Are there any Subaru owners; previous or current here?

[aware]

Another thread told me that there was a Subaru forum now.

"Since we just got a new sub-forum thanks to Audizine."

Does anyone know were that form is?

Are there any Subaru owners; previous or current here?

I am looking for some feedback as to how the Audi does in snow/winter conditions compared to the Subaru.

Try as hard as I might - I cannot get my 2003 Subaru Outback stuck!

Is Audi pretty much the same way?

Thanks in advance,

Ben

[LINDW4LL]

Not a Subaru owner (sorry), but the consensus is that quattro and Subaru's symettrical AWD are both fantastic. In my experience it seems that overall, most people prefer quattro. But they are both top notch, and with proper tires you'll have a tough time getting stuck in either of them.

[Dennis C]

I have two Subaru Foresters (a 2011 and a 2012). They are manual transmission cars and both are equipped with proper snow tires. My teenagers drive them. The Subarus are outstanding in snow, ice and other slippery conditions.

I don't yet have my SQ5, but I have owned an Allroad Quattro in the past. The Allroad Quattro with snow tires was the best car that I have ever driven in snow. I think the traction was similar to the Subarus, but the lower center of gravity and the better suspension of the Audi made it a superior driver in the snow. I suspect that the same will be true of the Q5 or SQ5.

[Redd]

If you've never been stuck, you're just not trying hard enough.

With enough snow, you lift the body pan up and all four wheels come off the ground. Zero traction and you're stuck.

With enough soft sand, you can dig down until you reach the top of the shock absorbers. Keep going, you'll find the wheels down there too.

And with a good mud puddle, you can also help winch out the tractor that you were expecting would pull out your car.

The more traction you've got, the further off road you'll be before it gets stuck. Even with real 4WD.

[Q5_TDI]

The thing to remember is neither the Q5 nor any Subaru are "off road" vehicles. Bad weather on road vehicles - sure. Hard packed dirt, gravel roads … sure.
How "good" the 4WD is in either is all relative - what conditions are you really going to be driving in?
A true four wheel drive vehicle powers all four wheels equally with locking differentials and are only limited by their ground clearance, tires and conditions.
I owned a 85 Subaru wagon - cheap, tough, easy to maintain, lack of ground clearance got me more than once.
ALL vehicles get stuck, if you haven't been stuck in the Subaru, that's because you haven't left the parking lot.

[mtnbikerva1]

2 blown head gaskets.
Under powered 2.5l engine.
Ok for snow and fields.
Tires make a HUGE difference on any vehicle.

[Transfer]

I had a 2010 WRX for a while and it had full time 50/50 AWD. I put Pirelli Sottozero winter tires on it and it became a winter tank. BUT the performance handling was not good, with nothing but understeer, understeer, understeer. You couldn't rotate that tail now matter how hard you tried. The STi is a different story as it has ability for 30/70(?) RWD bias and has actual mechanical diffs that work well. This is the only Subaru with the good diffs. Audi's Quattro with 40/60 Torsen diff seems to be actually better than Subaru's 50/50 symmetric IMO. Both will understeer, but the Quattro system will give you a little rotation. You have to be careful though because not all Quattro is truly Quattro and sometimes it is Haldex, which is really not very good at all. Any motor aligned longitudinally (front to rear) should have proper Quattro while a horizontal engine placement (side to side like in A3) has Haldex but they still call it Quattro. Thankfully all Q5s have longitudinal engines and 40/60 Quattro.

Long story short, some Audi's are better than Subaru IMO, but some are worse. Q5 is excellent.

[Dennis C]

Our Foresters have been fantastic. They are reliable, economical and they handle well in snow. They are underpowered, no doubt about that. However, that's okay for me for the way I use them. As mentioned above, they aren't off-road vehicles. If I wanted an off-road vehicle, I would buy something else. The same can be said of the Q5.

I'm a huge believer in winter tires. I'd generally take a 2WD car with proper winter tires over an AWD car with all-seasons in snowy weather.

[Transfer]

I'm a huge believer in winter tires. I'd generally take a 2WD car with proper winter tires over an AWD car with all-seasons in snowy weather.

QFT. I highly agree.

[Redd]

"I'd generally take a 2WD car with proper winter tires over an AWD car with all-seasons in snowy weather. "

And I've shown a number of people exactly that. In an Olds Cutlass with a posi rear end and "all season tires", and a vintage 289 Mustang with just one wheel drive--but studded snows. Parked on a steep hill, on two inches of solid ice from a burst fire hydrant. No problem getting in or out.

Anything beats 1WD with summer tires. Anything else beats "4 season tires". The rest is all up for grabs.

[Xenonista]

I'd generally take a 2WD car with proper winter tires over an AWD car with all-seasons in snowy weather.

In California you want AWD with snow-rated (M+S at least) tires. Even 2WD with winter tires will force you to stop and put on chains at checkpoints. If you drive in the Sierra you want an AWD/4WD vehicle, no ifs and buts. Doesn't matter if a 2WD is "better" - you really don't want to deal with chains on a regular basis.

In 25 years of driving in the Sierra I've only ever seen R2 active, maybe on some rare occasion a different rating on a backroad. I think it's the only rating they use on the interstates. Instead of going to a higher level they close it or have you convoy behind a plow.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/chcontrl.htm

Caltrans regulations is the #1 reason AWD/4WD vehicles sell well in CA.

[Dennis C]

Funny how they will allow an AWD SUV with all-seasons (a.k.a. no-seasons) through the chain-up stations, but a 2WD with snow tires needs to stop for chains.

[spijun]

Tires are the most important and here's why: Because of factors 7 degrees Celsius



http://www.1010tires.com/store/conte...res-guide.aspx

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/w...ter-tyres.html

[FussyBob]

I own both a Q5 and Outback. After one year and 3000 miles in with the 2014 Q5, the family just doesn't drive it much, not as pleased as with the Outback. In fact, we are going to look at the Forester tomorrow to replace the Q5. The Q5 just has a nervous ride and doesn't handle anywhere near what the Outback does, the 8 speed trans sucks, always up/down shifting. The Q5 is listed as a light truck and it is. We also feel that the Outback is better in 4-6 inch snows, both vehicles have the same Conti A/S tires. The higher Q5 just breaks traction too easily when the weight shifts. We also owned two Audi A4s and the Q5 is nowhere near the great performing A4s.

We can live with the Q5 but as you can see from the low milage everyone seems to jump in the Outback first just beacuse it functions so nicely in all areas of driving.

[spijun]

The Q5 just has a nervous ride and doesn't handle anywhere near what the Outback does, the 8 speed trans sucks, always up/down shifting.
We also owned two Audi A4s and the Q5 is nowhere near the great performing A4s.

It's your personal opinion. Totally incomparable categories and classes of cars Outback vs Q5
2013 Subaru Outback Wagon . Outback can be compared with the Audi allroad (maybe it not realistic because the Audi is premium class)

Same 8-speed automatic gearbox are installed in new RS6 or RS7

FYI A4/A5 and Q5 were made on the same platform , same engines, brakes and much more

The sales results worldwide is the best indicator of quality

[Dennis C]

spijun is right about tires. This is true even on cold, dry pavement. A dedicated winter tire will perform better in this situation than an all-season tire or a dedicated summer tire.

It's also important to note that winter tires aren't all the same. I've used many brands, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. Blizzaks tend to be very good in snow, but sloppy on dry pavement. A more sport-oriented winter tire like the Pirelli Winter Snow Sport is great on cold, dry pavement, but it isn't as good as the Blizzak in snow.

I'm looking forward to picking up the SQ5 next week so that I can provide a comparison. I will be running winter tires for another 6 weeks or so. For the SQ5, I will be running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R tires.

[mtnbikerva1]

The q5 3.0t I have stops 20 feet better than the Outback!
The outback can hardly get out of its own way.
And I have never had another vehicle blow a headgasket let alone 2x.
My outback was a pile of crap after a few years.
And the all over quality, feel, etc. ARE YOU KIDDING.
I admit Audi putting the ipad, iPhone, iPod connection in the glove compartment and not somewhere usable like other modern day vehicles is just stupid and lazy of Audi!

[FussyBob]

The q5 3.0t I have stops 20 feet better than the Outback!
The outback can hardly get out of its own way.
And I have never had another vehicle blow a headgasket let alone 2x.
My outback was a pile of crap after a few years.
And the all over quality, feel, etc. ARE YOU KIDDING.
I admit Audi putting the ipad, iPhone, iPod connection in the glove compartment and not somewhere usable like other modern day vehicles is just stupid and lazy of Audi!

I respect your opinion, but my family has owned 3 Outbacks, most had 100K+ miles and almost zero problems. The Q5 is our 3rd recent Audi, and we don't like the jiggly ride, the numb electonic steering, and top heaviness in the snow makes for a less secure ride over the Outback. We are going to look at the Forester this weekend. The Q5 may just be going after 1 year and 3,000 miles. The Forester was Motortrend's SUV of the 2014 Year all panelists basically praised it. They were not happy wth the Q5's ride, yes it was the SQ5, but that is even more damped and they said the ride was nervous. I have no idea why your Subie blew head gaskets, never had a head problem in the past.

Bottom line my family is not pleased with the Q5 ride/handling, they were all happy with the A4s, it doesn't even come close. We are also going to look at a Grand Cherokee, and Lincoln MKX.

[FussyBob]

The q5 3.0t I have stops 20 feet better than the Outback!
The outback can hardly get out of its own way.
And I have never had another vehicle blow a headgasket let alone 2x.
My outback was a pile of crap after a few years.
And the all over quality, feel, etc. ARE YOU KIDDING.
I admit Audi putting the ipad, iPhone, iPod connection in the glove compartment and not somewhere usable like other modern day vehicles is just stupid and lazy of Audi!

We had 3 Outbacks and 3 Audis and the Outbacks stay where the Audis are traded in, we like them!

We liked our A4s, the Q5 quality/performance compared to the A4s is downhill for us. We just decided after owning the 2014 for almost a year and with ony 3,000 on it as the famaily members are not pulled towards it to drive it we will most likely unload it.

[Dennis C]

If you don't like the Q5 and you like the Subie, then you should buy the Subie!

You're the one paying the bills, so you should buy whatever you like.

[spijun]

If you don't like the Q5 and you like the Subie, then you should buy the Subie!

You're the one paying the bills, so you should buy whatever you like.

+1