Brand New 2006 Forester Premium Automatic

[Steve808us]

I just purchased a brand new 2006 Forester Automatic. Driven it less
than one week.

Subaru gurus...What are some of the maintance things I should do/look
out for as I just start out to maintain this baby for long, long life?


Also, I can't find seat covers for the Forester's side airbag front
seats or the middle headrest back seat. any ideas. Thanks.

Steve

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

I just purchased a brand new 2006 Forester Automatic. Driven it less
than one week.

Subaru gurus...What are some of the maintance things I should do/look
out for as I just start out to maintain this baby for long, long life?


Also, I can't find seat covers for the Forester's side airbag front
seats or the middle headrest back seat. any ideas. Thanks.

Steve

Make certain the tires are very well maintained. Rotated and never mixed
with different types or sizes. Pay strict attention to flat
tire/emergency spare instructions in your manual. Best thing, have it
FLAT BED towed after an emergency.

make certain anyone working on the radiator/cooling system KNOWS Subarus
and can take precautions if re-filling the system.

Beware of 'jiffy lube'-type places that may accidentally drain the wrong
fluid.

you may enjoy some of the Soob specific newsgroups like www.usmb.net and
www.nasioc.com . I think there are a coupla Forester specific ones too.

Carl


AWD/4WD can 'go' very well. BUT you still only have 4 small patches of
rubber on the road - don't get in trouble on slippery roads by thinking
you can stop or turn better than other cars.

 

[speednxs]

Carl


AWD/4WD can 'go' very well. BUT you still only have 4 small patches of
rubber on the road - don't get in trouble on slippery roads by thinking

you can stop
True, all cars have 4 wheel brakes.

or turn better than other cars.

Not totally true. This is actually why I bought a Subaru rather than
my other favorite Japanese brand.
Four wheel drive has an advantage accelerating (increasing speed) over
two wheel drive. The force of acceleration is spread evenly over 4
tires rather than unevenly over two tires. Even worse, most two wheel
drive vehicles are Front Wheel Drive. As you accelerate, weight (down
force) is shifted to the rear off the driven tires and onto the
undriven tires. The front tires that need more traction (because they
are providing acceleration force) have less traction and the rear tires
that don't need more traction have more traction. 4 wheel drive
spreading the acceleration force among 4 tires (especially the rears)
is just inherently better. If you wanted to make the argument that 2
wheel FWD has lower transmission losses and better gas mileage, I'd
agree. It's also cheaper to produce.

It was very easy to accidentally chirp the tires on my FWD Honda Accord
making a U-turn from a stop. I have to get on it much harder than
average to do this in my Subaru Forester.

Slippery road have a bigger difference in co-efficient of static
friction and rolling friction than dry roads. Once you start sliding
you have to reduce the cornering and acceleration forces quite a lot
before before the tires hook up again. There can be a very awkward
jolt when they do, especially if you car is all crossed up with respect
to the direction of travel. Most drivers have no clue, so your comment
is pretty good advice for the overconfident average driver. I
particularly hate those TV commercials that say you can drive through
storms without a care in the world.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Carl


AWD/4WD can 'go' very well. BUT you still only have 4 small patches of
rubber on the road - don't get in trouble on slippery roads by thinking

you can stop
True, all cars have 4 wheel brakes.

or turn better than other cars.

Not totally true. This is actually why I bought a Subaru rather than
my other favorite Japanese brand.
Four wheel drive has an advantage accelerating (increasing speed) over
two wheel drive. The force of acceleration is spread evenly over 4
tires rather than unevenly over two tires. Even worse, most two wheel
drive vehicles are Front Wheel Drive. As you accelerate, weight (down
force) is shifted to the rear off the driven tires and onto the
undriven tires. The front tires that need more traction (because they
are providing acceleration force) have less traction and the rear tires
that don't need more traction have more traction. 4 wheel drive
spreading the acceleration force among 4 tires (especially the rears)
is just inherently better. If you wanted to make the argument that 2
wheel FWD has lower transmission losses and better gas mileage, I'd
agree. It's also cheaper to produce.

It was very easy to accidentally chirp the tires on my FWD Honda Accord
making a U-turn from a stop. I have to get on it much harder than
average to do this in my Subaru Forester.

Slippery road have a bigger difference in co-efficient of static
friction and rolling friction than dry roads. Once you start sliding
you have to reduce the cornering and acceleration forces quite a lot
before before the tires hook up again. There can be a very awkward
jolt when they do, especially if you car is all crossed up with respect
to the direction of travel. Most drivers have no clue, so your comment
is pretty good advice for the overconfident average driver. I
particularly hate those TV commercials that say you can drive through
storms without a care in the world.

All good points, and yes - my comment was generalized.
thanx

Carl

 

[Bob H]

I just purchased a brand new 2006 Forester Automatic. Driven it less
than one week.

Subaru gurus...What are some of the maintance things I should do/look
out for as I just start out to maintain this baby for long, long life?


Also, I can't find seat covers for the Forester's side airbag front
seats or the middle headrest back seat. any ideas. Thanks.

Steve

Basically if you adhere to scheduled maintenance you'll do great. Avoid
quick lube joints like the plague for any servicing. And watch for
dealership bonehead service as well (loose oil filters, wrong fill levels,
scratches, beating on your car by the service tech).

Find a dealership with a responsible, impeccable service department.

 

[Steve808us]

Thanks for your info.

I have a new problem. I noticed streaks that look like I splashed in
brown hair dye on the new Gold Forrester behind all four tires the
night I drove it home. I take it to the local car wash emporium and
have it washed a fe days later.They get off 60% of the brown splash
marks, but say that it is "in the paint...in the clear coat etc..." and
they can't get it out. They say that the tire gloss that the dealer
used, must have did this. I drove the car home Jan 30 and it's Feb 6th
now. I purchased the car from an auto broker who purchased it from the
dealer. What shouldI do?

Thanks.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Thanks for your info.

I have a new problem. I noticed streaks that look like I splashed in
brown hair dye on the new Gold Forrester behind all four tires the
night I drove it home. I take it to the local car wash emporium and
have it washed a fe days later.They get off 60% of the brown splash
marks, but say that it is "in the paint...in the clear coat etc..." and
they can't get it out. They say that the tire gloss that the dealer
used, must have did this. I drove the car home Jan 30 and it's Feb 6th
now. I purchased the car from an auto broker who purchased it from the
dealer. What shouldI do?

Thanks.

Find a car detailing shop - a good one - and see what they say about it.

Carl

 

[k. ote]

Best thing, have it
FLAT BED towed after an emergency.

It can also be trolley-towed without damaging anything: the main thing is to
make sure the wheels aren't rolling on the ground, is all.

AWD/4WD can 'go' very well. BUT you still only have 4 small patches of
rubber on the road - don't get in trouble on slippery roads by thinking
you can stop or turn better than other cars.

But he can certainly turn better in slippery conditions than lots of other
cars. Depending on the kind of stopping we're talking about, and the
willingness of the driver to engage the throttle to help matters along
(putting it in reverse, for example, or when backing down a hill) he might
even be able to stop better than 2wd cars too.

 

[Steve808us]

It can also be trolley-towed without damaging anything: the main thing is to
make sure the wheels aren't rolling on the ground, is all.


But he can certainly turn better in slippery conditions than lots of other
cars. Depending on the kind of stopping we're talking about, and the
willingness of the driver to engage the throttle to help matters along
(putting it in reverse, for example, or when backing down a hill) he might
even be able to stop better than 2wd cars too.

Took the car to the dealer to look ath the steaks behind the wheels of
unknown origin. They wanted to say that I rode in something on my way
home. I countered that the person who drove me to pick up the car drove
behind me home and did not have the streaks on their car. That shut
them up. They have to ask some local subaru people about the paint
warrenty.

 

[Wayne Ng]

Four wheel drive has an advantage accelerating (increasing speed) over
two wheel drive. The force of acceleration is spread evenly over 4
tires rather than unevenly over two tires. Even worse, most two wheel
drive vehicles are Front Wheel Drive.

Rear wheel drive has the most advantage accelerating over others as front
wheel drive does on deceleration. AWD is sort of between the two.

It was very easy to accidentally chirp the tires on my FWD Honda Accord
making a U-turn from a stop. I have to get on it much harder than
average to do this in my Subaru Forester.

FWD tends to under steer when making turns whereas RWD tends to oversteer
and again AWD is between the two and more stable.

You'll find the steering wheel is quite heavy when making turn on FWD.