Cold weather: Sedan owners beware!!

My wagon's rear hatch sometimes cannot be opened very far because ice has formed in the hinge area. Why did they design a hinge that forces the top edge of the hatch to move *towards* the body of the car when opening???

Why did they design my fuel filler door so that ice forms around the edge, glueing it shut? The fuel hatch on a 99 outback does not do this. Why did they design the hood hinge on the '99 outback so that the corner of the hood moves inward when the hood is opened? When ice is present on the area around the hinge, the hood cannot be opened without bending the metal.

Subaru needs to design their cars for winter use.

A few more observations on winter use: Yeah, my fuel door sticks on the '01 OBW. The windshield wipers need to be splined to the shafts so they don't come loose. Not much tire to fenderwell clearance - no room for chains & the snow and ice really build up in there. Inadequate floor heat on the passenger side. Power steering pump whines when cold. But damn I like the AWD.

Mike

The cable release levers for my fuel door and trunk ('95 Legacy FWD sedan) both stuck in the last week, I'm assuming because of the cold. The trunk was no big deal, I just used my key, but I was almost out of gas when I discovered I couldn't get the fuel door open. I went into the trunk, literally ripped out some of the lining, and was able to yank on the cable enough to release the door. This never happened on my 91 or 92 Legacy.

Been driving Legacys for 13 years in Canada... here's a tip...

I use a wooden handled brush/ice scraper. Using the flat side ot the handle I hit the ice on the trunk lid a couple of raps. Always shatters the ice and I can then brush it off. And no, the trunk lid isn't all dinged up! Just do it right!

Agreed. Considering Subies are popular across the snowy regions of the U.S. you think they would pay more attention to these details. The fuel door on my WRX also sticks. First I bang it with my fist. If that doesn't free it, I carefully insert a blunt item and gently pry.

Add to the list of gripes, wiper arms that ice up easily and then don't wipe flat against the glass. Happens on my WRX and my Forester. I had a Chrysler Grand Caravan that heated the bottom band of the windshield where the wipers rest. Worked really nicely with the intermittent wipers, and much simpler than trying to heat the wiper arms themselves with a wired setup.

I used to do something like this on my previous cars, but I'd get a heavy brush and hit the ice with the bristles of the brush pointing itoward the ice as I hit it. I never worried about those cars because they were 8 - 10 years old when I bought them, so I wasn't precious about their looks. But my Outback was only a year old when I got it and this is my first winter with it - I'm not used to dealing with nice shiny paint all covered with ice!

I considered my whole ice in the trunk incident to be a comical user error, not a design flaw. When it rains, I notice that the water on the trunk lid slides off and onto the window and down toward the trunk. But the trunk has a channel around it that guides the water around the trunk opening. It just doesn't work for ice, so the user (me) needs to keep that in mind. I've not had the problems with release cables or wipers others have described.

While I'm on the subject, this car rocks for winter use and driving. I've been pulling in and out of slush (and later frozen slush) parking spots on hills without any problem at all, and I haven't had to get the shovel & salt out of the trunk yet. I've been off to the mountains to ski and haven't had any problems with the snow on the roads. I put snow tires on, and I'm sure that helps a lot. The only complaint I have is that the anti-lock brakes are too aggressive, and have taken some getting-used-to, especially since I've never owned a car with them before.

Don't take this to mean that it is invincible. I still take it slow going down hills and around bends. But I'll take the Outback for winter driving over anything else I've ever driven. Winter driving is why I bought the car, and I certainly got what I wanted with this car.

kl

I agree on the inadequate floor heat. Try closing the left dash vent -- you'll increase heat to your feet. I discovered it by accident in my '02 OBW. I also think the seat heaters are a joke in the real cold weather. Not much heat there, really.

June

They had that on the Suzukis in the other half of the Subaru dealership I go to.

This is an observation that's close to my heart. They certainly market them with an outdoorsy, wintery angle, and the AWD makes them a natural for folks like us, who must be concerned with things like... ice. And I have noticed that our Impreza heats up like crazy and has plenty of heater to go around. Do you think the company would be receptive to large numbers of requests for winter-oriented-design stuff like this? I'd love to see Subaru be known far and wide as The Ultimate Winter Car, but I don't know that it would pay off for them to put very much more effort and $ into this than they do -- since not a lot of people would notice or appreciate it. Not enough to pay for it, anyway.

My wish list would be along the lines of high-power circulating engine heaters, big wires to the starter and a bigger starter, an automatic starting fluid injector with supporting software, a lockable handgun storage compartment, and wider floormats with a lip, like that rubbery cargo tray..

Here in Minnesota I see lots of people still driving (and shoveling out) Escorts and Oldsmobiles and whatnot. They can't be bothered to pay a little extra even for the obvious usefulness of four wheel drive.

So it might just be a case of there being not enough reward for extra-thoughtful engineering.

Or maybe we need to invite some Japanese engineers to take part in an exchange program, to come stay in our homes and ride in our cars for the month of January...

The Cold Weather package in our 2000 Outback wagon includes an area at the bottom of the front windshield that is heated to prevent the wiper arms from freezing. There is a separate switch to activate this in addition to the switches for the rear window defroster and the outside mirror defrosters.

I think that Subaru does try to provide assistance for those in cold climates. The Cold Weather option in the 2000 U.S. Outbacks included heated seats, outside mirror defrosters, the heated area at the bottom of the front windshield, a larger container for the windshield washer fluid and a limited slip differential. Together with AWD, these additional items go a long way to make Subies all weather driving machines.

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In the '99 OBW, the fuel door worked perfectly, and never froze shut. And the rear hatch had no interference wth ice in the hinge area. Why did they replace a working design with one that doesn't work? At least I can open my hood to add washer fluid on icy days. Maybe they really aren't considering winter, and things are working or not working, totally by accident.

yes, floor mats with a 2 gallon capacity would be nice

My 2003 Forester XS premium has heated glass under the front and rear wipers, heated side mirrors, heated seats, and the washer fluid reservoir holds an entire gallon of fluid. In addition to the AWD and the blistering heat put out by the heater, I think this car IS designed for winter use.

-DanD

The heated seats don't heat very well, the heated windshield doesn't seem to do much either. The larger container for the washer fluid is nice. They could do this better. They could mainly make their cars so that your freaking FEET could get warm.

June

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I concour. Yes the first 6 months the heated seats didn't seem to get hot but now on high they get get real toasty, almost too hot. Having 60+ inches of snow over the last month and an average temp around

20F I've had plenty of time to run them. I usually turn it on high and by the time the car has warmed up I have to turn them down to low. The wiper deicer works, not the greatest but it serves it's purpose. When it's 16 deg out and the car is warm, I typically only need to run the heater at 67 on speed one to stay warm.

The heater > The heated seats don't heat very well, the heated windshield doesn't > seem to

Well, don't know what year you have, but my '02 OBW seats never get hot enough -- you can barely feel them sometimes. And even when it's right on the feet, the heater doesn't do squat. It's been a cold winter in Michigan too, and I keep my car in the garage at night -- but it would be nice to be able to have warm feet during my morning drive in the dark, arctic air.

June

I've got a 2002 sedan (H6) and it sits outside all day and night. I wonder if there's an obstruction in your vent as the air speed coming out of my floor vent is quite fast. I believe there's also vents under the seats to blow on the rear seat passengers too in mine. Granted it's not as fast on the passenger side front floor but I'm not sitting over there ;)

I lol'ed at 1st when I read the original too but I take it to mean perhaps a compartment in the cargo area or trunk, worthy of stowing rifle sized arms,(as in hunting) not just, well we already have the glove box for handy road rage access, don't we?

TBerk

I had it checked at the dealership. No, there is no obstruction. I've been told the floor vents in the '02 OBW are pretty feeble by many owners of the same model.

June