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Cold weather performance complaints....


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OK kids, so I just spent about 3 hours on the road bombing around New York....

 

1. I was previously "OK" with the performance of the RE-92 in light snow and rain, bit after driving in this mess, I will be replacing them as soon as I get back to Boston. ABS kicks in waaaaaaay too often, even with a delicate application of brakes. Take-offs were consistently great, but on occasion the car would randomly drift(!) while driving a straight line, even when speeds were low (appx. 15-20mph), and I was not accelerating. No surprise that I found it much better to start and stay in second gear.

 

2a. Wipers froze over several times, even with blade heater on. (Had to keep turning it on because it shut off every 15 minutes. I really wish it had a dual-position switch... IE- one normal position, and one which would override the shutoff.) I also noticed the wiper bay collected a lot of snow, which kept the wipers from going to their "home" position, and prevented them from hitting the heating element. This was not immediately obvious, and put enough strain on the wiper motor to produce a noticeable odor. Ergo, I had to get out frequently to clean off blades, and wipe out the bay. Not impressed.

 

2b. Wiper fluid was frozen solid when temperature was 5º. I was a bit surprised, but not shocked.

 

3. Not a fault of the Leggy, but be careful about the front grill freezing over. I noticed the temp guage was slightly above it's normal positon, so I went out and checked, and sure enough it was completely covered with ice.

 

4. Most troubling was when I started up the car last night, turned the heaters on, shut the door, and went about brooming off the car.

 

Anyone car to guess what happened? That's right, the motherfucking doors LOCKED.

 

So, naturally of course, my goddamn house keys were in the car, and my wife was out of town. I had to hop in a cab, drive to my office to pick up my spare set of house keys, take the cab back to my house, go upstairs and get my spare car keys, and then come down to unlock the car. All in all, it was idling unattended in the parking lot for 45 minutes. I was not amused.

 

More importantly, I am concerned about how this occured. I thought it wasn't even possible, because the car was designed to prevent lockouts. You can't even GET OUT of the car if the doors are locked!!! So, it HAD to have happened after I got out.WTF?

 

I have tried to make it happen again, but it seems impossible to reproduce.

 

:mad:

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So, naturally of course, my goddamn house keys were in the car, and my wife was out of town. I had to hop in a cab, drive to my office to pick up my spare set of house keys, take the cab back to my house, go upstairs and get my spare car keys, and then come down to unlock the car. All in all, it was idling unattended in the parking lot for 45 minutes. I was not amused.
:lol: Dude, that cracked me up... I thought that kind of stuff only happened to me..
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Some hints here:

 

Get REAL WINTER TIRES! No problems getting around, especially with AWD, if you have REAL Winter tires like Blizzaks, Dunlop Winter Sport M3s or M2s, Pirelli Snow Sports, Nokian, Hakapelita (sic, probably, sorry), and other brands. Winter tires on all 4 wheels turn a no-go in snow car into a tank... or nearly so, anyway. BIG difference!

 

Get WINTER WIPER BLADES! These blades are covered in rubber so there's nothing for sleet and snow to hold onto. No snow on the blades means they work better. Some winter blades also use softer rubber so they remain flexible in the cold.

 

ALWAYS leave the driver's window half way rolled down if you have the keys in the car. That way, if the doors lock, you can reach in and unlock them.

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Some hints here:

 

ALWAYS leave the driver's window half way rolled down if you have the keys in the car. That way, if the doors lock, you can reach in and unlock them.

 

That's a workaround, for sure- but not an answer as to why the doors locked spontaneously....

 

I appreciate the reply regardless.

 

:)

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2a. Wipers froze over several times, even with blade heater on. (Had to keep turning it on because it shut off every 15 minutes. I really wish it had a dual-position switch... IE- one normal position, and one which would override the shutoff.) I also noticed the wiper bay collected a lot of snow, which kept the wipers from going to their "home" position, and prevented them from hitting the heating element. This was not immediately obvious, and put enough strain on the wiper motor to produce a noticeable odor. Ergo, I had to get out frequently to clean off blades, and wipe out the bay. Not impressed.

 

2b. Wiper fluid was frozen solid when temperature was 5º. I was a bit surprised, but not shocked.

 

:mad:

2a. Dealer can reprogram so that they stay on constantly...read owners manual. It's 5 degrees outside, any car is going to have problems with the windsheild and wipers freezing up.

 

2b. Dealer uses cheapest wiper fluid available. Spend the 99 cents at a gas station and drop in a gallon of the blue stuff.

(Updated 8/22/17)

2005 Outback FMT

Running on Electrons

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OK kids, so I just spent about 3 hours on the road bombing around New York....

 

1. I was previously "OK" with the performance of the RE-92 .

 

 

 

I have tried to make it happen again, but it seems impossible to reproduce.

 

:mad:

 

To point 1: The point of an "ALL Season" tire is for you to be "OK" with it's performance in all seasons. Now I hate the RE's , but am completely satisfied with the "ok"ness I get from them in snow. I'm in Chicago, where we are currently under attack by the blizzard demons, and I was the only one on my block to get my car out w/out digging. And there were 2 EXPLORER 4x4's .

 

As for the reproducing of the lock in, it will never happen cause it can't. The only logical explanation is that you may have unknowingly locked it mannually from the inside as you got out. That is if you only had your one driver's door unlocked before the incident.

 

And I secomd the notion that ANY car will get snow buildup around wipers.

Just my .02$

Mike.......

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As for the reproducing of the lock in, it will never happen cause it can't. The only logical explanation is that you may have unknowingly locked it mannually from the inside as you got out. That is if you only had your one driver's door unlocked before the incident.

 

Well, I can tell you, without a doubt, that it did happen.

 

What is even more strange is that I was in the trunk and passenger side moments before to get the snow broom and scraper out.

 

So, in order for this scenario to have happened, I would have had to:

 

1. Unlock the car.

2. Get in, start it.

3. Lock all the doors. (So that trunk and passenger side lock.)

4. Unlock drivers door as I exit.

5. Accidentally re-lock drivers door before I close it.

 

There strikes me as highly improbable.

 

:rolleyes:

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Guest *Jedimaster*
That's bizarre- it must be some kind of electrical gramlin that wakes up in the cold weather- mine unlock if the key is in the ignition, door open and I try to lock it.
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That's bizarre- it must be some kind of electrical gramlin that wakes up in the cold weather- mine unlock if the key is in the ignition, door open and I try to lock it.

 

When trying to reproduce it today, mine behaved the exact same way.

 

If you open the door with the car running, and lock the door, it will immediately unlock itself.

 

It just doesn't make any sense. It should be impossible for me to have locked myself out. I am fortunate that I had a spare set of house keys at the office, otherwise I would have been waiting for a locksmith in the freezing cold.

 

Temp last night was about 3º, for what it's worth.

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Wow. OK. Looks like this may be a real issue.

 

Check out this thread:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5850&page=2&pp=10&highlight=locksmith

 

I was about to leave to drive out of town the other night and it was very cold, so I went out to start my car and went back inside. Much to my chagrin, when attempting to get back into my car I found that I was locked out. I called roadside assistance and after a long hold they said they were sending a locksmith. I really didnt relish the thought of someone forcing there way into my car. So, at the same time my friend called a subaru dealer and they said if I could get there they would cut a key for free. My friend took me there to the Subie dealer and as promised I got the key for free. I have no idea how that happened. I thought maybe I had hit the lock with my hand, I really doubt that had happened.

 

So this morn I start my car at my house go back inside to finish getting ready. Try to leave and bam the same thing. Of course this time I'm alone at my apartment and my keys to my apartment and my wallet are locked inside of the car. My spare keys are in the apartment of course. With some luck and a bit of ingenuity I am able to get into my apartment.

 

Anyway I wonder what is going on to make this keep happening? Is the door some how locking when I shut the door after starting the car. I just wanted to let folks know and see if this has happened to anyone else.

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i have had problems with the tire pressure sensors in the rims.

the light on the dash went on about a week ago.

went out today and put air in the tires but the light is still on. also one of the valve stems stuck slightly open, hit it a few times and it finally closed.

 

hopefully my tire won't be flat tommorrow.

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Hmmm Interesting. The thingie with the locks. Any modern car with the intelligence of a cockroach would not lock the doors if the keys are in the ignition. Especially if the engine is running at idle, with the car in neutral/park.

 

This is funny...but it happened to me today. The doors locked with my engine running while I was busy cleaning the car from the white shit. But I carry the 2nd set of keys on me...I was shocked.

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You gotta be smokin some GOOOOD shit if you think the Toyo's are better in snow than all season radials.

 

minor Point of Information:

 

RE92s: high performance all season radial tire

 

Proxes 4: "ultra-high" performance all season radial tire

 

hard to imagine a non-radial tire produced in the past 10 years; that clarified --yeah. the toyo ultra high performance all season radial tires are superior to the OEM high performance all season radial tires. this is less obvious from a standstill but much more obvious when rolling and when attempting to stop.

 

we're getting 20-30" of snow. and you?

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Hmmm Interesting. The thingie with the locks. Any modern car with the intelligence of a cockroach would not lock the doors if the keys are in the ignition. Especially if the engine is running at idle, with the car in neutral/park.

 

This is funny...but it happened to me today. The doors locked with my engine running while I was busy cleaning the car from the white shit. But I carry the 2nd set of keys on me...I was shocked.

 

Bummer dude. Lucky you had spare keys with you.

 

Be sure to hit the poll: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7395

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Greeting from North Pole, Alaska. Sorry about the snow over on the East coast. Here's my choice for tires and they're a bit pricy but totally worth it...Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 with or without studs. I've used them on my Honda Civic, Audi TT and, next time I'm down in Anchorage, Alaska I'm getting some for the Leggy.
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