Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post - So my dad's thinking about getting a new car. . .

Kevin M · 2006-09-26, 08:42 AM

Holy cow, you mean fuel economy is relative to how you drive? OMGWTFBBQ!

Okay Dean, we all knew that. I have (well, had) empirical evidence of my 170- 180? 190?- bhp RS getting 30-32 mpg over 350 miles daily, and I have gotten as little as 13 mpg at the track. The point I was making is that newer motors are good at being powerful when desired, and economical when desired, just not at the same time. All the Justy motor does is remove the "power" option from the table. Also, the Justy motor didn't get 40 mpg without that 1800 pound kerb weight. Let's stick an EJ251 into something that light and watch it get 35-38 mpg as well, while cutting the 0-60 time in half.

Back to the topic, I highly doubt Jeremiah's dad is looking for anything more than a couple years old, so let's limit our discussion of his options to, say, MY02 vehicles and newer. I would bet he would prefer new though. given that, we need to realize that he CANNOT save money by selling his Forester. The way I read it, he wants a new car and while he's at it, he wants something as economical as possible. Hybrids do help this, but unless he's got a significant commute in heavy traffic, the added purchase cost will outweigh the gas savings. Which brings his options back to NA Subarus, the RAV4 and a few other small SUVs, the Suzuki Aerio and SX4. The Suzukis are by far the cheapest AWDs on the market, but the build quality reflects that, even though they are mechanically reliable like everything else on the US market ATM.

Lastly, nobody has asked this yet- Jeremiah, is your dad's Forester an automatic? If so, buying something new with a stick actually might save him a significant amount on his fuel costs. Maybe as much as 20-25%. Not to mention saving $900-1300 on the cost of the car if it's new.

2006-09-26, 08:42 AM	#17
Kevin M EJ22T Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Reno Posts: 9,445 Car: '93/'01 GF6, mostly red Class: 19 FP	Holy cow, you mean fuel economy is relative to how you drive? OMGWTFBBQ! Okay Dean, we all knew that. I have (well, had) empirical evidence of my 170- 180? 190?- bhp RS getting 30-32 mpg over 350 miles daily, and I have gotten as little as 13 mpg at the track. The point I was making is that newer motors are good at being powerful when desired, and economical when desired, just not at the same time. All the Justy motor does is remove the "power" option from the table. Also, the Justy motor didn't get 40 mpg without that 1800 pound kerb weight. Let's stick an EJ251 into something that light and watch it get 35-38 mpg as well, while cutting the 0-60 time in half. Back to the topic, I highly doubt Jeremiah's dad is looking for anything more than a couple years old, so let's limit our discussion of his options to, say, MY02 vehicles and newer. I would bet he would prefer new though. given that, we need to realize that he CANNOT save money by selling his Forester. The way I read it, he wants a new car and while he's at it, he wants something as economical as possible. Hybrids do help this, but unless he's got a significant commute in heavy traffic, the added purchase cost will outweigh the gas savings. Which brings his options back to NA Subarus, the RAV4 and a few other small SUVs, the Suzuki Aerio and SX4. The Suzukis are by far the cheapest AWDs on the market, but the build quality reflects that, even though they are mechanically reliable like everything else on the US market ATM. Lastly, nobody has asked this yet- Jeremiah, is your dad's Forester an automatic? If so, buying something new with a stick actually might save him a significant amount on his fuel costs. Maybe as much as 20-25%. Not to mention saving $900-1300 on the cost of the car if it's new. __________________ FWD is the new AWD Last edited by Kevin M; 2006-09-26 at 08:54 AM.