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Comments
If WRC "does" become more popular, do you think the "big boys" (Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, etc.) would field factory teams in the future? And if so, how does Subaru respond? It seems last year, and this year too, the WRC competition has gotten tougher, and/or Subaru WRC racers have gotten worse.
Bob
I think it's time for Subaru to phase out the regular auto AWD and use VTD in all the automatics. Maybe shiftronic too. OK, maybe not shiftronic in the Impreza TS and Legacy L, but VTD yes.
Remember that survey here on Edmunds? Subaru was asking if people felt their AWD system was better than others, but the question is so ambiguous - which one? Auto? VC? VTD? With or without the rear LSD? With or without VDC?
Time to standardize a little. Go with the best (VTD) and keep variations simple (TC/SC).
-juice
Ed
Ken
-mike
As for the potential of WRC's popularity, I think the only things keeping it down are (1) lack of a US model to "pull for" (2) lack of a US driver/co-driver to "pull for" (3) cars race against the clock instead of each other (except on super-special stages). In my mind WRC looks an awful lot like the kind of driving that led to the creation of NASCAR; not "36 white guys turning left" but guys driving wfo over back roads and a wide variety of surfaces. Still there are lot of people who won't admit it but who watch races in the hope of seeing a crash. WRC cars don't often crash into each other but when they do crash the accidents are often spectacular. That alone may satisfy the American bloodlust.
Oh yeah - the WRC numbers are uniform in size, color and location which allows more surface area of the cars to be turned into rolling billboards than on stock cars.
Ed
It is amazing that the most popular sport in the US is based on running illegal items away from the police. Gots to go git me som moonshine I reckon!
-mike
-mike
Bob
Ford has a full line of cars and IMO don't rely quite as much on trucks as GM does. For example, they already have the Taurus wagon and Focus wagon and ZX5.
I don't think Ford needs a Lutz. They have SVT, and 5/10 of the top 10 sellers. OK, Mercury needs a Lutz, definitely. So if you mean FoMoCo overall, I'd agree.
Ford division just needs to tighten quality. They readily admit the Focus and Escape launches were botched, yet both sell well. Escape is in the top three, and Focus sells to younger buyers than the Escort did, and with fewer incentives.
Lutz does not bring quality - in fact in a way he cuts costs in non-engineering areas that could make it worse.
-juice
mike: NASCAR popularity has ranged far away from its Deep South roots. There are tracks in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, Delaware, and California to name a few. NASCAR has even run at Watkins Glen, an entertaining venue for them. An increasing number of its drivers hail from places outside the Deep South. I pass enough vehicles with NASCAR stickers on them in PA and NJ to let me know that it's not strictly a Southern domain anymore.
Though it's kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison, I know the drivetrain layout of our Subarus is much closer to that of their WRC counterparts than the drivetrains of any Taurus, Grand Prix, Monte Carlo or Intrepid are to their NASCAR counterparts. "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" would seem to apply to Subaru moreso than to the Big Three.
juice: Ford hasn't called me for anything - if they want to track down a nice '66 Mustang like my old one and give it to me, fine, but that's it. I missed the info on the Mondeo as Mercury.
Ed
With the networks so entrenched in advertising with Nascar, they will likely not try to embrace other motorsports that would involve more $ outlay.
-mike
Bob
OK, the SHO was for a while, but even that was a Yamaha powertrain, not Ford.
-juice
I like watching the IROC races since they all get the same cars it really pits skill v. skill
-mike
-juice
-mike
NASCAR would be much more entertaining if they had to run at least one event a year on dirt or beach sand, like they did in the beginning.
Ed
OK, yesterday I commented about the increase in crossover vehicles at the show and what it would mean to Subaru in the future. I oversimplified the solution (more HP and gears), but you know what I mean. They had a formula that kept them unique for years. But the rest of autodom has come to understand, and wants in on this growing 'nitch'. As volumes grow, the nitch becomes mainstream. Subaru needs to grow and develop the product, or risk becoming an also-ran.
Steve
The 2003 Impreza comes in August, and the Baja in September.
Also - the Outlander has just 140hp, but torque isn't bad at 157ft-lbs at a low 2500rpm, where it's useful. It also gets a tiptronic 4 speed auto (Santa Fe also does so it's not the first).
-juice
For sure, Subaru has to keep AWD and keep ALL cars toward the higher end on content and quality (going cheap would be suicidal).
A slight variation on the above:
1) Instead of seeing how tall, I now check to see how wide... and
2) Instead of checking for gray hair, I just check for hair, period...
Bob
Steve
Steve
-juice
Ed
-mike
Work: 2 T1 connections shared by entire building and remote plants
Home: RR Cable Modem (~1900 down).
I figured it was just my connection here at work since even our network connections and email are slower than normal too.
Karen did say somewhere that they're doing some modding that could be affecting the TH site.
-Brian
Brian-
I see you've made an appearance on the 'Drive' mag. as well as 'Kathryne'(if I spelled her name right). I believe she made an appearance here at the board about her Subaru experience.
-Dave
-juice
-Brian
(I resubmitted my post about 5 minutes after the first try, no problem.)
-Colin
Also, of interest, they show an 2.0 Impreza GX wagon with a small moonroof. They also mention—and this is a mistake—that the Forester turbo is a 2.5, and gets a dual-range 5-speed.
Bob
http://www.subaru-global.com/
They describe the soft dash material as a "dimpled pad". I liked it. I also notice they use English spelling ("realise").
-juice
The originals are 1500x2000 (700k JPEG), but I had to chop them down to size for easy loading. Hope they still look ok to you.
http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=35303430
Steve
"A problem has been detected.
You do not appear to be the owner of this album.
Make sure you are logged in."
I do not thing it is a mistake too
Maybe the spec on the output is. All that turbo-rizing to yield 12 more hp and 15 more torque??!!
-Dave
KarenS
Host
Owners Clubs
Bob
http://community.webshots.com/album/35303430rdZLZd
Sorry for experimenting on you guys....
Steve
-juice
experimenting? ick gark tsk tsk what ex ick peri gark ment...
-ick Dave
mike
#28 rules
Steve
We now have a printer too for making 'hard' albums - of Brooke of course! Sony DPP-SV55, prints 4x6" size. Have also used Imagestation, Kodak, and Shutterfly to have prints made.
-Brian
Sent the obligatory help email. Got the standard, "your message is important to us but etc..." reply. Thought this might be quicker.
Thanks,
Tim
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
KarenS
Host
Owners Clubs