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Comments
The Volvo XC I test drove had to be tapped at 4000rpm to shift at 6000rpm, and if you just stayed on the gas it would shift at redline anyway - so what's the point?
Even the Lexus IS300 will not let you select first gear - only 1st/2nd, and then the others. That stinks. I liked it otherwise.
BMW has the best one I've tried - controls on the wheels and it actually listens to what you tell it to do. How refreshing!
-juice
Forester turbo? Heck yes. Next summer we're going to the Dominican Republic for a wedding. I'm planning on staying a week and renting exactly that vehicle!
And don't get me wrong - I'm all for the Rally marketing, and the engines that come with it. We just can't assume that it would improve sales automatically.
-juice
They also called it "downright expensive", so I guess at least they aren't just complaining about the VDC's prices.
-juice
aakerson: I am with you wholeheartedly. I deal a lot with brand positioning in my job (though I'm not in marketing, I find myself fighting battles with them constantly) and I think Subaru has done it really well. As for racing heritage, it doesn't have to be the whole tomato. Toyota, Mitsubishi and Honda have used it in limited amounts; VW now shows ads featuring the New Beetle in SCCA rally trim. I don't even want to begin plumbing the depths of how the US automakers exploit NASCAR success; the "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" credo still rings true in some parts of the US. Come on, why else would anybody want to buy a Chevy Monte Carlo? At least Subaru's race cars are much closer mechanically and cosmetically to their street brethren than NASCAR vehicles ever will be again.
Turbo Forester? I'd love to have the option, but I wonder how low-end torque is vs. the 2.5 SOHC in mine. Non-US owners care to comment?
Ed
Last night, unfortunately, the Peugots beat the Subabus and everything else. I wonder how commemrcially feasible rallying is, given that it would seem to me to be hard to sell tickets to, and it appears to be every bit as dangerous for the too-close spectators as it is for the participants.
Conversely, on TV, rally racing form presents itself as well as any oval or F1 type stuff. Given our discussions about the feasibility of Subaru adding a performance dimension to its overall brand image, more televising of those rallies could only help. Anyone know how interested ESPN, Fox Sports and some of the other big guys in broadcast have been in this? Also, does anyone know whether and to what extent -- and to what result -- this kind of rallying has been attempted in the US? (I'm sure Nader and Claybrook would freak at the thought.)
Does anyone know anything about the clearance, or am I worrying over nothing? Juice, don't fail me now.
Caroline
F1 paddle shifters can theoretically change 10,000 times within 1 second! And those cars costs 500,000 sterling pounds each! So let's not compare our 25k cars to those machines.
Even Audi's tiptronics sux! Unless you're willing to plunk in upwards of 100k for a car you are better off with the good 'ol clutch and gear shift.
Loved your Monte Carlo humor. The car also has nothing to do with the place with which it shares a name.
Turbos would be for street performance, not for towing and such. Most Forester owners don't tow at all, though, nor do they haul very heavy loads, so the turbo would work.
FWIW, I think hp figures hover around 168hp (euro specs) while torque is way up, above 200lb-ft and at low rpms.
Alan: forget that type of rallying in the litigation-happy US. I doubt they'll even expand coverage - it's a small niche and people just can't get enough of those rolling billboards that only turn in one direction.
Caroline: I doubt ground clearance will change from the current RS. I'd guess about 5" or so. You'll need some serious mud guards to protect from gravel chips on the paint.
The Outback Sport fills that niche, though. And the next one will have the torquey 2.5l engine and perhaps a bit more clearance than it has now. It has 6.5" stock, so I'd expect 7" or so.
-juice
Fuel gauge on Passat: and I was grumbling about fuel gauge on Forester not being linear enough! At least on my Forester the light comes when about 2.3 gallons are left, as it's supposed to do.
I also hate that short B2B warranty (24mo/24K) that VW offers. Even though drivetrain warranty is very good. In my old Escort, drivetrain actually lasted whopping 66K miles, it was everything else that was going wrong all the time.
I believe the most recent incident among the top-tier (WRC class) cars was two seasons ago-- Colin McRae hit a spectator's shin with the front right corner of his Impreza. I have a quicktime movie of the whole rally somewhere... the in car footage clearly shows that the hit spectator was standing *significantly* farther out than his more sensible peers.
-Colin
Besides, engines last forever. It's the accessories that go first. You're more likely to lost a water pump, starter, or A/C than you are a piston.
My Escort's engine gave me 107k miles trouble-free, but I lost the A/C twice in that same period.
-juice
-Colin
$250 computer controller
$450 evaporator
$ compressor
$ 25 recharge with freon
etc etc
The following year, the condenser gave out. That was a whopping $700! And they didn't even charge me for the freon!
Mine was getting to the age where everything starts to give out, and then it got totalled. Noone was hurt, so I was lucky to get a check for the full blue book value and get rid of it.
I'm sure an engine would be much more, but it rarely happens.
-juice
So here's the question (Darlene?, Patti?):
Does the factory wiring harness for the hitch make any provision for electric brakes and controller? How about an auxilary power line?
We have a mid-line Coleman popup that weighs right at about 2000lbs loaded and has electric brakes. I currently pull it (slowly uphill) with an '86 4Runner (186k miles, 116HP/140ftlbs new, 3600 lb. curb weight) all over the Colorado Rockies. When (if?) we order and get a VDC, we may pull the camper occasionally with the VDC, but would _really_ want to have the brakes working going up & down the mountains, but don't want to tear into a new vehicle like that to install a controller + wiring.
Side note: Here in Colorado, there seems to be a ~$500 premium on Subarus over what you folks out east are paying. I guess it's another location premium we have to endure to live here. The nice thing is that any town of more than 10k people has a Subaru dealer :-)
Thanks,
Theo
Even with the 4 pins the brake lights work, so it seems the signal is being sent.
Nothing like supply and demand!
-juice
Yes, I caught last nights programme as well (okay, I watched it twice and have it on tape ). In fact, I've watched every single programme since Speedvision has aired the WRC. At the end of the year after the season has ended, Speedvision usually has a WRC marathon, and they air every single episode starting from early in the morning.
Pretty incredible footage of Colin McRae's Ford Focus flying off the road at 140 mph and landing down the embankment. I was very impressed with Carlos Sainz's driving. At one point he braked a little too late, but yet was able to save it around the corner by throwing the car into a controlled spin, stepping on the gas and powering the car out with a 4 wheel drift. He did wack the rear bumper and front bumper a little; minimal damage at most.
Drew/aling
Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
P.S. You may want to catch the SCCA Pro Rally on Speedvision as well. Similar stuff, but less intense. It's held in North America though.
Doesn't look very Neon-ish to me!
-juice
And as aling notes -- when you're with the in-car camera, and the car it's in goes flying off course, it's pretty amazing.
-juice
Soon2b - The CEO(?) of Prodrive, the company that builds Subaru's rally car, now owns most of the rights to the WRC coverage. He plans to get it on par with F1 coverage. THAT will be great.
Dennis
Dennis
I'm going to the UK next month on vacation - er, holiday. Can anyone tell me if Prodrive or Scoobysport is amenable to guests? I'll be there Nov 7 - 15 so too early for Rally of Great Britain (bummer).
-Colin
http://www.subaru.com.au/frame.asp
Check this out for Aussie Impreza and H-6 info:
http://www.autoweb.com.au/page/M_subnews/autonews/index.html
Bob
Gus
PS As of this morning AET the aussie dollar was trading at 51.14 US cents (an all time low) throw in increasing oil prices & I'm glad I bought my forester when I did (July this year). Mine is the aussie limited model + moonroof & side airbags + cd + alarm + roof racks + cd holder. On today's values it came in at under US$18000.
Impreza "L"- "L" as in "Lost." gone for 2002, and with it a great platform for wagon fans to build on without stepping up to the boy racer doodads of the OBS.
Impreza 2.5RS- coupe and sedan. Price the same?
Impreza OBS- wagon, now with 2.5 SOHC. Do we get 4 wheel discs now? Price?
Impreza WRX- wagon, sedan, no coupe. We still don't know final HP or price, right? Somewhere between 220 and 254 HP, priced somewhere between $26K and $30K? (doh! prolly can't swing THAT!)
if anyone has more info, I 'd love to hear it. I can't decide if we should wait for the 2002 (OBS, I suppose, since there is no L wagon and we can't afford the turbo) or grab a '01 at closeout prices (L wagon or OBS, but no rear discs).
see, the problem is this:
It is almost time to dump Kirsten's explorer. I bought a '99 OB but got into this whole performance driving thing AFTER I got an OB. Now my wife, being the cool babe that she is, takes a look at SubieGal's (www.subiegal.com) page and says, "we need to think less about getting ME a car and more about finding US a car for fun like that!" Woo Hoo!
Alright, fine, but we already have one car payment, and we do need another wagon; we can't go nuts on spending here. SO HERE IS MY DILEMMA:
Impreza "L" and OBS wagons are going to get cheap in a hurry come the new year. I could grab one of these '01's on closeout for cheap, and have 2-3K for suspension and brake upgrades. There is a lot of stuff available for current Imprezas right now. (Down side: 2.2l engine, rear drums)
OR
Wait for the new one to come out, bite the bullet on a 2.5 powered OBS, and upgrade a little at a time as I am able, which might not be much. (down side: no $ for wheels or exhaust, don't know if current aftermarket suspension mods will fit)
Sadly, I don't think we are going to have 26 large to put down on the WRX.
*sigh* Can't figure it out. Gotta wait until January or Feb. anyway.
Here's the "delimma" I'm hoping for in a couple of years. Do I get the WRX sedan or wagon? Maybe I'll need the bigger Legacy GT Turbo. Then again I like to off-road so maybe I should get the ST-X. :-)
Dennis
WRX will have 190-240hp depending on how de-tuned they decide to bring here.
The rest of the impreza line-up we'll know when they hit the lots.
Don't expect the 2002s to hit the lots in volume til late next summer.
-mike
mike-
are you sure about that? Everything I have read has stated the '01 model year will be very short, that the new '02 Impreza debuts in January, for sale in Feb. or March.
Gus: too bad we can't us US dollars to buy aussie Soobs and bring them back! That's cheap!
ramon: you've definitely got us on the appropriate weather. Racing in the snow sounds fun - I just hope the turns are marked with cones!
That's right, no more coupes. The wagon should cost $400 more than the sedan, at least that's the difference now from L sedan to L wagon.
I've heard power ratings from 215hp to 254hp, and prices as low as $25k retail, but don't expect discounts unless they build a bunch of them.
You can probably replace the rear brakes with discs. Bob's early model has them, so they're in the parts catalog, which means Darlene could find 'em for ya. Better yet, move the front discs back and install STi discs and 4 pot calipers up front. Anyone know how hard that would be to do?
Slamming a 2.2l L wagon could be a heck of a fun project. If you're going to get new rims, brakes, suspension, and all that, why waste the upgraded RS componenets?
Though the new structure should be tighter, and that makes a better base to build on. Either way has its pros and cons.
I'd wait and drive the new platform. If it feels tight and light, go for that. If it feels heavy and less nimble, grab one of the last L wagons and mod your heart out.
-juice
Aack. gotta wait 'till the new ones come out. Paisan thinks that is still almost a year away, but I was under the impression it was late winter/early spring.
He's also got pixs of the new WRX racer.
Bob
http://www.new-impreza.com/
Hey - no local dealers on that list yet. Guess there are too many yuppies in the DC area, so they know they can get away with price gouging.
-juice
Hopefully we will see them listed in the not to
distant future.
Bob
When I spoke to an SOA rep @ a car show, he said that the WRX would be touring during the 2001 car shows and sales would start in mid-late summer 2001. Just like the H6 was supposed to be here this summer, but it won't be here til Nov...
They want to get max car-show value out of the WRX.
-mike
Hope they go for sale sooner, though.
-juice
Thought that was common knowledge???
-Colin
-juice
Ed
Was in my dealer this am for service, and checked out the new 01 OB. Spoke to the Manager who indicated that two 6cyl versions are coming, the base OB and the Ltd, going for CDN$39,000 and $44,000 respectively. Ouch!! Seems like alot of bucks!
That'll put some pressure to discount the VDC a bit. Still, it matches the LLBean model more closely. There is no traction or stability control, not even optional.
Edmunds now has the options break down. 17"x6.5" rims are very narrow. 235/65TR17 tires are a disappointment. The spare is a donut and the wood is fake.
-juice
The ones I've seen were $38K - $42K, out the door. The dealers are packing them with dealer-installed options. If you can find a "base" MDX, you'll be lucky indeed.
Once the initial rush of MDXs is over, and we see more reasonably equipped models, it will indeed make H-6 VDC customers think twice.
Bob