'24 Subaru Outback - New Owner Diary

Nice job!!! Today's IR and UV rejection in window films is an incredible technology.

There is also one variant that is a security film that mitigates 'smash and grab' thefts.
 
One Ping Only said:
Today's IR and UV rejection in window films is an incredible technology.
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The shop had a cool interactive display to demonstrate the IR heat rejection capabilities of the various films.

There were about 5 little windows in a metal cabinet. The first was just plain glass. The others with their various selections of films and corresponding IR filtration. Behind the glass was an IR lamp. You could slide the lamp to each window. The difference of heat transfer was amazing.
 
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Went to visit my parents and reserved a "mid-size SUV." Got to the agency counter... "Let's see what we have. How about a 4-Runner?" Sure, OK.

Of course, I'm somewhat familiar with the 4-Runner, in general. But when I got to it in the lot... Holy crap! This thing is huge! LOL! OK... whatever. I'm not going back in to change it to something else.

And I realize that this is not really a "competitor" or equivalent model to the Outback. But I'm going to contrast / compare them anyway. :)

Getting in and out of it... Wow. I'm about 5'8". I had to climb up into this thing! And every time I got out, I'd forget how high I was and got a little "surprise" when I DROPPED to the ground.

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The ride is MUCH rougher than my new Onyx XT. The seats are like church pews by comparison to the Outback Onyx seats. I would NOT want to drive the 4-Runner cross country on a long trip.

Also the camera nanny assist features (like lane drift, etc) are not even close to the sophistication of Subaru's EyeSight.

Brakes? They rank among the worst I've experienced. Very "grabby" and difficult to modulate.

The Android Auto stinks. I could never get my phone to project navigation to the main screen. I'm pretty tech-savvy, and from what I could tell, it simply isn't possible with Toyota's system.

The infotainment interface is clunky and utterly primitive by comparison to Subaru's.

I rented the 4-Runner for 5 days. When I flew home last night and drove the Onyx XT home from the airport.... BLISS! What a difference! And the "new car smell" was still there! :cool:
 
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Another interesting tidbit is this generation of 4-runner is real long in the tooth. I see many of them here where we are and like Tacoma’s fan base, is huge. But I don’t know how much longer Toyota can milk this 10-12 yr generation when there is so much competition. They risk losing mkt share with their stubborn complacency, which Toyota is well-known for. Don’t get me started about the abomination they just released called a Land Cruiser ….a LC it’s not. Might be ok for what it is but…. But I digress. Again.
 
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I finally got around to changing out the stock chrome lug nuts to the OEM black lug nuts.... to continue the "black-out" theme for my Onyx XT.
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The OEM black lug nut kit came with this nifty case to hold the locking nut key:

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The wheels are more of a charcoal color, eh? But I still think the black lug nuts look great.

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Racer88 said:
I finally got around to changing out the stock chrome lug nuts to the OEM black lug nuts.... to continue the "black-out" theme for my Onyx XT.
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Why were those not included with the black wheels? Soobie nickle-and-diming you? ;)
 
Bobster said:
Why were those not included with the black wheels? Soobie nickle-and-diming you? ;)
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Probably because most people wouldn't want them. A lot of folks prefer the chrome lug nuts even with black wheels.

Or...

What you said! :)
 
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Bobster said:
Why were those not included with the black wheels? Soobie nickle-and-diming you? ;)
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In my world, we call this the Corvette Tax - if you want a Stingray with carbon flash badges instead of chrome it's a 100 dollar upcharge.
If you want a Z06 / GrandSport / Zr1 with chrome instead of carbon flash, it's a 100 dollar upcharge.

Because they can.
 
Finally got the auto-stop eliminator installed! I bought it before I even got the car. 2-1/2 months later... finally installed it. We've had a lot of work done on the house recently... painting, new floors, etc. So I actually misplaced the box for a while. Wife found it yesterday! Installed today. I also installed one (different brand - Idlestopper) in her Honda CRV.

Wonderful inventions! Neither one of us was ever able to program ourselves to routinely manually turn the fucking thing off when we got in and started our cars. Invariably at the first stop light... *&$#@$!!! And we've had my wife's car for 3 years! Now we won't have to remember or end up cursing at the first stop light! Hooray!
 
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It seems to me that auto-stop puts you on the same starter replacement schedule as UPS. Question is, is the gas savings greater than the cost of starter replacement 3 years hence? :unsure:
 
no4mk1t said:
It seems to me that auto-stop puts you on the same starter replacement schedule as UPS. Question is, is the gas savings greater than the cost of starter replacement 3 years hence? :unsure:
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It actually doesn't save gas (in any significant amount). The primary CLAIMED reason for auto-stop is to lower (idle) emissions.

But besides being harder on the starter, it's also harder on the battery.

Well worth the $100 for the gizmo!
 
I just used the Noco Boost jump box for the first time, jump-starting another person's car.

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So easy! Connect. Turn it on. It analyzes and the "ready" light illuminates a few seconds later. That's the "go signal" to start the car. Started right up! The car owner was amazed how quickly it worked. And I got to be the hero! :cool:
 
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Racer88 said:
I just used the Noco Boost jump box for the first time, jump-starting another person's car.

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So easy! Connect. Turn it on. It analyzes and the "ready" light illuminates a few seconds later. That's the "go signal" to start the car. Started right up! The car owner was amazed how quickly it worked. And I got to be the hero! :cool:
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I have one of those as well. Also their trickle charger. VG quality gear.
 
Racer88 said:
It actually doesn't save gas (in any significant amount). The primary CLAIMED reason for auto-stop is to lower (idle) emissions.

But besides being harder on the starter, it's also harder on the battery.

Well worth the $100 for the gizmo!
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I just turn it off on my Jeep. Useless feature. The doohickey is 40 bucks to turn it off by default
 
Bongo Lewi said:
I just turn it off on my Jeep. Useless feature. The doohickey is 40 bucks to turn it off by default
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I just couldn't program myself to manually turn it off every time I got in the car. Inevitably, it would be at the first stop sign or traffic light, it would activate (shut down) and I would curse as I reached for the button.

This "Auto Stop Eliminator" gizmo was the best $100 I've spent on the car!
 
I had one similar to that and after storage in the hot car for over a year, the plastic deteriorated and wasn’t safe to use anymore. I need to buy another one soon.
 
Caleb said:
I had one similar to that and after storage in the hot car for over a year, the plastic deteriorated and wasn’t safe to use anymore. I need to buy another one soon.
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??? What are we talking about here?

A jump box?
 

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