Re: CRV or Outback?

Forester. I have a 98 Outback and when I get the money together I will get a new Forester, the CRV is a pretender.

Just keep in mind that the CRV only applies drive to the rear when it detects slippage, which is usually way too late for anything challenging.

CRV is, therefore, the ultimate pretender. If you want to do any 4wding at all, get the outback. THe CRV is designed for those who want the ride height of a 4wd without actually buying a 4wd

That is pretty much how the automatic transmission Foresters work as well - except they do it with electronics, not passively like the CRV.

WE bought an OBW after considering the CRV along with 8-10 other vehicles.

Granted the cargo capacity/arrangement was important to us as well as seating for - um - adult American butts. The swinging rear door as well as a 'busy' ride steered us awya from the CRV. Too bad as I have owned 2 Hondas. The Pilot and Odyssey were outta our budget range, as was the Highlander(very nice) .We did spring for the H6 though. So far haven't regretted the purchase.

Carl

Father Guido wrote:

I was down to those two myself. Then I drove both.

Holy crap did the Outback take the cheese then. Hop in the CRV and you'll really feel road. I mean you'll feel the road--cus that's Civic power-assist steering with the mechanics of the steering coupled directly to the wheels. I felt beat up after driving it.

Styling is nice on both, but the Outback's finish made it the clear winner in my book.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

???? I was under the strong impression that Subuaru's AWD is all viscous coupled, doin it right and all that jazz.

-- Todd H.

The AWD in the Automatic Forester is not the same as the CRV RealTime system. The Forester's system is pre-emptive, if it senses your are accelerating from a standing stop, it will automatically transfer power to the rear wheels. It does not wait for the wheels to spin. I have test this on snowy days as well as on raining days. And it is almost impossible to get the Forester to spin tires. I have tried on a raining day flooring it from a light in a front wheel drive car, and every single time the front wheels spin as the weight transfers to the rear wheels, even worse if the front tires slip on the paint on the road.

The Forester AT is always active via a continuously variable clutch pack within the transmission. It transfers power from the 60/40 default to the rear as a WHEEL TORQUE difference is detected. The CRV is front drive until wheel SLIPPAGE is detected and then a viscous coupling heats up from friction and then power is transferred. eddie

I got this info on Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test results in an e-mail from Subaru just today:

Car Side Impact | 40 MPH Front Offset | 5 MPH crash | 5 MPH repair

Forester Good Good Good $355 Escape Poor Marginal Acceptable $646 CR-V Marginal Good Poor $1652 RAV4 Poor Acceptable Poor $1920

All are standard equipped 2003 models. (Escape did better in side impact with the optional side airbags, but IIHS baseline tests are done with standard eqpt. Manufacturers can pay for testing with optional eqpt, and ford wisely did so. Others didn't.) "Good" is the highest rating.

In 2001 my friend came down to the same two options. Test drove the CRV. Then when we were 2 blocks away from the Subaru dealer, while test driving the Outback we looked at each other and knew that the OB was the choice.

The CRV seemed more spacious. The Outback felt much better.

In 2003 when the wife totaled her 95 Legacy L SW, the final decision was again the OB. This time we did not even test drive the CRV. We test drove the Mistubishi Outlander which was a very good car too.

Father Guido wrote: