I was curious how this may happen;  during the on and off cold snaps in the NY area the ride gets rough like the struts or something are less functional.  During regular weather the ride is OK.  

 

Also what should we know about the extra stress Subarus go through during cold weather and how to handle it??  Thanks.  

Sounds like your struts may be gathering ice. If they dont have the boots over the piston rod, this could be rough on them, as the cold stuff becomes the bump stops. If ice gets packed in the springs, that'll do the same thing.

 

The main thing to remember in sub zero weather is a short warm up is a good thing. 5mins is a good time frame. More is wasting gas, less can cause extra stress on things in the motor. Also, with a manual trans remember the oil is super thick, so dont force the shifter, you can bend things.

 

Be paitent with your subie, remember its colder than you are, unless it lives in a cozy garage. Take it easy for the first few miles, and let it warm up.

some tires might be less compliant I guess. In the 'old days' nylon belted tires would even take a 'set' and would bump for a few minutes.

 

but, I'm a southern flatlander so - yeah, snow packed in the suspension sounds bad.

If your struts are getting older they can ride rough when it's cold. They're full of oil, oil gets thicker when it's cold an that translates into a rough ride for a few miles until the struts warm up.

 

Remember, just because you warm up your engine, nothing else warms up. Your wheel bearings, transmission, axles, differential, etc. Accelerate slowly and don't rev the engine very high. I always drive a couple extra miles through the city to the next highway onramp to give my car more time to put around at 25mph. It adds 2 minutes to my commute and saves some wear and tear on my car.

Excellent feedback.  Thanks.