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Comments
Mike
Mark
Bob
Dennis
Dave (Myself)
Patti- think we could get "PRESS" passes? :-)
-Dave
PS -- I'm a west ham fan. Would the hat match my soccer jersey?
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
Now would be a good time to have TiVo.
edit: Actually, the last few hours are being replayed so it's 15 1/2 hours.
-Dennis
Bob
Thanks, Bob.
Ed
Just realized it's the same time as when I'm going to see my family in SC during Easter.
The auto show starts March 29 and ends
April 7th. I'll probably be back on April 6th and might go on the 7th. I went on the final day a few years ago and it was a madhouse. Might not be as bad if you get there when it opens.
-Dennis
Bob
-Dennis
E-mailed you offline and traded thoughts w/you on tires in i-club.
Off to watch my alma mater's bowl game.
Ed
DC Auto Show was fun. Subaru had Karl's Group N Rally car, which had carbon fiber front and alloy rear skid plates, but stock brakes! Interior is gutted, but otherwise it looks very familiar, remarkably stock.
They had an LL Bean, which I liked a lot. They had no VDCs, just a base H6 sedan. The rear seat on those is smaller than the wagons, perhaps because of the raised roof? Dunno, but the wife wants space, so the sedan is basically ruled out. I liked the two-tone leather and wood/leather steering wheel, though, made it look like a competitor to the Lexus ES300, not the Camry.
No Legacys. No L, no GT, no GT Ltd, not a sedan or wagon. These babies are the step-child, I swear.
The WRX drew lots of attention. They had a sedan and a wagon, and an Outback Sport. Two Foresters, which also attracted attention (2nd only to the WRX).
I'll share other impressions in Future Models.
-juice
Serge, Susan, Michael, and Dina
We are back last night from a week on the South Coast of Victoria, Australia. A friend has a holiday house which we borrow a couple of times a year. The house is in Apollo Bay which is a seaside resort hanging on a thin sliver of land between the Otway Ranges and the sea. Think of the Pacific Coast Highway and you get the flavour! There are two gorgeous bays with golden sands, reefs with rock pools and all the goodies one needs when holidaying with young kids. We spent a fair bit of time watching the seals on a near reef. Seals know how to relax!
I filled the Outback with the debris necessary for a holiday (why does the addition of two kids quadruple the luggage?) and slung my Mirror dinghy on the trailer which was packed with Christmas presents and some furniture for delivery to the house. On the way down, the trailer weighed about 1200lbs and the Outback towed spectacularly well. The self levelling rear end and dual ratio gearbox makes a world of difference for towing. A pity you cannot get them in the USA.
Launching the boat gave an interesting insight on beach performance. First launch, I backed carefully down the steep beach noting previous tracks were scuffed. On inspection, the Outback had not spun at all so I tried turning on the sand to drive down onto the beach and back again. Again, no skidding at all and absolutely no problems, even with tyres at 33psi.
I initially thought the sand was just very hard but then found myself hauling a Holden Commodore out from a better (flatter) position. The owner, originally from India, had spun the wheels, clogging the tyre treads and digging the car in deep. Normally, I would try jacking and filling the hole first but this was a non starter so I got a rope around his rear axle and pulled him out. Again, there are distnct advantages to the low range as it allowed a much more controlled pull without pulling his axle off or whipping the Commodore against my Outback.
My wife sat back amused and asked whether I realized that the whole proceedings had been videotaped by the poor guy's wife who was fairly dubious about his driving abilities. Turned out he was showing his brother, over from England, the wilds of Australia and he was delighted to show off what he described as "the real Aussie spirit". The accolade quite made my day.
The weather was attrocious for much of our stay so we were picking our way along rainforest tracks with mud coursing over them. This must be close to a Subaru's natural habitat as the Otway Ranges are thick with them. Several times, I found myself parked with two or three Subarus immediately alongside. Apparently Australia is Subaru's third largest market after Japan and the USA. They are very popular wherever a sensible four wheel drive car is required. This year Subau will sell about 27,000 Subarus in a country of 19million people. I think, per capita that this would equate to about 400,000 Subarus per year in the USA so you can see that they are a bit more common here than for you.
I had an odd experiece on the way home. From 9C on Friday, it was 35C (95F) on Saturday. The route acrosss the mountains is winding and the bitumen very hot. The car and trailer were heavily laden and being pushed hard. Suddenly, the drag on the tyres increased enough to be felt as the tarmac melted or the tyres reached a critical heat point and became sticky themselves. Slowing down fixed the problem and the tyres are fine today. The sensation was rather like wading through suddnely deeper mud.
I have to get the Subaru washed down tomorrow to get the sand off the underbody. Fortunately, this is the closest we get to salted roads in Australia. My sympathy to all of you who are freezing. May you get some snow to make it all worthwhile.
Cheers
Graham
Patti, here's more evidence of the desire and need for the dual range tranny and self-leveling suspension for here in the USA.
Bob
Cheeras Pat.
Graham: the amount of luggage space required is inversely proportional to the size of the person.
Psst - let's not tell Patti Graham is Down Under. ;-)
Really, Pat? So a Legacy Avignon will be dropped off on my doorstep on Jan. 1? :-)
-juice
Phil
(First selection) "Subaru Impreza WRX" Highly energetic, superbly balanced and exceedingly grippy, this turbocharged sedan (or wagon) turns any grocery run into a road rally. All wheel drive makes it fearless, a roomy cabin makes it practical, nerdy styling makes it unobtrusive and a $25,000 price tag makes it affordable."
His other selections, in order as listed are:
Don
On a sader note, I hit a dog with my OB last week while traveling in the Bronx. He just jumped out in front of me in the left lane while I was going about 60 -65 mph. I had no time to react other than slam on the brakes. :.( He hit the front bumper and went under the car. No real damage other than a bent plate and I lost the plastic cover for the tow loop. God, I hope 2002 is a better year.
Greg
Can anyone tell me definitively what the consequences are of the oil being overfilled. I am dubious about the reading on the dipstick as I cannot see where the level is.
Any help gratefully recieved
cheers
Graham
Greg: I empathize with you. I ran over a Lab puppy, right in front of its owner, when I was 21. I was driving my mom's then-new '83 Olds 98 along a paved two-lane road in rural South Carolina, doing about 50. The woman and her dog were walking out of the end of a garden row at the edge of a field. The puppy bolted and chased after the car and I heard it go under and hit the tires and undercarriage and looked up in the mirror to see it fly out from underneath. I screeched to a halt about 50 yards later and ran back to apologize. The woman was very good about it - she saw the dog bolt and knew there was nothing I could do about it - but I was traumatized for a while. Though people can do a lot to prevent these events by leashing or penning their dogs, dogs can't help being dogs. I know that doesn't make it feel any better (it didn't make me feel any better) but there's only so much that you as a responsible driver can do to prevent an unleashed, unsupervised dog from running in front of your car.
Ed
I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, exciting 2002!
Patti
IIRC, too much oil can cause leaks. I'm not sure how much is too much though. A quart maybe??
-Dennis
Have a safe one.
-Dennis
Graham: make sure the surface is level. You really get no reading at all? A buddy overfilled his 911 Targa and he got a lot of blue smoke from the exhaust. He caught it early enough that no damage was done.
Sorry to hear that, Greg. One time I was driving on I-95 in a rental K-car and a deer actually hit me! It ran in to the side of the car I was driving, causing a dent in the 1/4 panel. Fortunately, I saw it run off, so I'm assuming it survived. The 1/4 panel didn't.
-juice
-mike
Bob
-mike
-Colin
-mike
an engine with 125k miles on it won't be a spring chicken either...
-Colin
Trooper: Off-road, trips, towing
SVX: trips, GTing, everyday car
'91 XT6: Trailer Queen for auto-x and Track.
17' Bowrider w/90hp: Fun for the summer
-mike
Regards,
Frank
isn't the crankshaft at least halfway submerged at all times in a horizontally opposed engine?
the pan doesn't hold much.
-Colin
We always used "windage trays" in our drag motors to solve both problems, even with a normally filled crankcase. Most HiPo MOPARS came with these from the factory. Under enthusiastic use that oil is sloshed all over the place. You always want it to stay away from the crank, even if it is to just save power. That is also why dry sumps work so well, the oil is stored externally, and lubrication is assured even under high G's, without power loss.
Regards,
Frank
-mike
mike k
-mike
-mike
Happy New Year !!
..Mike
..Mike
..Mike
Ross
..Mike
..Mike
Bob
Ross
Wanted to see how it looks in Wintergreen. =D
A very Happy New Year it shall be to All.
-Dave