By the way, why is a Forester called a "truck"?  Are they any different than an outback wagon?

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by Souperoo

it is mostly an EPA/Federal classification thing having to do with the CAFE rules.

 

a "truck" classification is more lenient on fuel economy than a "passenger car"

There are other things that go along with it, such as cargo capacity -vs- passenger room, but in this case, I think that fuel mileage is the main reason.

The Forester does not get as good of fuel mileage as the Outback, even tho the Outback actually has more cargo capacity than the Forester..

Minivans,SUV,Cargo vans and pickups with a GVW of 6000 lbs or less are called class 1 trucks, even though they have seats behind the driver.

The Outback is not called an SUV therefore is not called a truck.

They obviously share engines and trannys and the MPG is not that different.

For those of you old enough to remember the BRAT. They installed two seats in the bed, so it would not be classified as a truck.

 

O.

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by ocei77

Yes the Brat was cool.  It would have been my first Subaru if my dumb brother in law didn't sell it to someone else for $100.   That was quite a few years ago.

The Outback isn't called an SUV, but it is considered a truck by the EPA.  I looked tha up when I got my '17 Outback.

Edited March 12, 20188 yr by ronemus

yeah, I think the ground clearance is one factor as well.

 

CAFE rules are crazy and having fewer 'cars' and more 'trucks' helps you with 'corporate fuel economy' rules.

the Outback became a "truck" around 2004-ish.

this article from 2004 talks about it

https://www.thecarconnection.com/tips-article/1005582_subaru-outback-counts-as-a-truck

Interesting article.  I'm curious now if the rear seats folding down has anything to do with the classification, or can the seats actually be removed to make a flat cargo area.  Because folding down my seats, it sure isn't flat without a good amount of weight on them.

Every state seems to determine which vehicles will be called truck for registration purpose its own way.

In NY Suv's, Foresters and Outbacks are called Suburban.

Its own class.

.......The law defines a suburban as a vehicle that can be used to carry passengers and cargo. Vehicles that can be registered with the suburban body type include station wagons, sport utility vehicles, hearses and ambulances. The body type code for a suburban that appears on registration documents and records is SUBN.

 

O.

What alerted me to it being called a truck, was when looking for parts.  I enter 2004 Subaru Forester and it says it's a truck.  I just checked the title and it says "UT", I'd take a guess that Utility Vehicle or Utility Truck.

Chicken tax

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

 

U.S. intensive chicken farmingled to the 1961–1964 "Chicken War" with Europe.

The chicken tax is a 25% tariff on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks imposed in 1963 by the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to tariffs placed by France and West Germany on importation of U.S. chicken.^[1] The period from 1961–1964^[2] of tensions and negotiations surrounding the issue was known as the "Chicken War," taking place at the height of Cold War politics.^[3]

Eventually, the tariffs on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy were lifted,^[4] but over the next 48 years the light truck tax solidified, remaining in place to protect U.S. domestic automakers from foreign competition (e.g., from Japan and Thailand).^[5] Though concern remains about its repeal,^[6][7] a 2003 Cato Institute study called the tariff "a policy in search of a rationale."^[4]

As an unintended consequence several importers of light trucks have circumvented the tariff via loopholes. Ford (ostensibly a company that the tax was designed to protect), imports the Transit Connect light trucks as "passenger vehicles" to the U.S. from Turkey, and immediately strips and shreds portions of their interiors, such as installed rear seats, in a warehouse outside Baltimore.^[1] Mercedes imported complete vans built in Germany, "disassembled them and shipped the pieces to South Carolina, where American workers put them back together in a small kit assembly building."^[8] The resulting vehicles emerge as locally manufactured, free from the tariff.

Edited March 13, 20188 yr by uniberp

Whodathunkit?

 

O.