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Comments
but I agree, whomever considered that car a replacement for the male organ is ...uh, coming up a little short. :-D
-Colin
my significant other says that instead of a sports car for a midlife crisis ... he got me ... (and i'm more expensive!)
http://www.subaru.com.hk/
Bob
http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=43086
Bob: you mean hmmmmmmVee? ;-)
-juice
-mike
The DOHC intermediate engine had 130 (good at the time), then the turbos produced big-time power.
-juice
-Brian
Dear Grandma,
All is not good in the world.
The World Trade Centers are nothing but ash.
They went down when two planes crashed.
It was terrorism; there isn't a doubt,
Someone screamed and America let out a shout.
We're at war while the president sits in his ridiculously expensive chair.
He does nothing and it's not fair.
He's George W. Bush and he rambles on.
About America and terrorism like nothing else exists.
The economy stinks and new jobs are at a low.
This is something everybody knows.
But my life is normal and school is fine.
The lunch there still causes kids to whine.
The food bounces when you drop it on the floor.
That makes kids hate it even more.
So you see life is so-so.
I hope you think life wasn't all aglow.
Sincerely,
Michael
-mike
-juice
-juice
Hmmm...I happen to agree with the poem's sentiment, but...if we want to keep this topic open, then...
OTOH, no one's getting too excited about it. Maybe we need little diversion now and them from what's happening. Oh wait, that's when bad stuff happens...when no one is paying attention...
Ah well, nice weather we've having in the NE today :-)
interesting service loaner, I asked for a 5 series because I need to stop by the store and get some fertilizer for the lawn and they gave me a 2003 X5 with 450 miles on it (only 3.0, dang). it's interesting but I'd never buy one. lots of gadgets, express up & down windows on all four doors, hill descent, etc. dynamic stability control is even more brutal than the 3ers and Zs I've driven lately... if it SMELLS something remotely like fun it pimp-slaps you back in line.
-Colin
Cheers Pat.
Guess they don't want any X5s rolling over. I still think "sporty SUV" is an oxymoron.
-juice
You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy,
the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest player in the NBA is
Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the US of
arrogance, and Germany doesn't want to go to war.
One of the last non-intrusive SUVs.
-mike
oh and happy news... they believe they've found the cause of the poor idle at cold-start... a temperature sensor. $150 vs. the $1200 they wanted for their first guess (VANOS).
someone wants me to keep this M3. ;-)
-Colin
Glad to hear that it was just a sensor. Perhaps someone wants you to save the difference between the sensor and VANOS on a downpayment on an STi. ;-)
So did the X5 "feel" like a Bimmer despite it's conservative stability control settings?
Ken
$150 for any repair, nowadays, is cheap-cheap. When the 626 even looked at the Mazda dealer it was $800.
X5 = Xpensive 5er wagon
-juice
it actually kinda does. the steering is very heavy, close to my E36 M3. the current 3 series has MUCH lighter steering (more boost, less effort-- or whatever). I haven't driven a current M3 for comparison.
it also turns very sharply and in a short radius for an SUV, because it's really an SUV-like wagon as juice pointed out. *cough* forester *cough*
the other similarity is in the gas and brake pedals. both are extremely responsive (touchy, one might even say) which I've heard numerous late model 3-series owners state how great their brakes are, or how fast the car is at part-throttle. um, yeah... that's intentional. it's not that the brakes are that overwhelmingly better than the competition, they just have the boost and pedal travel adjusted so that it doesn't take much more than resting your foot there to generate serious WHOA.
the integrated window shades in the back are probably the funniest gimmick. they pull up from the door and attach to the top of the window frame... guess bimmer owners are too good for suction-cup types that everyone else has to use. ;-) oh, and the rear seats can be raised and lowered with no less than 3 controls: in the rear seat area, on the overhead console (by the dome light) and from the hatch area. power everything, bay-bee.
-Colin
Forester offers twice the cargo capacity of the Impreza wagon, more payload, more towing, etc. Plus it rides better, not stiffer.
If the Impreza wagon was as big as the Focus wagon, and offered a bigger engine at the time, I'd very likely have bought that instead.
I felt that over-boosted steering too, when we test drove that 325i. Didn't notice the feathery throttle, though Subaru is guilty of that on the Phase IIs. Our Legacy's throttle is a lot less linear than our Forester's.
I remember now Subaur claiming that there was something like 50% more torque at part throttle, that was misleading. It's actually harder to drive the car smoothly.
-juice
your opinion about ease of driving smoothly is unrelated to Subaru's claimed engine output; it that has a lot more to do with pedal travel, resistance, etc.
-Colin
The engine isn't any quicker, it's just the throttle mapping.
-juice
He did it, Chris Bangle has officially ruined the 5. Now there is a reason to get an X5 - it's not cosmetically challenged:
http://www.cardesignnews.com/news/2003/030401bmw-5series/index.ht- ml
Check out the eye brows, don't they remind you of:
http://www.dame-edna.com/
Check out her glasses. It's a perfect match!
Someone please shoot Chris Bangle. I am a firm believer in capital punishment!
-juice
The new 5 looks like a better interpretation of Bangle's theme (to me anyway) but the 6 coupe worries me...I see a Pontiac in every photo of the 6...especially the grille.
In any event, I can't afford any of them, so I'll worry myself with the lower end of the market!
b
Imagine if the car weren't Hunch-back of Notre Dame ugly? Dynamically it's a much better car, underneath that ugly skin. Maybe it does sell well, but that's despite the styling, not because of it.
The new 5 looks fat from the side, Dame Edna-ish from the front to the point of sillyness, and I see lots of Kia influence on the rear.
The Z4 is their only new design that works at all, and even then the front end is a little droopy. I like the sides and rear. Look how taut it looks, no fat at all. The 5 and 7 look plus-sized.
"Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna Nicole, you're so outrageous!"
Thank you, BMW, for making me no longer have any desire whatsoever to own these eye sores.
-juice
I would definitely get an S instead if I had need of (and money for!) a large premium luxo sedan. Of course I'd also get a C32 AMG instead of a current M3...
-Colin
You couldn't give me one. Well, you could, but I'd sell it.
-juice
-Eric
Volvo has come a long way, the S60 is very handsome. The XC90 is one of the better looking tall wagons, as Colin would put it. :-)
Newer Jags are faithful to tradition and have those chiseled hoods.
Even Mercedes styling has improved lately, particularly the E-class.
BMW has lost their edge. Chris Bangle is ruining a long string of aspirational cars, a string that has run for several decades. As an enthusiast, to watch him do so is sad.
-juice
Ken
Bob
For those that cannot see the direct link, the photochop is here, 3rd pic in this album:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290819759
-juice
You have WAY too much time on your hands! :-D
Ken
-juice
Bob
Jim
Start your savings now."
I believe it'll be a car worth saving to spend for. ;-)
-Dave
1) I hope it's not Subaru's Edsel.
2) The price may shutout many Subie loyalists.
Jim