On the eve of another New York City snow day seems like the appropriate time to say a few commendable words about the 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT. Live from the Brooklyn field, Gotryke can’t contain the enthusiasm over the performance of the Subaru Legacy on the first of several nor’easters to take down Brooklyn this winter season.
Tamara’s Take:
“Subaru Legacy lives up to the hype treading snow like a rescue dog. allwheel drive & vehicle dynamics control/torque distribution are nice” 4:21 PM Feb 10th via Tweetie
I posted this tweet, pulled over to the side of the road on the first of the Nor’easters to hit New York. Most of the good things said about the Legacy have to do with its CVT stock and commendable 31 mpg fuel economy scores on the highway. Yet, the Legacy proclaims itself a master in the snow. Realistically, how could such a wee vehicle handle well in winter conditions? Not everyone wants to drive like a WRX rally car driver.
Driving is believing. The Legacy bore down and plowed through a solid foot of powder in the driveway, holding steady on the slippery streets with little wiggle in the over steer and under steer departments. In a word, I felt safe in the Legacy despite the bozos in cars around me.
Standard all-wheel drive is only a party of the well-balanced pedigree. The torque distribution kept things moving steady, managing thrust and weight effectively, as well as the of vehicle dynamics function keep the wheels squarely on track. Now Subaru needs to make an accessories feature for a mini-snow plow.
Lee Quinones: There might as well have been a Caribbean sea breeze flanking all sides of the suspension and four corners of the wheels on this pup because it plowed through one of New York’s Winter snow storms like no other sedan that I’ve driven in such conditions. It felt mighty firm yet confident through the drifts and under iced sheeted streets.
Every aspect of the interior was comfort especially with a top shelf audio system capping it all off. The seating area was rather spacious and the leather seats were fit contoured to give a great driving experience long term or short
Perhaps it’s the funky design scheme — but I like the basic DNA of Subaru’s. Subaru maintain it’s funkiness with a new campaign for Outback Detergent. Here we have the perfect marketing scheme for a messy driver like me, in and out of the car. I grew up on a dirt road, and I never got out of a car without a ring of dirt around my calf. I would use Outback Detergent.
But, Outback Detergent is real, and so are the demands on Subaru to produce a competitive small SUV in a market that’s now saturated. [click to continue…]
The New York Auto Show opens to the public tomorrow, but all week long automotive main stream media and bloggers have converged upon the Javits Center to peep the unveiling of new vechicles. We’ve decided to check in with our favorite car blogs to see what their reactions have been across the board to the press conferences. Read on for the skinny and the talk of the town. [click to continue…]
January is a month of beginnings. And so we set forth in a 2009 Subaru Tribeca, bags packed, ready to fly to colder pastures. With the message of hope resonating, it feels like a time for togetherness — even here in New York City, generally a beacon for solos. And so it’s an appropriate time to examine moderately-priced family cars. The New York-centric named 2009 SubaruTribeca is a good starting point for investigation. Automakers must have anticipated this era with the onslaught of compact utilities that are on the market. Okay, so maybe Obama’s presidency wasn’t their inspiration, but what’s resulted in the past two seasons is a lot of vehicles that look, behave and operate in very similar ways. (See Ford Edge and the rest of the gang). Yet, there are slight differentiators in ride, handling, features, cup holders and fuel economy that have left room for discussion, so let’s take it from there and focus on what makes Subaru distinct. Subaru claims their buyers tend to have a high level of education and like to seek out new experiences. Perhaps that’s why they named the CUV for the triangulated area of Manhattan between Broadway and the Hudson River south of Greenwich Village — certainly a hub for these aspirations.
In any case the dust has settled from the 2008 do-over redesign and the fuel frenzy, and Tribeca still seems to be looking for it’s niche. This isn’t to say it’s a bad ride. In fact, this practical grocery-getter is rather sturdy. The 2009 Tribeca comes standard with two rows, with a reclining second row that also slides 8 inches forward and back to stash more cargo or for a little extra legroom. With a nod to it’s rallying siblings, it also comes with standard all-wheel drive and a well-equipped 3.6 liter six cylinder, that blows 256 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 247 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm. (Unfortunately this confident engine churns at a rate of 16 mpg in the city and 21 on the highway in these green days.) Or as Leftlane News puts it: The engine fitted to the Tribeca gains some muscle thanks to more displacement and is the most powerful naturally aspirated powerplant ever fitted by Subaru. Some find the brakes spongy — such as CarGuru.But we found the handling up to par as the Tribeca held it’s own in stop and go of real life Tribeca.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8ce66963-66ab-4f95-843c-401fedb614c4)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=3d48ad0b-407b-43ec-88f7-36b263a1d926)
