Forester '06 - manual or auto?

[Adam]

Hello all, from a very sunny and warm Warsaw, Poland

I am disgusted with my Ford Galaxy V6 (long story, not the time or
place here), and am looking at changing to a Forester 2.5XT full spec.
Basic question to you, the experts, is: MANUAL or AUTO?

Some quick info:
- primarily single occupancy (daytime company use), otherwise 2 adults
and a 3 year-old (evenings and weekends)
- probably 80% (pretty thick) city traffic vs. 20% intercity
- no towing, no real off-road

I know the info above points to auto, but I have heard that the auto
gets quite noisy above 100 mph (sorry to say that these not quite legal
speeds are often seen in Poland) - what do you think?

Also (although I admit I am being a bit daft here), the prospect of a
0-60 in under 6 secs is mouthwatering compared to a "sluggish" 7.5 in
the auto (I'm being daft because my current car barely breaks the 10
sec mark). But again, comments / impressions on this point are welcome.

Thanks in advance for your help
Adam

 

[Edward Hayes]

I have 93,000 miles on my 2000 Forester and love the Automatic. I
really would like a Manual transmission but with the traffic I see it
would be a big mistake. My AT is not noisy at any speed. ed

 

[MN]

Hello all, from a very sunny and warm Warsaw, Poland

I am disgusted with my Ford Galaxy V6 (long story, not the time or
place here), and am looking at changing to a Forester 2.5XT full spec.
Basic question to you, the experts, is: MANUAL or AUTO?

Some quick info:
- primarily single occupancy (daytime company use), otherwise 2 adults
and a 3 year-old (evenings and weekends)
- probably 80% (pretty thick) city traffic vs. 20% intercity
- no towing, no real off-road

I know the info above points to auto, but I have heard that the auto
gets quite noisy above 100 mph (sorry to say that these not quite legal
speeds are often seen in Poland) - what do you think?

It seems to me you are a perfect candidate for a manual.

You'll get the chance to kill yourself much sooner this way.
I sense this is your unconcious desire, I mean what else can it
be, if you forsee driving at 100mph speeds in a place where
such driving is extremely dangerous (terrible narrow roads
and no highways at all). On the other hand, a manual may
give you a split-second better chance at avoiding an accident
when passing.

Good luck to you, I hope you have no children so there will
be no orphans left.

MN

 

[MN]

Good luck to you, I hope you have no children so there will
be no orphans left.

MN

Oooops, I take this back, didn't notice there is this 3yr
old child, but then it may get killed too, ...so go figure?

MN

 

[~~Phil~~]

Hello all, from a very sunny and warm Warsaw, Poland

Forester 2.5XT full spec.
Basic question to you, the experts, is: MANUAL or AUTO?

Some quick info:
- primarily single occupancy (daytime company use), otherwise 2 adults
and a 3 year-old (evenings and weekends)
- probably 80% (pretty thick) city traffic vs. 20% intercity ---snipped--
Adam

Hi:

My question to you - are you a twenty something year old who wants
to exercise you legs a lot? If not, go for the auto. [80% thick stop & go
traffic]

With the auto you still will have a ride that should put a grin on your
face but you won't have to work at driving so much. ENJOY!

~~Phil~~

 

[Adam]

Thanks to all so far, and (at the risk of digressing) especially MN for
the encouraging note. I take it you haven't driven in Poland for the
last 10+ years and are therefore resorting to dated stereotypes. The
road I had in mind for those speeds is two lanes both ways, not German
autobahn smooth but not awful either (in any case I understand that's
what Foresters were built to handle).

MN, I would refer you to some sites that counter your point about
Poland not having highways, but I imagine you wouldn't bother looking
at them anyway.

Again, thanks to Phil & Edward for their comments and please don't let
this witty off-topic repartie stop others from giving me useful advice.

Adam

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Is there any opportunity there to try both? In extremely slow crawling
traffic, a high performance MT can can be annoyingly 'jerky' and require
clutch feathering a lot.

In general, I'm fond of telling myself and others NOT to talk yourself
out of what you want. A car is a long term commitment and you may as
well drive what you enjoy.

Carl

 

[Adam]

Carl

Thanks. I don't know WHAT I want in this respect. I have always driven
manual up to now but am starting to get annoyed with my right hand on
the gearstick all the time.

I test drove the '05 Forester 2.0 manual today (and was amazed at the
road holding) and also an Outback 3.0 Auto (and was amazed at the
performance). So I think that the 06 Forester 2.5 XT auto will give me
a combination of those 2 amazement factors - am I right?

Adam

 

[Nige]

Carl

Thanks. I don't know WHAT I want in this respect. I have always driven
manual up to now but am starting to get annoyed with my right hand on
the gearstick all the time.

I test drove the '05 Forester 2.0 manual today (and was amazed at the
road holding) and also an Outback 3.0 Auto (and was amazed at the
performance). So I think that the 06 Forester 2.5 XT auto will give me
a combination of those 2 amazement factors - am I right?

Adam

A WRX estate (UK) or wagon (USA) will give you miles more of both for less!!!

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (Annabel)

Landrover 110 County Station Wagon (Tyson)

'"Say hello to my little friend"

 

[Adam]

Nige

Although this will show painfully how little research I have done - I
wasn't aware the WRX had an estate version (it's just not something I
would associate with an Impreza). Thanks for a good tip. However, am I
correct in saying there is no automatic option on the WRX?

Why do you think people choose the Forester over the WRX estate? Or
putting it another way, how are these cars positioned by Subaru?

Adam

 

[Nige]

Nige

Although this will show painfully how little research I have done - I
wasn't aware the WRX had an estate version (it's just not something I
would associate with an Impreza). Thanks for a good tip. However, am I
correct in saying there is no automatic option on the WRX?

Why do you think people choose the Forester over the WRX estate? Or
putting it another way, how are these cars positioned by Subaru?

Adam

Yeah, they do an auto, not sure about UK (if yer there) though. The WRX NEEDS a decent manual!

Nige
--
Subaru WRX (Annabel)

Landrover 110 County Station Wagon (Tyson)

'"Say hello to my little friend"

 

[Nige]

Nige

Although this will show painfully how little research I have done - I
wasn't aware the WRX had an estate version (it's just not something I
would associate with an Impreza). Thanks for a good tip. However, am I
correct in saying there is no automatic option on the WRX?

Why do you think people choose the Forester over the WRX estate? Or
putting it another way, how are these cars positioned by Subaru?

Adam

http://www.subaru.co.uk/IMGGB/WWW/S...51218532F1266B0E80256F2C002EBB03?Opendocument

Have a look at the car at the bottom, in the UK you can get a prodrive PPP for nowt right now, it gives
you 0-60mph time of 4.8 seconds. That will amuse you no end! Now many Porsches could keep up to 60!!

Dont get a Forrester auto when you can have this! It is also one of the best riding cars i have had, no
bangs or crashes over bumps!

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (Annabel)

Landrover 110 County Station Wagon (Tyson)

'"Say hello to my little friend"

 

[MN]

Thanks to all so far, and (at the risk of digressing) especially MN for
the encouraging note. I take it you haven't driven in Poland for the
last 10+ years and are therefore resorting to dated stereotypes. The
road I had in mind for those speeds is two lanes both ways, not German
autobahn smooth but not awful either (in any case I understand that's
what Foresters were built to handle).

MN, I would refer you to some sites that counter your point about
Poland not having highways, but I imagine you wouldn't bother looking
at them anyway.

Again, thanks to Phil & Edward for their comments and please don't let
this witty off-topic repartie stop others from giving me useful advice.

Adam

The tone of my reply was meant to make you reflect on
the whole situation. I mean here you are a young fellow
with a family, and seemingly wanting to reconcile your
desire for owning a somewhat powerful "sporty" car
and a car that could do other (family/business) duty
as well. The Forester XT seems perfect; the only
question being the transmission, right?

Either choice will be a compromise for sure.

Having a manual is tempting at times, I've read somewhere
that injuries in cars equipped with manual transmissions
tend to be more severe- no doubt a result of spirited driving.
Automatics, because they tend to be a bit sluggish can also
be a source of danger under certain circumstances, as you
may not be able to respond as quickly as with a manual.

Seriously, if I were in a similar situation I'd give up a bit of
my driver's passion and go with an automatic. I drive an
Impreza coupe (here's the sporty me), auto, myself-
I've gone through a sort of compromise thing myself.
It isn't bad. Subaru automatic transmissions are fairly
decent.


MN

 

[Adam]

Thanks Nige but MN is right in tempering my testoserone surges. 4.8
seconds is just a tiny bit faster than my synapses fire, so I probably
couldn't handle that. Having said as much, how much more or less is the
"nowt" you mention for the Prodrive? ;-)

MN - I'm gratified that even in this impersonal Internet age there are
still reasonable people out there in the ether with whom normal
discourse is possible!! Thanks for the explanatory note and advice. I
think it will be the auto after all but what about this WRX option,
then?

Adam

 

[mark jb]

I'm a manual advocate. Hell, my forester cracks 160kph easily in fourth,
haven't really pushed it past that. And that was on a winding, hilly back
road about 1 and a half car lanes wide, potholes everywhere, random bumps
and ruts.

Strangely enough, it felt much like it does at 120kph on a perfectly flat
6-lane freeway.

Your biggest problem is the "mostly heavy traffic" bit. That's the only
situation where I'll let someone get away with auto.

But if you really want to enjoy your blasts on the weekend, go manual.

-mark

 

[mark jb]

I'm a manual advocate. Hell, my forester cracks 160kph easily in fourth,

haven't really pushed it past that. And that was on a winding, hilly back
road about 1 and a half car lanes wide, potholes everywhere, random bumps
and ruts.

Strangely enough, it felt much like it does at 120kph on a perfectly flat
6-lane freeway.

Your biggest problem is the "mostly heavy traffic" bit. That's the only
situation where I'll let someone get away with auto.

But if you really want to enjoy your blasts on the weekend, go manual.

-mark

PS: Max highway speed limit in Australia is 110kph. So the car is definately
designed towards high-speed, couldn't hardly make it miss a beat. Just make
sure the alignment's perfect, or you'll have balding front tyres on the
inside edge in no time.

 

[Nige]

Thanks Nige but MN is right in tempering my testoserone surges. 4.8
seconds is just a tiny bit faster than my synapses fire, so I probably
couldn't handle that. Having said as much, how much more or less is
the "nowt" you mention for the Prodrive? ;-)

MN - I'm gratified that even in this impersonal Internet age there are
still reasonable people out there in the ether with whom normal
discourse is possible!! Thanks for the explanatory note and advice. I
think it will be the auto after all but what about this WRX option,
then?

Adam

It's free mate, free as free can be!

You NEED 4.8 seconds, you'll never look back! you wont be able to!

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (Annabel)

Landrover 110 County Station Wagon (Tyson)

'"Say hello to my little friend"