hs2

Thank you very much for the information. Talking about the chain, when we went to Yosemite last time before we bought this Outback, it was required on HWY41 and in the park. There were several inspection points. Of course, we had chains on FWD car. So, we were fine. But, we saw a few 4WD/AWD people having tough time at the inspetion point saying their cars/trucks were not allowed to have chains mounted on the wheels per the owener's manual. We had to go. So, I don't know how they did. I am just wondering we are going to run into the same situation in the future. Yes. I like my Outback very much. It is my first car with H4 and also with AWD. I am learning about the car a lot. Thanks again.

I heard that, on Legacy Outback, the system used on AWD is different between the automatic and the manual transmission cars. The automatic version is more like FWD base with torque provided to the rear as required. The manual version is more like 4WD base with the modulation of the torque between front and rear. Is that true? I am also curious about the cons and pros about the difference. What do you think? I think the automatic version would be better on the fuel economy and the manual version would be better on the traction. (???)

I just got 1999 Legacy Outback last week. It is a great car. It did not come with the oweners manual unfortunately. Please help me on the following questions. 1. What gasoline (87, 89, or 91) should I use? 2. What oil should I use? The dealer recommended 10W-30. I live in Central CA. 3. If I need to put chain on the car, does it have to be on the front or the rear? May be I don't have to at all. But, I plan to drive on snow and ice. The car has automatic transmission. 4. I noticed some vibration on the engine at around 2000rpm (either warm or cold on the engine temp). What do you think? Thank you very much in advance.