Subaru Crew - Future Models II

ateixeira · July 2012

I'd pick the regular enclosed van.

That is unique, though. Look how short the bed is. You can carry cargo inside and outside.

Just got back from Brazil and 3 of the top 14 selling vehicles are sub-compact pickups. They are 2 seaters, basically, based on regular FWD cars about the size of a Fiesta (B segment). 500 kg payload, so 1100 lbs. Not bad.

Keep in mind they are CHEAP! You could buy three (!) VW Saveiros for less than 1/3rd the cost of a VW Amarok mid-size pickup.

robr2 · July 2012

Keep in mind they are CHEAP!

...and that's why they sell.

KCRam · July 2012

The Fiat Strada sold there may potentially come to North America as a compact Ram pickup (Dakota replacement).

kcram - Pickups/Wagons/Vans+Minivans Host

rsholland · July 2012

Not so sure this could fill the Dakota's shoes, but I'd still like to see it here. Seeing new ideas (like this) is always good.

Hope they bring it overor build it here to avoid the Chicken Tax.

Bob

ateixeira · July 2012

If NAFTA and Mercosul merge in some way, maybe.

Brazil is getting a lot of vehicles made in Mexico now, so who knows?

The Chevy Montana is similar, but it has a neat step just in front of the rear wheel arch. It's a neat design feature I'm sure Bob would appreciate.

That Fiat in the photo is the double cab, believe it or not. There is a smaller extended cab, and a tinier regular cab. 3 cab sizes! Wild...

rsholland · September 2012

The poster is from the Netherlands.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=38013317&postcount=1

Bob

ateixeira · September 2012

Would be nice to see a more fuel efficient XT model here, just tune it to run on regular (output is far less than the peak of some JDM models, so that should be possible).

xwesx · September 2012

Diesel, diesel, diesel.... :shades:

ateixeira · September 2012

Both!

dcm61 · September 2012

So you want a diesel XT that runs on regular gas? :P

ateixeira · September 2012

And a panoramic roof and 7, no make that 8, seats. Under 3000 lbs with 40mpg for about $20k or so with Navi/backup cam standard.

Not that I'm asking for too much....

samiam_68 · September 2012

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/25/fresh-faced-2014-subaru-forester-revealed-in-- jdm-brochure-scans/

ateixeira · September 2012

Glad to see they didn't go too crazy and mess with a successful formula. Very evolutionary, which is good.

Top half looks like an Outback and the bottom half like an Impreza. Strong family resemblance.

Mostly they had to not mess it up and looks like they succeeded.

xwesx · September 2012

Mostly they had to not mess it up and looks like they succeeded.

Agreed. I could do without the bulbous headlights (also a trait shared with the new Impreza and current-gen L/O), but that just seems to be in vogue these days. Big rims and buggy headlights are all the rage. :sick:

If they put the Impreza interior in the thing, I'll be sad. The current-gen styling of the dash and instrument cluster is downright gorgeous compared to the blocky, bland mess in the Impreza.

ateixeira · September 2012

Let's wait to see a high res image, but the headlights don't seem as wild as the Impreza or Legacy.

Impreza's dash is soft to the touch, at least. Let's see. Usually they are very similar, with only subtle differences in colors or textures. Plus the pillars and roof of course.

xwesx · September 2012

Yeah, I guess I've never understood the touch aspect of a dash. The only time I ever touch the dash is when I'm cleaning it. :confuse:

I care more about how it looks (and functions), because I spend hundreds (if not thousands) of hours inside my cars.

ateixeira · September 2012

Me neither but there are a lot of dash strokers out there.

I just want padded elbow rests, and our 09 Forester has them, at least the outboard ones.

xwesx · September 2012

Amen, brother! The design of the door panels on the current Forester are excellent. If anything, I wouldn't mind even more padding on the elbow rests.

While the overall design of the panel in the Fiesta is not as good, I do like the padded leather elbow rests. I give those a big thumbs up.

rsholland · September 2012

And I'm one of them. A hard plastic dash looksno, make that *feels* cheap. End of story.

Bob

ateixeira · September 2012

Call me nuts but I actually cut out some rubberized foam and custom made an elbow rest on the center console of my Miata. On the door I also added a layer of foam padding. All removeable.

Hey, you spend a lot of time in the car, you don't want your elbows resting on a hard plastic surface.

xwesx · September 2012

I don't think it's nuts at all, but you have to consider the source here, too.

My first vehicle was my 1969 Ford Econoline, which has a pair of comfy captain's chairs, each with two fold-down arm rests that have a steel core surrounded by copious amounts of foam and a soft vinyl cover. After driving that vehicle (almost exclusively) for three years (1995-1997), including three trips between Oregon and Alaska, I came to highly regard my arm rests.

ateixeira · September 2012

I also modified the dead pedal and added a pad for my knees on the door where the bottle holder sticks out. :shades:

I'm thinking about actually removing the OEM arm rests and adding padding permanently, with a black fabric wrap to make it look stock.

xwesx · September 2012

Nice.

I cannot motivate myself to make those sorts of adjustments. I have too many other projects on standby that are more pressing. :sick:

dcm61 · September 2012

Send your door panels to Pat.

xwesx · September 2012

Haha; no kidding! His Katzkin (sp?) project is quite impressive (and it looks pretty darn good, too)!

rsholland · October 2012

http://carscoop.blogspot.de/2012/10/spied-2014-subaru-forester-xt-with-20l.html?- - m=1

Tires are slightly larger than outgoing model. Non-turbo models get 225/60x17 (same size as Outback), and XT models get 225/55x18 tires.

Bob

samiam_68 · October 2012

They finally got rid of the hood scoop! YAY! Headlight washers - cool!

rsholland · October 2012

Remember, these are Japanese-spec models. Ours will differ somewhat. I doubt we will see headlight washers here.

Bob

saedave · October 2012

I doubt we will see headlight washers here.

Unless we get gas discharge headlights that require them....along with self leveling to prevent blinding other drivers.

xwesx · October 2012

In other words, no washers. :P

ateixeira · October 2012

FMIC (front mounted intercooler).

rsholland · October 2012

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/31/2014-subaru-forester-revealed-ahead-of-la-deb- - ut/

saedave · November 2012

Note the asterisk on the 250 HP turbo rating: "with premium grade gasoline".

I wonder if that might also suggest the possibility of using standard grade for lower output?

ateixeira · November 2012

Yup, Bob send another link from the Canada site that even specified that. I bet it makes 240hp on regular gas, which is plenty and class competitive.

Sounds good to me!

once_for_all · November 2012

hmm...2.5 NA, and 2.0 turbo Direct Injection.

It suggests to me that there is a possibility that the Turbo can do better mpg, should one practice mild driving. I would think that the 2.0 could get better highway mpg...

ateixeira · November 2012

It may be geared taller also.

I'm leaning towards that engine, personally, even with a 2mpg or so expected penalty.

colin_l · November 2012

This is always a very bad idea. A knock sensor is a very poor replacement for premium fuel, and the results can be expensive.

ateixeira · November 2012

Ford did a durability test on an EcoBoost engine and ran it for the equivalent of 160k miles, and it fared well.

Though now that I think about it, I'm not sure what type of fuel they used.

Do we know the compression ratio on the new 2.0T? Direct Injection can be used to cool the intake charge, and allows higher compression, even sand turbos.

dcm61 · November 2012

"Sand" turbos? Is that something we saw at the Jersey shore this weekend?

OT - Long Beach Island now has ~6 blocks of beach front property. :sick:

ateixeira · November 2012

Freudian slip. Meant "sans turbos".

I visited Long Beach Island once and had a great week there with friends, stayed at a place their parents rent. Must've been right about 6 blocks from the beach so now beach front property. :sick:

xwesx · November 2012

The exterior of the car certainly doesn't burn my senses. I continue to feel it is a reasonable evolution of the previous model.

I'm curious to see how it drives compared to the current gen. If it has an "new suspension," I'm hoping it returns to the gen 2 driving characteristics, or at least closer to that! Finally, I know it is unreasonable to hope the six-speed manual is offered in the 2.0L, but that would sure be sweet.

It's a shame for an engine like that to not be offered in a performance-oriented trim.

rsholland · November 2012

No manual for the XT. The new High-Torque CVT sounds really interesting, as it has 6 or 8 manual steps (aka faux gears). The JDM Legacy 2.0 DIT, which has a higher output version of this engine (296 hp vs 250 hp in the XT), also has SI-Drive, like that found in the WRX-STI. When is S# mode, the CVT has 8 steps, and when in the other two modes has only 6 steps. Now they haven't announced anything about SI-Drive being in the XT, but it too comes with a choice of 6 or 8 shifting steps (close ratio or ultra-close ratio). That leads me to think that the XT also has SI-Drive. We'll learn more at the LA auto show later this month.

I've driven several new Subies ('13 Impreza, '13 Crosstrek and '13 Outback) with the new Gen 2 CVT, and have been quite impressed with it. When in manual mode (6 steps), the paddle shifters work great. The shifts are quick, precise and smooth. Yeah, I know having fake gears seems strange, but it does work.

Bob

colin_l · November 2012

They used premium, which the ecoboost 3.5L you are referring to requires.

rsholland · November 2012

The 3.5 F-150 EcoBoost uses regular gas. Not sure about other Fords with EcoBoost engines.

Bob

rsholland · November 2012

http://www.cars101.com

Also, the SOA site has a teaser with some additional info: 32 mpg (up 5 mpg from the current car). I'm sure that's the FB25 w/CVT. It will also have an available power rear gate.

http://www.subaru.com/auto-show/la-2012.html

Bob

xwesx · November 2012

It works, but it's not the same experience as a manual. Particularly from the perspective that you can simply elect not to shift the car, and it will do it for you at a preset RPM. In a manual, you can bounce off the rev limiter if you elect to do so.

xwesx · November 2012

Wow! If the XT comes in at 30 as suggested, that would just be astounding.

rsholland · November 2012

That could be said of any car with paddle shifters, even dual-clutch cars. The experience is not the same. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I think my next daily driver will have paddle shifters. That 3rd pedal is just not as much fun as it used to be.

Bob

css1 · November 2012

Good morning Bob, and hello to all on this forum. It has been a long time. I have been busy with family and work. I hope all of you have made it through the storm safely.

Bob, I never learned to drive with a manual trans? I would like to use the paddle shifters - can you damage the transmission if you don't shift properly with the paddles? I can't tell if I'm doing it correctly or not.

I drive an Outback now. Gas prices forced me to move out of the Tribeca.

The side profile of the new Forester looks very much like the current Tribeca.

post 583

I hope I linked this properly.

Charlie

rsholland · November 2012

Hey Charlie! Yes, it's been too long since you've been here. No, you can't use paddle shifters incorrectly. If you do, like put it in the wrong gear at a certain speed, it won't allow it. You should go test drive one. It's really very easy.

Yes, we survived Sandy. Now gearing up for a possible nor'easter this coming week. Good to see you back!

Bob

Subaru Crew - Future Models II

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