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Comments
Here's what I used to do with the kids .. I'd go in their rooms and pick up all sorts of stuff off the floor or out of the closet and put it in big garbage bags... if they 'missed' it within 2 weeks I'd go dig it back out .. if not ... I disposed of it at Goodwill or trashed it ...
Brenda
Cheers!
Paul
Maybe an old TDI. They're too slow to get in any trouble with.
The catch is you want stability control, and mostly newish cars have that.
Maybe even a new Fit Sport - do they have VSC?
Golf and Jetta are options, but would need to be used to hit the $ point. Still prices are very good on the 06's given the 07 redesign and reduced price.
You'll need to come up to an 08 Impreza for VSC, and there aren't many of those lying around.
Bummer the 2.0 doesn't come in the 5 door, but as a small sedan, it ought to be near your price range.
Sure it's FWD, but there's not really enough torque there for torque steer to be a problem.
It'll be interesting to see how those Nokian WRG2's, now with about 9K miles on them, do this winter season. CU, ironically, found them only "good" on snow and ice, and inferior to an all season, non-winter-rated tire from Michelin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeVp9tmsvMk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5kSImNYVn0&feature=player_embedded
http://www.ridelust.com/vw-claims-first-ever-diesel-powered-victory-in-2009-daka- r-rally/
I'm really curious about this entry. It appears to have help from Subaru. If that's the case, I can't help but wonder if Subaru plans to offer a more off-road-ready version of the Forester at some point?
I'm also wondering if it might have a race-prepped diesel engine? It's been long rumored that Subaru is working on a high-performance diesel. This would be a perfect venue to test that engine. A number of previous Dakar racers have been diesels (VW, Mitsubishi, BMW). VW came 1st and 2nd in 2009.
The race takes place this January.
Bob
Sounded like a gas engine with an open exhaust to me.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/19/pixie-of-ecstasy-rolls-royce-edition-mini-rep- - ortedly-confirmed/
Bob
But stability control seems to be becoming more prevalent, but they are newer cars.
Teenagers are in an incredible number of "single car accidents" so I figured adding stability control would be a good idea.
I'm looking at used v6 accords, maybe a used volvo, or if i'm lucky a Subaru with VSC (hard to find at reasonable prices here in the NW). Saab's are pretty cheap used, but I don't know much about how reliable they are and am a little concerned.
The Mazda 3 might work as well- good crash test scores and the upper models get stability control, but they get pretty pricey too and at that point may as well get a new impreza.
tom
Think of all the time you'll save scraping your windows?
tom
It means I can only check at work.
tom
You might want to run Disk First Aid? Whenever my Mac starts acting goofy, that's what I do. It always seems to clear things up.
Bob
tom
Huuuuhhhhhh??? Macs running goofy? Next thing you know, Subies will be FWD!!
Bob
But actually, everything else runs fine- I just can't sign in here. Weird. :confuse:
Oh yeah - blame the poor PC schlub. It's all his fault.
Actually, I've been looking to drink more Kool Aid - I love my iPhone and am looking for a new laptop.
My daughter bought an iPhone last summer. Is a Mac computer in her future? We'll see...
Bob
What can I say? It's a typical Honda in that what does well—it does very well, and what it does poorly—it does very poorly.
My biggest problems with this car is not the styling but the pricing, which is outrageous; and the very poor rear visibility. The basic package is pretty good; and the details are excellent, as you would expect being a Honda. The cargo area is quite commodious, but it should be, given the large size of the vehicle.
What Honda should have done is made this a full station wagon, and not a hatchback. That would cure the rear visibility problem, and add even more cargo space.
I'm looking forward to a comparison test between this, the Venza, and the Outback. I bet the Outback wins.
Bob
It's been some time since I've been interested enough in a Honda, to want to test drive one. I know it will drive just fine. However, it's too expensive, and therefore not on my radar. Like most other rather ordinary cars, I can pretty much get all the info I need by just sitting in one.
Besides, I was in kind of a rush. Maybe sometime in the future?
Bob
This was about 3:30 in the afternoon.... not long before sunset! :surprise:
Bob
Being in Alaska, do you use winter tires on your Forester? And if so, when do you put them on and take them off?
Heading to New Hampshire tomorrow, roughly a 550-mile drive. Hope my "summer" tires on my WRX won't get "winter-tested" along the way.
Bob
Nice pic.
We used to travel a lot in NH and Vermont when we lived in Ottawa. You could see sub-zero temps this time of year, especially going over the "gaps". I would worry much less about "snow" testing than "ice" testing. Weather surprises have made me drive on the summer rubber in snow a couple of times and it was okay at low city speed, plus I have almost 30 years of snow driving experience. One cold morning with hoar frost on the road was a much different story and I crawled to work as I could feel the WRX subtley drifting as I took curves. My advise would be to watch the weather forecasts and your temp display. If it's getting cold, avoid driving early in the morning or late at night when black ice is most dangerous.
I was planning to take it in for inspection at a tire shop but wondering if anyone had any knowledge. More than once in the past year I have "trusted the professionals" only to have them make a monumental mess. Opinions??
Supposed to by high 40's around here Bob so I wouldn't worry unless you're planning on going up near Franconia or further north.
But do this, at least - take a pressure reading now, then a day from now, then a week from now. Try to do it when temps are similar.
If you record any pressure loss (besides a fraction of a psi from actually taking the pressure reading), then have it patched.
I mounted them on a set of 16" painted steelies from an '07 Forester, so I can take them off and remount them as necessary. In a normal year, they would be on by or near October 1 and come off in mid-to-late April. Usually, we have snow on the ground that entire time.
When I drove the Forester up from Seattle, I hit a little bit of snow and ice for about 100 miles just as I entered Alaska. The Geolandars performed quite poorly, and I squirreled my way around more than one curve (and I even slowed down!). With the new tires, I have yet to slow down due to road conditions.
After a while he gave them to me, and I did - on my 98 Forester. It was amazing.
Too good, in fact. You couldn't drift in the snow the way you could with all-seasons. :shades:
That's true. But, since this is my family's car, I figured safety was the bigger issue. Granted, I never felt unsafe in my '96 Outback, but I sure did in the '07 and '08 models with their stock Bridgestone RE-92As. There were even a few times when I could not make it up my driveway! :mad:
Bob
Plus you have to mount and dismount them each year, and hopefully time it right.
We've had so little snow lately...though I do expect more this year. :shades:
In the flesh it may be a little less offensive, but to me it looked more like an Accord wagon than a crossover. The Outback seems more raised, and more differentiated from the Legacy, IMHO.
Inside it's an Accord, not surprisingly. Materials are on par with the Outback, no better or worse. A step up from the CR-V/Forester class, as you'd expect from a $37k sticker price (yikes).
I also noted the poor visibility. It's the rear quarter blind spot, which is HUGE. I'm sure the Accord has better visibility, and that shouldn't be the case - usually wagons are better at that.
Backing up is actually OK, it has that little split window like the Insight, plus a backup cam for that price (it had better).
The cargo area is very long, but disappointingly narrow. Just 31" between the wheel wells, which is awful.
For reference, the Forseter offers a massive 42.2". That's no typo - the compact Forester is WAAAAAY wider than the fairly large Crosstour. Give Honda an "F" for space efficiency.
The Outback also offers a massive 43" width between the wheel wells. Again, much more utility here. Folks, that is ONE FOOT wider than the Crosstour, we're not even talking inches any more.
Honda really missed an opportunity here. I can deal with the ugly if it were practical, but it's not.
Yeah, it would be better if it were a wagon; but still as a hatch, it's pretty roomy.
Bob
Think poor-man's 2WD Impreza.
Bob
We bought an air hockey table this weekend and there's no way it would have fit laying flat on the floor, which is how you're supposed to ship it.
Wifey got a treadmill and to be honest I don't think that would have fit either! At least not laying flat.
Some corrections:
Our Fox coupe was called the Voyage there. Gol was a hatch only. The Fox wagon was called the Parati.
Lots of taxi drivers buy Gols and convert them to run on propane. Cost per mile is MUCH lower. Think Civic CNG, but much cheaper.