Brotherhood of the Boxer?
I've started a couple of threads at two car forums. One at the Ultimate Subaru Message Board:
http://www.ultimatesubaru.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56044
The other is at TheSamba.com:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=165194
I've posed the question in each: are fans of old, air-cooled VWs also Subaru fans? Not too many responses so far on TheSamba.com, but it looks like several on the Subaru forums chimed in almost surprised at themselves in a "I thought I was the only one!" way.
One guy listed all the old VWs and Porsches he's owned and showed a telltale picture of his boxer engine fixation:
Another guy asked if it had to be old VWs and Porsches or if it was just about the boxer (flat-4) engine. He currently has a Subaru but owns 4 Corvairs.
I thought of this after seeing more than a few photos on both sites showing people's Subarus with old VWs in the background or people's old VWs with Subarus in the background. Not sure what it is about the boxer motor that hooks people like this.
Is it nothing more than wanting to be different? Is it the unmistakable, throaty rumble? Maybe it's because cars with boxer motors tend to be not just solid and reliable but simple? I've started realizing that last one about my '97 Subaru Impreza Outback.
I asked around on the Subaru forums about what would be the ideal, used Subaru to own for ease of maintenance, thinking something in a mid-80s model would be the answer. What I found was people recommending I hold onto my '97 model because it's in good shape and really not that complex.
My assumption about newer Subarus came from what I know about newer VWs. Seems to me that VW lost its way a long time ago. A friend of mine calls them "The people's BMW" in reference to how pricey and upscale they've gotten in the last decade or so.
Beyond losing their simplicity and economy, new VWs have also tarnished a once venerable reputation of quality and reliability. Another friend of mine owned a 2001 Golf GTI and actually tried to get it classified as a lemon. Key welds in the frame were missing, the turn signal relay was replaced yearly and he was stranded in Rapid City, SD for a couple days when a coil crapped out on him. Those are just the highlights. There was always something wrong with his brand new VW.
His and my faith in VW as a reliable, good car was shaken. He loved the car otherwise: lots of power and great handling. But, his frustrations with reliability lead him to dump the car on his soon-to-be ex-wife and buy a used, 1990 Honda Prelude. After two years he hasn't had an issue with the Honda.
Naturally, I assumed Subaru at some point started making the same mistakes as VW. Therefore, though my Impreza is far more reliable than a 2001 GTI, doing my own work on it would be folly because over time Subaru's no doubt added a bunch of complicated junk classified as "refinements." In reality, it's just more stuff to go wrong.
Not so! Look under the hood of a brand new Subaru and you see hoses, wires, belts and all kinds of "ugly" parts just out in the open. My friend with the GTI commented on this once "Man, why couldn't they do something to make the engine compartment look better?" His GTI had this big plastic cover over everything with fancy-looking badges advertising "1.8L Turbo" and "16 Valves."
That's great, but if you've already bought the car you know how much engine displacement it's got, whether it's turbocharged and how many valves service the pistons. Why do you still need the advertisement when it's just getting in your way if you want to do repairs? The ultimate irony, of course, is the car in most need of constant repair is the one with the big, fancy piece of plastic getting in the way. The Subaru's engine bay makes everything easily-accessible for work; not that you'd actually need to do any work.
So, that's at least part of the puzzle and the reason so many old VW fans are also Subaru fans. Not only are the engine's pistons pointed in the same direction, but so is the spirit of simplicity and reliability.
http://www.ultimatesubaru.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56044
The other is at TheSamba.com:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=165194
I've posed the question in each: are fans of old, air-cooled VWs also Subaru fans? Not too many responses so far on TheSamba.com, but it looks like several on the Subaru forums chimed in almost surprised at themselves in a "I thought I was the only one!" way.
One guy listed all the old VWs and Porsches he's owned and showed a telltale picture of his boxer engine fixation:
Another guy asked if it had to be old VWs and Porsches or if it was just about the boxer (flat-4) engine. He currently has a Subaru but owns 4 Corvairs.
I thought of this after seeing more than a few photos on both sites showing people's Subarus with old VWs in the background or people's old VWs with Subarus in the background. Not sure what it is about the boxer motor that hooks people like this.
Is it nothing more than wanting to be different? Is it the unmistakable, throaty rumble? Maybe it's because cars with boxer motors tend to be not just solid and reliable but simple? I've started realizing that last one about my '97 Subaru Impreza Outback.
I asked around on the Subaru forums about what would be the ideal, used Subaru to own for ease of maintenance, thinking something in a mid-80s model would be the answer. What I found was people recommending I hold onto my '97 model because it's in good shape and really not that complex.
My assumption about newer Subarus came from what I know about newer VWs. Seems to me that VW lost its way a long time ago. A friend of mine calls them "The people's BMW" in reference to how pricey and upscale they've gotten in the last decade or so.
Beyond losing their simplicity and economy, new VWs have also tarnished a once venerable reputation of quality and reliability. Another friend of mine owned a 2001 Golf GTI and actually tried to get it classified as a lemon. Key welds in the frame were missing, the turn signal relay was replaced yearly and he was stranded in Rapid City, SD for a couple days when a coil crapped out on him. Those are just the highlights. There was always something wrong with his brand new VW.
His and my faith in VW as a reliable, good car was shaken. He loved the car otherwise: lots of power and great handling. But, his frustrations with reliability lead him to dump the car on his soon-to-be ex-wife and buy a used, 1990 Honda Prelude. After two years he hasn't had an issue with the Honda.
Naturally, I assumed Subaru at some point started making the same mistakes as VW. Therefore, though my Impreza is far more reliable than a 2001 GTI, doing my own work on it would be folly because over time Subaru's no doubt added a bunch of complicated junk classified as "refinements." In reality, it's just more stuff to go wrong.
Not so! Look under the hood of a brand new Subaru and you see hoses, wires, belts and all kinds of "ugly" parts just out in the open. My friend with the GTI commented on this once "Man, why couldn't they do something to make the engine compartment look better?" His GTI had this big plastic cover over everything with fancy-looking badges advertising "1.8L Turbo" and "16 Valves."
That's great, but if you've already bought the car you know how much engine displacement it's got, whether it's turbocharged and how many valves service the pistons. Why do you still need the advertisement when it's just getting in your way if you want to do repairs? The ultimate irony, of course, is the car in most need of constant repair is the one with the big, fancy piece of plastic getting in the way. The Subaru's engine bay makes everything easily-accessible for work; not that you'd actually need to do any work.
So, that's at least part of the puzzle and the reason so many old VW fans are also Subaru fans. Not only are the engine's pistons pointed in the same direction, but so is the spirit of simplicity and reliability.
posted by Chris Druckenmiller at 11:24 AM
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