You have VERY few options available to you the second you eliminate a Subaru wagon.
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LOL tell me about it. :hang:
I think she’ll budge on the manual transmission only thing if/when I put a cool SUV in front of her that she likes otherwise. We’re going car shopping tonight. We’ll probably go to Ray Laks, they’ve got a couple of used Mitsu Endeavors there, in addition to the Honda’s so that’ll help her get some perspective on what we can be looking at if we consider autotragics.
see I don’t think the forester is really a wagon. it’s more of a “usefully large” SUV type thing.
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My mother-in-law had an 03 until this past fall, so I’ve spent plenty of time with them. It’s a wagon, except Subaru managed to incorporate all of the unpleasant ride of an SUV without gaining any of the ability of the cargo space of an SUV.
Plus they have this goddam annoying hill-holder feature. It engages the brakes if/when you come to a stop on an uphill and you’ve got to gas it and slip the clutch to start. Fucking annoying.
I mean I’d get a Forester if that’s what it came down to, but neither of us like them. Maybe a turbo Forester is a totally different animal, but the base model NA drove like a truck without any of the benefits.
My OB has hill-holder. You just need to let out the clutch pedal enough to disengage the holder, but not disengaging the clutch at all. Took some getting used to, but it’s not a bad feature if you’re on hills in rougher terrain.
It can be easily disabled too if you want. It tells you how right in the owners manual.
my sister has a new Xi and I think it drives great. I have driven it in the snow, I think the car is a lot more fun than my a4 quattro, but that might be because my 1.8t was dangerously underpowered and auto as well.
She’s gone gaga for Xterra’s. I can live with that. Front crash tests were marginal, but 8 air bags, crumple zones, pipes in the doors, etc. Oh yeah, and 260hp/280ft-lb VQ40. :headbang: We’re going to drive them tomorrow.
Isn’t the Xterra RWD, with a part time 4wd, traditional transfer case?
If so, she’s gonna need those airbags the first time it snows. Nothing like taking someone who’s driving FWD vehicles all their life and put them in a RWD truck in the snow.
One of the requirements when I was looking at SUV’s was that it have auto 4wd or AWD. On a typical winter day you’re not going to want to run around in 4-hi because it will bind every time you turn on a clear intersection, but when she hits a snowy one and gives it some gas she’s going to fishtail if it’s in 2WD.
AWD and 4WD are diff. 4WD is meant to get you unstuck. that is all. you can not drive around with it on because when you go from snow-to no snow and try to turn it will “bind” or act like its getting hung up and almost hop around the turn.
Indeed for daily driving, AWD > 4WD. You can’t leave a part time system on, unless there is sufficently low enough traction to allow wheel-slip to unload the differences in the front and rear of the drivetrain.
Normally it would be left in 2WD, unless it’s needed. Each setup has it’s advantages though.
AWD does make a difference, that is why i’ve only driven a Subaru since I got my license 7 years ago. And that is why I fix and sell them.
Funny story made short. My 96 Impreza I used to have before my current Legacy SUS pulled my friends 00 Cherokee out of the ditch infront of Mineral Springs roller rink. THAT is why I stick with Subaru.
The problem with regular 4WD here is that you go from roads that have 5" of snow on them, to a road that is perfectly clear, and back and forth like that. If you leave it in 4WD it’s VERY hard on the drivetrain when you turn on clear pavement. If you leave it in 2WD and the person doesn’t know how to handle throttle on RWD oversteer, you end up in a wreck.
The Expedition is great, because it’s a real 4WD system with an electronic engagement, monitored by the ABS system. In 4WD-Auto it’s in 2WD until the rears spin, then almost instantly (there is a slight delay) the fronts are engaged via a clutch in the transfer case. But put it in 4WD high and it’s real 4WD, not some vicious clutch system driving the two tires with the best traction. In 4high if I get on clear pavement you can feel the whole front end binding up when you turn, at which point if you don’t like expensive repairs you flick it back to 4-auto.
So yeah, I saw you got the Xterra, so make sure the wife gets used to it’s 2WD handling on snowy parking lots. Not to crap on your parade, but for a guy who was so gung ho about getting a safe vehicle for winter driving for his wife, I think it was a bad choice. You’ve got a vehicle with all kinds of safety features and a good crash rating, but the best way to survive a crash is not to be in it. Putting a woman who has no RWD experience behind the wheel of a light rear end primarily 2WD vehicle with our quickly changing road conditions isn’t my idea of safe. IMHO anyway.
Fun stuff, but at least I know she’ll consider an auto if she likes the car.