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Comments
DRLs were also the same ones who didn't initially like the CHMSLs!
they got used to those and one guy who thought they would make him go blind is still driving today. ... well, he can't be totally blind now anyway can he?
MNSteve
Seriously though, are you guys sure that this Klasse stuff actually protects your car's paint? It just seems too good to be true that something that's so easy to apply can really replace a paste wax that takes at least 4 times as long to apply and buff out ;-)
-Frank P.
I also use it on the other two cars, but not as religiously. They look OK, but the WRX is a notch better. If you can do it every 6 months and keep the car washed, it will look great.
The celaner wax is great, but the sealer glaze really gives the car that perpetual wet look.
Craig
My aversion to DRLs is only somewhat annoyance. Regarding safety, I like to stand out with my headlight on a motorcycle. I also use a fairly loud exhaust.
I don't believe that for anything besides a two-lane undivided road (where vehicles pass in opposing traffic's lane) is the extra visibility needed, in normal lighting conditions, for something as large as a car.
eh... 'nuff said. honestly if the DRLs were too hard to disable I'd just ignore them or install an alarm with an auto headlamp lumisponder. I like the automatic lights on my taurus, but they're not DRLs.
~c
You'd be surprised at how many people drive with their headlights OFF in foggy days.
I want to be seen and I want to see the other guy.
Jim
Colin I can't understand why you feel DRLs are only necessary for motorcycles. The same logic applies to cars. Yes DRLs may make a bigger difference with motorcycles but they can still make a difference. Remember, not all drivers are equally as alert and observant so if my DRLs will enable someone to see me and prevent them from pulling into my path that can only be a good thing.
-Frank P.
As a rider you can see cars better with DRLs, but riders tend to be far more attentive anyway, so this benefit is small IMO.
The other thing is with my Miata I'm at eye level with millions of cars and trucks with high beam lights aiming directly in to my eyes and if they had been professionally aimed to do so.
Nobody can convince me that's not annoying, sorry.
However, I can live with them. HIDs on trucks are the real nuisance.
-juice
Craig
SOooo I will lv. em on. Deadeye
~c
-juice
PS padiddle = one headlight burned out
Greg
Who is all for DRLs.
I don't buy the argument that it makes the motor cycle rider harder to see because cars have headlights on at all times.
As for your assertion juice that motorcycle riders are more attentive, in this area at least I find that most motorcyclists are cowboys.
Most of the roads around here are two lane divided highway and I repeatadly see motorcyclists riding up the road hugging the yellow line.
Now why in Gods name would they ride out there instead of on the inside, this forces other road users to have to cross the line to pass, when it should not be nesessary to do so.
If you give these eejits the lights or horn to pull over most times you get the one finger salute.
And as for or against DRLs lets agree to disagree and leave it at that.
Cheers Pat.
~c
Unfortunately around here as I said that does not seem to be the case, most riders that I experience are out and out cowboys.
Last year for instance on a back road we were travelling about 10 k over the limit when six bikes all passed us all of them riding on the rear wheel with the front wheel straight up in the air.
You will witness cowboy stunts like this all summer.
Cheers Pat.
staying near the yellow is actually what a sensible motorcyclist should do. they own that entire lane, just like a car. you should not pass them with any portion of your vehicle in their lane even if there is room.
the other reason to be there besides guarding the lane is to ensure that someone coming the other direction can see you. if you're on the right edge of the lane, you're obscured behind any cars ahead of you for longer.
enough about that... we agree more than disagree.
~c
I've got a 97 Subaru Outback Limited. Generally speaking, I love the car. There've been quite a few problems with the car, though. The most headaching problem was the oil leak. I brought the car to a Subaru dealer in town, Lunenburg, Massachusetts, for this problem. To cut the story short, I had to bring the car in three times and the problem wasn't fixed at all, due to misdiagnosis of the problem. I paid $800 and oil was still leaking from the engine, and the smell of burning oil was always coming inside the car. On top of all this, the service staff weren't at all friendly and polite just like normal people should be. It was a total disappointment. I won't ever come back.
I took the car to a mechanic nearby who knows Subaru vehicles remarkably well, and he pinpointed the leak. I could've paid him more for he'd taken away not just the problem of the car but also my 'headache' :-) I do recommend him to those who own Subaru vehicles and live near his shop in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The place is called Image Auto.
Yours,
MNSteve
-Frank P.
Thanks!
Patti
-mike
More than half of all motorcycle accidents happen to first year drivers, basically teens on sport bikes that don't know that they're doing.
-juice
But, if you've found a good indy mechanic, that's cool.
-juice
On the other hand the worst are the riders on regular sport bikes Yamaha's and the like, I would also lump in here the bike of choice for the gangs the Harley, these riders tend to be cowboys, weave in and out of traffic, pass on the line on divided highways even when cars are coming at them.
When I go up and down to the cottage in the summer I have lost count of near accidents because of this behaviour.
In conclusion this discussion I think has been flogged to death, there are responsible riders out there but based on what I have seen in this area at least they are in the minority,let's agree to disagree.
Cheers Pat.
Just picked up a used (from dealer) 1 owner '02 wagon w/30000 miles and clear carfax. Seems like a great great car but I was wondering if anyone had any problems with a hesitation at about 2700-3000 rpms or so. I thought I saw a post about it somewhere but I was wondering if anyone knew the cause/fix. At first I thought it was some sort of "turbo lag" since this is my first turbo car...but it's definitely too severe. Definitely need to get this straightened out before warranty is up. Thanks.
I received this response from someone and I'm going to try it out:
Ground the left and right strut towers to the intake manifold and the driver side tower to the neg. terminal. There are nuts on the manifold that look like they were designed for grounding use. Don't forget to use heavy guage wire. I didn't think ground wires could make a diff. but I tried it and the hesitation is gone. I have heard the cause is electrical 'noise' in that range.
While a little ground noise might not seem like a big deal on a 12v system, realize that many of today's logic and microprocessor chips have internal operating voltages below 5v, some as low as 2 volts. It doesn't take much to trip them up.
I keep promising to hook up a storage dvm and do some driving to see if I should do this also.
Steve
-Dave
What really turned me down was that they failed to fix what should've been fixed. Everytime I brought the car back, they always said something else was leaking. The second time I brought the car back, the service manager even wrote, 'Fixed, don't come back!', on the invoice! Anyway, I already talked to the general manager about this, and he apologized on behalf of the service manager. The oil was still leaking and I had to bring the car back in one more time. It was still leaking, and I gave up.
I'm done with them. Period. We've got four Subaru vehicles, 3 Outbacks and 1 Legacy sedan, and we all made up our mind not to rely on this dealer in particular for any problems at all. We all like the cars, though.
Once again,
Thanks for your responses,
QL
-Brian
Thanks - ugghhh!! That's horrible! And I'm so sorry.
Patti
What do bug deflectors run? Trucks passing this old timer on sanded and salted roads kick up a lot of stuff on my windshield.
Jim
http://www.subaruparts.com/catalog/?section=12#32
They sell the deflector for $55.83
http://www.subaruparts.com/catalog/?section=9
-Dennis
In electrical terms, when we say something is at a 12v potential, we mean 12 volts above some reference point. That reference point is usually ground, or 0 volts. In an ideal situation, the true reference point would be earth ground, but dragging a wire attached to a stake would limit our driving range!!
Another basic - electricity travels in a loop. We need a solid, ideally zero ohms impedience connection between the appliance and the positive and negative terminals of the battery to avoid unintended voltage drops.
Years ago, auto makers decided to cheat on the amount of point to point wiring required, and settled on the use the car's chassis and body panels as the return path. So voltage goes out on wire from the positive terminal, and returns to the negative terminal thru the use of negative chassis ground. This means that the battery neg is connected to the engine and frame, and all appliances use a common return path. (OK, all you techies, electons are actually sourced from the negative terminal and flow to the positive, but lets not confuse the issue....)
So what happens if something is not solidly attached to the frame? If there is resistance along the grounding path, there will be a voltage drop across this point, or, in other words, the intended ground point will no longer be at ground - it will actually rise above ground. If you take a meter (or better yet, an oscilloscope) and measure between these points and the actual negative battery terminal, you will see voltage present. In a well grounded system, you should always read a solid 0.00 volts. When multiple point in the car begin to rise, especially if they rise to varying levels, problems begin. It could be as simple as static or a hum on the radio if there is an AC transient on ground. Digital logic (engine control, for instance) can get into trouble if the swings are big, as we differentiate a logic "0" and logic "1" internally on microchips by as little as 0.1 volt (100 millivolts).
So that's the story. The extra wiring is intended to make sure that the resistance on the ground side is as low as the actual wiring that is connected to the positive terminal, and that all ground points are at equal potential. Scraping paint and using star washers at all factory ground points will probably accomplish the same thing. Hope I didn't lose you along the way!!!
Steve
I myself didn't believe that I saw those words on the paper. When I talked to the general manager about this, he did apologize for his staff and promised that he would get this straightened out.
What type of info. would you want me to enclose in the email to Subaru USA?
QL
nope, you didn't lose me, me now have some understanding
Now, if I can get someone to explain how the aftermarket bellmouthed, divorced, etc... downpipes could be beneficial over OEM, being catless aside, cause... me no see that there would be.
-Dave
Don't get me wrong, both vehicles I feel are outstanding but I am thinking long term. How does Subaru's quality control compare to Toyota's? It seems that Toyota and Honda are the benchmarks for quality and all others are also rans.
Can someone from the Subaru team reassure me?
'88 Subaru XT6 >100K miles
'91 Subaru XT6 >100K miles
'92 Subaru SVX >100K miles and still running it
'94 Subaru Legacy Turbo >100K miles just bought it from someone on the board, running fine
'96 Subaru Impreza L >150K miles I track it 2-3 weekends a month running it HARD at 5000-6000 RPMS, running fine for 2 seasons.
-mike
I contacted 1-800-SUBARU3 as you and Juice suggested regarding the oil leak in the '99 Forester with 40K miles and powertrain warranty that ended on Feb 10th (Msgs 2953, 2960, and 2963).
Steve gave me a case number 600776 and the car is booked in at Carter Subaru in Seattle (800-562-1314) for proper diagnosis today (Thursday March 18th).
Thanks for your help,
Jon
My father had a beautiful black '83 Subaru GL AT. His idea of maintenance was stopping to fill the gas tank. Occasionally, he'd ask me to oil the teak luggage supports on the rear deck. I helped keep an eye on the real maintenance as I could, but it was not pampered. The car ran for a decade without any significant problems; then my father simply moved on to another car. Subaru's slogan at the time was "inexpensive, and built to stay that way." It lived up to the promise.
Toyota may have the edge on reliability figures, but you should compare that to the Forester's accolades in the April issue of Consumer Reports. Besides that, the Forester and the RAV 4 are very different animals, IMO. Forester's great visibility and low-speed collision performance will also keep it out of the repair shop. Its crash protection may keep you out of the repair shop.
Note that these comments are coming from a '84 Camry owner with 287,000 miles and still running like a rabbit. Forester has above average expected reliability over the long haul. Otherwise I wouldn't consider it for me. I believe that the two mini SUV's are close enough in that regard that you may find larger discriminators in how the vehicles fit you.
-Zor
Looks awesome. No way could you tell it wasn't factory. Stick with OE.
-juice
I think the offset is a little different, though. The tires are also much smaller in diameter, so it might look a little goofy since it won't fill up the wheel well.
But...since the tires are so small, I think they'll clear. Just mount all 4 if you do it.
-juice
I'm not too sure, but I believe the GT rims might be +53mm offset whereas the Forester is +48mm offset.
-Dave
-juice
Steve, definitely make sure the offset is compatible. And be aware that there is about 1.4" difference in overall diameter there (GT wheel/tire combo is smaller), so the gearing and speedo will be off (speedo would be 3mph high at 55mph and 6mph high at 100mph). You'll also be turning higher RPMs in each gear (168 rpm more at 3000rpm, 224rpm more at 4000rpm, etc...).
Personally, I think it's a bad match for the Forester unless you plan on getting a different size tire mounted on the wheel.
Craig
My tires are 225/60 R16, just bigger than stock, and they *almost* touch the front mud flap. If it were 235 they'd surely rub.
-juice