schlit

Unless you have a chemistry degree and understand what the tolerances are, how the catalyst degrades, and the effects on the environment I think you're talking out of your rear.... an unguided guess at best. Sounds like you're just angry at "the man". Sorry. For the record, the fact that most of the posts on this site are by two people is why I don't visit much....as what I've heard from many other Subaru owners.

After reading through all the posts I think the only one missing something is you. I find that people who pollute look for any and every excuse to do so. How can you judge that the limit is too harsh?

One accident during the 75% of the time I'm on dry crowded interstates with people flying at 85mph or during the 25% I'm slowed down due to winter weather?

Thanks to those who've understood the climate I'll be driving in. I've decided to just make sure my allseasons have good tread on them and roll with it. It seems like the people who have them are farther north or backcountry and maybe have to rely on the snow grip more.

Thanks for the opinions. I do find it surprising, though, that you would not see any performance loss at highway speeds. I was expecting to hear that it's soft but stable at high speeds or something like that... I know the forester isn't a sports car, but really is there no loss in handling?

Just wanted to get some opinions about using a dedicated set of winter tires for the Forester primarily for interstate travel in the midwest and east this winter. I wont be venturing north of Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, but assume I will be encountering some snow. There doesn't seem to be many options for performance winter tires, so I'd probably be forced to use studless tires like Blizzak WS-60's. I guess my question is how poorly do studless winter tires do at high speeds on dry interstate? Will I be kicking myself?

Too much liquid at once in the cylinder will create an overpressure....whether you have the engine running or not doesn't make a difference. You either blow the engine right away or when you start it up.

Careful, pouring too much seafoam in at once is an easy way to hydrolock an engine... I'll blow some through the intake before changing spark plugs, but would never place a solvent in the crankcase. A few short hot oil changes will do just as good for sludge removal

It took me the same amount of time to change the 200,000mi clutch on my Civic SI last year as it did to do a few tune up items on my forester. To name a few, Sub spark plugs and front diff fluid changes were huge PITA's. Foreign cars are packed tight and their parts are expensive. Some items will be easier on a Sub and others on a Honda. I personally feel more apt to work on my honda because of the MUCH better (and about $250 cheaper) service manual, and that there's no VIN guessing game when getting parts.

I think you guys are getting a little out of hand there. From regular maintence to major repairs, Subarus are not any easier or cheaper to work on than Hondas. At least for my 2.5L Forester almost everything is a PITA compared to my Civic, my moms Accord, and dad's CRV. Back to the OP, I wouldn't buy any foreign car with 150,000mi on it if I weren't a do-it-yourselfer and was afraid of paying $500 for a repair.

Yes, its an interference engine. If you go for it make sure the valve seats in the head aren't damaged as well.

Just an observation... I frequent Honda forums and rarely see as many "my car is a POS" threads as I do on USMB. I find it difficult to say subarus are bulletproof when they made so many 2.5l engines that self destruct.

I've used one before on my daily driver just to get through the winter months so I could replace the joint myself once it warmed up outside. It's a temporary fix that works if you catch the rip before you lose the grease and contaminate the joint with grit. Consider it like driving on a doughnut tire....it'll get you around but it's not something you want to take a 400 mile vacation on.

I second Grossgary's post. Yea, the 15% is bunk and misleading unless the sources are to be named. In my experience, the 2.5 PHII is as reliable as this website.

If you seriously are having withdrawals from this site going down, I hope you read this: http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Internet-addiction-disorder.html