Dear Subaru People

[BurnItDwn]

I love yall and respect yall.
My ole Forester is a great lil car.
We've been all around this country, put around 105K miles on it, previous owner had 30K before me.
Today, in a few hours, I will hand the keys over to the next owner, my kid cousin.

He promised to take good care, and always change the oil and diff fluid and rotate the tires.
He promised he will take it out and drive it hard in the worst snow of the winter.
He promised he will hit the gas on every dirt and gravel road.
He promised he will love and care for it for years to come.

Im gonna miss the little blueberry, but, Im happy to have found the best possible future owner.

 

[ondma]

Just got an Impreza a few months ago. Very nice car, and great in the snow, even with the stock all season tires. Wish I had gotten the Premium model instead of the base though. Quite a few nice options, and not that much more expensive. Only negative is it could use about 25 more horsepower. It is acceptable, but the chassis is so good that more horsepower would be appreciated. Most Suburus seem to have that problem though, except the V6 Legacy and the WRX. They should put the 2.5L Forrester engine in the Impreza and a mildly tuned turbo in the Forrester and Outback.

 

[EXCellR8]

25hp might be achievable with some modification and the use of higher octane fuel. Probably not worth the effort though, just my two cents. As the owner of a 2.5L Impreza I can second the lack of power but I didn't buy it so I could go fast. I could have grabbed a WRX but that would have meant more fuel, more maintenance and more money. I believe the 2.5L EJ is still available but only in the WRX STI.

NA Subaru cars are still great and with regular/semi-regular maintenance you can make them last quite some time without too much fuss.

 

[ondma]

25hp might be achievable with some modification and the use of higher octane fuel. Probably not worth the effort though, just my two cents. As the owner of a 2.5L Impreza I can second the lack of power but I didn't buy it so I could go fast. I could have grabbed a WRX but that would have meant more fuel, more maintenance and more money. I believe the 2.5L EJ is still available but only in the WRX STI.

NA Subaru cars are still great and with regular/semi-regular maintenance you can make them last quite some time without too much fuss.

Well, that is the problem really. Suburu kind of has no middle ground. Impreza, Forrester, and Outback all are modestly powered, while the WRX/STI are balls to the wall performance machines. Especially the "Sport" models should have an upgraded engine, something that would do 0-60 in 7 to 8.5 seconds (a lot of midsize cars do this). Now I think the Impreza is criticized too much for lack of power by most reviewers, since it is in the same ballpark as a lot of other small cars/crossovers. And overall, it drives well. Acceleration from a stop and full throttle acceleration are OK, but sometimes part throttle response just feels flat, and you have to apply a lot of throttle, which sometimes then gives more revs than you want. I am getting ready to take mine on a trip through Wisconsin this weekend with 4 passengers and luggage, so we will see how it handles the hilly Wisconsin terrain fully loaded.

 

[EXCellR8]

I kick myself for never owning a Legacy 2.5 GT... there's your middle ground right there. Alas, though, that has been nearly forgotten.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yes, lots of automakers have very small selection of engine options these days ... Likely Cafe Standards are playing a very large roll in the selection.
Legacy 2.5 GT Wagons are awesome, I really would have loved to have had one of those for a period of time.

If I ever get to the point where I have a house with a big garage in a more rural area, I'll likely be shopping for a Brz for weekends if I can fit inside of it ... Or I'll track down that elusive old mint 2.5 GT Wagon

 

[EXCellR8]

Well, to me it makes more sense to stick with a proven platform that works really well and has an abundance of support, from the factory and aftermarkets.

I had the chance to buy a 2005 Legacy GT (not a wagon) before I bought my Impreza, but I backed out. Aside from a bit of rust on the brakes/suspension I think it would have been a good car but the Impreza is just so much cheaper to own. I still wonder how I would have fared with that GT but I didn't want to chance it. The owner also claimed to have replaced the turbo and without scrutinizing his work (and confirming that the old turbo did not fail) I had a gut feeling that I should just walk away.

Couldn't be happier in a 2.5L Impreza though, by far my favorite car that I've owned.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I was looking around for a potential replacement of my 95 Trooper LS. A perfect match in parity would probably be the Toyota 4Runner. The 2019 model actually exceeds the gas-mileage of the old Trooper by at least 3mpg; pre-owned for certain years only shows an edge of 1 or 2 mpg.

Since I'm already old and getting older, I thought to scale down my expectations of a midsize SUV, while looking at something with more cargo space than a BMW sports car. I looked at the RAV4, the CRV, the mini-Cooper Countryman S, and the Forester. Considering price, consumer and performance ratings and other factors, the Forester looked like the way to go.

Of course, the lack of guts leaves me still a little reticent. I know there is a bigger engine for a top-end Forester model, but I don't know if it's worth it.

And -- in the meantime -- I've totally restored my Trooper. Hardly loses a drop of oil, and some of any loss comes out the rear main seal. I added less than a half quart after 1,600 miles. I'd been watching a leak from the auto-tranny, using the Valvoline stop-leak which is something like brake-fluid mixed with mostly Dexron-III. It's been about three months, and the fluid-level hasn't fallen below "full" enough to add even a few ounces of Blue-Devil. Compression: great; smog-test results: phenomenal; 187,000 on the odometer and more than one mechanic says "good to at least 300,000". And you should see the original Bronze-Blue-Pearl and Iron Gray Metallic paint -- 24 years old! I get "comments" wherever I go. There's no more evidence of nicks, dings or the fender-bender of 12 years ago.

But we need a second auto-trans vehicle. So there may be a Forester in the garage within a couple years.

And -- for all my proud palaver -- nobody gonna get any Trooper anymore -- orphaned by Isuzu since 2002.

 

[ondma]

I was looking around for a potential replacement of my 95 Trooper LS. A perfect match in parity would probably be the Toyota 4Runner. The 2019 model actually exceeds the gas-mileage of the old Trooper by at least 3mpg; pre-owned for certain years only shows an edge of 1 or 2 mpg.

Since I'm already old and getting older, I thought to scale down my expectations of a midsize SUV, while looking at something with more cargo space than a BMW sports car. I looked at the RAV4, the CRV, the mini-Cooper Countryman S, and the Forester. Considering price, consumer and performance ratings and other factors, the Forester looked like the way to go.

Of course, the lack of guts leaves me still a little reticent. I know there is a bigger engine for a top-end Forester model, but I don't know if it's worth it.

And -- in the meantime -- I've totally restored my Trooper. Hardly loses a drop of oil, and some of any loss comes out the rear main seal. I added less than a half quart after 1,600 miles. I'd been watching a leak from the auto-tranny, using the Valvoline stop-leak which is something like brake-fluid mixed with mostly Dexron-III. It's been about three months, and the fluid-level hasn't fallen below "full" enough to add even a few ounces of Blue-Devil. Compression: great; smog-test results: phenomenal; 187,000 on the odometer and more than one mechanic says "good to at least 300,000". And you should see the original Bronze-Blue-Pearl and Iron Gray Metallic paint -- 24 years old! I get "comments" wherever I go. There's no more evidence of nicks, dings or the fender-bender of 12 years ago.

But we need a second auto-trans vehicle. So there may be a Forester in the garage within a couple years.

And -- for all my proud palaver -- nobody gonna get any Trooper anymore -- orphaned by Isuzu since 2002.

They are bringing back the turbo for the Legacy for 2020, so I hope it filters down to other models. Although I still am not certain if turbos lead to lower reliability. With computer controls and better lubricants now, they probably are OK.