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Comments
Cheers!
Paul
I would think the 2.5i is at least a full step and the GT several steps better than your typical family hauler.
Ken
tom
-Frank
I'll be starting my new shift in 2 weeks and I'll be trading from 5p-2:30a EST bad things: less surfing, good things: more money, less likely to get laid off.
-mike
Am I missing the turbo? Not really, the 2.5i has a really good kick to it. I am really impressed with how quick this car feels. Sounds so much different though--boxer growl as opposed to turbo whine. I guess it is the cult car thing and the mt 5 I miss so far. Otherwise the car is still max fun to drive. And the luxury...
Leather heated seats feel wonderful. Car seems roomier from the drivers seat. Much quieter and smoother than any of my previous Subarus. My home state workers have done a nice job. Build quality seems super. I like the tasteful metallic trim in shades of flat gray and bright silver. Seems to go good with the exterior. The shifter looks really nice with the flat gray plastic trimmed in leather. Only the turbos are supposed to have Momo wheels. If the leather steering wheel is not a Momo then it's a good fake.
Best thing about this car? Well one of the best is all that glass. I can't remember when I have had a car with this much outward visibility. I love the styling, front lights, twin exhausts, spoiler and especially the wheel design.
And what can I say about the sunroof? Stereo sounds fine and controls are easy in the daytime (read on). Dual zone auto climate seems to work well, Susan and I have different settings and we both seem happy with temp.
Complaints? Well I picked the car up at night and had not gotten used to the controls. Subaru has changed the location of just about every control from where I was used to it in the WRX. The window/lock switches are at an angle on the door rather than flat and the door pull makes them hard to get to. The fog light switch has moved from dash to stalk and the mirror controls on the dash are now in the third position out of 3 Subaru models I have owned. (dash this time with a joystick type knob rather than a 4 way rocker) At night with the 6 disk changer and the auto climate controls illuminated it
is really a sight. It's all red illumination and really looks cool but there are more buttons and knobs lit up than you can count. Mind boggling to find a button. The lower left on the dash now has a door to the fuse box with no coin box. Guess those go in the upper center dash compartment.
On the other hand, I have wanted a second power outlet in the center console for my cell phone for some time. The slot that is just the right size for your owner's manual in the glovebox is really clever. Finally I have a car with a mesh map pocket on the back of the passenger seat. (Living in Indiana where I do I always need a Louisville, St. Louis, Nashville and Indianapolis map). Cupholders finally make sense. Roll top feature over them is a nice touch.
I wish I had 5 speeds but the sportshift will be nice. I used it on the way home to vary my RPMs for breakin. I think it will be fun and useable on two lane hilly/curving roads around Indiana and obvioulsy in the mountains out west. Since Susan is also no longer a manual shift owner I was planning on letting her try it out right away. So far I have not!
More reports to come.
AG LTD OWNER
ok .. anyone else have to try all kinds of around the corner ways to get into the discussion this morning???? i kept getting weird error messages i've never gotten before ...
Friend in business (Mr. Silverman), used Agman as his user ID.
Steve
-Dennis
mike: you're gonna be a vampire. Actually the shift is a little better than the one you have now, isn't it?
Bruce: congrats, and 24mpg on the first tank of a green engine is a good sign of things to come. I was getting 22 or so at first, and my average is up over 25 mpg. That would put you at 27+, potentially. On cheap octane, too.
Enjoy it!
-juice
-mike
btw surely it is impossible that Bruce's net car expense will be lower with a new car loan than a 2002 WRX. for one, if driven very conservatively the WRX should get better gas mileage. it's a smaller engine and a lighter car. two, he surely owed less money on it.
I ditched my M3 a few months ago for an Evo because I was sick of it being in the shop and ready for a change, but even if I put a brand new motor and tranny in the M3 there's no way it would've cost more to own over the next 5 years than the Evo will.
nevertheless I'm quite happy and it sounds like Bruce is too.
~c
Lately I do a lot of highway miles, because of the beach condo. Plus the Miata tends to do the shorter/city trips. So that boosts the numbers for the Forester.
From my observations the 5MT can beat EPA numbers but the automatics usually don't.
You're preaching to the choir as far as holding a reliable car long-term, my Miata is 11 years old and my Forester a comparatively young 6.
The 2005 Forester X is tempting with a 23/30 EPA rating, but I agree with you there - no gas savings will offset the new car payment.
Still, if Bruce managed 24 mpg already, EPA is 22/30, it's fair to expect he'll manage to match those EPA numbers. His WRX was 21/27 and on premium, so we're talking maybe $300 per year in fuel savings.
Not enough to pay for the new car, of course. But I think his primary reason was the need for the auto tranny, not the mileage.
-juice
Not bad for a car company with just 1% of the car market!
Bob
-juice
9/29, and 7 lbs 15 oz, who was closest in our little pool?
-juice
Both WRXs got 20 mpg city all the time. On the highway once broken in they got 27 mpg highway at 70 mph. On occasion I got 29 at 60 mph. In Colorado I got 30 at 70.
The 98 Forester got 27-28 highway locally 21-22 city. In Colorado it got 28-30.
My trip back from St. Louis in the Legacy was at 70 mph all the way and I was using the sportshift to vary RPM so some of the time I was 2000 rpm range and part in the 3000 range. Another 60 miles was local and the remaining 70 miles was 60 mph two lane. So I was not going easy on it. I hope to get the 30 mpg since I have had good luck with EPA numbers on Subarus.
With the '05 XT? Almost 21 mpg on the first tank, nowhere near that since.
Ed
With my 05 LGT Wagon 5EAT, I'm getting about 22-23mpg on the same commute and use pattern. However, that figure is off the trip computer which I've heard is a bit optimistic.
Ken
-Frank
Maybe we should hold a contest to see who manages the WORST FXT mileage, no brake stands allowed? LOL
Click the image for a larger version:
-Brian
and I'm still getting weird messages when I try to get here ... I usually log on with my user name then do a search for the boards ... I'm still 'borrowing' b/f's computer to do this ... anyway .. I get weird error messages when I try to search for 'subaru crew' and have to log out and search for the board first and THEN log in to get here ....
And there goes Brian winning the nerd award for October! Just kidding, this is exactly the type of thing my wife heckles me for doing.....
Craig
-Brian
-mike
Mark
I still write the odo reading on the gas receipt so that I can check mileage occasionally. My '02 H4 Auto OBW runs a pretty consistant 23mpg in mixed country driving.
Loosh: Congrats on the baby!
Steve
For me it's a way to tell how it's performing, any sudden drop would indicate...well, it would indicate that I reset the ECU, that's the only time the mileage dips significantly.
Colin implied that I'm not driving as hard as I used to, and that is absolutely correct. I have two kids in that car about 90% of the time, because when I drive alone I'm usually in the Miata.
-juice
Ed
http://www.drive.subaru.com/CurrentIssue.htm
http://www.drive.subaru.com/Fall04_SubaruDifference.htm
They did a screen capture of one of the threads, and several posts made it in (Colin, Tom & Patti), Patti is mentioned in the article too, and there are a couple of ugly mug shots!
Bob
Bob
This is a good issue folks!
* = He also did an article in the current issue of Performance DRIVE too.
Bob
They must have had to pick an inoffensive screen shot!
Does this mean we're famous? Can we start a reality show? ;-)
tom
interesting choice of screenshots!
~c
I agree -- interesting choice of screen shots. Especially since one of them ties back to the recent ruckus about the Service Coupons! But the "I feel your pain" title by Patti is an excellent one to share.
I had to view the page in Opera and use the magnify feature to see the text!
Bob, juice: you guys have mugs that are ideal for on-line chats. (j/k) ;-)
Ken
Juice and I were interviewed via phone last month by DRIVE magazine, again many thanks to Patti. They requested some photos, which we both sent. We actually sent a bunch, and they made the selection. Both those images were from Las Vegas last May.
Bob
Maybe Patti can give them out as prizes. ;-)
If you sent a lot of pictures, does that mean these 2 were the best ones? ;-)
tom
LOL! Yeah, those are the best. Actually juice looks pretty good—but me... YIKES!
I showed the site to my wife and daughter, and they couldn't stop laughing. My wife thought I looked like someone who just had brain surgery, and needed protective headgear.
Bob <feeling like Rodney>
Cheers Pat.
Bob
Hey Ed, congrats on the letter!
-Frank
Volkov
Have a good week all. I gotta fly to Chicago for a few days on Business. No internet for a while. I'm gonna miss Mike's last chat. Just don't give me too much to catch up with on Saturday, ok? ;-)
tom
I did notice that the article glossed over some of the most important topics of discussion - food, beer, pets, the weather, occasionally something about a Subaru, some people's typing skills ......