It's Settled

"Agrajag" (Agrajag) 01/22/2019 at 10:35 • Filed to: subaru

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I like this car.

With our first decentish snowfall, I took the Subaru on top of a mountain into state game lands. This is the first AWD car I’ve owned or driven in snow. I learned to drive in the snow in a 1989 Caprice. I also learned how to slide backwards down a snow covered hill and through an intersection in the same car. Important lessons about maintaining momentum and application of weight in the rear of the car were learned that day.

This is cheating.

The car came with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! tires. Not the greatest tire for these conditions, but I wanted to see what the car could do. It made it up the mountain with no issue. I feel like my old Golf with its Hakkapeliittas would’ve had a tough time.

Some pictures from walking around:

This thing is awesome.

Nibby > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 10:39

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I t ’ s s e t t l e d . I l i k e y o u .

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 10:41

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Hey! That’s my car from almost 10 years ago!

Good solid car. Sold it because it was too slow for me. But funny enough today’s I mprezas/Crosstrek has even less power LOL

functionoverfashion > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 10:45

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AWD is pretty fantastic. I do put snow tires on mine, but I’m still amazed that I can start from a stop, on a hill, in any conditions, including when my driveway is blue ice with water running down it.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 10:47

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I like that burnt orange color. Stands out in the snow. Yesterday I went out on the ice where the local Ice Racers cut a track and there was a few of other nuts out there doing laps, and trying to drift, one was a lifted blobeye wagon, I was able to keep up with it okay, but I could tell it had more control then I did.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 10:49

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This was my first new car purchase, pic of the same model and color, not the car. Bought it in 2001, drove until 2012 and replaced it with an outback. It really was great in the snow and on dirt roads in general. I think the OBS shares more DNA with the WRX than you would think.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:00

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Just wait till you try it with snow tires. 

Agrajag > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 01/22/2019 at 11:10

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Coming from a 62hp car this has plenty, lol.

Agrajag > Nibby 01/22/2019 at 11:11

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Likewise. :)

Agrajag > functionoverfashion 01/22/2019 at 11:12

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When these tires wear out I’ll probably get a set of WRG4's for it.

TorqueToYield > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:17

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Snow is pretty much the only time these cars are really fun to drive.

Dirt/gravel roads are pretty fantastic too.

functionoverfashion > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:18

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I’ve had good luck keeping an eye on Craigslist for full wheel/tire setups, people sell them all the time for various reasons. I bought my current set of snows last summer when the previous owner sold his car, but wanted a little extra cash from the brand new wheel/tire combo he had bought in April. He paid around $800 from tire rack, I got the set for $500. I probably look on CL once a week, and have been for years.

vicali > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:24

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We put Xice2 on our Forester the first winter we had it. I was excited for some awd power slides in the first empty snow parking lot I could find. Cut to 5 minute of driving around in circles, no slide..

You have to be ridiculous with the go pedal in first gear to get it loose.. then it tries with all its might to get back in line.

I’ve never had it slip by accident- ever. It’s been 10 years now and it’s second set of winters.

Agrajag > vicali 01/22/2019 at 11:28

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Lol.  A few years back I went to a snowy parking lot with a friend who had a Forrester. I was happily donuting with the 240D and he was just driving around.

HammerheadFistpunch > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:39

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Yeah those tires look like a terrible choice for those conditions. T hen again, When I had my forester it had pilot sport A/S or Conti extremcontact AW tires on year round and it suited me just fine. With AWD I’ve noticed that the tires don’t matter as much with fresh and losepack snow, but on hard and ice it makes all the difference.  I was having a freaking ball in the cruiser yesterday.  a foot of freshies and a couple of empty parking lots made for a perfect stage for fat truck dancing.  Plus with the center and rear locked I could even do those fun WRC perfect circle rally spins....slowly.  

HammerheadFistpunch > functionoverfashion 01/22/2019 at 11:40

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I sold my old winter tires and wheels for $150. That dude got a steal!  Steel wheels with 1 season old WS80's.  I couldn’t seem to sell them for me though.  

vicali > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:42

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It’s the most boring daily driver ever - no sketchy behavior, no ‘almost made it’, no sending required. Point it and it will go there, snow, rain, dirt, mud - it does not care.

It’s perfect for my Wife.

functionoverfashion > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2019 at 11:56

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That is a steal. I sold my 4-season old Michelin tires on 7-season sport edition cheapo wheels for $150! They would have passed inspection, barely. But not much good for snow. The guy who bought them had bought a basket case E46 for $100 and did a ton of work, just needed some tires to get by haha.

Textured Soy Protein > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 11:56

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Hmm I wonder what the snow capability of those Federal 595s really is. My wife had an Impreza and the Yokohama S34D OE tires were basically dogshit in the snow even with the awd. They were all-season in name only. The first Wisconsin winter we had that car, after the second snowfall with those Yokos, I said fuck this, we’re getting better tires. I wanted to get General RT43s but they weren’t in stock locally so I went with BFG Comp-2 A/S, and voila, it became fine in the snow.

We swapped that Impreza for a CX-5 this past summer, and it has Toyo A36 OE tires. The previous-gen CX-5 came with Toyo A23s that weren’t as terribly reviewed as the Yoko S34Ds that came on our Impreza, but they weren’t good. But we’re in Maryland now and I figured we’d wait and see how the car did in the snow before junking the OE tires. Lo and behold, they’re actually pretty damn decent! So we’re not going to be tire shopping.

I have Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4s for my snow tires for my 335xi and it’s excellent with them, aside from the low ground clearance thanks to my suspension mods. But with the small amount of snow we’ve gotten and the fact that I work from home, I’ve never bothered to swap my wheels this year. If it snows, m y wife takes her car to work during the day, and then I take it to the gym in the evening. So that’s happened all of 2 days this year, ha.

thejustache > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 12:32

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That’s why I like having a turbo Subaru. With 4 snows it obeys my orders and behaves without questions, but when I want to have fun I get on the boost and it will break free. I did a couple snownuts with a friend in the car this weekend and he couldn’t believe how hard it launched after I straightened it out. All the traction + decent power is a fun combo!

Agrajag > Textured Soy Protein 01/22/2019 at 12:39

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They’re listed under their Ultra High Performance section so I don’t think they’re intended to be all that great in the snow.

Textured Soy Protein > Agrajag 01/22/2019 at 13:02

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Some UHPAS tires are good in the snow, including the Comp-2 A/S that I put on my wife’s Impreza, and also the Continental DWS series and Michelin Pilot A/S 3. That doesn’t guarantee your 595s are similarly good of course but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility based on the category.