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Comments
I'm betting that the Car Connection is just as eager as the rest of us to figure out what the 'direct-control' truely is. They're probably assuming it's a sportshifter.
I know the XT I saw in Chicago has the gated shifter that my Outback has, not the one that the GT has.
Hopefully those guys at the NY show will have more information for us! :-)
-Brian
I suppose its possible that the Sportshift manumatic is also now directcontrol as well!
K&K - Lots of luck. My fingers are crossed. Put me down for 8lbs 3oz, 21 inches long (aren't they all?).
Barkley - Welcome to the crew. Keep us updated on your search. Maybe a nice Turbo Forester to keep up with the dog and baby (Congratulations).
Greg
DaveM
Barkley
Cheers Pat.
Bob
First of all, it was great to finally but faces to names! <Ed (lark), DaveM (dcm61), Mark (bat1161)> and to to see old-timers <Mike (paisan), Dave (hpov) and juice> again! Also met a group of NASIOC guys, who's names escape me, but paisan can fill in that info. We spent a lot of time in the Subie area, and that's where we all met.
Ed, DaveM, juice and myself ventured over to look at Mitsubishis (next to the Subie display), and quickly lost everyone else; this certainly wasn't our intention.
After the show we were hoping to get together for some food, but Mike had already left to head up to Limerock, and none of us had Mark's cell phone number, so our group headed out for food. Juice remembered a deli near Penn Station, and since Ed and DaveM were taking the train, we decided to go there. Ed pooped out because his wife was cooking salmon, and which for some inexplicable reason, had a uncontrollable control over him.
We get to the deli—and discover it's no longer there, having been replaced by a pharmacy! So we went across the street, and ate at the famous Stagedoor Deli. The food was great, especially the the strawberry cheesecake!
It was a very long day. Juice and I left my place at 7:30 AM, and didn't get back to my place until 11:00 PM. For juice, it was an additional hour drive each way.
Bob
Um.....uncontrollable control? Does that have a dash "engaged" light?
Bob
I liked it! And I mean no offense to 2002-03 Impreza owners, but the 2004 headlights really are a MASSIVE styling improvement.
The new theme "driven by what's inside" is well-suited to Lance as a spokesperson. I can't see him pitching "when you get it, you get it."
-Colin
Very easy all done over the phone . I bought my lease out early because of the great interest rates. Got 60mnth loan for 3.25 % .I'm only paying 60 dollars more a month ,and my car ins goes down $200 per year . I really like my outback and I see myself in it for many years to come .
Now that it is mine I can start customizing it .
Happy outback owner mike
I like the new look as well as the slogan. I especially like the scene where they show a sliver sedan doing a drift in slow motion. Very kewl.
Ken
I parked next to another Outback at Lowe's today, and came out to find the people cramming tons of plants in their car. We struck up a conversation about Subarus as I was cramming bags of bark mulch and plants in my Outback. It never ceases to amaze me how outgoing, cool, and nice most Subaru owners are. Definitely something unique about the brand, I think.
Craig
Karen 5-10
Brenda 5-15
Graham 6
DaveM 6-1
Brian 6-3
Pat 6-5
paisan 6-6
Mark 6-7
Kate 6-8
Ian 6-9
Steve_Host 6-10
hypov 6-11
juice 6-12
Brian 7-1
Serge 7-2
Paul 7-14
Bob 8, twins!
Greg 8-3
Jim 8-10
Ed 9-2
beanboy 10-2 (your poor wife!)
Forester convention was fun. Ellen told one joke about the topic you'd expect her to bring up, it was hilarious. The tough part was finding my Forester after the show! Saw several dozen. Thankfully my rims are unique, so I could find mine! LOL
Brian: nice catch - the Baja turbo will indeed have Sportshift manual shift controls! That was the best surprise from the show, it's right in the brochure, even! We didn't even realize that until we were driving home, in fact Ed and I left convinced we'd buy Forester XTs and now, who knows. Sportshift and VTD sounds pretty sweet.
All Bajas get 8.4" clearance, which is great. In fact at the show I crawled under and indeed they looked the same to me (a 2004 Sport and a 2004 Turbo). Here the brochures are wrong, they say 7.3" for the Sport. Of course that's true for 2003s.
Welcome Barkley, and congrats Mike!
Lots more to talk about once I catch up in other topics.
-juice
good seeing y'all again
DaveM-
pleasure to have met
like Bob said, everyone pretty much scattered and lost each other. Guess we forgot to put a "meet you here later plan" together.
-Dave
p/s my legs (knees) were nagging me to get off it. Wouldn't had made it to a "meet you here later plan".
Bob even sold a women on the floor on a Forester, he deserves a commission!
-juice
My friend was a little intimitaded to meet so many Subaru afficianido's all at once, especially when he is looking at the Infinity G35:-) I did try and sell him on the STI, telling him it has more HP (300 vs 280), as well as AWD. He likes the luxury feel and Navigation system of the Infinity though.
I definitely like the Baja Turbo. Nice color scheme (too bad the Baja brochure doesn't show the available colors- I wonder if they changed any of them? I also liked the Forester XT- I would have to drive both to see how they handle:-) Now I just have to convince my wife it's time to change cars. That may be hard since the OB is only 2 years old.
Mark
Show was great I have pics to post tonight. Nice shot of 9 or 10 people in the bed of the Baja!
Pic of Juice with his alternative lifestyle card
Limerock was great on satuday. Nothing like getting a pointby from an M5 and having the M3 coupe driver come up and give you kudos after the sessions!
-mike
The Stage Door Deli would have been fun, but fresh seafood has a limited shelf life so I thought it wise to head home. With angel hair pasta, asparagus and Hollandaise sauce, the broiled salmon was a nice dinner.
The trend in vehicles - concept and production - seems to be even more of a blurring between SUV, car, and minivan. I think the manufacturers recognize that people need that 2-box capacity but don't want the look and feel of a minivan. What they're doing to accomplish that is questionable IMO. Too many lumpy jacked-up wagons with horrible C- and D-pillar blind spots and sloped rear hatches that seriously cut into useful cargo volume. Nissan/Infiniti the big culprits here - Infiniti even had a 2-seater concept version that is almost identical to the Chrysler Crossfire. Who'd buy that?
Bob: Looking through my pictures I see that the majority of them are of the new Pontiac GTO. I took these for my father, who bought a '68 GTO new and owned it into the mid-70's. He's somewhat interested in it and I'll send them to him.
Busy day ahead - I will return with Subie thoughts later.
Ed
That's right, at the Ellen show they handed out these cards, apparently a bottled water supplier to the alternative community. They must have seen my Forester (and not my wife), LOL.
Well put, Ed. Sensory overload!
Where's Ken? Any baby yet? If so congrats, our thoughts are with you! :-)
-juice
It isn't a done deal yet, but I might pull the trigger on the purchase of a 2002 OB today. I've found one that is such a good deal I would be a fool to pass it by. I'll let you know. And thanks for putting up with a Subie wannabe in the past. I learned a great deal by hanging around these pages.
Steve
Hope it works out, "Steve" is already the #3 most common name so perhaps it's destiny? :-)
Is it used? Left over?
-juice
My '97 OB got washed, clayed and waxed yesterday. Looks primo. So primo the missus took off in it this am, lol.
Steve, Host
I think it's going to be soon. Her sporadic contractions are getting stronger. My guess is that they'll resume in full force once she's off the medication.
Ken
BTW, my sister is now officially car shopping. She looked at a Camry, which my dad likes and wants to buy her, but also a RAV4 and Forester.
She drove the RAV4 one block and crossed it off her list. It felt disconnected to her, and small.
She saw the Camry and liked the styling, I think my dad said it was an SE with the spoiler and a moonroof. It had ABS, too, but I think it was a 4 cylinder auto, so it was mostly cosmetic.
But when she drove it she thought it felt a little disconnected also. Isolated. Mind you, it was raining. I think it's my dad's influence on her - didn't sound like she particularly liked it.
She drove a Forester and felt it drove best, nicely connected with good feel for the road. She's not keen on the styling, but we'll see. She didn't decide yet.
What shocked me was she was driving a Premium model! *gasp* C'mon pops, you got me a 6 year old used Mustang, and my little brother got a beater Taurus wagon! What's with the double-standard! ;-)
I'm going to take her for a 2nd visit, and I'll probably show her a Legacy SE and maybe an Outback Sport. The parents already have an Outback Limited, so she wants something different. Another option is dad gets an LL Bean, and she takes the Outback Limited. We'll see.
It'll be in his name, with her the primary driver. Sorry, she's not a lesbian so that might skew the demographics a little. LOL
-juice
I guess my guess date was wrong (4/17) ;-)
-Brian
Steve
Get your sister in a Premium model before she gets the XT! ;-)
Ken
Steve, good to read from you again. We are all Subie wannabes. I wannabe driving a Forester turbo followed by a STI and of course have a Baja for the trips to Home Depot.
Juice - try osmosis on your sister. Place Forester brochures under her pillow. My father in law will be moving by us this spring. Yesterday, he mentioned he wanted to dump his Saturn for a new car. So my sales pitch started. Maybe I can convince him to get a Forester Turbo.....guess who gets to work on his cars?
Greg
She's getting an auto, so I'm safe so far.
Steve: that price sounds great. My cousin sold hers after 3+ years of use for $15 grand, and it was the old model!
-juice
:P
-Brian
My dad is retired and bounces back and forth between Brazil and the US, but he's here now.
Indeed, his field offices in Suriname and Belize had entire fleets of cars. He was the Resident Representative for a non-profit bank there, basically Big Fish in a Little Pond. First Discoveries, then Land Cruisers and Camrys, which had lower operating costs.
The Camry was a bit of a freak occurance, my guess is it was a recall that was never completed because the car went overseas. But yeah, I should tease him that the Toyota's heater is MUCH more effective! LOL
-juice
Cheers Pat.
Smile -- it's perfect Subaru weather!
Ken
But to tell the truth, one reason for passing on the Passat and getting the OB is that there is no VW Crew to compare to this wonderful Subaru Crew.
Now I need a name for this thing. When I thought I'd be getting a red WRX I was thinking of "Toot Uncommon," but that won't do now. Every third Minnesotan drives a green OB.
Steve
Actually, the name has several meanings. 4 cylinders. 4 valves per cylinder. 4 wheel traction stopping and going.
But wait 'til you drive it, let it speak to you, then name it.
-juice
Like you say every third car is a subie. All the rest are trucks.
(I work up on the north side of St.Paul
Dark Blue 2001 OBW)
--jay
Once we got power back I tried to re boot—and it took a 1/2 hour to start up! Launching other programs is also very slow. I've run Disk Doctor several times and am going to run it again along with Speed Disk. If this doesn't work, I'll have bring it in for service, so I could be down for a couple of days. I've spoken to Mac Medics, and they said it could be a hard drive problem if Disk Doctor can't repair it. Keeping my fingers crossed...
If you guys don't hear from me for a while, this is the reason.
Bob
-juice
Bob
After 2 years of happy ownership, I hope that I can also be included in that description.
Steve
Bob, I guess that's one thing I don't have to worry about with an ibook. (Of course, it runs much slower.)
Jim
Cheers Pat.
Bruce (TWRX)