Mountain Driving

[Cosmic Artifact]

Originally Posted by Colorado^

Anything is cooler than fast & furious.

It's so refreshing to watch a 70-80's movie as they usually had real stunt/performance driving. Although IIRC Mad Max did speed up the film in a few places.

Anyway getting back on topic, my 04 Forester XT with a manual tranny only gets 19-20mpg here in the mountains. But it can pull the mountain passes at ridiculous speeds. My 8000lb diesel truck gets 18-19 mountain driving with a lead foot.

I hate FWD cars, but (as someone mentioned already) a TDI VW with snow tires all round would be a great option if you wanted to get great MPG and not loose power in the mountains. Pretty sure there is/was a Jeep with a 3L turbo diesel engine option.

it's mostly the gas itself now, they are cutting it pretty hard with ethanol specially in my state... (the percentage has grown to 10% from 5%)

in the summer month fuel is oxygenated/carbonated claiming it reduces emissions but those air bubbles are registering on the meter as fuel as one is pumping in. I would have to say that out of a full tank of gas a certain small amount that was paid for each fill up was "air"

As a matter of fact the smell of the fuel in the last decade has changed, it seemed before it was really potent smelling and even has a goldish tone to it, now most all gas I get is nearly clear and you have to basically put your nose up to the canister to smell it.

That mileage is pretty bad for your Sub, are you sure it's not out of time and the egr is functioning correctly?

Going back and thinking... using the expression "blow-off" better explains the function of a waste-gate to someone who does not understand the theory much. That imaginary blow-off goes thru the waste-gate lol

not really but ya know

PS: Ohm out those fuel injectors... easy access on a Subaru.

[Colorado^]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Artifact

That mileage is pretty bad for your Sub, are you sure it's not out of time and the egr is functioning correctly?

The foresters are geared lower than other Subaru's with a 4.44 final drive and even cruising around in fifth at 65mph your into the boost. Plus I live in the mountains and have a heavy right foot.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Artifact

Going back and thinking... using the expression "blow-off" better explains the function of a waste-gate to someone who does not understand the theory much. That imaginary blow-off goes thru the waste-gate lol

not really but ya know

Yeah I know what you're sayn'

[Cosmic Artifact]

Originally Posted by Colorado^

The foresters are geared lower than other Subaru's with a 4.44 final drive and even cruising around in fifth at 65mph your into the boost. Plus I live in the mountains and have a heavy right foot.

Forrester eh? you wouldn't happen to be the guy guiding me down the mountain out of Breckenridge

I have found Colorado drivers to be courteous to out of state drives near the resort towns when I ventured from the city areas. I seen quite a few accidents by locals in a pretty small section out of Frisco and Breck so I kinda got clammed up a bit. We have sme pretty serious accidents here but maybe atleast two that I observed there there were no other car involved. This told everybody the roads were bad I guess but some still seemed hurried.

I have a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee I use for going to the OHV areas in my state and it get about the same mileage as your Subaru there buddy even with a heavy foot you should be doing better than that, maybe... (clogged cat, weak injectors, timing issues, ect)

PS: I am hard pressed to find any better live action shots that on Road Warrior, even if I count only two scenes that were sped up. This movie has people flying through the air and alot of those shots were barely arranged. I started reading about "the making of" on one of those sites, interesting factoids and still one of the greats.

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by maryjh1976

Thanks everyone, your suggestions are very helpful.

Ryan, the way the mechanic has explained it pre-2000 the Turbo was just that a turbo with no option to turn it off so you are in turbo all the time, my daughters 2008 or 2009 Legacy has a switch so you can be in regular or turbo mode.

You can't turn a turbo off, that's not possible. They are attatched to the exhaust manifold and driven by exhaust gasses. If your car is running, so is your turbo. I have a feeling that the other car you're speaking of isn't actually turbocharged, it just has some sort of performance setting, via a "Turbo" switch, a term that's used all too commonly these days (Think Knight Ridder, K.I.T.T. has a "TURBO BOOST" button that made him jump over trains, LMFAO).

A turbocharged Subaru is a near perfect vehicle for where you live and drive, due to to the high altitude, you need a forced induction vehicle to make up for the lack of oxygen available to your engine. A turbo, or supercharger will actually give you better fuel mileage, vs the same model of car without a turbo, because they engine has to do less work, therefore burn less fuel, to move the car at the same speed and load.

To answer everyone else's question, the wastegate on a turbocharger is what controls how much boost it puts out. It's basically a vaccum operated valve that regulates how much exhaust gas goes in the the turbine housing, and how much gets bypassed in to the downpipe. This is very important, without one, your turbo would run at full boost (upwards of 30 PSI) and would quickly blow your engine, via melted piston rings, and/or holes in the pistons. The blow off valve, or bypass valve as some like to call it, is on the hot (output side) of the turbo. It too, is a vaccuum operated valve, but is used to detect a high vaccuum situation ( when the throttle is closed) and vents what boost pressure is present already in the manifold, to either the atmosphere (aftermarket, makes cool whoosh sound) or back into the inlet side of the turbo. (Factory design).

Without a BOV, when the throttle plate slams shut between shifts, all that boost pressure has nowhere to go but backwards, and will try to spin the turbo's compressor wheel backwards, resulting in what's called Compressor surge. It's nasty sounding and will ruin a turbo very quickly.

This concludes our lesson for today.

[Cosmic Artifact]

you know it would be neat to see a Paxton on a Subaru... plus the intercooler is much more effective getting that intake charge down on a supercharger, if one is even used.

plus no lag...

[ryanek9freak]

There is a company that makes a roots style supercharger, that's in ADDITION to the factory turbo setup for a Subaru WRX. basically, it is used to fill in the turbo lag gap, then goes into bypass mode once positive manifold pressure has been reached.

[Colorado^]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Artifact

Forrester eh? you wouldn't happen to be the guy guiding me down the mountain out of Breckenridge

I clicked on the link but didn't see any pics of foresters. 100% it wasn't me as I haven't driven the Forester to Breck in years. I prefer to drive the diesel if the roads are dry as it's less frustrating to be stuck behind someone in a huge truck if you're also in a huge truck.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Artifact

I have found Colorado drivers to be courteous to out of state drives near the resort towns when I ventured from the city areas. I seen quite a few accidents by locals in a pretty small section out of Frisco and Breck so I kinda got clammed up a bit. We have sme pretty serious accidents here but maybe atleast two that I observed there there were no other car involved. This told everybody the roads were bad I guess but some still seemed hurried.

IMHO it's all about the right (studded snow) tires and being familiar with local conditions. Example - it's 45 out today and the snow is melting. Tonight the temp drops to 24. Bet your ass there will be black ice in all the usual locations. But tomorrow morning you wake up to snow. Guess what, that ice is still there but it's under the snow. So your studded tires will have no bite and the layer of snow. They will slide between the ice and your tire - very low traction situation and you have to remember where the ice is, because you can't see it.

Most of the time I'm driving faster than most in the snow, but there will be times when I will slow down, but traffic does not.

You can really slide around with snow tires under 40mph, as they are very predictable provided you know what's under the snow. Power on oversteer is safe and very easy to control with the right foot (with a rwd and some AWD cars). I would never induce lift off oversteer on a public road under 30mph and never in snow. FWD cars are great if you like understeer.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Artifact

I have a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee I use for going to the OHV areas in my state and it get about the same mileage as your Subaru there buddy even with a heavy foot you should be doing better than that, maybe... (clogged cat, weak injectors, timing issues, ect)

You may be right, but I know it takes a lot more energy to go from 5000ft to 12000ft than just driving flat miles. Heck I have a 1000ft climb around a bunch of tight switchbacks just to get to my house. That's gotta hurt the MPG's.

I see lots of Jeeps in various states of modification here in Colorado. I grew up in the back of a CJ7 (not may of them in Oz). It was cool at first but not when you're 12 and no longer fit... If you into OHV I'm sure you've seen the crazy stuff that goes on in Moab.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Artifact

PS: I am hard pressed to find any better live action shots that on Road Warrior, even if I count only two scenes that were sped up. This movie has people flying through the air and alot of those shots were barely arranged. I started reading about "the making of" on one of those sites, interesting factoids and still one of the greats.

It's been a few years, I'll have to watch it again. You might like Eric Banna's documentary "love the beast". It's about him and his mates entering a (660hp) XB falcon (mad max's car) into the Tasmania targa race. If there was one car I would have loved for my first it would have been an XB. Instead I ened up with a honda civic with a 1.2l "engine".

[Colorado^]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

There is a company that makes a roots style supercharger, that's in ADDITION to the factory turbo setup for a Subaru WRX. basically, it is used to fill in the turbo lag gap, then goes into bypass mode once positive manifold pressure has been reached.

That would be sweet I couldn't buy a 2.0 WRX after driving a 2.5L XT- way too much lag up here in the thin air.

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by Colorado^

That would be sweet I couldn't buy a 2.0 WRX after driving a 2.5L XT- way too much lag up here in the thin air.

Then you're really gonna like the new Subaru BRZ, STI edition that will be out in 2013. 2.5 liter turbo 4 with 330HP, rear wheel drive and six speed manual. 2+2 configuration. I drool with anticipation.