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Comments
Ross
My wish list for the '03 Forester?
* low range
* more clearance, at least room for more tire
* turbo and/or H6
* more space like the new Impreza got
* rear multilink suspension would open cargo area nicely
* tow package w/tranny cooler
That's about it.
H6 or turbo? For now, I say turbo. GM did hint that more parts would be US-supplied, and if so that increases the odds for an H6 Forester.
So I'll take that bet. Loser buys the first round.
:-)
-juice
-Colin
NAAAAAH!
-juice
Somehow I don't feel all that assured... Patti, if you read this message, could you please check on this request. Reps sounded not really sure how to deal with it. I started getting my DRIVE after purchasing my Forester in July, but the Winter issue never came. All I want is to be reinstated in your database, as a legitimate recepient of the DRIVE mag. The last rep I talked to was Mike, and before him it was Danine (if I spell her name correctly). They did not tell me my case # (if there is a case) , but it's Kate G. from Castro Valley, CA, so you can probably locate my request easily.
-mike
Frank
Careful with that secret weapon. We should reserve forces like that only when deemed necessary.
I don't have mine yet either. Off to the web site...
-juice
Frank
This Saturday, my buddy and I decided to go for a day trip to Tahoe. There's been a winter storm here in the Bay Area and snow levels were dropping to below 1000 ft. We hopped into his MY00 Forester S on Saturday morning at 5:30AM (his vehicle has never touched snow) and headed out.
By the time we were at Auburn (about an hour away from Tahoe) we learned that Caltrans had shut down highway 80 due to heavy snow and a large number of spinouts. It was 8AM and the earliest they would reopen was 9AM. We decided to hang around and wait to see what would happen. At 9:15, the latest report was for a 10AM re-open.
Instead of just waiting around, we decided to try one of the local roads and keep moving as far as we could go. Just a few miles outside of Auburn, we hit snow -- very unusual. Soon we were driving through some backroads with at least 3-5" inches of fresh snow. The snow was coming down hard so we bagged the idea of 'boarding and decided to do what every die-hard Subaru owner would do -- DRIVE!
We were driving around with the rest of SUVs and 4x4s passing 2WD vehicles unable to move on the side of the road. The Forester just kept going. There was very little slipping when starting from a stop despite the nearly worn Geolandars on my friend's Forester.
Some of the backroads clearly didn't have any traffic and the snow had piled up to the level of the headlights. The front brushgaurd kind of acted like a snowplow and we were able to easily cut a path as long as we kept momentum. At some points, the snow (very heavy and wet) bogged us down so one of us would jump out and give a little push and we were off on our way. It was times like these were we felt an auto would have been better -- there was quite a bit of clutch slipping needed to get out of some of those situations. Also, we both agreed that a torque-on-demand type system (ie. CR-V) would not have fared well in this kind of situation. Kudos to Subaru for giving it's vehicles the option for a 50:50 power split.
After an hour or so we found a wide, open lot with about 1" of snow all around. The snow was pretty heavy so we couldn't do any slides but it was fun to muscle our way through. It was very cool to see all four wheels spinning at different rates as the Forester pulled it's way through. Of course neither one of us had a camera to capture the action.
Then it happened. I was driving along when there was a truck stopped smack in the middle of the road. The shoulders were wide so I started easing around it when the right side slid into a drainage ditch. I tried giving the Forester a little gas but we were tilted at an angle that prevented us from getting sufficient traction on the left side even with the rear LSD. We slipped on some chains on the front left tire and the Forester pulled forward. After about 20 feet of driving with the left side in the ditch, the Forester managed to gain enough forward momentum to get back onto the road. Thank goodness for the extra ground clearance and long travel suspension. Without it, a regular passenger car would clearly have been stuck.
So, the take home points for our adventure are:
- Always carry chains, shovel and tow straps in heavy snow
- 4EAT is better for lots of low-traction situations
- A Forester with snow tires is probably unstoppable
- A Subaru gives you something to do when you can't make it to the slopes!
Ken
Thanks,
Dan
The open front axle didn't send all the power to the right side?
Also, any body damage?
-juice
PS Dan: 20/27 actually, but 22mpg in the real-world is likely
No, apparently not. The right side had the weight of the car so that helped to maintain traction. I think the rear LSD did help provide forward traction until the front left tire with chains could get enough "bite".
Luckily, there was no body damage. The Forester was inches away from a wall of rocks! My friend, Tony, claims he wasn't worried, but I sure was!
Ken
KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs
Ken, great story!
..Mike
..Mike
I have an LL Bean wagon with a bit over 1,600 miles to date. My mpg has ranged from roughly 18 to 21.4 so far. My driving is generally 70-75% city (Chicago area) and 25-30% expressway. Temperature has ranged from sub zero to mid 30s. The lowest recording (only one reading) was 16.9 and that was about the second or third fillup during December when we did not get above freezing. In fact, the month was the coldest December on record for these parts. Mileage figures the last three times have been between 20.9 and 21.4.
Hope this is helpful. Incidently, my '96 Outback (with auto) did not do much better in the winter!
Don
Is there a way to automatically link files? For example, if a new title appears that has a "Subaru-related" word, such as: Forester, VDC, OBS, AWD, etc., can that "trigger" a new "automatic" link to this folder?
Now, you may get some "false" files in there. For example, AWD could trigger a number of non-Subaru topics. However, once new topic is created, you could double-check to see if it is indeed a Subaru related topic. If it's not, you could "un-link" it from this folder.
I know there are a number of Subaru (or Subaru model) vs. (name of vehicle) topics scattered throughout these boards that probably should be included.
Bob
Unlike THE CAT! Who nearly scared me to death at Edmunds Live. Not enough therapy in the world to forget that...
;-)
-juice
I got my new Subaru last Wednesday (I have 283 miles on it now, whoo-hoo!). It's a Sedona Red Forester S with Premium Package... and it's a total joy to drive. So smooth, so powerful, so luxurious. I adore the manual transmission and clutch. (For the past 11 years, I've been driving a bare-bones '91 Honda Civic sedan, without power steering or any options other than air conditioning).
The car was christened over the weekend by a good friend... "Forester Grump." ("Grump" is one of my nicknames).
cheerio,
Karin in California
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
-juice target=_blank
Yahoo!but it is going to be a long 4 weeks
Now all you need is a name, but wait until you meet her. ;-)
My wife jokes that Sandy is my mistress!
-juice
I've got to get someone to take a photo of me with Forester Grump. Right now, I'm using my old Civic as my commuter car (I have a 4.5-mile drive to work, and I'm trying to break in FG with highway miles), so FG mostly lives in my garage during the weekdays.
Quick technical question-- do you have to use photopoint.com in order to display photos as part of a message on this bulletin board?
Karin in [rainy, snowy] Northern California
Cheers Pat. PS. Juice my wife has claimed that of me for years.
Ross
You can get a WRX brochure, along with email updates from http://www.imprezawrx.com.
Near the upper right hand corner (by the stopwatch) click on "sign up for WRX updates".
-Dan
-Dan
GT, woohoo! Congrats, Pat!
..Mike
..Mike
Can I just say that the Edmunds polls are getting worse every week? C'mon...am I a minivan or a station wagon? What? And what is the dif between being a monster truck and being an SUV? Waste of bandwidth, unless it had funnier choices, but alas....
YetAnotherDave - Come to think of it, I have seen the Outback the Offical Subaru Team" graphics - I think it's part of a ski team sponsor ship. I'll keep an eye out for it.
John
Other sites that I won't name *cough* homepage.com *cough* don't allow you to host a photo without having users visit their site.
Pat: yeah, Darlene mentioned the spoiler to me. I prefer the wind deflector, personally. Also, the $75 includes shipping (which is a great deal) but you still have to pay to have it painted and installed.
What I like is the JDM grille with the cool "F" logo on it. It you haven't seen it, check out the i Club's photo gallery. I know some of those are a bit over-the-top, but certain details are neat.
-juice
Cheers Pat.
Mark
Second time I came to pick up my Forester. This time I discovered a puddle of water under the spare tire -- and some rust started already buidling up. It looks like the bozos in the shop did not weld rear body panel well. The water rolling down from tailgate on the bumper gets into the spare tire well where everything happily rusts after that.
In addition, the cargo floor is sort of popping out, exposing 1/2 inch of the space underneath. The bozos were doing "all new Foresters are this way" routine again, so we had to visit dealership, to see how neatly cargo floor lays in all new Foresters...
Time for an action I guess! I've been patient for 2.5 months of abuse, now it's time to do something about it. The problem is, what can a poor customer do? Withold payments? Take them to small court? At any rate, they'll be probably promising to fix everything "next week", and I'll remain Foresterless for next few months.
Any suggestions? Ideally, I'd like to take the car to another shop and ask them to fix everything the first shop did not or butched. Now it's a matter of getting insurance to cover it. Any better ideas?
Drew is correct. Automatic linking isn't possible. And if it was, it could get very messy with duplicate discussions and those that are deleted, etc. So, you'll have to rely on little ole me to keep it updated. I'll take a swing through the TH this week and find the comparison discussions.
KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs
I hate to say "I told you so" but way back when they said that the parts had to come from that particular dealer I would have bailed on that shop! I'd get on your insurance company and start calling the BBB, the state attorney's office, and anyone else who would listen! It's ridiculous that you should have to put up with crappola like that!
-mike
Also ask to speak to the body shop's manager, and let him know how poor their work has been - show him, even. If you have a digital camera, take pitures and show him what the "after" has to look like to be acceptable.
Or demand a different body shop. The work sounds just awful sloppy.
I'm real sorry you have to put up with this. Gosh, I hope the shop that fixes my Miata knows what they're doing (at least there is only cosmetic damage). Fingers are crossed.
-juice
I've been kind of interested in the Legacy GT Wagon and asked if they had any 5-speeds around. Lo and behold, there was a white, 2001 5-speed right outside the door! Santa Cruz Subaru is one of those cool dealers that just hand you the keys and tell you to have fun.
Here are my impressions coming from a 98 Forester S 5-speed owner:
- Interior fit and finish was very nice. Much more upscale than the Forester.
- Shifter has nice short throws. Much more smoother and precise than my Forester.
- Clutch felt good. Less travel and smoother takeup.
- Better sound insulation was apparent. Noticeably quieter on the freeway.
- Less body roll (no duh), but the vehicle did feel less "tossable" probably due to the longer wheelbase.
- Suspension had the classic firm but not harsh feel of Subarus. Although it did roll less than the Forester, it felt as though the GT had a softer spring set up.
- Engine felt "adequate". I did wish there was more torque especially when accelerating from a stop. Once at freeway speeds, the power was fine.
Hmmm. All this for 22K. Not a bad deal at all. For kicks, I asked how much my Forester would trade in for: 15K with 50K miles on it.
Should I do it? Well, with the "rumor" that a 2.5turbo may be headed this way, I just may wait a bit longer.
Ken
Cheers Pat.
Maybe it's the incremental improvements, which over the years adds up.
-juice
Thanks!
If you have a good relationship with your dealer, they may do it for you anyway (especially if you have the Subaru extended warranty). It's worth asking, since your mileage is so low.
-juice
Patti
Patti
Patti -- Welcome back! Don't know if you read my post on the General Maintenance forum, but my meeting that Dene set up for me at Santa Cruz Subaru went very well. Thanks a million for your help!
Ken
Patti
Patti