Volvo, Legacy, MS6, Forester... doing homework.
 

Currently the wife and I have a 2006 MS6 and 2002 Dodge Ram. The Ram is going bye-bye as soon as I get home (looks like late March), either as a trade-in or private sale. We're preggo again, and upon returning, I'll have an 18mo old and a newborn.

Ideally, the wife would like to keep the MS6, while I hunt for the perfect 2003-2006 Volvo V70 T5 5-spd for me. I can pay cash in the $10k range which is where I'm finding those. I can also (once again) take my time searching for the perfect '99 Miata and not feel like shortchanging the family.

But we've been talking about small SUV's lately... and she mentions Forester. I immediately thought (you mean Legacy) and she says a friend of hers just bought a new Forester and she loves it. So I'm homeworking a new Forester 2.5XT. I would inherit the MS6 (not a bad deal), and she would drive the new Subie.

So, who knows about Subaru's? Idea, thoughts, comments?

i am rocking an '06 subbie legacy 2.5gt automatic as my daily. i love it. it has a great balance of sportiness and comfort. i average 23mpg (25+ on hwy / around 20 on city).

i do have two gripes. the front seats do not slide back far enough for a 6' tall person. and the rear seats do not fold down.

i'd imagine fuel consumption and ride quality would be fairly similar with the forester. my gripes probably won't apply.

How about a 1st gen Forester XT for yourself? Find some used STi parts (turbo, ecu, suspension) to bolt on and you have a very fun sleeper.

Subies are good cars. Not super high mileage (you wouldn't run it to 200,000 miles), but they are pretty solid for 125,000.

I love volvos, but in my experience, the subies are going to be a lot less trouble. If it's for the wife, subie's the better choice.

On Safety, my girlfriend smashed into a mustang with her mom's forester ejecting the hood (of the mustang) a block away. Broke the block on the mustang, needless to say, it was very totalled.

I came to her rescue and drove her home in the subaru. Other than a broken headlight and a little bit of crumpled metal on the hood/front right fender, it tracked down the road just fine. Even the grill was still intact.

+1 for LGT's :bigtu:

Congratulations!

Do ya'll know who the dad is yet?



j/k...have a couple of Navy cousins and they're always making West Fleet Widow jokes.

I'd go with a Subaru...and can't go wrong with the two choices. I have both a friend and a cousin that have Legacy GTs and they are great to drive and stellar machines. I've always wanted a black Forestor myself...but I'm sure they drive their size.

Volvos are sexy...and I've known some folks that swear by them...but I'm sure they are expensive to repair when they do break.

Subaru showed their Grand-Am Cup at the 2007 SEMA show...but I can't find pics of it. I had that issue of SCC on the commode for a year..and that pic gave me wood every time for some reason.

Humble Pie - 2005 Legacy GT - Sport Compact Car Magazine

Here's something...turns out they did an article on one two years before.

Congrats to you Sam. :)

Congrats but if you intend to keep up that pace, I'd recommend that you look into a Honda Odyssey. ;) :laugh:

I'm not sure what we're gonna do when we reproduce but I've been keeping a mental list of DD candidates with 4 doors and room in the back for a large dog. My mind keeps wandering back to the Forester. The new ones aren't even that ugly really.

Oh it would be a killer sleeper with two baby seats in the back, but a modified turbo and DD reliability don't usually go hand in hand. What happens when part of your non-stock install shits the bed and leaves you stuck in the Safeway parking lot with a car full of melting frozen foods and two screaming kids? If it's Sam driving it will just be a big inconvenience. But if it's the wife who gets stranded somewhere because her husband just had to fuck with the car and now he's deployed and can't fix things immediately, she will snap off his cock.

Talk to Keinan @ All Aspects, he is the Scooby guru.

i live with 2 huge subaru guys... am friends with the original owner of ECS (east coast swappers..big subaru place) ..have done a few too many swaps and own a 99 subaru OBS as my daily... they are great cars, parts are more interchangeable than honda (no joke), and they are easy to work on. The EJ boxer engine has been around since the late 80s and has not had a huge amount of changes. I was just beating on my roommates 1995 impreza with a v.5 Sti swap last night. Its a BLAST

My vote is a leg gt...

Was looking at small SUV's about a year ago and drove the Saturn Vue, CR-V, and Forester.

Forester felt like it was on rails compared to the other two. I was sold instantly... then I decided to bail on the idea of spending $$ because I'm a tightass.

EDIT: You could go STi on a Forester and end up with something like this....

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0021_large.jpg

http://www.caradvice.com.au/wp-conte...resterSTi2.jpg

I doubt it was a legit Forester STi I came across a few weeks ago but outside of a Home Depot this guy comes rolling in, wheezin pretty loudly, out steps his wife and 1 child. I was impressed.

Congrats on the new addition. 2nd one? I got two boys, 2 &4, they love cars. They allways want to go faster.

Anyway, I put 111,000 HARD miles on my 02 WRX and it never even gave me a hicup.

The latest issue of Modifed Magazine has an article on how the 04 Forester is completly bolt for bolt interchangable with the WRX/STI's of the same years. It's about a UTI teacher in Michigan I believe who has 2 kids and wanted a family sleeper. I was suprised at how easily interchangable everything is reported to be. Good little article, I showed it to my wife, and she was acutally interested.

Here is a link to the article:

Building Your Own Subaru Forester STI - Modified Magazine

I've been doing some good homework lately. I had done some Subie research in the past, and didn't find anything really enticing about the WRX in terms of performance out of the box, but I wasn't looking at it from the "practical DD" standpoint. Apparentlyt the Forester and WRX's share like 90%-99% of their parts depending on years.
The Forester would remain BONE STOCK for the wife, with the exception of cheap upgrades that I might get from guys parting out other Subies... how much does an OEM STi up-pipe go for?

Of course the MS6 would get a few things to make it liveable for me... a few braces, throttle plate flash, intake, exhaust, TMIC... around $2k should do it if I get a couple things used.

I'm really liking the things I'm reading about the Forester. I'd honestly never considered it, but the newer XT models are decent looking... more homework to be done. Keep the info coming if you've got it.