mmarshall

BTW, with all of the talk in the Car Chat thread about RWD/FWD/AWD, all-season vs, winter tires, and what works best in snow, how's this for a co-incidence? I got a phone call this evening from an old ex-co-worker (who I had car-shopped with years ago, before he and I retired). He has since moved to Morgantown, WV.....a mountainous and snowy area (he and his wife had a house built for them there). He told me he was ready for a new 3.6R Outback, was working out a deal on the phone/Internet with a Subaru shop north of there in PA, and he had some questions for me on the nature of Subaru's flat-design engines and CVTs. He sounded like he's going to finish the deal at the dealership tomorrow , so please join me in wishing him luck (his name's Kevin). IMO, among everyday mass-produced cars/crossovers, there's simply nothing like an Outback in the snow.......that's why the U.S. Ski team uses them.

I worked with Kevin, in our FAA office, for many years. He was one of our two Staff Cartographers, and would rely on me for aviation questions (as related to our work), and, of course, auto questions. I, in turn, would rely on his far-superior (to mine) computer knowledge to help me, in my cubicle, with my often-balky computer terminal and its operating problems.

One nice thing about the 3.6R Outbacks, of course, is that they generally avoid the notorious head-gasket problems of the 2.5L non-turbo versions, and the newer early oil-consumption problems (from weak piston-rings) of the 2.0L and 2.5L Subarus. I avoided the head-gasket problems on my 2006 Outback, but I didn't have an extreme number of miles on it when I sold it, though I did have some reliability problems in other areas, such as the engine cooling-fans. Outbacks are usually not lemons, but they don't offer, say, the same reliability as a Toyota 4Runner or Land Cruiser. Their AWD systems, though, IMO, are second to none...just marvelous.

(He didn't tell me if it was a Limited or Touring model, and I forgot to ask). Touring models aren't cheap...they can easily run over 40K, before discounts.

weezer

bagwell

Great choice for the 3.6R!!! I just looked these up the other day on Autotrader - some great deals out there.

Good thing he got it now, that engine option will not be available for the next gen.

geko29

Great choice....now convince him to buy some winter tires and he'll really have something during the snowy season.

mmarshall

One option the Outback is missing, of course, is a Hybrid version that was developed for the smaller XV Crosstrek. On the other hand, the Crosstrek doesn't have the interior room or carrying capability of the bigger Outback.

mmarshall

He's retired like me, and probably won't really have to go anywhere except in an emergency. He also knows the area as well or better than I do. Morgantown itself sits in a comparably low and flat area, but, just east of the city, there are some long, fairly step grades up the Western side of the Allegheny Mountains (Laurel Hill, Cheat Mountain, etc...). Some of the grades are three and four miles long. I'm sure that if he has any trouble getting up and down the hills in the area (and I'd almost bet money that he won't) ...he'll go shopping for upgraded tires.

While Subaru popularity in WV is not as well-publicized as, say, in New England or the Rockies, the brand, though not as popular as traditional pickup trucks is actually pretty common throughout the state. It would probably be even more common, though, if there were more dealerships. You will find some in the northern and southern parts of the state, but the central (and most mountainous) part seems to lack them.

Johnhav430

Congrats!

Of course AWD with 4 snows is going to be the best, imho the only debate is cost. And, of course, if you're talking about ordinary RWD cars with AWD available, AWD is a disadvantage with cost, complexity, handling, 90% of the time. I do always get a kick when a RWD owner claims his car is just as good as AWD, when both have snows. Not the case, I have 2 RWD cars with 4 snows on both and they would not be as good as an AWD with 4 snows.

Then you have those tests where none of the vehicles are able to pull themselves up except for Subaru, which exposes the so-called AWD systems as well. We're not talking about 4WD and Jeeps per se...

mmarshall

Thanks for the good-luck wishes, Folks. Got an E-mail today. He's bringing home a new white 3.6R tomorrow. I'll post pictures if he sends me any. In the meantime, this is what they generally look like.

RNM GS3

SW17LS

This is definitely true. Down in southern WV where I'm from you see Subarus all over the place. They're great in the winter, they get a lot of snow and the country roads don't get cleared well. They're also still enjoyable to drive in nice weather, and their brand popularity with outdoorsy type millennials suits the sort of people who live down there now (hikers, rafters, etc). Subaru corporate sponsors a lot of their annual events such as Bridge Day, etc

https://officialbridgeday.com/bridge...-to-bridge-day

Quote:

What Subaru Means To Bridge Day