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Comments
I think this is what you were trying to post:
http://community-2.webtv.net/myforester/My2001Forester/index.html
Nice ride! Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the Subaru family.
how do people think about wheel locks? Are they worth the money or are they a more or less useless token? Do they really protect the wheel from thiefs?
Thanks.
http://www.cars101.com/
I was intrigued at the idea of selling cars over the net and his site seems about the most comprehensive site I have seen
No idea what it is like in real life given that I am in Melbourne, Australia.
Cheers
Graham
JP
http://members.aol.com/dab4/sooby.htm
Dave
I did contact Joe Spitz and he responded with a factory order, 2001 For. S. Prem, Auto, Security System, and of course, Engine Block Heater, in Black for 4% over invoice plus shipping to AK, tax, license, etc. To ship from Bremerton to Anchorage is $1025 plus.
http://www.topgear.beeb.com/content/buying/jd_power/list_rating/1to20/index.html
I've tried the usual suspects: Pep Boys, Kragen and even a few dealers and I can't even find a Subaru keychain! I'd love to get one of those upper windshield type banners.
Any suggestions on where I could locate these items. Any online or paper catalogs out there? Thanks in advance for your help..
How is it a high altitude, 5000 + feet?
Can I pass comfortably and quickly in the mtns, on a curve in the snow/rain, with spray flying up from the trucks blinding me?
I go to Tahoe on my Forester S several times every ski season and it handles I-80 or I-50 extremely well. I've driven it through R-2 chain restrictions as well as pouring rain without a problem. The Forester's AWD system and great handling characteristics make it a strong choice for the Sierras.
Passing power is never a problem. My Forester is a 5-speed and I can pretty much keep it in 5th and cruise at 70+mph all the way with 4 passengers and cargo. For those very steep portions, I'll just drop it into 4th and keep going. Remember, the Forester has a very good power-weight ratio -- far better than anything else in it's class. Imagine doing this in a CR-V!
As for the spray flying up from the trucks, that's something everyone needs to deal with. I usually put some Rain-X on my windsield and it does a good job in keeping stuff from building up.
Trioxys: the '96 has the same power, 165, as the '97. It was the '95 that had 155 horses. The high octane requirement was only dropped in '97, as you stated.
An Outback in Hawaii? Heck yeah! Can you say SAND? I can't imagine a more fun place to own one.
MyForester: welcome and congrats. I have to admit I'm a bit jealous, though.
vtx: wheels locks? My wife lost the adaptor you're supposed to need, and the tire shop was still able to rotate the tires. It probably helps a little, but it won't stop a determined thief.
I guess Subaru owners consist of educators, pet owners, and people named "Dave"
Saturday is the I-club meet, so if I don't know a particular name, and I have to guess, I'll just say "Dave" and I'll probably be right!
Speaking of Subaru gizmos, I saw a very cool "Forester" watch at Costco. The color even matched my '98 Forester. Kind of regret not buying it, hope they still have it next time I go!
-juice
PS Anyone else have Town Hall withdrawal?
Hey I think I saw the same watch this past weekend at Target. I believe it's made by Casio. I showed it to my wife and she rolled her eyes. I guess one Forester is enough in our lives. :-)
Mine's very point-A to point-B, but then why take my Soob all the time? "It's more fun!"
My point EXACTLY.
-juice
As for driving a loaded Forester up mountain roads: Ken's is a 5-speed, and Juice lives on the east coast, where they call every dinky thousand-foot hill a "mountain". I have the 4EAT though, and have taken mine up into the Sierras, and up the 5 from Grapevine to Ft Tejon. You will get a lot of downshifting, and even a bit of annoying hunting (downshift to 3rd, shift back to 4th, back to 3rd, etc.) if you have the cruise control set at 80 or whatever when you climb the steepest grades, but it will still go.
I have not (yet) tried to go up the 4WD-only road from Wildrose Camp in Death Valley. From the map, it looks like it climbs 4000 feet in just a few miles. That should be interesting. :-)
Chris
It's done well on trips to West Virginia and the Skyline Drive areas, which amount to about a 3000 ft rise, though it's gradual.
-juice
AWD would very handy out there all winter long, as you get lots of freezing rain, slushy snow, and other treacherous weather, especially in those mountains. Daytime running lights would be good through much of central Pennsylvania too (did you know State College PA, home of PSU, has something like 330 overcast days per year average? it is gloomier than Seattle!). But there are few really good grades -- nothing like, say, Old Priest Grade on SR120, here in the Sierra foothills.
(The "foothills" run from the ~200 ft level, where they meet the central valley, up to about 3--5000 feet. After that you get to the "high country", going on up to some of the high passes. Tioga Pass, in Yosemite, is the highest, at 9945 ft, and there is another 9200-foot pass down just a bit north of Lake Isabella, on a road I have not yet traveled. These are closed all winter long though -- I-80 and Donner Pass, below 8000 feet, stays open year-round except during snowstorms.)
The Owens River Valley area and the Eastern Sierra are particularly interesting. From Yosemite, you exit via Tioga Pass Road, then drive south from Mono Lake (around 7000 ft), cross over Deadman Pass (around 8000), and slowly descend down to Bishop (around 4000 ft). Wend your way through Bishop and head south towards Big Pine and Lone Pine. Look to your right: the Sierras rise nearly 10,000 feet in just a few miles. Look to your left: the White Mountains do exactly the same thing.
White Mountain peak was last measured as 14,246 ft, on the map I have right here. Mt Whitney is the highest point in the lower 48 states, at an official height of 14,494 ft. All of these mountains are rising, with the Whites rising faster than the Sierras. Soon (geologically anyway) White Mountain will be the highest point.
All of these are only about 100 miles from the lowest point in the US: Badwater, in Death Valley, is at -282 ft. Death Valley itself is surrounded on all sides by 5000-foot high mountains. It really is an amazing place.
I guess if West Virginia is the "mountain momma", California must be the "mountain poppa". :-)
Since the deserts out here are full of sandy soil, and I have been on one sand road already, I figured I should get one of these contraptions. I also got the tires rotated and rebalanced (I could feel that one was just a smidge off -- the guy at the tire shop was amazed that I could tell at all). The backs had been at 29 PSI and were now on the front. I cranked them up to 32 PSI and am going to try running 32/30 for a while, instead of 31/29.
The one I got has a "universal" valve connector, so I am hoping it will work on the bike too, but have not tried that yet. It was $25 at Pep Boys -- not bad, for insurance.
The cigarette lighter socket does indeed power down when the ignition is all the way off. You have to put in the key and go to "accessory" to run the compressor.
Chris
need to let some air out of the tires. I would bet this can help in snow too -- <<
I think that statement is incorrect. While you want to try and stay on top of sand, for obvious reasons, it is impossible to do so on snow. I remember reading that the best thing to do for snow is to keep the pressure up, so the tires can better cut down through the snow to where the traction is firmer. Of course once you get to 10 or more inches the point is moot I guess. Then you're plowing.
>>The backs had been at 29 PSI and were now on the
front. I cranked them up to 32 PSI and am going to try running 32/30 for a while, instead of 31/29.<<
You wild man! Are you sure you want to go up an entire psi???? Seriously, I thought the recommended psi's were very low, and the tires are rated for 44psi max, so I'm riding 40psi in front, 38 rear. I know that will help the gas mileage some, make the ride a little harder, and shouldn't affect the wear in a negative way. I think the tires will wear faster with the lesser air pressure actually. Of course I don't have to worry about driving on sand.
Dave
When driving in snow, a narrower tire helps since it excerts more PSI on the a smaller surface area, hence improving traction. You don't have to fill the tires up more in the winter. Just keep them at the recommended Subaru specs.
When driving in sand, be careful NOT to air down the tires too much. You cannot really follow the traditional off-roading advice since these passenger car tires don't have a lot of air volume (unlike the large SUV tires) and their sidewalls are not designed to carry the load with reduced amounts of pressure. By airing down the tires, you will risk running the rim off the tire. Not a good thing, obviously. SUV/light truck tires can safely be aired down to 15 psi (provided you drive slowly and make slow movements) because they are large and have enough air volume inside to support the vehicle. The amount of air volume is the key, not PSI.
Drew
Life of the tires won't be significantly altered unless you never corner hard. Otherwise the outside should still wear out first.
-Colin
I know this has probably been asked before, but has anyone actually installed the security upgrade on the 2000's themselves?
thanks, ash
The recommended tire pressures by Subaru for the Forester are, in my opinion, too low. I believe it calls for 29/26 with a light load and 29/36 with a heavy load. I normally run 32/30 myself and found that this offers the best comprimise of ride and handling. I once tried using 29/26 and hated the way handling became sluggish and how the tires squealed at almost every corner.
Dave,
Wow, 40/38 does sound a tad high. I don't know about the Firestones but my Yokos max pressure is 44psi. I would be careful not to get too close to the max.
Ken
Yes Colin, it came with the RE92s, H rated. I'm happy with how it's working out with the increased pressure, and plan to keep them there. It seems to be handling well, but I'm not a racer, and wouldn't notice if the tires were not up to racing caliber.
Ken, I had 44psi tires on my Shadow ES and ran them at the pressure limit for years without a problem.
Dave #274
Sounds like you travel the same roads we do. We were married at Lake Tahoe three years ago and every year we drive up the 395 around our anniversary. It is a beautiful and fascinating drive. Last year we took an RV and stopped at every historical marker and interesting site along the way. It took 2 weeks! I just got a Forester and have daydreamed about taking it on the long and winding dirt road to the Ancient Bristlecone Forest in the White Mountains. We took hubby's F-250 last year which did fine, but I'd love to run the Soob on that 11,000 foot elevation trek!
The thing with running the tires above 40 psi is that you have to remember that the air in the tires does expand when it gets warmer. And the air can heat up very quickly once you're moving. If you're already running at such a high PSI with the tire limit at only 44psi, the chances are that when you're moving, your tires are already at, or exceeding the limit and you're risking blowing up the tire(s) if it gets hot enough. There's an even greater risk as the tires age and the sidewalls get weaker. Blowouts are definitely something that one should try to avoid, for obvious reasons.
heat up very quickly once you're moving. If you're
already running at such a high PSI with the tire
limit at only 44psi, the chances are that when
you're moving, your tires are already at, or
exceeding the limit<<
Very true. But if it says 44psi on the side of the tire, isn't that the max COLD pressure?
Dave
the tire, isn't that the max COLD pressure?<<
I was able to answer my own question.
I went to the Tire Industry Safety Councel web site. They showed the sidewall pressure as the max cold pressure. The manufacturers obviously take into account that the pressure might increase above that as you drive. Makes sense to me.
Dave
When I started I worked with the Subaru dealers in Corvallis (John & Phil's) and Albany (Mark Thomas) (OR). Going to both Carpoint and Autobytel increased the range to Portland (Thomason), The Dalles (Bob's), and Romania (Eugene). The stores in Portland and the Dalles seemed to act as if I wasn't aware of the invoice price of the 2001s. The other stores treated me OK. I ended up with the dealer in Corvallis which is nearer home. I only got a definite number from the folks in Corvallis and Albany. As it was the vehicle was shipped in from Thomason's with a sticker of over $28K (vs just over $22).
To jagarland: re: http://www.wetokole.com/
This is truly a fun site. Do you have their seat covers. Do their neoprene covers smell like my waders (yuck) and can their shampoo really get it smelling clean?
Again thanks to all.
One major factor that you need to think of is the accuracy or otherwise of the gauge that you are using. They are particularly sensitive to impact (being dropped) and if you have ever watched someone use them at a petrol station (gas station to you) you will realise that their gauges get dropped at least once per cycle of checking tyres. The gauges fitted to small 12v compressors (as I use at home) are also not very accurate. The best gauges are fairly expensive and delicate dial types and it can be salutory to find a good gauge, check the pressures on that and then try it against other gauges. Typical variations are about 5psi from true.
I use a stick type gauge which is less accurate but also less prone to being dropped. Every so often, I do a cross comparison between two gauges and if possible, check them against the gauge at a tyre shop.
Twenty plus years ago, tyre shops in Australia tended to recommend an increase of pressure by about 4psi for a saving in tyre wear. At that time, vehicle suspension systems were less sophisticated and this seemed to have minimal impact on ride quality. However, this is less common today as radial tyres are now almost universal and the actual volume of air in the tyre markedly less as profile sizes have reduced. The vehicle manufacturers recommendations on pressures are also much more accurate.
I have found the Subaru recommendations for pressures fairly accurate both on the normal settings and the high speed, high load settings.
Incidentally, it is worth finding out the difference between cold and hot pressures in your own car. Typically it can be about 4psi between dead cold and very hot, hard worked rubber. If you don't compensate on a long or hard drive when checking the pressures, it will mean underinflated and potentially dangerous tyres when you hit the school run on that cold Monday morning.
Cheers
Graham
On another note, did anyone watch tonight's "World's Wildest Police Chases" on Fox? There was a high speed police chase involving a senior citizen suffering from Alzhiemer's. Unfortunately, he got really confused and drove his Ford Taurus (it was a '93-'95 model) onto the wrong side of the highway. Anyway, the police couldn't set up the road block in time and his car wacked into a red Subaru Forester that couldn't get out of the way in time. The Taurus then lost a front wheel and sideswiped a black Chevy Blazer.
It was quite a severe offset collision because both vehicles were travelling at significant speed, after all, it was on the highway. Luckily, no one was injured in the accident and everyone walked out fine. Both the Taurus and Forester were probably totalled though. I should also mention that that Taurus did do well in the IIHS's offset crash tests, just as the Forester did. No doubt, that contributed significantly to the positive outcome of the situation. There was one thing that annoyed me though. The host of the show referred to the Forester as a minivan!! I guess it kind of looked like one from the angle that the video footage was taken.
I'll post some screen captures later on...
Drew
Dave
Is the New Zealand Subaru page, with lots of interesting information on the vehicles that will never be bring to the Americas.
That page has some great stuff. Too bad it says:
"All Subaru branded clothing and merchandise is available for inspection and purchase at your local Subaru Dealership."
Maybe in New Zealand, not in LA! I wish there were a way to order some of those things. Do we have any Subaru Crew members in NZ???
local dealership. I've been following this board
for a while, and am planning on getting a 2001 L.
My question is:
I was disappointed to find that the 2001 Forester
rear seats do not recline like the previous models
do. Though my wife and I would probably never use
this feature ourselves, it is a neat and unique
feature that I wanted in case we had passengers on
a long road trip.
Does anyone have opinions on if I will actually
miss this feature. In other words, do those of you
who have 2000 and earlier use this capability
much?
Why did they remove the ability to lay the seats
back?
Any comments would be appreciated as I make final
decisions as which year and features to get.
Thanks
It is a nice feature that 2001+ owners (or rather their friends) may miss on long trips - it makes up for the slightly cramped rear seat. Notice how economy airline seats are more bearable when you recline.
JP
Dave
1.
With the old reclining seats there was an uncomfortable (extra) split near the outside edge of the seats (to allow for clearance of the rear suspension strut towers), so that the seats could recline. That no longer is the case with the new seats.
With the old setup, and when the seats were in a reclined position, that (fixed) outside edge was "very" uncomfortable. It forced you to move towards the center of the seat, making three-across seating impossible.
2.
In order for Subaru to install the third (middle) rear headrest, they had to adjust the seat split from 55/45 to 60/40.
3.
My understanding is that Subaru is redesigning the (optional) rear cargo/dog guard for the new Forester. This redesign was necessary because a new middle lap/shoulder belt, (replacing the middle lap-only belt) which is anchored on the rear of the roof, wouldn't work with the existing cargo/dog guard. When will we see it? Who knows?
Bob
Anyone go a firm, out the door price on a 2001 S-Limited?
p.s. I've only actually seen one 2001 at the dealers: seems they are almost all bottled up at the port.
Norman
http://www.bpmsports.com/bpmstore/prod2.htm
In general, I think Subaru made the right choice by sacrificing the reclining feature for more overall comfort. My guess is that the rear multi-link suspension on the Legacies will eventually find their way into the Foresters and the rear seats will recline once more -- except this time the entire seat will recline.