bjwirth

I was thinking the same thing. I don't know what country you're in or how much you have to spend, but you can get a BMW X3 with the smaller engine or the diesel with all of those things you list. the first 3 items on your list are usually mutually exclusive for most cars since, as you've noticed, they come packaged together. The X3 2.5 isn't offered in the US anymore, but the way you wanted it equipped, it would have run in the upper 30's last year (less with discounts). I really don't know what engines come in an X3's that are sold in other parts of the world.

I have no direct knowledge of rolling resistance with the tires youve chosen, but based on what I read on some of the hybrid discussions, some people claim they lost 5% in terms of fuel efficiency going from tires advertised as LRR vs conventional tires. As far as i know, none of your tires are advertised as LRR tires so I suspect the difference in rolling resistance among them is much smaller. so for a hybrid that gets 50 mpg, 5% is 2.5 mpg. if you take a subaru that gets half the mileage and maybe half the difference in resistance, you may be looking at 0.6 mpg difference among the tires, if even that much. So if it REALLY comes down to a tie btween 2 or 3 tires- will a statistically insignificant difference in MPG really break the tie? But like I said, I don't have any direct knowledge about the LRR ratings on these tires. maybe the GY TT are gas hogs and suck 10% of fuel efficiency compared to the other tires on your list. if that's the case, if the TT were #1 on your list, that may be significant enough to drop them down to #2. But it's my suspicion, that there is no such published info, or any difference is mpg is difficult to quantify.

Ok, I'm confused again. if the heating elements are in series as you say in a previous post, and there are only 2 TOTAL elements in EACH seat (bottom and back), then wouldn't neither setting (low or high) have any effect if one of the elements is open? I honestly have a hard time using the "seat of your pants" testing method, because I don't know if the seats get warm because of my big azz and how much heat is being provided from the low and high setting (it's not like I can turn it on high, sit on the seat, then cool everything off, and test with low). Btw, the switch doesn't light up under either setting but I'm pretty sure I'm getting heat- I jsut can't quantify it.

One of the nice things about having "money" is having the option to buy what you want. if your parents want to buy an H3- let them. I don't know much about the car- but if they keep it for 3-7 years, long term reliability is not going to be an issue. While an SUV may not be any safer than a conventional car, it probably isn't more dangerous. honestly, if I could afford it, I would have bought a bigger car than my forester. I love my forester, and for the money, I think it's the best car i could have gotten. But I would have rather gotten a larger minivan or suv just for the convenience. (personally I don't like any of the hummer line- I'd rather have a chevy tahoe and I hate the tahoe)

wait-- are there 2 SETS (4 total) of heating elements (2 on seat + 2 on back) or 2 heating elements (1 + 1)?? if one heating element burns out (say the bottom one as you suggest) does that mean only the seat back works? I only ask since I noticed 1 light on the switch burned out, then the following year the other burned out. I thought it was just a light (since I felt heat on the seat), but what you're saying could indicate I'm not getting as much heat on my seat. are the leads for the heating elements easy to access so that I can test them?

That's because discussion forums like this are places where people discuss problems (among other things). Imagine if people started writing entries everyday and it went like, "today I drove my subaru and it had no problems and ran great." If you looked at every car discussion board, you wouldn't want to buy any car because all you'd read about are problems. While I've never read an Acura MDX forum, I have seen discussions on the honda odyssey and might think those cars are lemons (transmissions etc..) but that certainly isn't stopping me from SERIOUSLY considering buying one in the near future. (I'm sure you're aware that at heart, the ody and mdx are practically the same car) The 04 or 05 you are looking at are too new for any model car to determine any kind of history. Even GM makes cars that need a few years for problems to show up. If you want to use past performance to base future returns, I'd say in general the subarus are pretty reliable- look at how many old models are still on the road- ESPECIALLY considering that subaru has such a TINY market share.

Consumer Reports is like that trusted advisor you have. he or she will do all the research for you since you're busy, and then recomend the best plan for you. but then one day that advisor lets you down with a bad recomendation. like this one: setting- 2 days after katrina passes MB: hey all these people down in new orleans are complaining and say they need help. I'm too busy trying to get dinner reservations so I need you to come up with a plan. CR: I've already looked at many possible scenarios and am prepared to talk about the specific ramifications of each one. MB: maybe you didn't hear me, I need to get dinner reservations, so you got to make it fast- give me the "red circle" recomendation. CR: ok- let's do nothing but tie red tape everywhere. eventually all those people will die and the complaining will stop. MB: (on phone) yes dinner for 4 at 7 pm. what'd you say CR? oh, whatever, I trust you- make it so, I'm late. you see, CR is just a guide. ultimately the decision of what to do with CR's recomendations, falls upon you.

Some times people get too hung up on the numbers and this "dumbing down" CR does, by using red and black circles, is not a bad idea for most people. let's say the only performance criteria you cared about was braking distances on the ice. if tire A stops in an ave of 123.5 ft and tire B stops in 124.3 ft, you might be quick to say, "tire A kicks butt!" but then you learn the average of all tires tested was 140 with an SD of 15 ft-- not only that, the SD of each individual tire test was 1.5 ft. is CR going to have a statistics lesson in every issue? I honestly have less faith in the tirerack rankings. apparently the "rankings" are based on consumer reviews (how likely are you to buy again? what, based on your NEW tires vs 1 old set of tires- give me a break. can you see how the answer would be biased depending on what the buyer was replacing). of course most people are not looking at just 1 attibute and they just want the bottom line. I really think for tires, once you've identified what particular attributes are important to you, and find those tires that have the most "red circles" associated with those characteristics, then you'll be happy. If you really need the raw data or subtle differences in testing make all the difference for you, then NO, CR is not for you. My father in law is looking for a digital camera. He read CR and thought he needed an dSLR because the pictures were MUCH better than the conventional point and shoots. while this may be POTENTIALLY true, to the average camera buyer, this is a waste of money. instead we talked about what he was looking for in a camera and used the CR ratings to pick some cameras (and other cameras from other sources since apparently CR only tests cameras made from 2years ago) and chose a camera. IF attibutes like amount of distortion at higher ISO, compresson artifacts, chromatic abberations, or whatever (i have no idea what I'm talking about- these are things I've read in reviews that I didn't understand) are improtant, then you shouldn't be looking in CR.

if you look on ebay, it seems you can buy a forester with that many miles for half the price OR buy a forester with half the miles for the same price. I'm not saying go buy a forester off ebay, but use it as a barometer for what cars are going for. the expectation of buying from a dealer is that he fixed everything and you're buying a car that "needs nothing" and that's why you're paying more. did this dealer change the timing belt, water pump, brake pads and rotors, tires, headgasket, etc or did he just do an oil change and do a "100 pt inspection?" unless he did all that or has records of it being done recently, I wouldn't touch that car. I'd rather buy the same car off ebay and put the other $3000 in the bank and take my chances. I have a 00 forester s with about half the miles that I'm thinking about selling this spring. I was thinking I'd get $7k for it. either this dealer has it right and my car will be a steal for someone, or....

The one tire attribute you didn't mention was CHEAP price. IMO, I think michelins are the tires that "do everything well." the only problem is that you have to pay for that. (you'll also get opinions that michilins are overpriced and overrated. overpriced? yes. overrated? definately not) but since your considering the GY TT, a tire like the hydroedge is not that much more expensive. (although, I'm sure the gy tt is a fine tire)

No problem! The only "hunting" i do, is hunt for the best deals on meat at my local supermarket. but getting back to the original Q, the best way to see which car is best for you is to test drive them. My wife and I went to the dealer looking at legacy wagons (thinking foresters were stupid cars). Just on a whim, we test drove the forester and that's what we ended up buying. go figure.

The first time I used tire rack, the tires were shipped to my doorstep. I didn't have a garage and had to store them inside the apt. Then I had to find someone with a pickup and coordinate with them. when I finally brought the tires and the car to the shop, the guy said, "next time, you can get the tires shipped here." if you go the tirerack route, just call the tire install place and ask if it's ok to ship the tire to their shop. as far as forester specific tires-- my personal opinion is that it doesn't matter. I'd be more concerned as to what kind of driving you do and what's important to you in terms of tire attributes.

as far as i know, none of the subs here are built on frames (the way pickups and traditional suv's are). But if you're looking for the roomiest and most powerful, then you want the tribeca. I don't know that any particular subaru model is "tougher" or more reliable than any another subaru model. I don't know what you're looking for in a car, but if you're thinking about hunting, have you considered a baja? It's basically an outback that looks like a pickup. I don't think I would want a dead dear spewing its guts all over the inside of my car.

Ok, maybe I was exagerating a bit. but I still don't see how seeing an "oval" right in front of your car helps you drive through the fog. Is the only function of a fog light a guide to help you "drive between the lines?" if I'm hearing this right, then you focus a good part of your attention to driving "straight" by looking down and to the sides, but not looking ahead where you're going, say 10-20 yards? SO if you hit something, at least you were going straight?

I never understood fog lights (except for the "cool effect"). one night I was driving home in the fog and turned on the fog lights. I saw the low wide beam pattern the fog lights produced, but it didn't help me any. even if I can see the road 2 feet in front of me, unless I'm going 5 mph, it does me no good. by the time I see an "obsticle" 2-3 feet infront of me (where the fog light casts its glow), it's too late for me to react.