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Best newer compact wagon? (Page 3)
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Athens
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Dec 23, 2011, 01:13 AM
 
wouldnt know. Its always been within a few C of what my phone says is the temp out side from the weather app but never had a way to verify the real temp outside
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ghporter
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Dec 23, 2011, 09:05 AM
 
Those variances may have to do with where the sensor is. The sensor for my car's dashboard thermometer is inside the front driver-side corner, and it tends to reflect a higher temperature when parked. I think this is due to the car's structure trapping warmer air.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Jan 2, 2012, 01:48 PM
 
Well, got mine last week and results so far are pretty damn positive. Handles winter crud like a champ - went down an empty road with 10cm of snow/slush while fishtailing like nobody's business - great control, came around nicely when needed, and very little slippage even starting on steep icy hills. Very positive so far. Interior is fairly spartan but it's definitely growing on me - not as many options as others in this class, but then again it doesn't have the trying-too-hard-to-be-futuristic look of the Elantra/Civic.

On the other hand the placement of the seatwarmers makes no sense, and the stereo really isn't very good at all (I got the middle Touring model, not sure about the Pioneer version they offer on the higher-end models) - I think it's 4 speaker or something?...pretty lol when compared to competition like the Focus. I'd also spring for the splash guard accessory as well - getting a lot of slush streaks down the doors so I'll probably order them.

It's a nice little ride. Good stuff.
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imitchellg5
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Jan 3, 2012, 12:11 AM
 
The harmon kardon stereo on my mom's Legacy GT is AWFUL. Even she complains about it, and her normal mode of listening to music is via Apple earbuds.

Glad you're enjoying the new ride! The reviews coming in for the new Impreza seem pretty high so far.
     
ghporter
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Jan 3, 2012, 07:29 AM
 
Is it the Harmon Kardon or the speakers and acoustics of the Legacy? HK has a reasonably good record for consumer equipment. On the other hand, I don't know how much effort Subaru puts into their interiors and sound systems.

Way back when (mid 1980s), I worked in a shop that repaired Delco car audio systems, typically those in Cadillacs. They had fantastic sound, clear, crisp, smooth response across the whole spectrum. But the secret for getting that sound to the driver was WAY too much amplification, including separate amps for the two speakers in back. 1000W of audio INSIDE a car is a whole lot of sound, and it looks like Cadillac used the higher levels to overcome their extremely BAD acoustics. Somehow they couldn't manage to balance "external sound dampening" and "internal sound management" with the body and interior parts, so they went with making all the parts dampen sound and had to compensate with hearing-damaging levels of audio. Just like at home, a car sound system is a combination of the electronics, the speaker and the room, or in this case, the car.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Jan 3, 2012, 11:44 AM
 
Subaru seem to be known for putting most of their effort into the mechanical side of things, rather than the aesthetics side - interior quality and features such as audio and so on always underwhelm from what I understand. So they've worked on changing that reputation and this new Impreza is definitely a solid effort...but the Focus has some crazy umpteen-speaker audio setup with crazy doohickies for example. The base Impreza has just 4 speakers, and my midrange model adds two tweeters to that - and I've got Bass/Midrange/High/Fade/Balance controls, that's it. Compared to both the Golf and the Focus, the audio is pretty budget and definitely lacking. On the other hand I did get the wheel-control and voice-control Bluetooth, which freaked me out the first time I got a call but overall works pretty great I'm finding (I've never had an integrated version before).

(Of course the Subarus have a little more road noise than those cars as well, because of the way they've just increased the window space - and the horizontal boxer engine has a fairly distinctive whine that adds to that noise. If you'd like to get in a car and forget about exterior noise, you probably don't want a small car anyway, and you definitely don't want an Impreza. )
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andi*pandi
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Jan 3, 2012, 12:36 PM
 
To fix any external/engine noises you hear, adjust the volume setting towards 11.
     
angelmb
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Jan 3, 2012, 01:55 PM
 
The harmon kardon stereo on my mom's Legacy GT is AWFUL.
Well, cause it is fake, it should be harman/kardon. Duh !
     
The Final Dakar
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Jan 3, 2012, 01:56 PM
 
Actually, it's a Mark Harmon Kardon
     
angelmb
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Jan 3, 2012, 04:27 PM
 
So, is Mark Harmon Kardon some division/brand of Harman International or not related at all to it.?

Just curious, it is not the first time I've read 'harmon' instead of 'harman' and always thought it was wrongly written, hence my smiley post.
     
CreepDogg
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Jan 4, 2012, 12:41 PM
 
Still waiting for mine <sigh>.

Good to know about the stereo. I thought it sounded pretty OK in the test drive, but hard to tell. I got the Limited model that has an upgraded stereo from the base 4-speaker (I think it's 6-speaker), so we'll see. I know they also offer a subwoofer/amp for which the car is pre-wired, so if the stereo is really crappy and I can get a decent price, I'll look into that to help improve. Good to know about the splash guards too.

One of the things I really liked about the Impreza over the Focus, etc. was that the interior wasn't nearly so gimmicky. It was just clean and well-laid-out, and still has all the gizmos I wanted.

Glad to hear things are positive so far.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Jan 4, 2012, 04:40 PM
 
Cool. Up here the Limited edition is the highest-end model with a further upgraded Pioneer stereo (mine's midrange, and there's a base stereo in the plain-jane model), so hopefully that makes a difference.
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imitchellg5
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Jan 5, 2012, 12:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by angelmb View Post
Well, cause it is fake, it should be harman/kardon. Duh !
Oh. The speakers just say h/k. LOL.
     
 
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