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Subaru Crew: Suggestions for Subaru

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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I have it on the SVX and LOVE it. Especially for cruising, I can close the door which covers the stereo and my extra guages and makes for a more pleasant trip. Also nice for parking in the city as well.

    -mike
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    hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    You have lost me, why would you cover the gauges with a door when you are cruising.

    I thought the object to having gauges was so you could know what is going on in the first place, it would be pretty hard to see them when they are covered with a door.

     Cheers Pat.
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    When I'm on a 500 mile trip with the cruise set, non-track situation, there is no need for the guages (which is probably why they aren't std. anymore). In a race situation, that's where my guages come in handy. I know my ATF, Oil Pressure and Oil Temps aren't gonna peak when I'm turning 2500 rpms @ 80mph on the highway :)

    -mike
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    bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    How about a boost gauge in psi's?

    -Dennis
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    kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    My dad's old Saab has a "blackout" button that blacks out all the gauges/displays on the dash except for the speedo. It's actually nice for long drives as Mike wrote and for night driving.

    Ken
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    hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    That makes sense but the oil pressure gauge I like to keep my eye on at all times more for loss of pressure than pressure peaking.

      The oil pressure idiot light is worse than useless since damage is already done by the time it comes on, with a pressure gauge any deviation from normal pressure sets off warning bells in my head.

     Cheers Pat.
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    ladywclassladywclass Member Posts: 1,713
    oh wow ... YES I'd love it if the back bench in my Outback were split. And those headrests didn't have to be removed to fold ... (you guys have such GOOD ideas ..lol)
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Arggg. We are men!!

    Steve
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    ladywclassladywclass Member Posts: 1,713
    Are you saying you have good ideas because you ARE men? ... or implying that women can't have good ideas as well????
    How about making that console 'refrigerated' to keep the drinks cold .. and while we're at it, let's have a little better drink holders in the Outback than what I have in the 2001 ...
    (the 1997 Suburban I had - that the ex now has custody of ... had more drink holders than passenger seats and they were NICE ... lol ... we called it the 'party wagon')

    ok .. back to reality ... don't change the controls too much .. one of the reasons I liked the Outback was the VISIBILITY of controls ...
    some cars/SUV's that I drove had controls that you couldn't see from the driver's seat
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Just busting on you! ;-)

    Steve (an equal opportunity kidder...)
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Funny thing is a lot of the latest refinements are things demanded by women, or at least parents.

    -juice
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    dan_s1dan_s1 Member Posts: 8
    I would like to see a better, more sane, auto climate controll. The one in the 2001 LLBean has a mind of it's own.

    Also, a button, instead of the fuse, to go from AWD to 2WD.

    Dan
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    rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    One thing I never liked about the auto climate control on these models was that you had to toggle back and forth between the digital ambient temperature readout and the interior digital temperature readout.

    I think the ambient readout should always be there, and that you should have a separate interior temperature readout.

    Bob
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Leave the outside temp gauge on the dashboard, like on our Legacy L. Put the interior temps on the climate control panel itself.

    -juice
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Subaru instruction sheets used to be quite good - lots of pictures with plenty of text. The most recent items I acquired were 'word free' universal graphical only. While this may be good for worldwide distribution, I am finding them much harder to understand. I downloaded the old sheet for the subwoofer and compared it to the new one. There were subtle details that the pictures cannot convey. English and maybe Spanish please!

    Steve
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    From my personal experience, their instructions are just guidelines at best. They usually don't tell you what tools to use, for instance, and some times don't list the torque specs.

    So yes, please improve those instructions. Maybe have someone install the option at the port and edit the text so it makes sense to us!

    -juice
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    bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    Yes, I bought acrylic headlight and foglight covers from a UK dealer that were made in Australia, and sent to me in New Jersey. :-)

    Very clearly worded instructions and diagrams.

    -Dennis
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    rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I'm assuming at some point in the future, after the Legacy turbo debuts, that the North America-spec WRX will get that same 2.5 turbo, which hopefully will be in the 250–260 HP range.

    Once that happens, I would like to see:

    • An Outback Super-Sport (OBSS), with the 210 HP Forester turbo engine.

    • I'd like to see the 210 HP 2.5 turbo become the "base" engine on the larger Legacy-based Outback. This is assuming that the H-6 will get goosed to ~ 240 HP or more.

    Bob
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    bat1161bat1161 Member Posts: 1,784
    I know it has been said before, but I would really like to see a full size spare in all models. No more donuts!

    Mark
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    You'll never see that. Why? cause the car is not meant to be driven in FWD mode for extended periods of time. It's only in emergency situations where you can't put on a full sized spare that the 2wd should be activated.

    -mike
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    If the WRX moves to a 2.5L turbo, it'll either be a modest peak HP upgrade (say 240ish) or the STi will soon after get bumped even more. I think they have a vested interest in keeping reasonable distance between the two...

    but no doubt, a low-boost 2.5L could make 227HP in a far more useable way than a (somewhat) high boost 2.0L.

    -Colin
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    rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Donuts are to be eaten, not driven!

    Bob
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    inharmswayinharmsway Member Posts: 153
    Hi SOA. I would like to see a dual range transmission in the Forester, like it has in other markets.
    Niels
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    lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    in the wagons would be great. It is a pain right now to haul stuff for a couple reasons. 1)some items require a flat load space, but if you have 3 passengers, you can't have a split seat AND a flat load. One or the other. 2) I dunno about the rest of you, but the headrests in my '99 require a lot of cajoling and strain to get free. An easier realease for those, please!
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    bluesunlionbluesunlion Member Posts: 38
    60/40 split back seat on WRX Sedans. I wouldn't use it very often, but when you need it, you need it. (waits for the crew to tell me to buy a wagon) =)
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    bat1161bat1161 Member Posts: 1,784
    I agree- there should be a 60/40 split of the bench as well as the back of the seat for both Wagons and sedans.

    Any chance SOA will ever make a 6spd MT? preferably with the 2.5Turbo.

    Mark
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    wrxsoon1wrxsoon1 Member Posts: 158
    Do the Legacy wagons have 60/40 split seats? If no, then this is a definite suggestion. Even my Honda Civic coupe has 60/40 split rear seat. Also, and I know it's already been suggested but I like beating dead horses, the cold weather package and moonroof option on the new WRX Wagon would definitely sell well here in the rainy city.

    -Ian

    edit: Sorry, I just checked the Legacy specs online and yes, the wagons do have a 60/40 split rear seat.
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    the legacies and svx had a split rear seat in the sedans up to 1999. They said that it's for "rigidity" and rear end collisions that they don't have them anymore. Go figure.

    -mike
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    hammersleyhammersley Member Posts: 684
    ... for those of us who can't remember to roll up the windows before we turn off the car. 'Twould be nice to have a minute or so of power to the windows, etc.

    Cheers!
    (absent-minded) Paul
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    hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Both our 91 and 93 Accords had retained accessory power it was a nice little feature to have,power was retained until the drivers door was opened.

      Cheers Pat.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Hey Rachel, why not get a....whoops! ;-)

    Here's a suggestion for Subaru: try to be more careful with the pricing strategy. Rebates erode resale value and hurt the upscale image you're trying to hard to obtain.

    So, set the prices lower to begin with, or maybe increase the dealers' margins so rebates are not necessary.

    I just don't want it to get to a point where they're offering $2000 rebates at the beginning of the model year, even while announcing price increases. That's silly.

    Set the prices where value is offered, maybe a little below expectations, and then keep them there. The WRX was mostly successful, the Baja and VDC were not.

    Hint: the Forester turbo should not break the $30k barrier. I'm not sure an auto/premium model should even sticker at more than $28k or so. Reviews will pound it if it does, it would be competing with mid-sizers.

    Look at how heavily Libertys are being discounted now. Someone who bought them just when they arrived and paid $28 grand took a massive depreciation hit and will probably never buy a Jeep again.

    -juice
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    hammersleyhammersley Member Posts: 684
    Pat: Actually, driving my dad's car around for the past few days made me wish I had it on the Subaru. His Buick does the same thing as your Accords did, and wouldn't you know, the first time I'm back in the Subie, I forget & leave the window open arriving at work this morning. CRS disease at it's finest!

    Cheers!
    Paul
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    bsvollerbsvoller Member Posts: 528
    On second thought, just make Juice your NA Pricing Manager, and be done with it!

    Seriously though, Juice is right, discounting kills resale value, and cheapens the brand. Selling on price is a short-term volume fix with long-term costs to margin.

    The constant drumbeat of "sale, sale, sale" isn't fooling anybody anymore, anyway. Sales used to be for generating urgency and to moving inventory in times of weak demand. Nowadays, it's par for the course, and most people won't buy unless there's a "sale", whereby the actual selling price probably wasn't changed much if at all from the pre-sale level. (Which smacks of deceit in my mind, sorry, and I'm not alone in that.)

    When I hear "Hurry, sale ends soon", I just laugh. Yea, right. The industry has been running back to back to back "sales" now for years. I can wait for the next one.

    When I hear GM offering "0 down, 0 payments for 1 year, 0% interest for 5 years on brand new '03's in September, I think to myself "Holy cow, they can't give 'em away. They must really be desperate." The next thought I have is, "There must be a reason why they can't give 'em away. Don't think I want one..." My response is to run the other way.

    Stick to selling value. No gimmicks required. Everyone wants to feel like they got a "deal", so "throw them a bone", but don't cheapen the brand by making price the big selling point.

    I have a friend who bought a Jimmy "0 down, 0% for 5 years". Then they got divorced, and she's stuck with a $500/month payment because it's worth a fraction of the purchase price 2 years later with low miles. Ouch. Guess who's not buying GMC anymore?

    She about fell over when I told her my Forester had retained 85% of it's purchase value after 2 years in our market with average miles and heavy use.

    -brianV
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    0% financing kills resale value for very obvious reasons... you can't get near that on a used vehicle, so everyone buys new!

    And no offense but being in Colorado, the Northwest and Northeast (all subaru strongholds) your resale is not at all representative of people living in other locations. I traded my RS for $11,000 after 27 months of ownership, 43k miles and ... well, quite a bit of wear & tear honestly. Even in awesome condition (Pat condition ;-) ) it couldn't have fetched more than $12,500 trade-in, or maybe $14,000 private sale with the right buyer. This versus an MSRP of $19,500.

    Plus your value is in theory, unless you actually sell it and get your expected 85%. :-)

    -Colin
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    But noone pays MSRP. The price you paid was probably lower, so actual resale wasn't that bad, really.

    -juice
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    bsvollerbsvoller Member Posts: 528
    colin: No arguments there, although I think my estimated value was prolly pretty close (see comment below). I'm sure Subie's don't hold their value as well in, say, Texas. The GMC models would do better there, presumably.

    On the other hand, there's a strong pro-SUV/truck segment here as well, so it's unclear to me why her Jimmy would plummet based on demand. I do think discounting is a strong factor.

    juice: I was comparing the average of advertised offers in the papers, NADA, and KBB with my actual purchase price. MSRP is a make-believe number with no real-world relevance, IMHO, so I ignore it.

    -brianV
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    kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Like any commodity, used car prices are subject to demand and supply. I've heard from the used car manager at our local Subaru dealerships that our vehicles often fetch good resale values simply because they are not as easy to find as your typical Ford Taurus. Of course there are regional differences, but it sometimes benefits being a smaller brand.

    Ken
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    hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Thats quite a compliment. I will take it thank you.

     Cheers Pat.
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    bat1161bat1161 Member Posts: 1,784
    Here's another suggestion:

    Possibly as option on an upper end model, or else for all: How about a navagtion system? I've been doing reserach on my own, and if I'm ready to shell out $700 - $800 for a portable unit, for the right price I would love a built in model in a Subaru.

    Mark
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    They already make one in Japan, so sure. Just make it stand-alone or maybe even dealer installed.

    -juice
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    hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    I was browsing the Singapore Subaru website and noticed that the legacy touring wagon and the liberty or is it Lancaster can't remember.

     Anyway they get HID headlights,so why do we on this continent get so much less content are we the poor cousins over here.

      Cheers Pat.
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    rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Lancaster = Japanese Outback.

    Liberty = Australian Legacy.

    The new WRX-STi gets HIDs. Hopefully the next-generation (North America-spec) Legacy/Outback will also be so blessed.

    Bob
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    toboggantoboggan Member Posts: 283
    Sure would be nice to have an oil pressure and voltmeter gauge in addition to current gauges. My wife's Jeep Cherokee and our motor home have those gauges. There appears to be room in the instrument cluster for those 2 additional gauges on my '98 OBW Limited 5spd.

    MNSteve
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    subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    Might as well make a turbo boost gauge standard on those models that have a turbo. Integrated into the existing gauge cluster would be very OEM. :-)

    -Brian
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    hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    I agree that the oil pressure and Voltmeter gauges would be welcome, this was my solution in my 01 Gt wagon.

     image

      Cheers Pat.
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    rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    • I'm hoping that when the all-new Legacy/Outback debuts here, the H-6 will be a 3.5L AVCS unit, and the 2.5L H-4 will be a AVCS DOHC unit with ~ 175 – 180 HP.

    • While on a wild fantasy trip today, I visited Porsche dealer to see the new Cayenne. I noticed in the brochure that the retractable cargo cover also has a retractable cargo net. This is not that unusual, in fact Subaru in Japan has this feature on their Legacy wagon, as do several other carmakers. What was unusual was that this cargo cover, when the rear seats are folded—can be moved forward, just behind the front seat, mounted just above the folded seat—and also be used there, with the cargo guard extended to the ceiling. This a great idea! I've never seen that done before...

    Bob
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    oh, with AVCS and a serious attempt at tuning, I'd think 180HP would be very easy out of the 2.5L H4. 200HP might be reachable even, keeping the emphasis on low-end and midrange.

    at least that's what I'd be shooting for, the rest of the industry is going there with specific output.

    -Colin
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    rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I agree. I was saying 175–180 HP, so as to distance it a bit from the 210 HP low-boost turbo.

    Bob
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    FOUR out of 7 letters called for Subaru to build the B11S, that out of every car shown at that show. Majority rules, build it!

    All Turbos should have a boost gauge standard.

    -juice
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    How about move the ECU up out of the floor of the passengers foot well and give the co-pilot back the 3-4" of leg room?

    Steve
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