Now that you've had it a while...

Flyby · Sat Jun 05, 2010 4:12 pm

Subaru engines are peculiar for their "noises". Sometimes my car runs along silky smooth and quiet. Sometimes it's noisy with a lot of valve noise. From the forums I've learned it's just the nature of the Subie boxer enigne. Nothing to worry about, and in nine years, I haven't.

Still, if I were to buy either one today (which I won't), I'd lean towards either the Legacy GT with it's 6-speed and turbo, or the Kiz with the 6-speed (though I still prefer AWD for the weather here). Interesting that you found the new Legacy floaty, but I've read that about most versions of it, except for the GT. Going slightly OT I hope Suzuki will include a 6-speed AWD turbo Kiz in it's lineup in the future.
Flyby out

Hawkzilla · Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:40 pm

I can't wait to drive my Kizashi in the snow. I live in a very hilly city and HATE slow accelerations in the snow. I have a feeling I will be zipping all over town this winter!

TheHolyGhost · Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:14 pm

That's the thing I'll miss most about my Legacy and A4. I never had to dig out, just make a small little path and laugh at everyone spending all morning shoveling.

Flyby · Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:57 pm

I wonder how that CVT is in the snow while in manual mode? I tend to think sticks give better throttle control in the snow, but I'm a fan of manual trannies anyway. Now if they came out with a Kiz that had a dual clutch sequential tranny as in the GTR I'd like to try that in the snow!

Awwwkkk!!! I'm a tranny snob!

I'm sure someone has driven the Kiz CVT in the snow.
No matter how you slice it, I'd rather have an AWD around here in the winter than FWD. Hard to imagine the time when all I had was RWD cars, and tried negotiating hills and such with junk in the trunk for weight over the rear axle. I had two Corvairs, and they were great in the snow; almost unstoppable.

Senegal · Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:59 pm

Kizashi is just fine in the snow..other than one incident on this forum where an excited owner tried to drive the car in 10 foot of snow, obviously not realizing the car's clearance measures less than 6 inches

I drove in snow while in Oregon just on std tires (18")....went thru some hills and some curves and no problem.

Flyby · Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:53 am

Senegal wrote:Kizashi is just fine in the snow..other than one incident on this forum where an excited owner tried to drive the car in 10 foot of snow, obviously not realizing the car's clearance measures less than 6 inches

I drove in snow while in Oregon just on std tires (18")....went thru some hills and some curves and no problem.

hey Senegal, is that an FWD or an AWD Kiz you got there?
Flyby out

Senegal · Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:59 am

Mine is AWD, and I didn't even need to disable the traction control.

Now in the FWD model, one reviewer tested the car in snow and still did pretty well and I believe he didn't need to disable the traction control either.

is anyone going to put winter tires on their Kizashi? I feel confident just on std tires, but I would hate to see something happen because it didn't have the proper gear.

Senegal · Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:08 am

TheHolyGhost wrote:I do miss the AWD from my old Legacy. The new legacy is nothing like the old one though. The Kizashi is closer. The fit and finish and features of the Kizashi are better, but in terms of handling, driving dynamics and the like the Kizashi is head and shoulders above the new Legacy IMO. The new Legacy feels floaty.

I didn't like the new Legacy either. Although early production cars had tire/alignment issues that could have contributed to the "floaty" feeling that you're describing.

As far as the lag with CVT in the initial acceleration....I just bypass it with M-mode driving, which is just more fun

When it's time for snow though, this very same "lag" would be beneficial.

gaww · Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:32 pm

All this chatter on the "lag" with the CVT and winter driving got me to thinking:

1. The lag might be due to the Traction control system.

2. The lag in winter may be good in normal highway driving - especially in the traction control system is managing it. However, in getting started in deep snow - they advise turning it off. This is because with drive-by-wire, when all wheels are spinning, the control system will want to cut back on the throttle to counter the spinning (even if you have it floored). This is why i had problems in deep snow in my Morano getting started until I turned it off - then off it went.

3. Just to check on the lag in dry conditions - i am going to try with the control system turned off to see if it causes the lag. Will have to find a quiet straight road here - bit of a problem in WNC. Will post results in either case.

Hawkzilla · Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:18 pm

For what it's worth, I feel my initial lag has been improved with the K&N air filter. If turning the TCS off helps even a little it should get me to the point where it's no longer annoying. One thing I do wonder is this, would you guys think it would make a dif if I had AWD on or off? Logically I would think having power to all 4 wheels would help acceleration, but maybe the power drops some being distributed to all wheels? I'm not car-knowledgeable enough to know if this even matters, but I would like to maximize my initial acceleration so I figure it's worth asking.