Ranger83

48% of all the Subarus in North America are in New England. In Massachusetts, the most popular car in 40 of 351 cities and towns is the Legacy family. But total ownership percentage is much smaller because Ford and Toyota, for example, have several popular product families. Ford is #1 overall in MA largely due to the huge number of Explorers. The Camry is the most popular car line overall. In Boston and Cambridge (combined) Subarus outnumber BMW, Mercedes, and SAAB, and nearly equal Volvo. Out of nearly 100,000 cars in Boston, there are 77 Hummers (81 if you count Cambridge). Many of those are rentals or promotional vehicles. At Legacygt.com, a recent informal poll named the Hummer as "#1 Douchebag vehicle." Cadillac Escalade/Lincoln Navigator was close behind.....

Why not go for the $250 set of Subaru wheels and Dunlop snow tires for $250 on NH craigslist? Or the set of Firestone snows mounted for $120?

What he said. If it was mid-summer, different song.....

I believe the owner's manual has words to the effect of "same manufacture or design." If I were in your shoes, I'd 1. Buy two new tires and mount them on the front. Some A/S's are 11/32nd when new (Michelins), some are 10/32nds (Potenza RE92A's). 2. Move the tires currently on the front to the back. 3. Either keep the remaining tire as a full-size spare, or sell it on craigslist or ebay. Are they TripleTreds? They're relatively expensive, but 15" tires aren't bad. The tires are the only part of your car that touches the road, so having four good ones with winter coming on is a Good Thing. At goodyeartires.com you can find the tire catalog to get the original specifications, like rolling diameter, loaded radius, and # revolutions per mile.

It was easier to find the SAE definition there - most of the SAE websites require membership. If you don't believe the definition is as quoted please supply an alternative. Here's a picture of the underside of my car. The lower rear suspension arms seem to be the lowest point. The exhaust system is the lowest hanging part for most of the length of the car. Most of the car has 10" of ground clearance. Here's another picture showing over 8" on a ruler, measured to the low point of the rear suspension arm. The car had a full tank of gas less two gallons; I had about 100 lbs of gear in the trunk; and the tires have 10/32nd tread depth and are inflated to 38 psi.

There are two definitions of roll center. One is as you describe. But to quote Wikipedia as one source: The "geometric" role center is only useful until a load is applied, since as a practical matter the center of mass of passenger cars is always above the geometric roll center (until they roll over, anyway). That's why SAE defines it as:

Apparently it is both different struts/springs, and subframe spacers. But SOA makes the point that the roll center of the new models is lower than the previous generation, partly because of the aluminum hood and rear hatch.

I've found edmunds.com to have the best general pricing info and forum.

I'd add a caveat - some of these Regular grade fuels with the ethanol additive seem to have lower octane than rated. Lately several friends have taken to buying mid-grade 89 because of detonation in several different cars.

There's no replacement for Displacement!

Unsurprisingly, people who bought an H6 like the H6 better and people who bought the turbo 4 like it better. It might be more helpful to identify your driving patterns and why the XT was a better fit for you.

I have an 06 3.0R and considered getting an XT. For the 3.0 Premium fuel is "Recommended." For the XT it's "Required." You'll find a thread here on 3.0R fuel - I often use Regular. I had my car dyno'd and the XT puts down 10-15% more whp than the H6. Subaru seems to significantly under-rate their turbo motors. So the XT is significantly faster and you can get a manual shift version. For a variety of reasons the H6 seems to get 10-20% better mileage than the XT. This is hard to get a fix on as XT mpg is all over the map on places like legacygt. The SI drive on the 07's may help. The H6 is very smooth, quiet, tractable, and revs quickly. It is also heavier and more expensive. I'd suspect the LLBean has somewhat better resale value down the road. I drive long distances on the highway and wanted an auto because of a lot of driving in heavy traffic as well. If you want to sprint around or get a manual, the XT's your bet. Price is only $500 difference MSRP and other equipment is about the same.

No. New Subaru ECU's have some sort of non-volatile memory so they can't be reset without plugging it in. That's why I drive at least two thousand miles on each grade. That usually takes about a month. In the next couple of weeks I'm taking it back to the dyno for a run on Premium, and without any air cleaner.

I've only seen tests of the W404. They performed poorly. But any "snowflake" snow tire is better than worn A/s's.

What fuel was the guy who blew up an H6 using? What year? How many miles? I searched long and hard for evidence of any problems with H6's - including searching this board. Why is this the first time I've heard of an H6 that "blew up?" Did you ever post this in an earlier thread? Premium fuel is Recommended by SOA - not Required (for turbo 2.5's, it's Required). And, it makes absolutely no difference in how the H6 engine runs. I have been switching back and forth between premium and regular every several thousand miles after 1,000 miles of break-in. We log all fuel use and there is no difference in fuel economy and no perceived difference in performance. "Aha," you might say, "But maybe the engine management system is retarding the spark with the lower octane fuel and thus masking any performance difference." That's possible. So, I brought my car to an AWD dyno facility and had them run it at full power - on regular. Then, we checked the engine logs. The spark timing was in the normal range and there was no sign of any detonation: regular has enough octane to drive the car at full throttle without problems. "Aha," you might then say, "But SOA says you have to use Premium." Nope: [emphasis added] So why would SOA recommend Premium? Possibly to get a higher hp rating. But we'll find that out as well - with another dyno run using high octane.

I'd think NAISOC is the place to look for tips. Physical laws are very strict. If you rev up an AWD car and then drop the clutch enough times, something is going to break. Clutch and transmission problems are common amongst exuberant drivers, and almost unheard of otherwise. So choose the owner you are buying from very carefully.....

I've been informed via PM that he uses "Kumho Ecsta spt" That's a puzzling choice, since it is not available in the P185/70R14 size of a 1996 Legacy Brighton. Nor is it available in any stock Outback size..... Another internet mystery......

If you use Fix-A-flat inform the folks putting in the patch. Older versions of this product were flammable, toxic if ingested, and could cause eye irritation. Most shops charge extra for a repair if they see the goo in there. And if you have an 06 Subaru with TPMS, do not use the goo as it will clog the $76 sensor.....

If you want a full-szed spare, Subaru has left room for one, while shipping their cars with a donut like virtually every other car manufacturer. You sure sound unhappy! Doesn't sound like you're long for being a Subaru owner. BTW, the newer Subarus with the VTD AWD system don't need any AWD fuse (nor do manuals). I had a full-sized spare on my 97: bought an alloy rim for $40 and used one of my take-offs. As Messr LeeLau seems sceptical, behold an OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE92A 225/55r17 tire in the spare well of my Outback. The ruler is to show where the panel rests, proving there is sufficent room for the rim as well.

Scranton PA gets half or one third the seasonal snowfall of northern NH (depending where he is) and is not mountainous, so he's facing a different scale of problem than you. The Blizzak LM25 did about as well as the Nokian WR on the ADAC test (http://www.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/195_65_R15_T_10_2005/default.asp?ComponentID=127017&SourcePageID=8979#) on snow and ice, and a little better in dry conditions, so it is aging gracefully.

I may try them on one of our minivans as the HydroEdge is not available in the right size. Owners seem to be very happy with them, and they seemed to test well at tirerack as well. If he's in Dallas I'd certainly favor tires that can take the heat and have good rain performance and not sweat the ice/snow too much.

Along with everyone in Vermont.... I claim no special expertise but almost any OB driver in Northern New England has done plenty of dirt road driving. My sister-in-law in VT lives at least 3/4 mi up dirt roads in one direction, 4 in another. She just bought her 4th Subaru. I think the rear LSD is more important than VDC for the use you describe. But VDC will allow you to travel those roads at higher speeds. I don't have it on my 06 3.0R - I have the VDT system, to which VDC is an electronic add-on. Most of the 5EAT 07's have VDC.

8 posts in the last two days - still no word.....