Help my dad choose his next car!

blindside

blindside

Active member
Well I don't really have more than a general knowledge of cars, but here is some information:
- He's been a subaru man for as long as I can remember- He's had the legacy, forester and now the impreza hatchback - He's looking for a similar car to the impreza, not necessarily a subaru- He found the impreza to not perform as well as he expected in winter conditions- The car must be able to support a ski rack or have enough room for a few pairs inside- Similar price range as aforementioned cars- He drives manuel
Let's hear some suggestions! Thanks!
 
new? used? Im guessing he'll want awd. Im pretty sure dodge is making the new challenger with awd.

subaru outback then? i dont know if thats a manual though.
 
RX-8 - horrrible in snow. Mazda 3 - fun car but not amazing in snow but definitely capable, live in the mountains and it wored well. What about a Toyota Tacoma, 4x4, room for whatever in the bed.
 
nissan rogue awd if you're looking for a crossover still.
If you want something beast mode in the snow then get a wrangler unlimited
 
my fave
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Tell him to hold off for a few months and get the new VW Golf R. AWD Turbo-4 w/ 270 HP, and the interior is miles ahead of any Subaru. I want one soo bad.
 
maybe the problem your dad had in the snow was the tires rather than the car. my subaru outback is insane in any snow...even with mediocre tires.
an audi s4 avant (wagon) would be cool. functional yet really fun and of course AWD.
 
2006 Mazda 6 v6 sport wagon.
Perks:under 15,000$ used with under 80,000kms(50,000miles)Leather interiorBose sound system standardRoof railsTiptronic TransmissionFront wheel drive(better than RWD in snow)Reliable
My Dad Got one of these to replace his 2006 Impreza outback wagon, and he likes it even more.
 
if you get a fusion dont go pussy, and get the small version. either you get the biggest one, and fastest, or you dont get a fusion. ive seen many people think "hey i dont need the big version" and that smaller car is shit.
 
if he can forgo the manual transmission and deal with an auto the Honda Accord Crosstour. It responds better and handles better than the outbacks. it's pretty ridiculous.
 
I would agree with this for the most part...

Although from two car crashes of experience (not the driver in both) I actually think lower vehicles (AWD cars) perform a lot better on snowy/icy roads, especially at higher speeds.

I totaled my AWD CR-V and bought a 4x4 XTerra. Although I love the thing and it's AMAZING in super deep snow and off-road conditions, it is TERRIFYING to drive on icy/snowy roads at somewhat higher speeds... It drives like an elephant on ice skates... even in 4WD.

I felt much safer in my little CR-V that was closer to the ground.

And on another note... it's a pain in the fucking ASS to get skis onto the rack on my XTerra because it's so high off the ground. I guess if he's tall that wouldn't be that big of a thing, but it's something to consider.

I'd go for a cross over or hatchback AWD. Though I don't have any specific models to recommend, sorry.
 
Sorry for dub post.

I super agree with this.

You see SO many Subie's out here in the mountains and the many I have driven in all perform above and beyond any other vehicle I have been in.

I personally would kill to drive an Impreza in the winter and my XTerra in the summer...

Maybe make sure he's got the right winter tires before investing in a new vehicle.
 
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The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. probably one of the best cars that is similar to the Impreza. top gear does have a review of the two and liked the evo better.

 
Lancer's are sick... my high school best friend had an '07 and it was disgustingly sick. Take into consideration the SUPER low ground clearance though. If he's looking for winter performance that might not be his ideal car. They also kind of look retarded once you put winter specific tires on them... haaaa.
 
audi s4 all the way if hes got money like that. If not look into the evo gsr its like 32 or if thats too much still look into sti's they are wrx just perfected
 
Ya I thought of that, that's why we may consider the sportback ralliart, I think it has more clearance..
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I wouldnt go with a subaru, ive driven lots of subarus and have yet to be impressed with one in the snow. ive driven a 2005 outback, 2002 wrx, 2004 sti, and a 2010 sti in snow, and neither was very impressive, the outback was probably the best out of them though. all of them understeer like crazy, dont do what you want them to, and give you hardly any feedback. audis are a better choice for a snow car, though im not a fan of any of their newer models. the A3 may be worth looking at though.the new EVO is a mistake.. its almost an insult to the evo name. it weighs something like 3600, you feel disconnected from the steering wheel, you tell it to do one thing and the car makes corrections to do something else. its annoying as hell to drive, it relies way too much on computers and is nowhere near as good of a car as the evo 8 and 9. the ralliart i havent driven, i havent really even looked into them much, but it seems more basic, hopefully this means less retarded electronics, its pretty cool that it comes in a hatch. its also pretty cheap which is nice, and if its anything like the evo in snow, it altleast wont understeer like crazy everywhere...
if i was forced to buy something modern and AWD, id probably choose a VW R32, or a BMW 335xi. both of them, though not much of a pure sports car as their earlier models, are well balanced very good performing cars. and just cool in general.you could also look at a used porsche carrera 4.... awd, and rear engine makes for very good performance in snow, and porsches are actually very reliable, i think they were rated #1 most reliable car company recently, even above companies like honda and toyota..would he consider anything older?? like 2004 and earlier??
 
tell his old lookin ass to go to tha dealaship and test drive some shit. and make a decision based off the test drives
 
audi A4 sport

or for an SUV a volvo XC90

however both of those are expensive to repair and maintain since they are "foreign"
 
technically subarus awd beats quattro in the snow. the engineering standpoint for quattro]4 motion cannot ever match the subaru awd system. subaru has equal lengths on their axles, where as design of motor/tranny on vw/audi does not allow the front axles to be of equal length therefore they cannot divide the power from the engine equally.

Im not a subaru fanboy, i have owned 2 audis... but i just wanted to point this out.
 
having unequal length axles would have very little to no effect on the AWD system, it still divides torque equally.Subaru uses a viscous diff, audi uses a torsen diff. torsen not only reacts faster, it transfers torque more effectively, and it transfers torque before the wheel totally slips. in pretty much all cases, audi's AWD is superior.subaru also relies more on electronics, while audis AWD system is mostly mechanical.
Audi not only wins on paper, but when it comes to actually performing on snow they also win. ive driven a bunch of subaru's on snow, and their tendancy to understeer in the dry only gets much worse in the snow. where while audi's tend to understeer in the dry, they have very neutral handling characteristics in the snow. partly due to their weight distribution in general being better suited for snow, and partly because of their surperior AWD system.actually the best AWD car ive driven is an E30 e25ix, its AWD system on paper is supposed to be worse than audi. but the way the car is set up allows it to handle very neutral, it has a ton of grip on turn in, and the torque split gives a little more torque to the rear which seems to work better than 50/50, since the car squatting under acceleration gives the rear more grip. but id still like to drive an old UR quattro or 90, i could see those doing amazingly well in snow.
Both companies have a lot of variations in their different models, but this is all true for the most part. some of the newer audi's and subaru's have complex electronics and traction control type crap in their AWD systems and i dont even want to start getting into that, because for the most part they are shit.
 
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