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Comments
The moonroof deflector that comes with the premium package on the Forester S is a little flap that pops up when you open the moonroof. It doesn't do a good job. Check the post #680 which deals with this subject (Boris' note). There is another one that you can add to your car that will work much better.
~~~Pat
If you open your roof at highway speeds, it can be a good thing, in terms of keeping the wind noise down a bit (although it was still pretty loud).
I only open the roof in the city, at lower speeds. The deflector got in the way when cleaning the car, and would sometimes trap water in a carwash. In winter, the deflector would trap snow and then ice up, which can lead to leakage, especially if the rubber edging around the moonroof is older and dried out (this leaking happened to me when the Sube was about 5 years old; and I seem to remember that it happened to someone else on this board a few months back).
Just some points to ponder...
Randy
since you so kindly agreed to take a request about hood scoops to the Product Planning dept, here are some more things to pass along (all related to Forester, don't know about Oubacks/Imprezas):
1. Add to instrument panel:
a) gear selector indicator;
b) door lock indicator;
c) a display that shows which door is ajar;
d) voltmeter gauge;
e) oil pressure gauge;
(my old Subaru Loyale'92 had it all, and we all at Subaru Crew love the gauges and extra displays!)
2. Make seats more comfy, mostly make the seat cushions longer, with better thigh support;
3. Make rear seats to recline again, like in pre-01 Foresters
4. Make lockable gas lid (old Subarus had them!)
5. Start making the "Grand Forester", with H6 and 3rd seat row (a comfy one, please!), with as minimum input from GM as possible. If you do, I promise to trade my husband's Accord for the Grand Forester right away!
6. No false hood scoops please; and round headlights are too Neon-ish...
BTW, I'm on my 3rd Subaru now. I hope your Planning Dept will listen to a such a loyal customer like me...
--Kate
Loyale'92
Loyale'93
Forester'01
I confirmed on this trip that the OB gets better gas milage the faster you go. From Albuquerque to Flagstaff I got 27+ mpg and had the cruise control set at 87 most of the way.
I also discovered the cruise control will not engage above 90 mph.
Arizona has notoriously lax speed enforcement. Our Highway Patrol is understaffed. It was easy to notice a 15 mph speed jump from the NM side to the AZ side.
I got better milage than my buddies 98 Forester. He had to stop for gas before Flagstaff. He was also going the speed limit. Neither car had a significant load.
To comment on roof boxes:
I have a big Thule Adventurer, 22 cubic feet. Even loaded there is very little difference in the cars ride. I use Yakima cross bars with the box. If I put the box on the factory rails the tailgate hits the box.
It always thrills me to see so many OB's when I head up to the mountains. THey are rare in Phoenix but a dime a dozen in the mountains. And yes, it drove fine at 10,200 feet.
No argument with the the rest of the list, except that "comfy" is a little road; I have no beef with the seats in mine. Personal preference, I 'spose.
AS for the new Impreza front end, let me go on record as saying it looks good, anti-neon detractors be darned. It's fresh and updated, and most folks will like it as soon as they stop makin goo goo eyes at the current model. Not that I am making goo goo eyes, mind you. I am perfectly secure in my choice of a Legacy Outback, and can't think of a single reason why a man such as myself, obsessed by all things automotive as I am, would be making goo goo eyes at a low-slung, performance oriented (although that is open to debate, a debat that Mugen would surely encourage) Impreza. No siree, not this hombre...
*cough*
-mike
I leave the deflector off in the winter so that you do not get snow sitting inside. Besides, the deflector serves no purpose in the winter time. So, there are no cons to the deflector if you don't mind taking it on and off.
1. a "cruise control engaged" light on the IP would be great (I think this has been mentioned before).
2. move the turn signal blinkers down a little -- with my preferred seat position (near upright) and steering wheel angle, the turn signal blinkers are completely obscured by the rim of the wheel. There's a lot of open real estate to move them down 1/2" or so. If you look at how the blinker lights are spaced relative to the speedo/tach, they seem to be too high and look sort of ingrown.
3. smooth electrical potentiometer control for the heater knob instead of the graunchy mechanical cable control. That heater knob feels like the UHF dial on an old TV. The fan speed and vent selection knobs are nice and smooth by comparison. My fiancee's Mazda 626 has a potentiometer heater knob, and it's very slick. Like butter. Gives the impression of quality and elegance.
4. The power door lock switch seems counter-intuitive -- push up to lock, and down to unlock. Huh? This is exactly opposite of most other cars.
5. How about improving the flip out hooks on each side of the cargo bay (the 2 upper ones) so that they can securely hold plastic grocery bag handles? The current hooks are kind of shallow.
6. There is no 6. Everything else is great!
thanks,
Craig
Kate: Grand Forester, yes! Patti: tell product planning they already have two sales secured.
27mpg at 87 mph? Sweet.
-juice
On the Forester the clock is separate from the temperature gauge, and it located on the roof in combination with the sunglasses compartment. The advantage to this placement is that everyone in the vehicle can see the clock, and it is easy to read.
On the Outback the clock is buried in the tachometer -- with the ambient temperature guage. It is small, hard to read, and only visible to the driver. It's a bad design solution to a great idea.
And... absolutely include a "cruise-engaged light" on future models!!
Bob
Thanks!
--Kate, the beginner-offroader.
Please share photos.
-juice
The stereo has a clock, but I like to see what radio station I'm on all the time, so I never use that one. Don't need to.
Spread it to all models!
-juice
Bitman
Bob
-mike
Also, if there was a way to put the ignition key in the center console where it should (ahem) be a la Saab, that would be cool. It would also obviate the current need for a strip of felt along the underside of the current ignition lock, without which the keys bang against the steering column loudly and unecessarily. Unless you only drive banked right turns, of course - anti-Nascar?
Of course, the whole center console thing becomes difficult in that the dog often heads for the front seat while I'm in the store, and invariably steps/turns on the seat heaters without my knowing it till I drive away, warm-assedly...
jg
-mike
Just my $2 worth...
I hate them. My wife and my father both hate them too. I will affix something to the instrument cluster and obscure the light if future subarus have one so equipped. I'm quite happy with the way things work today.
More gauges would be nice though. Real gauges, with numbers. Water temp, oil pressure and battery voltage would be good.
Oh and on the impreza, make the tach bigger and centrally located.
-Colin
If I planned to keep the car I would have used the opportunity to put in some stiffer springs and struts. We replaced the 91 L with a 00 GT wagon (sport suspension) and I can't believe the difference in handling, even with the new struts in the L. Comment about the Consumer Reports Frequency-of-Repair records: Of the problem areas listed for the 91 Legacy, I had problems with EVERY component with a black dot (much worse than average), like the air conditioner; don't recall the suspension's rating.)
Craig, an observation.
Re: 4. power door lock switch. I got it right the first time and have since. I've been accused of being counterculture; maybe I'm counter-intuitive too. Just presenting a different view (mine!
If you were to "slide" it from vertical (door on Civic) to horizontal (door handle on OB), they work oppositely. Lock: push down (vertical Civic), push up/away from driver (horizontal OB); unlock: push up (vertical Civic), push down/toward driver (horizontal OB). This doesn't explain why it was second nature to me.
..Mike
..Mike
Funny though, I tend to ignore the manual lock switch almost completely when there's a power button around, so that's why I have a quabble. If I had accepted the convention of the manual switch as normal (which works the same way on Hondas too), I might be more accepting of the power switch!
Craig
Have to disagree with grugru on the window switch location, though. Don't feel bad, you gave me a good laugh with the bun warmer comment!
bat1161: the deflector is a brand new accessory, so I'm not surprised it's not listed yet. It may appear in the 2001 Forester accessories catalog.
-juice
My 2000 Outback Limited (automatic with 14,500 miles), has recently developed a pinging noise under moderate load. The noise happens right at 2000 rpm when accelerating normally or going up a hill at low speed. It only seems to occur when the car is in 1st and 2nd. Once the transmission shifts up to the higher gears the noise seems to disappear. It's especially noticeable with the A/C on.
I'm taking it to the dealer next week and I'm wondering if you could give me any advice on where to direct them for a resolution to the problem. I posted the problem earlier and one person indicated they had the same problem on their 00 Outback. He said the dealer changed the knock sensor, which didn't help. I haven't heard of any other similar problems on the Edmunds site. I'm wondering if you've dealt with and found solutions for any issues related to pinging. My dealer (Wentworth Subaru in Portland, OR) is pretty good about recognizing a problem, but they don't always have a good solution for something that doesn't occur on regular basis.
I'd also like to second Craig's design suggestion about the backwards intuitive door locks and the need for a cruise control light on the dash.
Thanks,
Eric
I would, however, suggest that they were back-lit for night use, like they are on my Explorer. They're just much easier to find at night with a tiny little light on them.
Colin -- it looks like you and I will never agree on some things (re: cruise-engaged light). They're a good safety feature and should be included.
Bob
Ross
My Impreza has an enabler switch on the lower left dash to even turn on the cruise. This switch is electrical, not mechanical and resets to "off" when the car is shut off. The cruise can't be on unless I've turned it on with the enabler and then set the speed or hit resume. I can cancel it by depressing the clutch or brake, pulling on the cruise stalk or pressing the enabler switch.
I don't need a bright blue light to tell me my high beams are on either. I can tell by the position of the stalk and at night by the position of my headlight beams.
-Colin
-juice
layout is great. However the Clock issue holds some merit, but it has not been a issue in my
experience.
-mike
Maybe this is a "geezer issue." I think many of us older folks prefer it, and many of the younger folks don't. How "old" are you Mike?
Another "geezer issue" is daytime running lights. I like them! Want to argue or debate it?
Bob
suggesting/indicating that having the light more
visible increases safety.
Bob
I don't think that additional informative gauges can make your driving any less safe. I had the minimalistic dash on my old Escort. When idiot light "engine overheating" came on in the middle of a high-speed freeway, it was very unsafe for me to slow down and try to squeeze through the traffic to the right shoulder of the road. It would be so much better if I was able to see the engine temp climbing up ahead of time.
In my old Loyale, the voltmeter gauge helped me to realize that it was time to replace the battery, w/o getting stuck with dead car...
Somehow I like to be informed what's going on with my car when I'm driving; why don't you?
FYI - in all of the years I've been driving, I have never used my cruise control. My husband laughs at me (especially now that I have a 2 hour drive each way). He thinks it's a control thing (my not wanting to give it up) but it's more that I really enjoy driving. Yeah, sure, that's it!
I turn 25 in two days.
-Colin
My lowly 93 Civic LX (middle of the model tier) has a cruise-engaged light (and the annoying cruise enable switch). I like it primarily because of a design flaw (IMO) of the Civic cruise-engage switch on the steering wheel -- you must press and hold it for at least a second for it to engage. I can live without it, but with the (poor) design of the Civic's cruise control, it's helpful.
The GT doesn't have this issue so I don't miss the cruise-engaged light as much. But I see your point, Bob, Kate and nvy. While I grok the less is more philosophy somewhat, I'd like to see more engine statistics, like oil pressure and voltmeter, it's a former pilot thing I guess). I could go either way on the cruise-engaged light.
Maybe we can all agree that cruise enable switch must be banished to the bad idea offal heap.
IMHO, that is
..Mike
PS - nvy, I like your brachylogy!
..Mike
Stop the Aztek
I can't even imagine this type of negative publicity surrounding any of the Subaru models.
NO on daytime running lights --waste of energy in the summer in the Bay Area when it is bright for many hours and it doesn't rain a drop for 4 months.
YES on cruise control light --I like to know
YES on more gauges --I like to know
OKAY on door locks --2 other cars I use ('92 Diamante, '93 Villager van) that have horizontal door lock switches are also Forward-Lock, Back-Unlock, so, though it does seem backwards, I'm use to it.
Kate: You can buy the California Coastal Byways book (and Sierra Nevada, and Desert Byways) at 4x4books.com, a small home business who delivered promptly. A new edition Sierra Nevada Byways is due in November --I'd wait.
I've hit a coupla tough roads up near Mendocino (see Juice's website for pics), and a medium one up at Lake Tahoe from Truckee to Tahoe City.
Dave C.
I'll second the HVAC temperature gauge control. It's rough to use, and doesn't feel as good as the other gauges.
Standard CD player would be nice as well on the base model (for a car this price!). (Come on, who still uses cassette? this is the new millenium!)
I would also like if the back part of the seat could recline forward more to a more upright position.
Oh and let's not forget about that temporary spare in the back... a full-size like the Passat would be really great (sometimes I get jealous!)
Last, but not least, windows that still have power for 15 seconds after the car has been turned off, would be great.
-- ash
Mike??? It's not in my dictionary....
Randy
The Forester's is perfect - the light is on the switch itself, out of the way to avoid distractions.
BTW, paisan's certainly not geezing.
However, I still use cassettes so I'm starting to! Hey, high fidelity is just not a priority when you're listending to the theme from Sesame Street, you know?
Here are the
photos Dave Chen referred to.
Ah, again the Forester has the full size spare. You guys have made me feel a whole lot better about my decision today!
-juice
BTW, don't we have a high beam light already?
-juice