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Subaru XT Turbo Forester
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"when you get in trouble passing on the two line road (car is coming to you from the opposite direction), you have a one second to make a decision wether to press an acelereator or brake pedal. If you don't make that decision in one second, slam brakes as hard as you can..."
I personally believe that, for every story about accelerating to avoid an accident, there are hundred ones where braking did the trick.
K
John
As the saying goes - "Power to use, not abuse"
Larry
K
Link is on the left.
Steve, Host
It is, thirdly, not that unusual for someone in an SUV (or name your weapon) traveling faster than the flow, cutting in and out, while talking on a cell phone (I'm speaking from direct experience here) to "land" four feet behind one's rear bumper. Sometimes the high beams come on or the slight wiggle in the tail gaters progress indicates his (usually, "his") impatience that one is "taking his lane".
Abhorring left lane bandits almost as much as I do tail gaters, nothing is more satisfying or safe, IMO, than being able to drop down a gear, accelerate into whatever space is available, signal, and move over a lane -- as quickly as possible. This does three things: it gets one out harm's way in the shortest possible duration; it (might) convey to a partially attentive moron behind one that his behavior is stupid, unnerving and dangerous; and, I suppose it feeds one's ego a bit to have enough power under one to be able to choose not to get hammered.
I'm aware that the slow lane can offer respite at 65 or 70, and often that's as fast as I'll go. But, the reality of one who has done route sales for years in Bay Area traffic is that after one has sat in traffic jams in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco -- all on the same day -- the call of an open stretch of road on which one can go fast enough to get a ticket is liberating to what remains of one's soul.
If this sounds like alien talk or craven rationalizing, I can understand. You haven't driven such a path to earning a living. It surely does make one a little goofy. That's why I'm dialing back.
Normally, I stay in the #1 when there is a steady chain of vehicles moving at the same speed. Once traffic lightens up and there is room in the other lanes I'll promptly move over to allow for others.
What I can't stand are the people who drive in the fast lane at a significantly slower speed than the other lanes. I find that to be a lot more common out here than in the East Coast. There'll be a whole pack of vehicles behind someone who just doesn't get the hint.
Finally, my pet peeve are exactly those folks who weave in rush hour traffic, but aren't good enough drivers to make any progress. They'll be impatiently darting in and out of lanes only to end up behind where they started. I see lots of that too.
Anyway, getting back to topic, it's those brief moments that I wish I had a turbo under there keeping my 2.5L company!
Ken
DaveM
Abhorring left lane bandits almost as much as I do tail gaters, nothing is more satisfying or safe, IMO, than being able to drop down a gear, accelerate into whatever space is available, signal, and move over a lane -- as quickly as possible. This does three things: it gets one out harm's way in the shortest possible duration; it (might) convey to a partially attentive moron behind one that his behavior is stupid, unnerving and dangerous;
Why would the tailgating bully think that? Assuming he thinks at all (which is debatable), I'm guessing your inference is opposite his actual reaction to your maneuver. IMO, he's more likely to think, "Wow - look at that timid rabbit jump to get out of my way! I really scared the crap out of him/her! This tactic really works! I'll use it every time!"
Mine has the same, but from both front doors <sigh>. But even worse is an obnoxious, loud buzzy rattle emanating from the right front airbag area. It's been there since day one. I'll be pretty unhappy if the dealer can't identify and eliminate these rattles on my 3K service visit in a few more weeks.
Speaking of speed, the '03 NA engine with 5 speed is quite cozy at 80-85, which is an occasional speed one hits on Fresno area freeways. The overall car is solid and quiet (except for the buzz).
John
How come CR-V is selling well over 2x the Forester numbers?
My wife drives our Audi A6, never listens to the Bose stereo in it, and, for its many maddening quirks, that car is quieter than a crypt at 95 mph ( BTW , this leads to speeding tickets if you're not using the cruise control!). Folks at the audi boards argue over which is the absolutely quietest tire. I'll never get my turbo fix if it buzzes! She will go along with almost anything except noise.
Mark
By injecting a parenthetical and hopeful "might," I implied my own doubt about the effect the "run-away-and-hide" maneuver could have. But, you know what, by getting the hell out of the way with alacrity, I'm obeying a cardinal rule of the road: to yield to a faster vehicle wanting to pass.
I've yet to encounter a knuckle dragging tail gater (OK, so that's redundant) who seemed capable of learning from anything but a ticket or BAD wreck. Since I'm incapable of issuing the former, and have no stomach for the latter, playing B'rer Rabbit in the briar patch doesn't seem like such a bad strategy.
It's not our job to play sanctimonious or self-sacrificing preacher/ vigilantes by hunkering down in a tail gater's gun sights, while he hovers impatiently at the back bumper. So, I value the ability to get away quickly from such yahoos.
BTW, for those who think it's instructional to touch the brakes in such instances, please don't. I've been close enough to a road rage incident, turned catastrophe, to testify it's a really bad tactic.
If I have to answer to the CHP for touching 95 to escape becoming road kill, so be it. Bless turbo motors.
Steve, Host
Reading through the posts about speeders & tailgaters....The rules of "keep right except to pass & slower vehicles keep right" are strictly adhered to here in Europe. (at least the countries we have driven through). We are currently driving a (cough) Pontiac Grand Am which does "good enough" for right now but I am really looking forward to picking up our new XT when we land. Getting back to the speed thing...Even when I am doing 100MPH + over here I always check the rear views at least twice before pulling out to pass someone. You would be surprised how many people with Audi/BMW/VW wagons are driving at 120MPH +, not to mention the Porches & Mazerati's etc.... Pulling out in front of them doing 95-100 is not a wise decision. We will be moving to the San Diego area and I know from 4 years experience down there that people just pick a lane and camp out in it no matter how fast they are going. You just learn to deal with it, live & let live.
Seriously, if Sube could deliver a quieter cabin - and for $27-30K OTD they ought to be able to - I'd have an XT in the garage right now...
srp
After hearing everyone's concern about getting a lot car that had been potentially abused, I wanted to factory order. However, my dealer let me know that a car fitting my needs was already on its way. I will just need to add my options at a later date (was that subaruparts.com?). We should be driving it within a few weeks. This should be a major improvement over my aging 150-something thousand mile legacy wagon. I just hope the dcwife appreciates it every time she gets in it for her daily commute! (dcdouglas is a bike commuter.)
--Cheers,
----dcdouglas
The door buzzer is going to wait until I have time to pull apart the door. I'm not going to let the dealership even look at it. First off they'll never hear it, second I'll probably spend the next two nights buffing out the scratches.......
The wife's OB Wagon is definitely the more solidly built of the two. 9500 miles and nary a noise in the cabin. Rather sad considering the price differential between the two.
Larry
John
Are you sure its not in the grab handle above the driver's door? That's where mine buzzed - had to have them R&R th handle and it went away. Drove me nuts till I found it.
HTH
Larry
Wish I did need a rack. I actually have the hitch-mounted bike rack.
-juice
John
-Frank P.
I know I heard right, but I can't believe that this could be true. After all, we are talking risk and averages, this policy doesn't make sense.
John
John
Why would someone take all the risk and then not get compensated? It begs the question, why wouldn't everyone buy the warranty then? Sorry for all your trouble, but don't get me going on mechanics and sloppiness, there isn't enuf room to spew it all out.
John
But it was the first and last rattle, in more than 50,000 otherwise trouble-free miles. And though my 2004 has one small (and easily correctable) rattle it has thus far been the only flaw I've found. And I have looked hard. In every other way it's met or exceeded my expectation.
None of this lets Subaru off the hook for defects of any kind. Judging from Consumer Reports surveys it appears the incidence of all Subaru defects is creeping up. Forester's defect incidence seems to have crept up less (if at all), and it could still be the best of Subaru's pack, wrt to reliability.
To those thinking about a Forester I'd say this: a Honda it's not, but that's both good and bad. Good because what a Forester does well, it still does a lot better than a Honda (eg AWD, brakes, occupant protection in a crash). But when it comes to "fit and finish", the Forester is not a Honda. I'd give it a "B" to Honda's "A". For me, that's enough.
I have a friend who drives a Volvo that's had many rattles and some significant defects such as an AC failure, and other electrical problems, during his first 10,000 miles! But it wasn't a "deal breaker" for him. He bought it knowing reliability is below most Japanese vehicles. For him it was Volvo's "A" ergonomics, collision avoidance & crash protection that really mattered. For that he was willing take the kind of hit to "reliability" that would compel others (eg me) to opt for a Forester.
Know thy vehicle. Know thy dealership. Above all, know thyself: what do you need? And what are you willing to give up to get it?
Jake,
PS: To the member who wondered about Mitsubishi as OEM for the XT turbo, as I recall Subaru has had a long relationship with them. I believe they're the OEM of the VDC for the Outback too. Don't know the MTBF of the VDC but I haven't heard any complaints for from VDC owners I know. I've driven the OB VDC (love the "yaw control") and found that Mitsubishi product performed "as advertised" in a Subaru.
That being said, and despite the wife's OBW being much quieter, I'm very, very, happy overall with my XT.
BTW - If you have a Gold level warranty, and if you take advantage of the 10-pay plan, and if you cancel it during the ten months, or within 90 days after the 10 months, then you get 100% refunded. I'm absolutely sure of that much, because I just did it.
Don't know about how well the pro-rata part works.
Larry
John
Larry
"These plans come with a free, money-back guarantee- if you never use the plan benefits during the coverage period, your money is refunded in full- YOU CAN'T LOSE! Contact us with the short form below..."
Regarding the armrest extension, has anyone noticed that it appears to be just a tad narrower than the console it is mounted on? Makes it look like a cheap aftermarket add-on in my opinion. Also, you can only comfortably rest your arm on it if the seat is moved far enough back - it works for me but the husband is complaining since his legs are slightly shorter than mine.
I had a Subaru Gold warranty on my 2001 Outback, which I traded a few months ago for a 2004 WRX. When I traded the car in, I cancelled the service contract and received a prorated refund for the purchase price of the plan (in this case, 48% of the plan remained, so I received 48% of the purchase price). If I had kept the car through the warranty period, the policy would have expired, and I would have been eligible for nothing in a refund (according to the text of Subaru's policy).
It makes no business sense that they would assume the risk of a payout over the term of the policy, only to refund the price if unused. I'll have to investigate this further -- it just sounds too good to be true and I certainly not how things operated just 3 months ago with that Gold policy.
Brian
The trick would be to make absolutely sure you never used any part of the warranty - on a Gold warranty that covers so many things, it seems like a single charge could knock you out of the refund zone. I would imagine you'd have to be very conscientious whenever you took it into the shop to make sure the dealer didn't bang on it without telling you.
Larry