Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

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Comments

  • amishraamishra Member Posts: 367
    You guys have to move to ontario! speed limit is 100 km/h, but I've done 160+ km/h (100+ mph) in my OB at least once every time i hit the 401. OB handles great, (even at 115 mph).

    don't get me started with the mazda mx-6 :)

    to be honest, very few people in southern ontario are driving less than 120 km/h (75 mph) on the highways

    no speeding tickets yet - knock on wood
    (I've been driving 8 years, around 300,000 km total, probably about 1/2 on highways).

    -- ash
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You have a good memory.

    The only one I paid was in the Escort. The brilliant blue color didn't help, I'm sure.

    I've only been pulled over once in the Forester, and it was at the Outer Banks. I just told the officer "I'm sorry, I'm really in no hurry. Just taking the wife and baby to the vacation home in the wagon" and he let me off.

    When you say "wagon" it sounds a lot less threatening than "Dirt Digger 2000 SUV", so that may have helped! :)

    -juice
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Drove the QE2 highway from Buffalo -> Ann Arbor once, had a bonneville rental, set the cruise on 95mph and just went!

    -mike
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I think i got pulled over a lot in my dad's subie cause I would go from one of my junkers to it and would totally forget how fast I was going. My ramcharger I drove a lot of miles so that increased the # of tickets on that, and most of em where when I was <23.

    -mike
  • miksmimiksmi Member Posts: 1,246
    haha, "wagon" vs. "SUV" you're a clever one, AJ (like that's a newsflash to anyone).

    ..Mike

  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Mike: funny but true. A red sports car is more likely to be ticketed than a tan minivan. Same principal. I just use the jeckyl-and-hyde persona of the Forester to my advantage! :)

    You think he'd have let me off if it was just the two of us in the Miata, top down? NOT!

    Watch the snow, guys. Even if you're responsible, watch out for all the errant 2WD (plus overconfident 4WD) vehicles flying out of control, so you have time to dodge them. It tends to happen a lot!

    -juice
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    You got pulled over in a K-car?!? You must drive like a maniac to get the cops' attention in one of those!

    Grinning,
    -wdb
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Yeah it was before my uncle who's a cop gave me his PBA(NYC Police Union card) and a cop in Staten Island pulled me over for 72 in a 50. I was $hiting a brick. First thought was "Officer, if you can get this car to do 72mph, you show me!" but I thought better than that, and told him the truth that my uncle wouldn't give me a PBA card til I had a clean liscence for 6 months, he must have believed me cause he let me off...

    -mike
  • texsubarutexsubaru Member Posts: 242
    I got my first ticket in about 4 years this fall while driving my Forester across the (mostly empty and stunningly flat) Texas Panhandle. Got ticketed for doing 74 in a 65-mph zone -- but the real kicker was that it's a 70-mph zone during the day, and Texans overwhelmingly ignore the state's 65-mph nighttime limit. I was a pretty surprised to get pulled over. My best theory is the the trooper was just bored ...
  • texsubarutexsubaru Member Posts: 242
    Well, my Forester gets its first bad traction test tonight. We're having freezing rain glazing roadways around Austin for the first time in a couple of years. (For those of you who've never been in a southern city when it snows or gets iced over, it's not pretty; we've got no equipment to clear roads and no skills at handling it.) Hope having AWD will help me out some, but not sure anything really helps that much on outright ice.
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    At least you are getting to find out the benefits of AWD. I was just looking at some footage from Detroit on CNN and am struck by the same imponderable that always hits me when watching drivers on slippery stuff; Why don't they slow down and take it easy. One of my favourite recreations in Britain was counting the BMW's backward into the snowdrifts over a 5 mile stretch. There are good theories on why it has to be BMW. I always reckoned that a Subaru would be a good idea in England.

    Not getting much chance to test anything but the airconditioning in Melbourne as the weather is glorious. My kids have just about taken up residence in the pool. Only problem is that my 4 year old is convinced that we will have snow for Christmas and is quite certain the pool will freeze over sufficiently to allow skating. I'll let you know if it happens.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    Radar beams travel a LONG way in the panhandle. Also in West Texas (80 in a 65. ford Tempo).

    Olds: Are they kidding? Phase it out over 5 years to re-coup development costs? Who the hell is going to buy a car that won't have a dealer network to service it, honor warranties, or get parts?! That is nuts. yes I KNOW the service stuff will be handed off to some other division, but that won't fly with Olds' current demographic. GM, please start making sense!
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Brian - hilarious. Loved the "Two Speaker Stereo - Now in FM".

    If I were a cop in Texas, I'd pull over Tempo and Aries drivers for, well, for bad taste!

    We're getting freezing rain tonight, too. Time to cover the Miata, else it'll end up with that line of Bimmers.

    -juice
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    http://www.holden.com.au/sc02_vehicle_showroom/sc02_7_vxcommodore/sc02_7_4_ss/ss.asp

    Call it a Delta 88 ss. This is the saving grace for Oldsmobile, this *IS* your father's oldsmobile .

    -mike
  • subaru_teamsubaru_team Member Posts: 1,676
    Not that I can find. It is off the beaten track in Gloucester County. You kind of have to "find" a path off an old country road.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    paisan: that looks like the Omega (Catera) platform.

    See what I mean, though? We get a watered down, auto-only, underpowered V6 version, while they get a Corvette engined RWD monster with a 6 speed and even a LSD!

    Hutch and I drove a Catera at Edmunds, and it was pretty much worst-in-class. I may not remember fully, but I'm not even sure he bothered to drive it.

    They're replacing the Catera with the CTS (Catera Touring Sedan) with Evoq styling pretty soon. Not soon enough! How 'bout offering that drivetrain, though?

    GM has lost so much market share they had to drop Olds. Besides, every model has a twin from another division that sells better. The timing is odd, though, since they just released the new Aurora.

    All the better to focus more resources on Subaru, which can actually do battle with other imports.

    -juice
  • kate5000kate5000 Member Posts: 1,271
    I'd like to see GM to leave Subaru alone. Help them with ad/marketing resources, but leave engineering alone! After watching what GM management did to their product lines over the years, I don't think they can really help.

    Olds... too sad. It had it coming though. But 103 years got to be respected. Who's next? Buick? GMC?

    Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it the Olds engineering dept that first came up with an auto-tranny?
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
    Speeding tickets? Hmm...let's see....oh yeah, I remember now, in a previous life, I got more than my share of tickets. 18 is the number that sticks in my mind (though I try to forget).

    Some of the more memorable ones include one for doing 35 over (90 in a 55) and the time I got 3 in a 15 min span courtesy of cameras on hwy over-passes on the autobahn (it turns out that they do have speed limits in Germany!). Oh I also got stopped for doing 80+ (in a 55) on a rural stretch of Montana hwy and didn't get a speeding ticket per se but was cited for "unnecessary waste of a public resource" (gas) and had to pay a $15 fine.

    Now-a-days I am a reformed speeder. It's been 13+ years since my last ticket. I stick to the 10 over rule or whatever the avg speed is (avg speed in Atlanta is usually 20 over).

    -Frank P.
  • dannykadannyka Member Posts: 115
    You know, the only two tickets I've gotten were in a BMW. I was pulled over two other times in it, but I also had my pregnant wife in the car and was just given warnings. I don't think I drive much differently now than back then, but I don't, or didn't, seem to merit much attention in any of the other cars I've owned -- Corolla, Celica, Pathfinder, Outback -- because of the "image" they project (sporty, practical) and of our own personal "image" (single, married, responsible).

    I'm with Juice -- Drive a "wagon" and carry a big sway bar.

    -Dan
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Kate: GMC. Their products are totally redundant with Chevy products. Until now the Suburban even shared the name! They also have an identity crisis: it used to be GMC Truck but they dropped the "Truck" part. Just when trucks became trendy!

    Also, if GMC is professional grade, doesn't that imply Chevy sells lesser products?

    Frank: $15 for getting caught doin' 80 ain't bad. Too bad the "no daytime speed limit" got dropped.

    Good one, Dan.

    -juice
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I think you can only get the 6.6l Diesel version of the pickup from GMC right now (the one with the allison 5 speed auto and grade logic tranny) Also the new GMCs are going to be equivilent to the F250HD, so they are trying to split them slightly. I also like the styling on the GMCs better than the bowtie versions.

    -mike
  • kate5000kate5000 Member Posts: 1,271
    Chevy: mainstream line of cars, minivans, sports cars (Corvette) and trucks/SUV
    Cadillac: luxury line of cars and SUVs plus a couple of dressed up Buicks rebadged as Caddys

    GMC: totally redundant.
    Buick: The elderly contingent will be just as happy to buy a low-end Caddy (spiffed up Buick), with wire rims, whitewalls, and vinyl tops.
    Pontiac: with a death of F-body, there is no much "performance" left in the division. Just Grand Prix alone is not enough to justify it's existence.

    Of course, there is still a set of divisions like Saab, Saturn, Subaru, Opel, etc. They all will become Chevy! scary thought huh?
  • natescapenatescape Member Posts: 176
    Could someone tell me what's up with Subaru and GM? Have I been living under a rock for a while? I have no idea about any merger or partnership or anything...
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    GM owns at least 20% maybe more of FHI which owns SOA.

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Kate: yes, scary.

    paisan: I also prefer the GMC look, but just rebadge those as Chevys!

    GM promised to stay out of Subaru's business and for the most part, and so far they have. This arrangement is fine with me.

    -juice
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    The only thing my brother ("all Fords are great, Subarus are crap") and I agree upon, automotively speaking, is that if GM were the only car manufacturer in the world, we would both ride bikes. I love my Forester, but Rufus will be my first and last Soobie if GM doesn't keep its nose out of design and execution.

    Ross
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    The only reason GMC exists, is to give other GM (non-chevy) dealers a truck to sell. That's it. Period.

    I'm convinced (CONVINCED!!!) that GM (and Ford & Chrysler too) should sell all their vehicles in one big showroom, not separate dealerships as they now do. I've believed this for years.

    I know GM is pairing up Chevy, Olds (but no more) and Caddy together; as they are pairing up Pontiac, Buick and GMC. They need to get them ALL under one roof! You could still separate Caddy from the rest of the un-washed, if need be. The showroom could easily be divided up into separate areas.

    That's the only way you will eliminate model redundancy. No more would there be three different GM minivans competing with one another. There would only be one, perhaps to versions. The same would hold true for all the other products.

    As for Olds... what took them so long?

    Bob
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    GMC also sells GMC medium and heavy duty trucks as well. You can't get them @ a Chevy dealer. Also for those not in suburbia, it's hard to have a collosal dealership in the city that could hold tons of different makes, models, colors especially the trucks.

    If anything all SUV/Pickups/Vans should be shifted to the GMC lineup, and Mini-vans, sedans etc. should be sent to the chevy line and keep the Caddy's separate.

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Ross: what if GM also made all the bikes? ;)

    Bob: I thought it was BOC (Buick, Olds, Cadillac) as one group. Ah, they've changed so many times...

    Note that dropping Plymouth hurt D/C. Even though products were not eliminated (they just wear Chrysler badges), their minivan sales dropped 14%.

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Funny Subaru story.

    A co-worker asked me to help set up a presentation tomorrow at 10am. We heard a weather forecast on the radio together (sleet, freezing rain, basically miserable), and she looked at me with real concern as to whether I'd make it in.

    I smiled, and she said, "you have a Subaru, right?" Her face lit up!

    Rats. No snow days. Ever.

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    My point is there is suffocating model redundancy thought the GM lineup.

    I may be a minority of one here, but, as I said before, I strongly believe they need to get them all under one roof. That's the "only" way to eliminate the model redundancy.

    Both Chevy and GMC sell Class V - VII, medium duty trucks. The only difference between them is the logo on the grille. Combine them into a "ONE" medium-duty brand/franchise, instead of two. That could be a stand alone medium/heavy truck dealer, or with a large car dealer. Smaller car dealers would only get this franchise if they can meet the expectations/needs of a "true" truck dealer. If they don't qualify, they don't handle the large" commercial" trucks.

    As far as one large "GM automobile center" in citys, it can be done. I didn't say it would be easy, but it can be done.

    In the long run, it will come down to the survival of GM. I'm not talking about tomorrow, but 10 years down the road from now. As bad as things have gotten for GM, it's going to get worse. Mark my words.

    In a "Perfect World, According to Bob;" a large car corporation should have one mainstream brand, a premium brand, and perhaps some speciality brand(s); all sold under one roof, with a large service area for everything. GM's brand/product portfolio doesn't even come close to that.

    Bob
  • originalbitmanoriginalbitman Member Posts: 920
    So the continuing goan/clunk in the roof story is has a new chapter. Took the wagon to the dealer and they pulled the headliner and found the source of the noise. It was a roof crossmember that was making contact with the roof where it shouldn't. Good news. A little messaging and the noise is gone. Bad news. In the process they dinged the outer roof sheet metal. They then had a detail touch up guy come in a fix the ding and shoot a portion of the roof... between the roof rail and top of door on passenger side. Dealer and I agree it isn't a great job. Sheet metal looks great but there is some slight orange peel and some hazing at the edges of the respray. Color looks good. The dealer is offering to have it redone at a body shop that I know to have a very good reputation. Now do I just have it buffed and cleaned up or do I get a complete redo? I suppose I need to get a guarantee from the dealer.

    I'm sorta bummed but I did expect problems asking for the noise fix. And the noise was annoying and would probably have bothered me more than the paint job.

    bit
  • texsubarutexsubaru Member Posts: 242
    Well, made it home about 11:30 p.m last night without any problem (though an idoit in a pickup following me rather too closely for the conditions made me somewhat tense for a few blocks). Streets were very wet here in Austin, but not sure I ever encountered any real ice on the roadways -- could already see the tree branches sagging under the icy weight, though -- so not sure how much of my easy drive home I can attribute my Subie's AWD.
    Somebody obviously did encounter ice, since Austin police reported 272 wrecks by 9 p.m. Tuesday night (very high for Austin, but it might be the equivalent of a slow, sunny day in Houston). Things thawed pretty quickly this morning; as I heard someone else saying, we don't so much have a winter season in Austin but just scattered winter days.
  • miksmimiksmi Member Posts: 1,246
    Cool, looks like we're up on the new bbs software. A few rough edges that will be worked out, I'm sure. Nice to be on a supported platform. As Drew announced earlier (and posted on the Town Hall main page), all messages between Wednesday night and today weren't transferred.

    ..Mike

    ..Mike

  • nypdaunypdau Member Posts: 38
    I read with interest the various postings about
    traffic tickets, here is a cops perspective. Aside
    from "What's the wildest (scariest, funniest)
    situation you've seen in your police career?”
    questions on tickets are the most common.

    Make no mistake about it; there ARE quotas to be
    met, they are called "productivity goals" or the
    like. They are mandated at the top of municipal
    (or state) government and it all trickles down to
    the cop in the street. Revenue from summons
    activity is counted on in budget planning and woe
    be to the police commissioner who does not deliver.
    The police brass can justify these numbers by
    saying that "An officer on patrol who is vigilant
    will witness many more violations than productivity
    goals require." Moreover, they are correct!

    In New York City, egregious traffic violations of
    every type can be witnessed on a daily basis. Why
    then does it seem like cops are always picking on
    the guy only doing 12mph over the limit, or
    sneaking through an "amber" light (late for work,
    or, going to the doctor of course).

    Most police officers hate issuing summonses, that
    said, many officers relish issuing summonses to
    those folks who flaunt the law (myself included).
    So when you are pulled over, just tell the truth
    and be somewhat humble. If you truly don't know
    what you were pulled over for, just produce your
    license etc. and the officer will tell you. The
    best excuse is that you were not fully paying
    attention to the task (driving safely).
    Cops, especially seasoned cops, can smell BS as
    soon as they get out of the squad car. Also be
    aware that Highway Patrol cops do not have the same
    leeway when it comes to warning and admonishing
    motorists as do street cops. First of all, most
    vehicle stops are now video and audio recorded.
    Secondly, when the radar speed threshold is
    exceeded (about 72 mph or so) the radar unit records
    the time, and the officer punches the plate number
    into his mobile digital terminal before he exits
    the police cruiser. He/she must produce a summons
    for each speed exceedence, or write a detailed
    report on extenuating circumstances.

    I will take this opportunity to apologize for
    over-zealous (usually young) officers, or those who
    have become cynical. Keep in mind that cops are
    also responding to crimes in progress, domestic
    disputes, violent crimes etc. on a daily basis.

    I always laugh when I hear someone say "My uncle
    was a cop for 20 years and never pulled his gun
    once." They mean to say, "He never fired his
    gun". The gun comes out of the holster many times
    in month of police work, and don't be surprised
    when you are pulled over and see a drawn weapon, or
    a hand ready to draw, vehicle stops are
    statistically number four in the top five fatal
    encounters for police officers, but I digress!

    Please feel free to ask me any questions related
    to traffic stops or policing in general, it's not
    often I get a public forum to vent like this!
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    Yes, we've moved to the new platform/software. Hope you all will like it. The IT guys are tweaking the interface as we go along, so hopefully your concerns will be addressed. If you have any comments, post them in the "Talk to the hosts" topic.

    Drew/aling

    Edmunds.com Townhall host
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Interesting post, to say the least. And... much appreciated too.

    Bob
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    Eccchh. All my links ("Favorites" in Internet Explorer) were broken AGAIN this morning. They took me to the beginning of each forum, forgot who I was, asked me to log in, and then told me I was already logged in! Feh.

    -wdb
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    I'm experiencing all of that and more. After losing a lengthy post twice, I finally wrote it in another program, used copy & paste. The 5th time, I finally got it accepted. Want back to made a quick edit and it disappeared when I posted! Three more tries and it posted again. Good thing our cars aren't this buggy! :-)

    Ross
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Like we can't hide posts anymore. As if everyone didn't read it anyway... ;-)

    This version has a better profile though! HTML works in the dialog box at the bottom, look at my profile.

    -Colin
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    Here's what you can do to fix in the login problem (BTW, which we are aware of):
    1. Disable auto login
    2. Logout
    3. Login again manually

    The problem is that the previous WellEngaged system and the new Web Crossing system are a little muddled up right now. It will be rectified as the DNS changes.

    Your posts may have been lost since the server is constantly be rebooted as changes are being made to squish the bugs. If you have any further questions about the software, try posting in the New software questions topic.

    Hope this helps!
    Drew
    Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
    Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    Does the Impreza coupe have seatbelt extenders as standard equipment? I have a couple of pictures (of an Impreza) that I took yesterday with my new Digicam.
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    That is a pre-tensioner. Yes the Impreza, or at least the 2.5RS, has them standard. They fold down to let people get in the back.

    An extender is what ... um, really large people use to make the seatbelt longer.

    -Colin
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    Thanks...WRT the "extender" term, it's MB-speak. The CL-class and previous generation E-class coupe have these little arms (that MB called seatbelt extenders) that pull the seatbelts out so that the driver and front passenger won't have to stretch and reach back to get their belts.

    Isn't a pre-tensioner (better ones coupled with force limiters) a device that employs a pyrotechnic charge to significantly reduce seatbelt slack in the event of an accident?

    Drew
    Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
    Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    All,

    As I mentioned earlier, the TH team is working around the clock at fixing the glitches and adding features. Something equlvalent to the placemarks feature in Well Engaged has now been added, ahead of schedule. Note the "Mark" buttons at the top of each discussion topic/each message, as well as the "Message Centre" and "Subscribe" buttons near the bottom of the page, above the post box. You can access the topics you "mark" via the "Message centre" button.

    Note also that the message width has been reduced so that it doesn't stretch out as far across the screen; the font has been changed from Arial to Times New Roman. The small font in the post box for those of us who use Netscape is also being taken care of as we "speak".

    Hope you all will find this new message centre feature helpful!
    Drew
    Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
    Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    Now my messages aren't being posted!

    Test, for gawd's sake. I cannot believe I have to do this.

    -wdb
  • kate5000kate5000 Member Posts: 1,271
    search returns many irrelevant topics, and "forgets" that I'm already logged in... many other problems too.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    They should really have tested this stuff before switching over. I have a ton of problems with the new software (forgets I'm logged in, but when I go to login, it shows me as logged in, sometimes I can subscribe to a topic, sometimes I can't, etc. etc) I would have thought Edmunds had learned from FORD that it's bad press to release something with so many bugs...

    -mike
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