
Overall, I was impressed by the S40. The 2.4 5MT offers a good solid ride. The 2.5T 6MT is lots of fun. However, I think I'm going to scratch the V50 off my list as the vehicle is just a tad small for what I'm looking for. Also, with the AWD option, the vehicle is going to be well into the mid-30K range -- far beyond what I want to spend today.
Ken
At that price point, the low 30's that is, the S40 is also going to be competing with the Acura TL. I recently had a chance to test drive the 6-speed version of the TL with Brembo brakes, and must say that it's the first car in a LONG time to make me giggle like a kid. Fun, luxurious ride. Just hold on to the steering wheel at full throttle; it's going to pull a bit.
Ed: too bad they didn't recall Cayennes for defective styling. ;-)
Like every 156-based vehicle I've ever seen, and still do.
Does Alfa not make the most beautiful cars? Remember the Kubang concept, I think it was? Best looking SUV out there.
The BMW 5 touring looks better than the sedan, minus that hunchback.
Ken: thanks for the tip, guess I'll save the Geartronics for later in the session.
-juice
You've been 'quoted' in the Test Drive thread.
-Brian
Ken
So now... it's snowing as I type!
Just another splinter in the journey down the bannister of my life the last couple days
Cheers!
Paul
He reminded us that we get traditionally 25% of our snow in March, and I remember almost at the end of April 2 years ago we got almost 1and1/2 feet of snow in one day, so I would rather have prematurely worn snow tires than be caught out on my summer tires.
Cheers Pat.
Our winters are mild but still, that blizzard we had came in late March. No way, no how, would locals still have had their snow tires on.
-juice
Anyways, it has Michelin winter tires, and the arrows on the driver's side tires are pointing backwards.
Are these unidirectional? If so, are they now garbage?
Thanks! Rob M.
even if it is directional they are not garbage... just not very effective. dangerous perhaps. but damaged in some way? nope
~colin
-juice
I was going to bring it to the tire shop and have them changed.
It just caught my eye when I was at the gas station.
What do you guys think?
The hatch looks kinda odd. Definitely not attractive, but not *that* ugly. A little dorky looking for a Bimmer, no?
The wagon looks a lot better. Proportions are better, it doesn't look so tall/narrow.
The convertible looks like a Kia to me. It went down hill from that concept we saw a couple of years ago.
-juice
although I did read that a 250PS (what, about 240HP?) six cylinder is planned for the M2 model. that would make the car pretty heavy if it's the existing inline six... they should use a high revving four cylinder instead.
~c
"reduce weight and add lightness" - chapman
-juice
My first thought was, "Hey, the lines resemble the Hyundai Tiburon," which is not a car you want to emulate IMHO. The hatch looks fine, and I like the agressive line on the rear doors, but I could do without everything else.
FYI: Bangle was promoted... sort of. BMW created a new senior executive role for him, director of BMW Group Design. Although he'll oversee individual styling departments for all of BMW's brands, at least he won't have the same hands-on role. BMW just can't admit they made a mistake.
Cheers Pat.
Of course I just saw a pic of the new Kia Spectra wagon and I have to admit that looked better.
-juice
Greg
Cheers!
Paul
-mike
Greg
If you mean the Legacy sedan, I completely agree with you. The 05 carries that theme even more, with a bit of Audi in the rear flanks too.
Of course, if BMW keeps styling their cars like angry canoes, nothing will resemble a BMW anymore....
Craig
MNSteve