The '08 models all look great. If you are a Subaru fan -what would you suggest.
Am also mindful fuel consumption
Hachi - just out of interest - why do you prefer all these others over Subaru?

Do you live in a place with lots of snow?

If not, you have lots of choice instead of Subaru. In term of Subaru, you only have Tribeca, Forester and Outback. If you insist to go with Subaru, ask yourself about the purpose of buying the car. Then go to Subaru dealer!

I, myself, prefer other brands such as Acura, Honda, Nissan or Mazda to go with.

Any model is a good choice. The Impreza’s & legacies r much more attractive than the forester. The Legacy & outback r practically identical. l use to prefer the Legacy because it is more streamline & lower to the ground. Now l prefer the Outback because it has useful side body moldings that reduce parking lot dents.

If u r looking for fuel economy, the Impreza will be ur choice. My personal preferences r now for the Outback.

Turbo charged models r incredibly fast. Unfortunately they require premium fuel & may permanently clog-up if someone chooses the wrong grade. Who can afford premium fuel every day of the week! The six cylinder engines r as powerful as the turbo’s unfortunately they only come with automatic engines. My dream car would be a six cylinder six speed but there is no such configuration at the present time. In a few years, turbo diesel engines will be available in North American Subaru’s.


My brother & l have owned Subaru’s since 1995. Our first Subaru’s were 1990 Legacy Sedan & 1995 Legacy wagon. This past Christmas we upgraded to 2008 Legacy Sedan & 2008 Outback Wagon. We also purchased a 2008 Forster for my father. So collectively, our family owns about half of the Subaru Model line. Both of our old Subaru’s r still running. l just sold my brother’s 1990 for $400. It still runs like new. I’ve kept my 1995 wagon as a spare car. It also runs perfectly.

Subaru’s may just be the greatest cars in the world. Here is why:

1)Incredible quality & durability. We bought the 1995 legacy new. It went for seven years before needing a single repair. My costs were oil changes only.
2)Unbelievable traction on all surfaces. Subaru’s accelerate & steer like no other car on the planet.
3)Incredibly long tire & brake component life. The tires never spin & they wear evenly. The brake pads & rotors r over-engineered to cope with the fact they r always working to actuate the All Wheel Drive system
4)Differential braking. Since the 1990’s (or earlier) Subaru’s have benefited from differential braking. Traveling around a sharp turn the AWD system detects slippage on the inside wheels & engages the brakes. This pulls the car through a turn like as if the car was tethered to the desired turning circle. For 2008 Subaru has started to market the fact that its cars do differential braking but the differential braking has always been there.
5)Engines last forever. The horizontally opposed cylinders lay flat & practically sit in a bath of oil.
6)Better Low end torque. Subaru uses the Porche engine design. Opposing pairs of cylinders fire at the same time. This results in larger virtual cylinders. Having simultaneous explosions creates higher torque at lower RPM. A V-configuration or in-line engine of the same displacement has to wait until very high RPM to hit maximum torque. At high RPM the time between explosions is so short that the entire engine acts as one virtual cylinder regardless of configuration.
7)Lighter Engine. Because the cylinders counter-balance each other, the crank shaft is much lighter. This reduces not only the weight of the engine but also the amount of rotating weight that the engine needs to accelerate (spun-weight).
8)Lower center of gravity. The configuration of the agent places the majority of weight very close to the ground. This improves handling & reduces the types of tire stresses that wear edges unevenly during cornering. You can corner faster without tire squeal & u get a larger contact patch during cornering.
9)Well established stable platform & configuration. The Subaru platform has remained relatively stable for the last 20 – 25 years. You don’t see the lemons & goofball models that other car companies bring out as a new model -- then abandon within a few years after the reputation of the car makes them unsellable. When Subaru comes out with a new model, it may be refined & improved but the buyer is not taking any risks. Parts availability is high even when u have a very old model. Many parts r used universally across all of their models & across many model years. It’s a better overall strategy.
Subaru owners tend to keep their vehicles for a very long time. Back in 1995 there was a published statistic stating that “90% of all Subaru’s built in the last 20 years r still on the road”. The same is probably true today. Subaru’s have high resale value.

Do Subaru’s have any draw-backs? l recommend disconnecting ABS Brakes immediately after buying the car. The car brakes amazingly with ABS disconnected. The ABS just interferes with proper braking. By Virtual of their AWD system, these cars automatically recover from any skid. There is no point in having a computer cut braking power to prevent a skid. ABS brakes increase stopping distance but allow u to steer without skidding during braking. Unfortunately, the ABS computer never knows if u desperately need to stop as soon as possible or if u even have any steering choices. If u have cars on either side then steering during braking is of no value. If u r heading into an icy intersection then stopping as fast as possible is very important & steering is not.

Other minor annoyances for the 2008 models are:
-Door remotes that have a hard time opening all four doors (with two clicks)
-An awkward bend in the seat buckle makes it difficult to fasten in another person including children & the elderly
- Forester alarm systems sound off if u use the key to open the door instead of the remote
-Forester climate controls r microscopic, difficult to read & positioned close to knee level.
-Automatic transmissions r not gated between drive & 3rd. This means u r usually in third until u notice the engine humming much faster than it should be

These r minor complaints especially considering that every other aspect of these cars is perfect.

l am looking only at Foresters as l prefer the conventional/conservative look, particularly in the older models. l agree with the reviewer about the best of cars.

go to the dealer