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I recently went to purchase a used Subaru.It looks like a great car but the shifting,( automatic ) engages more as I step on the gas.I was told this is normal for a Subaru Is this true? Chipinaw

In November 2007, my first trip to Laguna Seca Raceway didn't quite go as planned.  Since that time, I thought the place owed me one until I could make my return.  I say the place owed me because my mistake of running over the Turn 6 apex marker like many others didn't seem that egregious.  A mid-January discovery of an open track day on February 25th with the Green Flag Driving Association (through MotorsportReg.com) paved the way for that return. The weekend before the track day, I got a new set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tires (P225/45R17 90W) (nuts...the Tire Rack has a $50 rebate on these right now until March 31st if you buy a set of four) mounted and balanced.  Before putting the new shoes on, I changed the front and rear brake pads from the EBC Red Stuff Ceramic pads to Ferodo DS2500s.  I didn't change the rotors because I just replaced them the previous month with the EBC pads.  And thanks to the Motive Products hydraulic brake and clutch pressure bleeder I got from RallySportDirect.com, I was able to bleed brake fluid by myself for the first time using a fresh 500 mL bottle of MOTUL RBF 600 high temp fluid. After unpacking the car, adjusting the Koni strut inserts to nearly full stiff in the front and 1/2 stiff in rear (the latter required the removal of the rear seat (six 12mm bolts) to access the tops of the rear struts), mounting a video camera to the rear windshield, and slapping on some magnetic numbers purchased from izoomgraphics.com onto the front doors, the car was ready to hit the track.  I was assigned #16 because my last name was probably sixteenth on the alphabetical list of people registered for the intermediate group at the time the numbers were determined...

On the night of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, January 19, 2009), I drove over a piece of debris on the 10 East while I was passing through Downtown Los Angeles and approaching the East LA interchange.  During my drive to work the next morning, I noticed a white 2005-2007 Subaru Outback 2.5i in the adjacent lane to my right slogging through traffic on the 60 West with me.  A minute or two later, he honked his car's horn to get my attention.  I put the right front window down for him to tell me the right rear tire was flat...

January proved to be a good month for Subaru. While most automakers posted steep sales losses in the double digits, Subaru marked a modest sales gain. What’s even more impressive is that Subaru has seen gains for the second month in a row, even as overall auto sales continue to plummet...

Saturday, January 3, 2009 marked five years of life together with my 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan, a.k.a. Devoted Dan.  After 104,000 miles, it continues to run well and provide smiles per mile.  Below is a brief rundown of our time together. 2004 January 3 - Took delivery from Frank's Irvine Subaru in Lake Forest March - Installed 17-inch Prodrive P1 wheels (made by O.Z...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!  It's been awhile since I last wrote here.  I hope all of you are doing well. This blog entry is a few weeks late but I thought I'd share some of the vehicles I really liked at this year's Los Angeles International Auto Show. Mazda MAZDA3 Some people hate that the new MAZDA3 looks like it's smilling.  I love it!  I'm still not too keen on the plastic above the fog lights, but that may grow on me.The new 3 will hit Mazda showrooms this spring in sedan and hatchback form.  That said, I still highly recommend the current MAZDA3 as the best compact car one can get right now (if all-wheel drive is not needed)...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this! What are you most thankful for? A few weeks ago, I purchased a set of BFGoodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S ultra high performance all-season tires (P215/45R17 91W) from the Tire Rack ($118 each) for my 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan.  On November 15th, I had them mounted, balanced, and installed on my car at Island Tire & Service in Pasadena for a very reasonable rate, although it appears they may have slightly scratched some of my wheels in the process. Why select an all-season tire in (Southern) California?  Or rather, why not?..

Last month, I purchased a refurbished Garmin nüvi 680 from Amazon.com for $199.99.  Knowing it's illegal to mount the portable navigation unit on my windshield using the suction cup mount*, I knew my creativity would be needed to mount the GPS unit.  After studying the dash a little bit, I realized the cupholder could serve as an excellent GPS-holder. I'll be the first to admit the MY2002-2004 Subaru Impreza dash cupholder's design is less than stellar.  It seems like it was an afterthought when the interior was designed.  The only positive thing about it is that it could hold larger circumference bottles and cups than the cupholder next to the handbrake.  For MY2005 (to MY2007), the interior of the Subaru Impreza was slightly redesigned and this cupholder was deleted.  Instead, an additional cupholder was added next to the handbrake. To mount the nüvi, I connected it to its suction cup mount and laid the nav unit plus the mount in the cupholder.  The fit seemed decent but the unit would still move around quite a bit under hard braking or acceleration.  The solution?  A rubber band placed around the mount and cupholder clamped the nav plus mount assembly down securely.  Doesn't the unit look secure in the first photo above?  Its silver finish also works well with the color of the dash, too...

On Wednesday, October 22, 2008, Devoted Dan hit 100,000 miles! :o) Since January 3, 2004, he's definitely done a terrific job earning his keep.  I've subjected him to eight track days, on and off road escapades, and the rigors of a daily commute in Southern California. But has he really hit the 100,000-mile mark?  The car came equipped from the factory with Bridgestone Potenza RE92 tires with a size of P205/55R16.  Properly inflated, those tires require 830 revolutions to travel a mile.  Much of the car's street miles, however, have been on Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position (P215/45R17), Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R (P225/45R17), and Bridgestone Potenza RE92 (P215/45R17) tires...

Back on October 13th, I parked the car for the night and noticed the "SECURITY" light below the tachometer (the gauge that measures engine speed) kept flickering at an unusual rate after the key had been removed.  I also noticed the car's blinkers and sidemarkers didn't flash when I armed and disarmed the security system. That was weird.  The car had never done this before.  Slight concern crept in as I wondered if the oddity would drain the vehicle's battery.  My fear was mitigated when the car started up fine the next morning and later that evening after work. After purchasing the Top Gun Blu-ray and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Ferrari Challenge for the PLAYSTATION3 at Best Buy, I couldn't take it anymore.  I had to figure out what was going.  It was time to read the fantastic manual (RTFM)...