# Et tu, Subaru? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553 "2014-03-12T18:15:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/21 "2014-03-12T21:38:19Z")
Admittedly, manual transmissions are a drag in stop-and-go traffic. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/22 "2014-03-12T22:31:21Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Uh…LEgacy reVOlution touRinG. Levorg. > [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Meh, given enoUgh letters, you caN make anything Come out rigHt. (Calvin and Hobbes) G.R.O.S.S. = Get Rid Of Slimy girlS Happy owner of a 2002 Legacy Outback, 6 cyl, auto trans. We LOVE this car, plan to drive it forever or die trying. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/23 "2014-03-12T22:57:16Z")
I’m still driving a '97 Scooby Doo (Liberty Heritage sedan) that I got in 2003. Fantastic car, every who drives it loves it. My parents bought a 2011 Liberty based on their experience in mine but they still like mine better for comfort and handling. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/24 "2014-03-13T01:26:01Z")
My daughter is still driving her 1996 Impreza. She bought it new. We spent a month in a huge parking lot teaching her to drive the manual trans. I didn’t think the clutch would survive it. But it did. Doesn’t have much poop. If you want to pass a car, you have to turn off the ac. But it has been a great machine. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/25 "2014-03-13T01:32:47Z")
One of my most favourite cars I’ve owned was a 1985 Subie wagon I bought at barely a year old in 1986. Bullet-proof and awesome in the snow. Drove it for years. I’ve been pondering getting a newer-used Subie wagon this summer - what years or models should I avoid? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/26 "2014-03-13T02:41:39Z")
\*\*We are the Levorg from the planet Urabus. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/27 "2014-03-13T03:21:42Z")
I’m super pissed about this too. I’ve been hankering for a WRX wagon for like a decade and I was going to buy myself one after the bar exam - and now I can’t. Maybe I can swing an Audi S4 (hah!) ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/28 "2014-03-13T14:17:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m super pissed about this too. I’ve been hankering for a WRX wagon for like a decade and I was going to buy myself one after the bar exam - and now I can’t. Maybe I can swing an Audi S4 (hah!) I, too, waited the better part of a decade to buy a WRX and now it’s looking like the last car I’ll buy. In addition to the eyewatering price tag, you are aware that the S4 Avant (wagon) is not available in the US, right? No worries though, Audi will gladly sell us yokels an Allroad instead. It compares favorably to the WRX in all the ways that matter: 50 less HP, 980 pounds heavier, all for only $15k more. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/29 "2014-03-13T14:27:08Z")
Yeah, that was the “hah!” part. They did sell them here up to the mid-2000s so maybe I’ll just buy an old one. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/30 "2014-03-13T15:40:43Z")
The [WRX STI](http://subaru.co.uk/wrx-sti/) is coming to the UK in May. 305 BHP and £28995. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/31 "2014-03-13T15:50:03Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > The [WRX STI](http://subaru.co.uk/wrx-sti/) is coming to the UK in May. 305 BHP and £28995. Yes, it is coming to the US as well. A wagon version is not coming to anywhere, however. And that’s all that matters. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/32 "2014-03-13T16:04:50Z")
Anyone ever owned a Subaru Brat? You know, the little mini-pickup thing with the rear-facing seats in the bed with the handgrips built in? I think that was the predecessor to the Baja, which looks almost the same but nixes the seats in the bed. I always wondered what those were like. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/33 "2014-03-13T16:16:47Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > My daughter is still driving her 1996 Impreza. She bought it new. We spent a month in a huge parking lot teaching her to drive the manual trans. I didn’t think the clutch would survive it. But it did. Doesn’t have much poop. If you want to pass a car, you have to turn off the ac. But it has been a great machine. I was sad the day I had to get rid of my 95 Impreza because the repairs needed to get it pass inspection, along with its other problems, wasn’t worth the cost. I now have a new used 2009 Forester Limited that seems to be worth the money. I still miss the little Impreza, but I needed something with more capacity than the wagon body. What I really wanted was the old Outback design, which was just the Legacy wagon with an options package. Can’t get that anymore and I didn’t like the new Outback design when I test drove it. Or even an Outback Sport, which again you can’t get because of marketing departments and their goddamned “crossover” category. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/34 "2014-03-13T16:44:19Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I always wondered what those were like. Awful ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/35 "2014-03-13T17:59:48Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Or even an Outback Sport, which again you can’t get because of marketing departments and their goddamned “crossover” category. The Outback Sport was just the name they gave to the 5 door Impreza with the base engine for a while. Sometimes it had some extra cosmetic stuff, but mechanically it was an Impreza wagon. So you can still buy a new “Outback Sport”, it’s just called the “Impreza Sport” now. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/36 "2014-03-13T18:12:52Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Doesn’t have much poop. Probably the #1 thing I look for in a car, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/37 "2014-03-13T19:13:40Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > So you can still buy a new “Outback Sport”, it’s just called the “Impreza Sport” now. I would think the Crosstrek now fills that role. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/38 "2014-03-13T19:41:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I would think the Crosstrek now fills that role. I think so. I recall that the old Outback “Sport” had slightly more ground clearance than the stock Impreza, as the Crosstrek does now (but the “Impreza Sport” does not.) ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/39 "2014-03-13T19:45:40Z")
I must respectfully disagree. The Outback Sport is still in the lineup, with a new name- the Impreza Sport. They are both just somewhat confusing names for the 5 door Impreza. Interestingly, the claimed extra .2 inches of ground clearance in the Outback Sport appears to have been due entirely to being fitted with 17" wheels instead of 16". ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553/40 "2014-03-13T19:47:09Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > …Interestingly, the Outback Sport was sometimes claimed to have greater ground clearance than the 4 door Impreza, but this appears to have been 2 tenths of a inch due entirely to being fitted with 17" wheels instead of 16". Interesting. Do we have a cite on this? (Not particularly important, just curious). For sure, the old Outback Sport was at least marketed as more off-road capable than the stock Impreza, which the current Impreza Sport is not, as far as I can tell. But the Crosstrek is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/et-tu-subaru/683553.md?page=3)