What year did Subaru start making all their cars with their Symmetrical All Wheel Drive system?
What years did they make improvements?
And also I was wanting to get the Outback or Legacy Wagon, but would the Sedan version be better in wheel traction because of the body weight distribution is more even?
Any suggestions for the best Subaru Sedan or Wagon? I mainly want one for the rain, ice, and snow.
Is the impreza real small inside?
Which have the Boxer engine?
-I read that Subaru started the Symmetrical AWD on all their vehicles in 1997, but I want to be sure.
Hear is the link I read http://www.subaru.com/drive/awd.html
www.cars101.com is a gold mine of Subaru information.
They switched over to exclusively-AWD in 1997.
Improvements? What do you mean by that?
Outback is higher than the Legacy Wagon, thus a slightly higher centre-of-gravity and slightly sloppier handling. When comparing the Legacy sedan to the Legacy wagon, weight distribution is inconsequential, since their weights are almost identical.
Best Subaru sedan and wagon would have to go to the 2005-06 Legacy. It is by far the best-looking Legacy to date. Considering its standard equipment-price ratio, it cannot be surpassed.
Yes, the Impreza is small on the inside; it is a compact car. However, I find the cargo capacity to be quite good on the more recent Imprezas.
And of course, all Subarus have the Boxer engine.
Go to http://www.subaru.com. Then at the top of the page will be the word engineering. Click on this. Hopefully, it will answer your questions.
References :
http://www.cars101.com is a gold mine of Subaru information.
They switched over to exclusively-AWD in 1997.
Improvements? What do you mean by that?
Outback is higher than the Legacy Wagon, thus a slightly higher centre-of-gravity and slightly sloppier handling. When comparing the Legacy sedan to the Legacy wagon, weight distribution is inconsequential, since their weights are almost identical.
Best Subaru sedan and wagon would have to go to the 2005-06 Legacy. It is by far the best-looking Legacy to date. Considering its standard equipment-price ratio, it cannot be surpassed.
Yes, the Impreza is small on the inside; it is a compact car. However, I find the cargo capacity to be quite good on the more recent Imprezas.
And of course, all Subarus have the Boxer engine.
References :
http://www.cars101.com
Personal Experience
Common Sense
"Symmetrical AWD" is a marketing slogan, which Subaru began using a couple of years ago. The cars’ drive systems have been "symmetrical" for a long time. Many cars with a tradition of rear wheel drive now use AWD systems that limit the power that can be sent to the front wheels. The claim for such Porsche systems, for example, is that this is better on the track (Porsche recently improved their system, and, reading between the lines, I believe they are now ‘symmetrical’). Subies can send up to 100 percent of the engine’s power to any wheel on the car.
I’ve owned (and still own) Subarus. I own a Porsche 911 Turbo with AWD. I sold my full size Mitsubishi Montero four wheel drive, in part because it was so much worse on snowy roads than my Subie. I’ve driven expensive Audis with their "quattro" all-wheel systems. No production auto is better than a Subaru on ice and snow — not one.
I recommend the Outback wagon or Sport for their increased road clearance. Crossing SMALL streams and driving up rutted dirt roads is no problem for these cars, while the lower Legacy is more limited in this regard. Yes, the approx. 2.5 inch higher suspension does mean the car does not corner quite as flat as the Legacy, but hey, these aren’t race cars, and with their inherently low center-of-gravity boxer engines, they are certainly not "sloppy."
My wife, who drove the Impreza we once owned, claimed it was even better in the snow than the Outback. I though that car was quite nicely sized. It was comfortable for four adults, and had a good-sized trunk. All Subarus are excellent "bang for the buck" vehicles. I would not recommend the six-cylinder over the turbocharged four.
References :
I am a long-time Subaru owner. I am a mechanical engineer. Of four cars in my garage at present, only my son’s Honda Civic sedan is not all-wheel drive. He wanted it for the forty miles per gallon fuel economy. It is a good car, but would be a better car with all-wheel drive.