THis is great if you have a 2001 and younger Subie, but what about the older cars? Last year they were running a similar program that was for 02 - 03 owners.
They have it on the 2.5l turbos and no the H6, but not on the WRX 2.0l turbo and not on the base 2.5l normally aspirated engine.
Rumor has it the WRX may go to 2.5T, and if so, the only engine they'd need to add it to would be the base 2.5l. I think they even have it in Japan already, so get to it Subaru!
I wonder if Subaru is going to offer the H6 in a Forester. A NA 2.5 with AVCS seems like the logical choice, but if I'm not mistaken, the JDM NA 2.5 AVCS doesn't make a whole lot more peak HP/Torque than the non-AVCS models.
Of course an AVCS model would have a broader torque band, but I'm not sure how the "average" consumer would immediately understand that benefit versus a simple peak-HP comparsion.
What if Subaru used the older EZ30 engine from the previous generation OB?
Published in Ward's Communications Online - Indexed on Jan 24, 2005 Similar pages
Relevance:
DETROIT - Subaru of America Inc. predicts its U.S. sales will top 200,000 units this year, up from the 187,402 units the auto maker delivered in 2004, a top company executive says. "That is going to be a big breakthrough for us," Fred Adcock, Subaru executive vice president, says here at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. It also would mark a significant jump vs. the small 0.3% increase Subaru recorded in 2004 vs. 2003 results. The auto maker hopes to sell 250,000 vehicles in the U.S. by 2007.
Perhaps the Tribeca will do better in TX than other Subies?
Follow my thinking for a second...
When I visited TX it seemed like every vehicle was huge, Suburbans being the norm. So a Tribeca would fit in a little better than any of the smaller Subies.
Perhaps that is the thinking behind it? Grow sales in the state where everything seems extra large?
juice - I agree. Subaru is trying to grow in new areas. Texas is a big market and has many large urban areas that the Tribeca should do well in - especially with growth and influence from outside the state ie techies moving from CA, WA, New England.
10.2s to 60 is actually reasonable, it's just that there are horsepower wars going on nowadays and so you have several other Subies in the 5s range (Forester XT, Legacy GT, WRX) and one in the 4s (STi).
But I have a brazilian magazine called Quattro Rodas and all the cars in there take anywhere from 11 to 15 seconds to reach 100kph (about 62mph). So the Outback would fall among the quickest there.
Any how, I think C&D took an automatic OB XT to 60 in 7.1 seconds, definitely quicker than the H6 models. Their Legacy GT took 5.7, though, with a manual, so that's the ticket if you want a powerful punch.
Forester XT took 5.3 if you're willing to buy a new clutch every 6 months, but that's quicker than their Ferrari Enzo all the way up to 30mph, and quicker than a Porsche Cayenne turbo all the way up to 50!
So for a budget buy among rockets get the Forester XT.
A few posts have been removed. If yours is one that was swept away and you have questions, although I'm pretty sure those involved know why, send me an email.
I have seen 7.1sec and 6.9sec 0-60 times published for the OB XT 5EAT. However, it feels faster than that. A 5MT WRX has 0-60 times in the 5.5-5.9 sec range and I have to say that the 5EAT OB XT actually feels faster than my 5MT WRX did in every day driving. If you line them up at a drag strip and wring the WRX out it would be faster, but for everyday city driving, the OB XT owns the WRX. A lot of grunt off the line where the WRX motor is weak. After driving the 2.0 turbo, I have to say that the 2.5 turbo is a real beast.
10.2s to 60 is actually reasonable, it's just that there are horsepower wars going on nowadays and so you have several other Subies in the 5s range (Forester XT, Legacy GT, WRX) and one in the 4s (STi).
But I have a brazilian magazine called Quattro Rodas and all the cars in there take anywhere from 11 to 15 seconds to reach 100kph (about 62mph). So the Outback would fall among the quickest there.
But since the Outback isn't competing in that marketplace, you really can't say it's acceptable in this marketplace. It's competing here and a 10 second 0-60 isn't a stellar number - in my neck of the woods it could be consider downright dangerously slow.
Original Forester, first ever tested by C&D, took 8.8 seconds IIRC. Believe it or not the new models were slower (9.5). But they (Foresters) are lighter.
CR-V's first year was 1997. Has it been 8 years? Wow.
There is a HUGE gap, though, in performance between the 2.5 and the 2.5T. You go from average or slightly slower to .... Enzo comparisons.
I bet a lot of people here, most even, would like to see something in between, maybe something more fuel efficient that didn't also require premium.
Someone at nabisco has scanned in a Subaru Japan brochure showing what purports to be a 2006 Forester L.L. Bean Edition. It shows a facelifted front, change in the taillamps and removal of the large "SUBARU" lettering from the liftgate, replaced by the Pleiades badge as seen on the current Legacy. Unfortunately I couldn't read the text save for a large print English tagline: "Hug the World."
Oh yeah - the new nose, while not a Zapatinas snout, does portend a transition to same. The single grille protrudes from the plane of the headlamps in snout fashion.
It's a transitional design update, and a good one too. It appears to be much cleaner in the details than the current one.
So we have this for two model years, then the all-new Forester will debut with the new face.
Of more interest to me is what mechanical upgrades were made. Will US-spec Foresters get the 5EAT w/Sportshift? What are the engine upgrades? Any suspension upgrades? What else is new?
• Outside mirrors have turn signals in them a la premium Legacys, Outbacks and Tribeca.
• It appears that JDM models have given up the fold-down seat-mounted front center arm rests in favor of a more conventional taller console-mounted center arm rest.
In due time Colin. You can bet when the car gets completely overhauled in a couple of years the new corporate face will show up in some fashion. This is just a transitional facelift bridging the gap between the old and the new.
I think they were wise to do it this way. I was very concerned about slapping this new face on an existing platform. Rarely does that ever work. It really needs to be applied to an all-new body, in which the new face is truly integrated into the design from day one.
Which raises the question about the '06 Impreza, which reportedly does get some version of this new face. So far all the Photoshopped images show it being applied to the existing platform—none of which look good. I'm really hoping we see an all-new Impreza, and not just a facelift, the likes of what we've seen to date.
they would smooth out the very busy side profile below the beltline, but that's not the case. There are just too many awkward body creases for my taste.
I think there are plenty of people that happen to like the way the Forester looks. (or maybe it's just me? ;-) The new JDM freshening looks good, doesn't look like it gets the better lights (projector beam) that the Outback/Legacy got. Seeing just the Subaru badge on the liftgate does look strange at first.
I disbelieve it. I think that the B9 grille will be modified and softened on other models if it is adopted at all, in much the same way that the '02 Impreza's "Hi." expression was changed after only 2 model years.
Comments
this is the green legacy L wagon, automatic, right?
~c
I presume they mean up to a certain mileage.
Like I said, though, low-ball, big time.
-juice
PS 5 speed manual wagon, 2002, 27k miles I think
-juice
I searched for the word "all" and only found it as a part of bigger words, not by itself.
-juice
who buys base models these days, no wonder they offer 2,000 cash back on base forester now & 500 on XT
Hey SOA- what about us older Subaru owners?
Mark
They have it on the 2.5l turbos and no the H6, but not on the WRX 2.0l turbo and not on the base 2.5l normally aspirated engine.
Rumor has it the WRX may go to 2.5T, and if so, the only engine they'd need to add it to would be the base 2.5l. I think they even have it in Japan already, so get to it Subaru!
-juice
DaveM
the base 2.5 and the WRX's 2.0L turbo do not have AVCS yet.
~c
reading is fundamental
-juice
Of course an AVCS model would have a broader torque band, but I'm not sure how the "average" consumer would immediately understand that benefit versus a simple peak-HP comparsion.
What if Subaru used the older EZ30 engine from the previous generation OB?
Ken
Published in Ward's Communications Online - Indexed on Jan 24, 2005 Similar pages
Relevance:
DETROIT - Subaru of America Inc. predicts its U.S. sales will top 200,000 units this year, up from the 187,402 units the auto maker delivered in 2004, a top company executive says. "That is going to be a big breakthrough for us," Fred Adcock, Subaru executive vice president, says here at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. It also would mark a significant jump vs. the small 0.3% increase Subaru recorded in 2004 vs. 2003 results. The auto maker hopes to sell 250,000 vehicles in the U.S. by 2007.
First "megastore" planned for Plano, TX, followed by one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast.
Here's a link from a November article:
http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=27764&cat=Industry
Makes for an interesting, if brief, read.
Mega store in TX? Of all places? Think about potential volume.
Maybe they figure there are enough dealers in the NE and around Colorado?
-juice
in TX, FL you need one to sell more.
Yeah - when Subaru decides to build a body on frame, full size, crew cab, leather clad, V8 pick up!!
Maybe they figure there are enough dealers in the NE and around Colorado?
Or maybe they decided that 4 acres of land in New England would be way too expensive. But I bet it has more to do with New England Subaru.
Follow my thinking for a second...
When I visited TX it seemed like every vehicle was huge, Suburbans being the norm. So a Tribeca would fit in a little better than any of the smaller Subies.
Perhaps that is the thinking behind it? Grow sales in the state where everything seems extra large?
-juice
for
1. OB XT Ltd Auto
2. OB LL Bean
1. OB Base is 10.2 sec, pathetic.
2. VDC is 8.29 sec
-Dennis
The XT is faster in a noticable fashion even if using an automatic transmission. This is very evident when driving the two vehicles back-to-back.
~Colin
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/111604dnb- - - ussubaru.272e4.html
You may have to register (free) to read the article or consult BugMeNot for a temporary userid.
But I have a brazilian magazine called Quattro Rodas and all the cars in there take anywhere from 11 to 15 seconds to reach 100kph (about 62mph). So the Outback would fall among the quickest there.
Any how, I think C&D took an automatic OB XT to 60 in 7.1 seconds, definitely quicker than the H6 models. Their Legacy GT took 5.7, though, with a manual, so that's the ticket if you want a powerful punch.
Forester XT took 5.3 if you're willing to buy a new clutch every 6 months, but that's quicker than their Ferrari Enzo all the way up to 30mph, and quicker than a Porsche Cayenne turbo all the way up to 50!
So for a budget buy among rockets get the Forester XT.
-juice
for
1. OB XT Ltd Auto
2. OB LL Bean
I have seen 7.1sec and 6.9sec 0-60 times published for the OB XT 5EAT. However, it feels faster than that. A 5MT WRX has 0-60 times in the 5.5-5.9 sec range and I have to say that the 5EAT OB XT actually feels faster than my 5MT WRX did in every day driving. If you line them up at a drag strip and wring the WRX out it would be faster, but for everyday city driving, the OB XT owns the WRX. A lot of grunt off the line where the WRX motor is weak. After driving the 2.0 turbo, I have to say that the 2.5 turbo is a real beast.
Craig
But I have a brazilian magazine called Quattro Rodas and all the cars in there take anywhere from 11 to 15 seconds to reach 100kph (about 62mph). So the Outback would fall among the quickest there.
But since the Outback isn't competing in that marketplace, you really can't say it's acceptable in this marketplace. It's competing here and a 10 second 0-60 isn't a stellar number - in my neck of the woods it could be consider downright dangerously slow.
When I told him they had an H6 option he didn't even consider it.
I recall the original Honda CR-V had a 0-60 of 12.5 seconds, now that was slow. Even then I wouldn't go as far as calling it dangerous.
-juice
What is the average 0-60 time out there? I don't know. But faster is considered better - that's why they market XT's and GT's.
You always seem to infer the Forester XT is better than the Cayenne because it has a faster 0-60 time.
As for the original CRV - that was almost 10 years ago. How slow was the original Forester?
Original Forester, first ever tested by C&D, took 8.8 seconds IIRC. Believe it or not the new models were slower (9.5). But they (Foresters) are lighter.
CR-V's first year was 1997. Has it been 8 years? Wow.
There is a HUGE gap, though, in performance between the 2.5 and the 2.5T. You go from average or slightly slower to .... Enzo comparisons.
I bet a lot of people here, most even, would like to see something in between, maybe something more fuel efficient that didn't also require premium.
-juice
Legacy AWD actually beats that with 23/30.
-juice
Oh yeah - the new nose, while not a Zapatinas snout, does portend a transition to same. The single grille protrudes from the plane of the headlamps in snout fashion.
Ed
So we have this for two model years, then the all-new Forester will debut with the new face.
Of more interest to me is what mechanical upgrades were made. Will US-spec Foresters get the 5EAT w/Sportshift? What are the engine upgrades? Any suspension upgrades? What else is new?
http://images5.fotopic.net/?iid=yslf0m&outx=600&noresize=- - 1&original=1&nostamp=1
I enlarged this image in Photoshop, and as best I can tell, the JDM models still have the 4EAT. I hope the US-spec models get the 5EAT w/Sportshift.
Bob
Bob
• Outside mirrors have turn signals in them a la premium Legacys, Outbacks and Tribeca.
• It appears that JDM models have given up the fold-down seat-mounted front center arm rests in favor of a more conventional taller console-mounted center arm rest.
Bob
~c
In due time Colin. You can bet when the car gets completely overhauled in a couple of years the new corporate face will show up in some fashion. This is just a transitional facelift bridging the gap between the old and the new.
I think they were wise to do it this way. I was very concerned about slapping this new face on an existing platform. Rarely does that ever work. It really needs to be applied to an all-new body, in which the new face is truly integrated into the design from day one.
Which raises the question about the '06 Impreza, which reportedly does get some version of this new face. So far all the Photoshopped images show it being applied to the existing platform—none of which look good. I'm really hoping we see an all-new Impreza, and not just a facelift, the likes of what we've seen to date.
Bob
Bob
-Brian
~c