Date:         Thu, 4 Jan 1996 10:07:50 MST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Michael A. White" <MIKE.WHITE@law.utah.edu>
Subject:      Re: In defense of Subaru...

> I had a '79 DL, 4x4. It sounded and drove like a tractor, but would never
> get stuck. It would often backfire when shifting between first and second,
> and send pedestrians running for cover. On cold, wet days, the throttle
> linkage would freeze and I'd have to shut the engine down to stop the
> thing. I too started running into excessive repair costs ($600 Y pipe) and
> every time that I worked on it, I'd twist off one or two of the cheap
> pot-metal bolts. Good idea, bad execution. I wouldn't buy another Subaru or
> consider putting Subaru parts in my beloved VWs.

As with any Far Eastern car company Subaru has come of age.  

I bought a '95 Legacy AWD Wagon in August, and am very pleased.  
After surveying the field, the Legacy is every bit as good as a 
Camry, Accord, etc.  In fact since AWD was a requirement for me, no 
one else in the same price range ($20k) offered that.

The 2.2 Flat is quite torquey low down.  Coming out of an Audi Turbo 
Quattro, I was immediately impressed by the low-end torque.  (The 
Audi had little to none)  On the top end, the Audi could dust the 
Subaru, but I didn't have 35k for a new S4.

The Subaru definately isn't on the same level of luxury as my Audi 
was, but it's about 10x cheaper to maintain!

Comparing my old '77 Datsun Wagon (The Pumpkin)...  it was nosiy, 
ugly inside and out, and rusted through all over.  Today's Nissan's 
are much better.

So personally, I wouldn't hesitate to put Subaru's engine in a VW, 
(Without insulting to Steve, after my experience with an '80 
V6 Chevy Citation, I'd not consider that for a vanagon!  13MPG pile 
of bat vomit engine.  Maybe mine was just a lemon -- like all GM cars 
from '80-87!)

But I digress...

- Mike White 

[Mail: mike.white@law.utah.edu   -   mwhite@eng.utah.edu]
Visit my '57 23-Window VW BUS at: [http://cloud8.law.utah.edu/]