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Aggressive alone doesn't do it. I've never experienced this when accelerating hard from a dead stop. It seems to be that unique combination of circumstances where you are cruising at some speed fast enough to be in 5th, then begin slowing down to 10-15 mph, then punch it again.
It just appears to dumbfound the transmission for a second or two, and of course, with drive-by-wire, it holds the gas off too while it thinks it over. Once it decides what to do it takes off like a bat out of heck. It's just those two seconds where it does nothing that are kind of frustrating.
Oh, the car has almost 6k miles on it now, so I'm confident it's not still "learning" us.
The Legacy is more refined and comfy. The cargo floor is much bigger, but the area isn't as tall.
I'd pick a Forester for city use, a Legacy for highway stretches.
-juice
Couldn't agree more. Since we got our `07 Outback Bean the wife has been pestering me to sell my `99 Maxima SE, oldest of our three cars w/160k. I refuse to though; it still runs great, is a nice convenience to have a 3rd car, AND it's the only one I have left with a manual tranny!
The Legacy feels much lower to me (which I see as a positive) even though it is several inches higher than the car I usually drive. The Outback, I would imagine, is somewhere in between.
I have recently been able to enjoy driving a Legacy wagon in less than ideal weather. Its pretty amazing, driving sanely it feels like a little tank, driven stupidly, it feels like some type of ski or snow toy.
Miata: 13" (talk about low)
Legacy 2.5i sedan: 17.5"
Impreza RS sedan: 20" (surprise, much higher than the Legacy)
Outback XT: 22"
Tribeca: 26"
I didn't measure my Forester, maybe I should!
Any how, note that in the OB you sit a good 5" or so above the point in the Legacy. Plus or minus an inch given the adjustment range.
I think the Forester falls between the OB and Tribeca.
-juice
oil in their engines? Mercedes, Porsche,Audi,and BMW come from the factory with synthetic.
Perhaps the STI should come that way from the factory. It's probably just overkill. My friend is VP of a construction company and their trucks typically go 250k miles on conventional oil without a problem. It's usually something else that breaks, not the engine.
-juice
-mike
I wonder if the replacement of the fuse or connector is covered by the warranty.
First bulb - 18k. Second bulb - 28k. Third and Fourth at 37k. Rob M.
Consumer Reports seems to give the Legacy models a 1/2 red circle, the same as the Impreza turbo models. However, I seem to hear of more anecdotal evidence about reliability issues with the Legacy. In particular, Car and Driver or Motor Trend had a long-term Legacy GT with lots of issues (exacerbated by them filling it with Diesel!), and I seem to have seen some similar posts here. Any thoughts on reliability of WRX wagon vs Legacy non-turbo wagon vs. Legacy GT sedan? Also, has anyone driven all of these? Fun to drive for me is more about tight, responsive steering and good handling than straight line performance.
Thanks very much.
For my '98 Forester, it was plug-n-play for the trailer wiring on the OE hitch. They cost more but it was worth it for that reason alone.
-juice
I believe the Car and Driver experience is not indicative of most experiences. I recall Automobile magazine having nothing but positive things to say about their Four Seasons test of an LGT wagon. Every car magazine has their biases and at the end of the day, a long term test is just one data point.
Ken
For my '98 Forester, it was plug-n-play for the trailer wiring on the OE hitch. They cost more but it was worth it for that reason alone.
The Legacy (at least the 2005 wagon) was plug-n-play as well. It requires feeling around a bit inside the d/s rear panel for the plug but its sitting right there. The hitch was also bolt on as well, although it might sit a little lower than I like.
We've been big fans of craigslist and ebay for finding furniture, so the Legacy occasionally gets to pull our new finds home in a U Haul trailer, which it does without complaint. It also holds a hitch mounted bike rack a lot of the time.
My feeling is that the reliability of all the cars are more or less the same. We have owned Outbacks, a Forester, and a WRX, and they were all great cars -- no major issues on any of them.
2007 is the last year for the Legacy GT wagon, so get one soon if you decide on that model.
I mean, no wonder they had issues. What else did they forget?
-juice
I don't like C&D much anymore. Not because of the diesel, but because they don't have anything really useful or interesting in the magazine anymore. The writers just like to show off their linguistic shenanigans, while, at the same time, forgetting to have substance in their writeups.
They might as well rename C&D to Motor Trend 2.0.
-juice
-juice
-juice
Yates says he was fired:
http://www.onelapofamerica.com/whatsNew/index.shtml?0112
IMHO - thank goodness. Yates had become nothing but a blowhard who used his column for political rants, the shilling of his books, and the constant reminders that it was he who invented the Cannonball Run.
Anyway... I think he was fired..
I agree.. the magazine has really gone downhill, and their new look is really bad..
The guy that really bugs me is Patrick Bedard.. For an engineer, he really gets stuff backwards.. (you know.. with me being an expert, and all. :surprise: )
Six long columns at the beginning of the magazine.. never fails to put me to sleep..
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I think they've compared the Forester twice. In 1998, it won. Around 2001 or so, it took 3rd or 4th in a large group.
That's about it, though.
-juice
My question is, how normal is underneath sounds on frozen mornings, specially when you left your car on the Walmart parking lot for 1 hour, and then you go?
Could be the other extreme of that - a really cold engine suddenly warming up.
-juice
One of the sounds is the ABS self check, which is kind of a crunching/groaning noise from the rear which seems more pronounced on cold mornings. This is normal.
One of the other sensations is as the differentials lock up in slippery conditions it can make a little bit of a groaning noise, especially when turning.
why is VDC and TCS nessessary ?
Thank you.
:confuse:
Let's use round numbers as an example...
Vehicle:
Open Front and Rear Diffys
No VDC, No ABLS, No TCS, No ESP (whatver your manufacturer calls it)
Normal driving around torque is split 50% to the Front axle, 50% to the rear, 25% to each side on each axle.
Front Left wheel slipping, no VDC/ABLS/TCS etc, your split will be:
F/R Axle split 50/50
L/R on Rear Axle 25/25
L/R on Front Axle 50/0
Front Left wheel slipping, w/VDC/ABLS/TCS etc, your split will be:
F/R Axle split 50/50
L/R on Rear Axle 25/25
L/R on Front Axle 0/50
See with that VDC/TCS/ABLS you will effectively be putting 100% power to surfaces with traction as opposed to the example above that where 50% of the power was on a slipping surface.
In a case where both front or rear are slipping you will get the center diffy to move power Front or Rear opposite the slipping.
-Mike
The Subarus with VDC also fire the brakes to stop spinning wheels (ie, traction control), and this is merely one way to manage slippage. Other Subarus do it with more traditional mechanical differentials.
Subaru actually has 4-5 unique AWD systems at this point, so there is a whole lot more to it than I covered here.
Craig
more here http://www.subaru.com/allwheeldrive/ver2005/index.jsp
I can't say that SH-AWD is any better or worse than a VTD&VDC system.
-Brian
I won't even mention the other wishes... memory seats, telescoping wheel.. LOL
Thanks!
-mike
-mike
The new WRX is due for MY2008, as well as a significantly updated Tribeca, then a new Forester in MY2009. I seriously doubt they'll move the new Legacy/Outback up given they have plenty on their plates already.
-juice
A revised Tribeca sounds like a good option for me as well. I have been looking for spy shots of this but have not seen any.
Stick around, we should see them soon. NY show opens April 6.
-juice