My Two-Turbo Subaru Garage
- Thread starter martinbo
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- Martin
225 mm of outdoorsy ground clearance to be precise! It's amazing how versatile the vehicle truly is. Even when I was a stupid dolt and punctured an under-inflated tyre on a pothole, a simple change over to a full size spare, a puncture repair job thereafter and happy holidays on we go!
An incident such as this with a run-flat tyre would've ruined our trip.
As for synergies between this and a RAV-4? It's potentially there, though I do think that both models are well established enough to continue with their distinctly different underpinnings and character that comes with them... In contrast to the coupe which creates a niche model for both makers, the Forester and RAV-4 are too different underneath to make platform sharing viable, I reckon.
An incident such as this with a run-flat tyre would've ruined our trip.
As for synergies between this and a RAV-4? It's potentially there, though I do think that both models are well established enough to continue with their distinctly different underpinnings and character that comes with them... In contrast to the coupe which creates a niche model for both makers, the Forester and RAV-4 are too different underneath to make platform sharing viable, I reckon.
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No prob Steve - it's not off-topic at all...
Pros:
- Performance; seriously, I can't think of another SUV in the Forester's price range that combines acceleration and long-distance cruising ability with such multi-road versatility.
- Cabin space
- Fuel economy; driven responsibly the Forester returns satisfactory economy figures circa 10.8L/100km (don't know what that is in MPG)
- Ride quality; class leading in my experience
- Std kit; Xenons, cruise, multi-function steering, self levelling rear suspension, hill-holder (we have a stick shift), climate etc...
- Refinement; much more refined at freeway speeds than the previous model
- Reliability
Cons:
- Tactile quality of interior; no soft-touch plastics anywhere.
- Fuel economy; use the loud pedal - pay at the pumps. It's a common situation with a turbo'd car.
- Body roll; there's more body roll compared with the previous car.
Pros:
- Performance; seriously, I can't think of another SUV in the Forester's price range that combines acceleration and long-distance cruising ability with such multi-road versatility.
- Cabin space
- Fuel economy; driven responsibly the Forester returns satisfactory economy figures circa 10.8L/100km (don't know what that is in MPG)
- Ride quality; class leading in my experience
- Std kit; Xenons, cruise, multi-function steering, self levelling rear suspension, hill-holder (we have a stick shift), climate etc...
- Refinement; much more refined at freeway speeds than the previous model
- Reliability
Cons:
- Tactile quality of interior; no soft-touch plastics anywhere.
- Fuel economy; use the loud pedal - pay at the pumps. It's a common situation with a turbo'd car.
- Body roll; there's more body roll compared with the previous car.
Makini
Tarmac Traveler
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- Makini
I don't know about this 'hard plastics' talk. What do soft plastics do for you exactly? The Passat TDi & Jetta TDi before that had soft -feel dash plastics that I only ever encountered when wiping the dash down after my wife would fake dust initiated asthma attacks... Maybe it is because of the increased levels of time we spend in traffic today that we begin to poke around our cabins to pass time?
Incidentally, your dab of oppo made me remember a funny incident some years back. One rainy night, my wife was ahead of me in a rounabout driving her Beetle to her Moms. I was behind her in my WRX hatch when I decided to whoosh past her & rocket off into the night. Er... it didn't quite work out that way. It was a poorly constructed Roundabout that has a bad camber. Couple that with the slick road and the minute I got alongside her car and the throttle pedal touched the floor, Rex piroutted right round the beetle! My dab of oppo came a little too late and suddenly I was staring right at my wife's car bearing down on me! I remember she had a very puzzled look on her face... luckily she stopped right before smashing into me. That would have been a pretty interesting explaination to the insurance guys...
Martinbo, can you post some more grimy pics of the XT? My Rex is painted Volkswagen Campanella white...
Incidentally, your dab of oppo made me remember a funny incident some years back. One rainy night, my wife was ahead of me in a rounabout driving her Beetle to her Moms. I was behind her in my WRX hatch when I decided to whoosh past her & rocket off into the night. Er... it didn't quite work out that way. It was a poorly constructed Roundabout that has a bad camber. Couple that with the slick road and the minute I got alongside her car and the throttle pedal touched the floor, Rex piroutted right round the beetle! My dab of oppo came a little too late and suddenly I was staring right at my wife's car bearing down on me! I remember she had a very puzzled look on her face... luckily she stopped right before smashing into me. That would have been a pretty interesting explaination to the insurance guys...
Martinbo, can you post some more grimy pics of the XT? My Rex is painted Volkswagen Campanella white...
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- Martin
-- Update --
So, it's been a fairly in-depth period of familiarisation with my psuedo-Rex. The car has been driven gently, spiritedly and then downright - ahem - "enthusiastically". True to form such, shall we say, exuberant motoring quickly saw fuel consumption hit the 13.2 L/100km mark - for just 80 km's worth of heavy-footedness. Yikes. Some things never change...
It appears that I have misunderstood or been mislead as to the car's VDC stability program functionality. I was under the impression that, as it's a WRX, the VDC could be disabled entirely, unlike that on the Forester which leaves the stability program active in the event of severe yaw (oversteer). Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the WRX's VDC functions in exactly the same way as the Forester's. The VDC off button merely disables the traction control portion of the program, enabling wheel spin to get the vehicle out of bogged-in conditions like snow or soft sand. This means that whilst the regular, on throttle, handling characteristics associated with a WRX are accessible, any lift-off oversteer or handbrake pull is quickly and tersely quelled with no drama; without the faintest concession being made in the name of driver fun for that matter.
So, after one of the Highveld's finest thunderstorms, I decided to go and explore the WRX's wet-handling traits. Understeer. Nothing more, nothing less. In order to gain a more honest perspective of this car's chassis behaviour, you have to pull the ABS / VDC / Hill-holder fuse. Not cool as this will then log an entry in the diagnostics memory and will necessitate a three start reset in order to extinguish the various warning lights on the instrument cluster.
Nevertheless, in the interests of scientific evaluation, said systems disabled, I went off to explore the car's handling traits beyond 10/10ths. Tail breakaway in the wet can only be induced with the handbrake - it will understeer first in the wet on an even cambered corner. Very typically Subaru. In order to get the car to oversteer - you either need a lot of road surface, with variable off-camber (like on a race track) or you have to tug on the handbrake to get the rear to break. When the break does come, the yaw is rather benevolent and not so much of a snap-oversteer that I was expecting.
In any event, the sophistication (and lack thereof - in terms of not being switchable to the extent of say BMW's DTC) of these added systems further distances psuedo-Rex from its bare-bones but faster, rawer previous generation.
So, it's been a fairly in-depth period of familiarisation with my psuedo-Rex. The car has been driven gently, spiritedly and then downright - ahem - "enthusiastically". True to form such, shall we say, exuberant motoring quickly saw fuel consumption hit the 13.2 L/100km mark - for just 80 km's worth of heavy-footedness. Yikes. Some things never change...
It appears that I have misunderstood or been mislead as to the car's VDC stability program functionality. I was under the impression that, as it's a WRX, the VDC could be disabled entirely, unlike that on the Forester which leaves the stability program active in the event of severe yaw (oversteer). Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the WRX's VDC functions in exactly the same way as the Forester's. The VDC off button merely disables the traction control portion of the program, enabling wheel spin to get the vehicle out of bogged-in conditions like snow or soft sand. This means that whilst the regular, on throttle, handling characteristics associated with a WRX are accessible, any lift-off oversteer or handbrake pull is quickly and tersely quelled with no drama; without the faintest concession being made in the name of driver fun for that matter.
So, after one of the Highveld's finest thunderstorms, I decided to go and explore the WRX's wet-handling traits. Understeer. Nothing more, nothing less. In order to gain a more honest perspective of this car's chassis behaviour, you have to pull the ABS / VDC / Hill-holder fuse. Not cool as this will then log an entry in the diagnostics memory and will necessitate a three start reset in order to extinguish the various warning lights on the instrument cluster.
Nevertheless, in the interests of scientific evaluation, said systems disabled, I went off to explore the car's handling traits beyond 10/10ths. Tail breakaway in the wet can only be induced with the handbrake - it will understeer first in the wet on an even cambered corner. Very typically Subaru. In order to get the car to oversteer - you either need a lot of road surface, with variable off-camber (like on a race track) or you have to tug on the handbrake to get the rear to break. When the break does come, the yaw is rather benevolent and not so much of a snap-oversteer that I was expecting.
In any event, the sophistication (and lack thereof - in terms of not being switchable to the extent of say BMW's DTC) of these added systems further distances psuedo-Rex from its bare-bones but faster, rawer previous generation.
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- Martin
A Forester in a Forest...
Two more recent pics of our XT:
Following a heatwave in the Lowveld where temperatures rose to 37 degrees Celcius during the festive season, the day pictured was a welcome respite from the heat. Cool, misty and drizzly at times, the weather made for a fine setting for a Forester in its natural environment.
This 3rd generation XT is fabulous - a real improvement overall compared with its predecessor - and it proved once more to be a lovely holiday vehicle. Comfortable, fast, nice to drive, rugged and practical, the Forester XT is our ideal getaway vehicle. It's even decent enough in the urban commute as a family car.
The previous car was more of a hoot to drive but this car is leagues ahead in owner satisfaction. It's also far, far easier on its Yokohama Geolandar G90s than the previous car was its G900s and we're seeing double the tyre life-span on this new car. What a great all-rounder...
As for psuedo-Rex... some very minor cosmetic changes are planned to make the car look sportier and less chintzy. I am not considering any mods, power-wise or acoustic (i.e. sports exhaust for that familiar boxer rumble) at this moment.
Two more recent pics of our XT:
Following a heatwave in the Lowveld where temperatures rose to 37 degrees Celcius during the festive season, the day pictured was a welcome respite from the heat. Cool, misty and drizzly at times, the weather made for a fine setting for a Forester in its natural environment.
This 3rd generation XT is fabulous - a real improvement overall compared with its predecessor - and it proved once more to be a lovely holiday vehicle. Comfortable, fast, nice to drive, rugged and practical, the Forester XT is our ideal getaway vehicle. It's even decent enough in the urban commute as a family car.
The previous car was more of a hoot to drive but this car is leagues ahead in owner satisfaction. It's also far, far easier on its Yokohama Geolandar G90s than the previous car was its G900s and we're seeing double the tyre life-span on this new car. What a great all-rounder...
As for psuedo-Rex... some very minor cosmetic changes are planned to make the car look sportier and less chintzy. I am not considering any mods, power-wise or acoustic (i.e. sports exhaust for that familiar boxer rumble) at this moment.
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- 19,898
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- Martin
Thanks ree, I must also say that I agree with you on the XC70 and I like the stylish XC60 even more. Pity about the price of the XC60 in SA as it's quite comparable with the Forester in terms of practicality and versatility - one of Volvo's best efforts to date and yet it's almost overlooked most of the time.
A very tidy, stylish lifestyle vehicle. Good range of engines too...
A very tidy, stylish lifestyle vehicle. Good range of engines too...
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- Giannis
I left the wife's Panda for a service, and got a loaner MiTo (1.4 Multiair, what an engine). So since I more or less I dedicated my morning to the fantastic world of the automobil, I went (with the fantastic MiTo) to the familiar local Daihatsu/ Subaru dealership, to see what this Subaru Forester is all about.
Thank God, I was the only one to bother them the whole morning, so one salesman had the time and patient to come with me for a test drive.
Before this, I thoroughly inspected the exhibited Forester, a 2.5 one with a nice leather interior. To be honest, it failed to impress me, just like the new E interior, but that's another story. The Forester's interior is well built, but could use some soft touch plastics and a bit better buttons/dials to feel more luxury for its price. Other than that it's a nice place to be.
For test drive there was the 2.0 motor that's more down to earth taxes-wise. So we took it for a spin. On the tarmac it is very comfortable and not as boaty as I expected. I'd like it to be more nervous, but it's an SUV after all. This salesguy was brilliant. He also allowed me to take it a bit off-road.
Martin, that time I understood the Forester perfectly, because to be honest, up until this morning, I couldn't see the whole purpose of it. Off road, for mild off-road use, it's fantastic. The 4WD system works perfectly with the multi-purpose tires it had on. It's the perfect combination of everyday practicality and off-road fun. I guess the 2.5 motor should be more lively and fun, but the 2.0 does the job fine.
My dear friend Martin, you have a hell of a car! It couldn't have been any better.
Next year that I'll take the Panda again for service, I'll test drive the Impreza
Thank God, I was the only one to bother them the whole morning, so one salesman had the time and patient to come with me for a test drive.
Before this, I thoroughly inspected the exhibited Forester, a 2.5 one with a nice leather interior. To be honest, it failed to impress me, just like the new E interior, but that's another story. The Forester's interior is well built, but could use some soft touch plastics and a bit better buttons/dials to feel more luxury for its price. Other than that it's a nice place to be.
For test drive there was the 2.0 motor that's more down to earth taxes-wise. So we took it for a spin. On the tarmac it is very comfortable and not as boaty as I expected. I'd like it to be more nervous, but it's an SUV after all. This salesguy was brilliant. He also allowed me to take it a bit off-road.
Martin, that time I understood the Forester perfectly, because to be honest, up until this morning, I couldn't see the whole purpose of it. Off road, for mild off-road use, it's fantastic. The 4WD system works perfectly with the multi-purpose tires it had on. It's the perfect combination of everyday practicality and off-road fun. I guess the 2.5 motor should be more lively and fun, but the 2.0 does the job fine.
My dear friend Martin, you have a hell of a car! It couldn't have been any better.
Next year that I'll take the Panda again for service, I'll test drive the Impreza
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