reoff

A Sunday would be better for me. I work saturdays from 4am-~1pm. I'll try to get the D/R wagon ready in time... the 4wd A/T sucks for that kind of stuff.. :-\ Either way, BlueSoob and I will probably be there, and if I must... I'll trade days at work (but that can be a BIG pain as there are only two of us). Rich

Nope. There is really no way to make that work. I mean... you COULD... but it isn't worth it.

Eh? There IS no "tourque split" in your F/T D/R RX Transmission. You have two stettings for 4wd... Open Diff., which means a random, variable split (not controlled by anything more than physics)... And Locked Diff., which means fully engaged 50/50 power distribution. Rich

^ | | | But she has DESERVED many!!! (trust me on this one)

However... My soob is still mostly stock, and wouldn't do all that well when things get... interesting. Questionable clutch is also a factor. Not to mention I have to work until noon. Maybe some other time. Rich

Ummm... are you sure??? You probably have them and they just don't work. Also - I would say that they are very much the same car. But I think you would be more accurate to say that the "Loyale" is more of a DL with an extra or two. Rich

Synthetic is a VERY good idea in your turbo. Switch over at ~ 10k and change every 5K. Keep an eye on your oil level!!! With synthetic, pushing your engine hard is a little more likely to see slight oil consumption... this is not a real concern. The benefits FAR outweigh this. Rich

I'm neck deep in BioDiesel stuff. That is one of my other great passions. The "beneficial" part is mostly from the fact that Biodiesel's #1 emission is nitrogen. There are some not so great ones, but keep in mind this is strictly mother nature's kitchen. Not a refined fossil fuel. There are almost no harmful emissions from what amounts to cooking oil. Just because you can burn it in an engine doesn't mean it HAS to be bad. I'm off to bed for now, but there will be more to come. Rich

From what I've seen/heard, I'm very impressed with your car Miles. Sorry I missed you when you were out this way. I just was getting frustrated with the arguments about theory and based upon "all things being equal." Nothing personal to anyone. It's just that this thread started with a comment about a testdrive where an observation was made, then went into philosophy of transmissions and turbos. Before you know it we are down to "which is better," then "which is better in the snow." Then it just turned into a d!ck measuring contest. I have the deepest respect for all of you, but the answers to all of these questions are debatable, and really come down to the individual. There is no "right" answer. No need to get so excited about it and drag it on so long. In different ways I agree with all of you (except about the operation of the turbo part). Feel free to tell me what an @$$ you think I am, but please just send me an e-mail rather than dragging this out even further. I would rather see an open discussion here than an argument. They are rerely productive. Rich reoff(at)gmx.co.uk

Wasn't really a question. I think I'm treading on some shakey ground here, but I am very passonate about this subject. I realize many may disagree with me. I know that Subaru is trying to sell the forester as a "crossover suv" or "hybrid suv," but it simply is not one. It is built on a car platform with a car drivetrain. That may be getting more and more common these days, but are those really even SUV's? Are they not really just unattractive minivans with AWD? At least Subaru can have the dignity when all this insanity is over of saying: "all we ever built was a station wagon." Everyone needs to keep in mind that I do have a very real appreciation of the newer Subaru's... My g/f and I own an '03 Forester X 5spd. But I have an even deeper appreciation for my old GL wagons past and present. The thing that really draws me to these cars is the fact that I can go anywhere a "modern suv" can go(and more), get twice the fuel economy. I can do all this and still say that I have a car... not an expensive minivan. The Forester is not half bad offroad, although clearance is very limited. And what were they thinking when they put that plastic pan on the bottom of the engine? I saw lots of those at the Volvo shop... usually because people ripped them off on rocks/curbs and had to get a new one. But overall, the gearing is great for most things. It has double the horsepower of my old '85 GL. The extra HP pretty much makes up for the lack of a low range. Even in my '86 turbowagon (single range), I took that car places nobody should try to go in ANY car. The lack of standard off-road worthy equipment is just a way of saying that we need to get more creative with a car that could be very capable in exterme situations. That being said... let's talk about target market for a moment. Suabru knows that most of their business is in the 40 year old soccer mom area. I don't believe that a D/R in a new Subaru would help their sales here. Since the Legacy came out there just hasn't been the younger following. Simple fact, young people rarely buy a new car! We can only hope that Subaru will someday wake up and offer a non-rice option for the rest of us younger people. And YES, I am making referance to the WRX/2.5RS. As for SUV's... even the real ones are not very good offroad. I've been there many times. Everywhere from my grandpa's old '84 Grand Wagoneer to my current '96 Explorer. That thing is great on the road and in the snow, but is just too heavy for offroad. On the other hand, my F-150/250's have been impressive offroad... why do you suppose that is? Anyway, just my thoughts. (boy did I just go on and on with that one...) Rich

There is something wrong with this picture... ask yourself why your car is running cooler without the condenser... is there something wrong with your cooling system? In Oregon, you should rarely need to use the A/C. When it isn't being used, there should really be no difference. Was it clogged with dirt/leaves/bugs? Anyway... this isn't all that important anyway. I just always need to know why things are happening. xforxlifex - Good luck with the removal, although I doubt you'll need it. Rich

This is true. No Subaru diesels, at least automotive, and probably otherwise too. I however will bite on the Diesel being a bad thing stuff. Diesel, traditionally anyway, is a "bad" thing as far as human health is concerned. But there is more to the story. 1 - Diesel takes MUCH less energy to refine, and burns more efficiently than regular gas. 2 - The lower refinement is largely responsible for the "particulate matter" that is bad for our lungs. Similar to asbestos in its effects. 3 - A Turbo-D is usually much more efficient than a naturally aspirated diesel. I have had both, and the turbo is much better for smoke too. 4 - Power with a diesel is relative. Instead of high horsepower, you have massive amounts of torque in a narrow band. Very nice if you know what to do with it. 5 - There are many ways to "clean up" a diesel. In mine, I ran B-100 Biodiesel. That, of course, means 100% Biodiesel. The stuff I used was made from virgin soybean oil, and was actually beneficial to air quality. Even running B-20 cuts down on harmful emissions on a diesel by roughly 55%. That kills the "dirty" stuff. 6 - You can add a secondary fuel system to run as much as 10% CNG in any diesel. This bumps up the efficiency even further, due to higher temps, AND lowers harmful emissions by quite a bit. Just my thoughts... I love diesels, Rich

I happen to have one of these little guys laying around. Actually, it is bolted to the intake of a '78 LUV that my g/f's brother left at my house. I'm gonna steal it and send the truck to the wrecking yard.

mmmkay... Is there a reason you think it would be a good idea to make the Forester more "SUV" like? Keep in mind that an SUV is typically a heavy, cumbersome vehicle that gets poor mileage and really doesn't do all that well off-road. I have a '96 Explorer that I really like for it's purpose, but that is NOT offroad use. Too heavy and not all that good at it. As for a more SUV like Forester... they would have to do much better than the exisitng D/R available in other countries. My explorer has a ~2.4:1 reduction in 4lo... the 1.8:1 in my GL works just fine... but 1.2:1 is nearly worthless offroad. There are plenty of ways to "upgrade" a forester to a much better than SUV vehicle, but little of it is available to the US market. We NEED a good importer to bring us this stuff at a reasonable cost from Aussie!!! (maybe I'll just do it someday) OR!!! We need people that are willing to design/build this stuff here. Is this still the USA or what??? Rich

Just have to play with sizes a bit. Shouldn't be too bad.