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Comments
They had it in the '80s. My '89 GL-10 Full Time 4WD Turbo Touring Wagon had it.
In the early 90s most of the Japanese brands went through a round of cost cutting and removed a lot of these features.
Even now, when they add them back, more often than not they remove something else.
What would they be doing in the wrong lane in the first place?
Nissan even uses the name "Vehicle Dynamics Control" for their brake-based traction and stability control system. And it has an On and Off switch.
Electronically controlled clutch pack with VDC that you can turn on and off. Cool.
Where have I heard that before? :shades:
The reviewers all justify this by saying we are an "enthusiast" site/magazine and "real drivers" prefer manuals. I have owned over 20 cars. 13 of the first 15 were manuals including an MGB GT, a Mustang 5.0, and a Sentra SE-R. I have driven manual 911's, a 930 Turbo and a 635 CSi. I understand the appeal.
But in day-to-day urban driving, which is the reality for millions of car buyers, even the best manual is a pain in the [non-permissible content removed]. Throw in a spouse who can't drive stick and a manual transmission is not an option for most people. Sure, test the Ferrari, the Mustang GT, the Miata, or the Evo with a manual. But give me the auto on the Camry, the Forester, and the Fit, because that's what most buyers of these vehicles will choose. Stop choosing your review vehicle specs based on the narrow view of the "driver's car" and instead test the one that your readers are most likely to actually buy. Why is this so unreasonable? Why should my only source for info on automatic equiped cars be Consumer Reports?
It's not nearly as mainstream as the regular Forester.
Oddly, Subaru offers the manual on the X, and not the XT, probably for cost purposes, rather than demographics.
Would it really cost them __that__ much money to keep it in the sales pipeline?
Then again, perhaps in 2010 (which seems to be Subaru's big changeover year), an STI version of the Forester made __just__ for enthusiasts could be offered, with Recardo seats, STI running gear, lightest possible weight, etc. :shades: .
...and those cursed upperbody squeaks came back to point where I unmounted upper the light console find out if it, or the headliner, or something inside headliner, is what's making the loud creaks. So far, with console out, the squeeks have shuddup-ed.
My new hunch is the headliner's plastic moulding is rubbing against the windshield glass (what I thought was a mirror bracket is in reality part of the headliner!). Felt is at hand once I know for sure.
...and some of you may ask why I'm trying to fix this myself rather than let a dealer do it:
1. It takes a lot of time and distance to reach a dealer,
2. most likely the car won't make a sound when I'm there.
3. The area making the sound is easy to access and work on.
I have to say that as an '07 Forester (non-turbo) owner who just completed a 1600 mile driving vacation from Chicago to NYC and back, the turbo only adds the power that the Forester desperately needs. Especially when driving through the mountains.
Equally needed is an extra gear in the transmission. The car was unable to hold a steady 75 on steep hills without dropping into 3rd. And at 75 you are turning 3,000 rpm anyway, not exactly loafing.
If they can't give the regular engine a little better torque curve, then they really need a better transmission.
The Power seat was critical for my buying the XT - the manual seat, while better than previous Foresters, didn't feel up to long trips.
I would like to see Subaru offer this again because it seems like it would round out the model line -- but I would never buy one myself.
For most people, that's more than adequate, plus oil barrel prices keep going up and the 20/26 mpg is as good or better than any non-hybrid with AWD.
It's good that you have a choice, though.
An STI Forester would be sweet, but I have to admit I wouldn't be likely to buy one.
It preceeds the VIN, which you get after the build.
So it's probably on the assembly line in Gunma, Japan, right now! :shades:
The Newport Blue is my choice of exterior colour but only comes with grey which I would not want in cloth. It looks fine but light grey is not good at hiding dirt; beige and brown are much better. Have you ever noticed that almost all stains in the car go brown?? Just rented a Malibu with grey interior last week and there were brown stains everywhere. Camellia Red is paired with grey too and I thought it looked blah. Black interior would have been a better choice there IMHO.
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/head_restraints/headrestraints.aspx?subaru
sexysubaru.ca is a site many of ya'll will LOVE! Canadians could even win a camera from their contest.
kurtamaxxxguy, accept my CarSpace friend request already! It's been months!
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm
Annual fuel costs for the turbo are down from $2,955 to $2,742. EPA combined went up from 20 to 21 mpg. Barrels of oil used dropped from 17.1 to 16.3, and CO2 emissions dropped from 9.2 tons to 8.7 tons.
ALL of those numbers beat a certain V6 people came over here to brag about. Even fuel cost. Even after accounting for the extra cost of premium octane.
Pretty amazing considering 0-60 times are still under 7 seconds, so performance was not sacrificed. The new turbo is simply more efficient and cleaner.
The base engine scores are unchanged, but they were already good: 22mpg EPA combined, $2,464 annual fuel cost, 15.6 barrels of oil per year, and 8.3 tons of CO2.
Wrt EPA, the Subie 2.5X manual and auto versions came in with exactly the same mileage.
Not the case, at least in the US--Camellia Red is only available with black (I know, because if it came with the gray I would have got one instead of going with the pearl white).
I have a Newport Blue '07 with tan cloth. Trust me, you don't want it. The carpet and seats show every stain. My interior looks like the car is 5 years/100,000 miles old instead of 15 mos/15,000 miles. And that is with the rubber mats in the winter.
I was afraid of that when I bought the car. I really wanted a grey interior, but the geniuses at Subaru disn't offer it then.
I got 25 mpg (with a high of 26) on my trip driving a pretty consistent 70-75 on the highway with the two of us in the car, 10 days of luggage, and a bicycle on a hitch mounted rack in the back. I was definitely pleased with that aspect of the performance.
The seats also were very comfortable for 6-7 hour driving days.
Fyi my former Malibu Maxx had beige interior, and was very hard to keep clean. Its grey interior option was downright ugly.
Does it have a protective plastic film that's suppose to be removed?
While we're on the subject of the audio system, the manual implies that, if you push the "Text" button in the upper right, the system will display the album/track/artist titles for CD's, but all I get in the display is "No Title". It's not the CD, because I've tried several of them.
Has anybody seen their system display CD information?
We had an awesome experience at Matt Slap Subaru in Newark, Delaware and if you are close by the area I would suggest looking at their pricing by calling for the internet pricing.
Also, I had a question about a blue light that is right next to the two front overhead lights and the glasses compartment. Does anyone know what the blue light is? I looked in the manual but it wasn't covered. I'm thinking that it's the security system.
Thanks again for all your help.
Hope this helps.
The '96 Taurus SHO I replaced had a tan interior and leather seats and after 10 years and 108k miles it looked good. Some worn spots, but no staining to speak of.
The Subie's carpet seems to hold on to stains more than my Ford did.
The Security indicator is in the instrument console - you will see a light flashing in various ways when the car is parked and no one is inside.
so called"satellite ready" radio.
Does anyone Know if the antenna That came on the car will work with sirius?
Or does the one the came with the sir-cl3 box that I Paid 300. for has to be used.
Oh yea I had the headliner rattle too. I took it to the dealer and they fixed it.
Otherwise it is an awsome car. This is our third Subaru.
I also have an 07 outlander.My wife drives the Subie.
Thanks again.
I assume it's the first option in which case can you tell me more about your problems so I can make sure I don't have these problems and see if they have a solution that I can tell you?
Its a kit only available from the dealer.This connects to the existing radio/cd changer.Its not the type you sit on the dash though That would cost much less.
so Th kit I bought from the dealer also came with its own antenna that sticks to the upper right corner of the windsheild I was hoping since the radio is satillite ready the antenna that came on the car could be used instead. If that is the case I might be able to install the unit myself and not have to spend 350.00 to the dealer to install it.
Thanks for your help.
It's such a scam.
Either way a separate antenae is required.
It is only an $11 part, but that's still double the cost of a blade at the parts store.
I wouldn't get too excited about this yet--here's a quote from the Subaru website regarding the iPod interface:
"Now also available for 2009 Forester 2.5X and 2.5X Premium Package models without satellite radio."
They must plug into the same hole or something.
Sadly, I have to report that knowing the current song is "Hannah Montana" doesn't make the song sound any better.
The car is built and actually being loaded on the ship, where it will soon make its way to the port in ... Deleware (I think?) for the east coast. ETA is June 2nd.
Add a few days for processing, then the port-installed options (we had lots of those - cargo nets, mud flaps, cargo cover, cargo liner, bumper guard, etc) have to be put on. Then it gets trucked down to Fitzgerald Subaru.
So I'm hoping for a mid-June delivery.
I have to say the folks at Customer Service have been great so far. :shades:
Its still a great car.
I am upset about the sirius thing.Subaru needs to do something about that.
I would like to see their cars with 6 speed Auto transmissions or at least 5 speed.
My Outlander has a 6 speed and It would really help the subie.