Is Subaru now an after thought company?

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Originally Posted By: Kiwi_ME
Originally Posted By: glock19
... hardly a FWD on demand system.


Hmm, OK, I see it's a definition issue. The point, in this thread, is that it works just like a Haldex Gen5.


Agreed. I will concede that it is an on-demand system. However, when I hear FWD "on-demand" system I think of systems like the CRV that are completely FWD and can send some power to the rear wheels under slippage. The point I was trying to illustrate is that Subaru is sending 40% of the torque to the rear wheels under normal conditions.
 
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Frankly how do you sell a $23K all wheel drive car and make a profit? Cost cutting. GM could never make an AWD Malibu and sell it at $23K and make money. Something has to give and its the powertrain.


You've obviously never driven a subaru. Maybe you've never even seen one on the road. The thing subaru does cheap is interiors. They also don't include many features which are now standard on almost every other manufacturer like bluetooth, cruise control, reverse camera, etc. Although they added a few to the 2015s, and also increased the price a bit.
 
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
All brands have their issues. One example is GM's 5.3 which had consumption issues related to AFM. Subaru's had head gasket issues for years. Except for enthusiast's the average Joe doesn't know about these problems.


The average Joe whose motor blows up prematurely is going to be ACUTELY aware of these issues. It's not just "enthusiasts"!
 
Originally Posted By: emg
Looks like someone finally managed to break a Subaru CVT:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f89/gearbox-damage-cvt-transmission-germany-440258/

It's in German, but seems they broke the chain driving off-road in deep snow with traction control off.


it's either this: "I'm guessing he was spinning the wheels and suddenly got REALLY good traction." (voting most likely)

a manufacturing defect

or he was lying...

He did mention X mode, whatever that means.
 
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Originally Posted By: emg
Looks like someone finally managed to break a Subaru CVT:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f89/gearbox-damage-cvt-transmission-germany-440258/

It's in German, but seems they broke the chain driving off-road in deep snow with traction control off.


Okay and......

Every single car has failures luckily that is only 10% at most but the vast majority of owners have trouble free lives till 150kish if they change the oil.
 
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Frankly how do you sell a $23K all wheel drive car and make a profit? Cost cutting. GM could never make an AWD Malibu and sell it at $23K and make money. Something has to give and its the powertrain.


You build a design, single engine, platform, drivetrain that is AWD to start used across platforms. Not jury rig AWD in like every other maker except Audi does. You also make it quite good. The AWD system in Subaru has changed very little since 1989 or so, just getting tweaked along the way. I think every other maker penns a new system to jury rig in after the platform, other driveline and engine from parts bin is already done.
 
Originally Posted By: rjundi


You build a design, single engine, platform, drivetrain that is AWD to start used across platforms. Not jury rig AWD in like every other maker except Audi does. You also make it quite good. The AWD system in Subaru has changed very little since 1989 or so, just getting tweaked along the way. I think every other maker penns a new system to jury rig in after the platform, other driveline and engine from parts bin is already done.


Audi?
I'm not sure I agree with that. A3 is a New Beetle/Golf chassis. A4 is a Passat chassis.

Subaru is doing very well for itself. Just a couple of years ago they were in a virtual tie with Mazda. Since then, Mazda has done a little better. Subaru has shot way up.

Subaru does a lot better in Blue states. Not to make anything political out of it... you just don't see a lot of Subarus in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas...etc.. They are everywhere in the New England or Pacific Northwest states.

I can't explain their success. They are still a niche manufacturer. Almost the Japanese Saab. Maybe it's the competition. Saab's higher volume competitors were Audi and BMW. Subaru's sre Honda and Toyota.

Maybe it's something as simple as that when Saab went the way of the Dodo, the Liberal middle class had to buy something else.

The ad campaigns are solid, but not that good. Some of their sales may be attributed to that.
 
Up until 2012 my family only purchased GM, Ford, and Jeep vehicles. After reading an article on the 2012 Impreza I decided to go test-drive one to see if it was any good. The dealer let me drive it around town and take it onto the highway. After the drive he had me pull it into the shop and one of the techs showed me around the engine-bay and underside. I was amazed at the thoughtfullness that the Subaru engineers put into the vehicle. Unlike my old GM cars there is barely anything that can rust underneath. Every square inch is coated with a thick sprayed-on coating that seals the metal away from the elements and reduces the road-noise (85K miles and it is still 100% intact). The engineers also thought ahead and took DIY maintenance into consideration. A DIYer can easily change the oil, transmission fluid, differential fluid, spark-plugs, and air filters. My old GM cars would bury the oil filter, require you to take the pan off to drain the transmission, and bury the cabin air filter underneath the exterior molding and require you to replace the plastic retainer clips. My brother in-laws former Malibu even required you to take the friggen bumper off to change out a headlamp. With Subaru, the plastic retainer clips are reusable and you do not have to take apart the entire car to change out a $3 bulb.

Long story short, I am a former Subaru basher(test drove them in the 90's and thought they were horribly slow) and after driving one of the newer ones it changed my mind. After driving my Impreza the rest of my family quickly ditched their other vehicles and bought Subarus. Since 2012 we have gotten rid of one Jeep, one Ford, and two GM vehicles. They have all been replaced with Subarus. They all have the FB-series motors (1 FB20 and 3 FB25) and none of them are showing any signs of oil consumption.
 
Originally Posted By: IveBeenRued

Long story short, I am a former Subaru basher(test drove them in the 90's and thought they were horribly slow) and after driving one of the newer ones it changed my mind.


My Outback is a 2015 and it's still horribly slow. Good thing I drive like an old man and don't mind it one bit.
 
Originally Posted By: glock19
Originally Posted By: IveBeenRued

Long story short, I am a former Subaru basher(test drove them in the 90's and thought they were horribly slow) and after driving one of the newer ones it changed my mind.


My Outback is a 2015 and it's still horribly slow. Good thing I drive like an old man and don't mind it one bit.


I am not saying that I drive fast or anything but the late 90's Outback 6-cyl that I test drove felt like it was transmission was filled with molasses. These CVTs that they have have completely transformed how these vehicles drive. My Impreza has no trouble accelerating into fast moving traffic, getting up hills, or passing. My Father's and Sister's Outbacks do feel a bit slower.
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Originally Posted By: zeddy
In 2013, which manufacturer sold more cars in the US? VW or Subaru?

If you guessed VW, you're wrong. It was Subaru by a hair.

In 2014? Subaru KILLED VW.

http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html

The sales numbers speak quite loudly.


That's cute, but Ford sold a quarter million more F-150s than Subaru's TOTAL SALES last year. GM managed to pimp more Silverados than Subaru's TOTAL UNITS SOLD. And even Ram could find enough people to buy Chrysler pickups (?!) to almost equal SUBARU'S WHOLE LINEUP.

Don't get me wrong here, I think Subies are great. They're so cool that I can look right past the mechanical deficiencies and I would seriously consider buying one for myself. (I mean, I know how to use a dipstick.) But to resort to comparing their sales to VW just shows how ridiculously low their sales are. VWs and Subarus are sold in California and college towns, not many other places.


And comparing Subaru sales to Ford, GM and Dodge Ram full size pickup sales is equally foolish.
 
I grew up in a GM town (Dayton, OH) and we drove mostly GM cars. The exceptions were several economy fords (two pintos which my parents owned in the early 80s and two escorts owned by my father and then me in the 2000s).

Then I dated a woman who purchased a Forester. I loved the car and it inspired my to get my Legacy. My mother loved the Forester and bought one for herself. It's contagious!

If you live in a dry/warm climate and do not have an interest in one of their performance cars you can probably get more bang for your buck with something else.

I *do* think they offer cars with some of the most practical engineering. Not perfect but fits then needs of many.

With regard to them being an afterthought company- I seems to not be. With the exception of the Tribeca (discontinued or will be) they sell robustly. Someone on here was having trouble getting a test drive a few months ago.
 
Subaru is a niche maker with some main stream product (Outback) with NO competition in the price range. Outback made buying a wagon, inexpensive at that palatable to the American public. The gal/guy who penned the concept should have their face up in Subaru's HQ. I believe the first Outback was just a quirky trim level nothing else with stickers and cladding.

2009+ Forester is main stream and top tier with Toyota/Honda/Ford just another flavor of CUV.
 
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