OT Disco v Scoobydoo

DCowling

Can anybody let me know if they have a Subaru legacy and how it performs.
I currently have a Discovery Td5 and want to down size without loosing the 4x4 bit. I have had a quick look round and it seems that all scoobydoo's are petrol is this correct,
Do any of you have one and do you like it

Many thanks in advance

MattC59

I've got a Passat 4motion, it's fantastic in the snow !!!

Diesel Engine, loades of low down grunt, so you can pull off on tick over in second. I've had no problems this year, and last year it was fine driving in snow that was up to the bumper.

The traction control works a treat with the 4wd as well. Las night, it thought I'd try it out. A lot of the back roads around here have about an inch of compacted, polished snow on them, which has re-frozen, it's tough to walk on, let alone drive on. I drove up a hill on it, in 2nd gear, with my foot on the floor with no drama at all. The traction control and 4wd just got on with it.

I've got the estate, so loads of room for bikes too. I'm thinking of getting a Volvo XC70 next, great reviews plenty of room and there's some great prices onthem at the moment. The 2.5L diesel has plenty of power and is pretty quick.

Buckled_Rims

New legacys are diesel and petrol. The big problem in this snow is the lack of ground clearance. The Forester is probably a better choice in this respect.

I used to own an Impreza and it was a great car, but hugely expensive to maintain - ie, timing belts at 45k are cough cough...a lot of money. Oh and 25mpg was common.

bompington

Very happy with my Skoda Octavia 4X4: traction is brilliant (and my tyres aren't that great for tread just now), and it does 45mpg & 0-60 in 18 seconds. Towing a 1 1/2 tonne caravan.
Think of it as a Tesco Value Quattro.

Pross

Subaru were all petrol until a few years ago but they now have a boxer diesel engine which is more 'economical' 45mpg for 2 litre, 33 for 2.5 litre. They also have the Outback or Forester which may offer better options if you do any actual off road stuff. The Freelander 2 might offer you a good compromise with decent off road ability but more of a car feel or possibly an Audi All Road? If you're looking for something older and cheaper there is less choice I think. Nothing smaller is likely to match the off road ability of your Disco though other than perhaps some of the small Suzuki off roaders.

jj1048

I have a 2002 Subaru Outback 3.0, I think it's a great car.

The AWD drive system is excellent, combined with the VDC system you'd be doing well to get it stuck.

Handling is reasonably tidy but it's no hot hatch. Ground clearance is good enough for minor off road excursions.

Rubbish fuel economy, roughly 27mpg, but doesn't change much with bikes on the roof. Subaru brought out a diesel in 2008, I don't know how it performs although Clarkson didn't like it on Top Gear - he reckoned it had no torque.

Pross

It was a diesel and Clarkson didn't like it? Surely not! :shock:

schweiz

The other half drives an Impreza diesel.

We had a few problems with the particle filter light coming on and the system not clearing itself automatically. First the particle filter was changed, then a leaky injector was thought to be the problem and changed, finally an exhaust valve was replaced. Since then, touch wood, there have been no problems.

Despite that problem, the car has been great and my girlfriend has been waiting for it to snow so she can smugly drive it to work past all the other cars that are struggling (she drives over a 1007m pass and works halfway up another pass that has some 10% sections in). She carries snow chains in the boot, but with Bridgestone Blizzak winer tyres, she hasn't need them yet. Unless you want to use it off-road, the ground clearance is no problem.

During the problems, Subaru have been excellent. The car was fitted with telemetry and the data sent to Japan. Following that, an Engineer was sent from Japan and another Engineer was sent from Subaru Europe in Belgium. The car was fitted with telemetry again and my girlfriend had to drive her daily commute. They thought it may have been her driving style and that she was letting it bog down in too high a gear. Halfway up the pass with the one of the Subaru Enginers in the passenger seat, and the other Engineer following in his car, they apologised and said her driving style was not to blame. They then took the car for two days and drove it around doing all sorts of tests.

Also as an apology, we've got a free removeable towbar fitted (although we were a bit cheeky, and kind of suggested that they may want to compensate us!)

Fuel consumption is about 6.0 litres/100 km (39 mpg) and on a motorway run is as low as 4.8 litres /100 km (49 mpg). Torque without the turbo is poor, you have to keep the turbo spinning. I usually drive a 2.5 litre straight six petrol, and I get the Subaru bogged down sometimes when driving on passes. She just drives like a rally driver and has no such problems. On the motorway, it is a nice car to drive and accelerates nicely above 100 km/h to the 180 km/h that I've taken it up to.

LangerDan

We had a Forester Turbo (petrol) a few years ago - great performance and traction in all weathers but Jebus, did it like a drink. When we were towing the rally car, we'd be lucky to see 18 mpg.

In the past few years, the Forester has got bigger and taller and is now more like a SUV than the original "estate on stilts" shape. Conversely, the Legacy seems to have got lower and more "executive luxo-barge" -like. As has been noted above, if you need decent ground clearance, the Forester would be a better option than a Legacy.

The Subaru interiors tend to be very hard wearing, though that can be at the cost of being quite plasticky. The interior of the Legacy is quite a nice place but the other models still rely very much on Tupperware for design inspiration.

RonB

Recently got a new Forester. Can't argue with any of the above. If you want a vehicle which is reasonable off-road I would suggest giving the basic 2.0D a look see. Similar room as an estate (had a Passat prior to this) with an avg of 40mpg after 4000 miles ranging from motorways to...errrr...forests!