When are 2019 model due?

[cameo]

I wish Subaru would come out with some new subcompact SUV around the
size of Hyundai Kona or Honda HR-V because the current Impreza is too
tight a fit in my underground garage space.

[VanguardLH]

SUVs can go over rough ground. I don't consider a dirt road as rough
ground unless it has deep ruts, nor a gravel road, nor any tarvy. Seems
"SUV" has become abused for defining any vehical with 4-wheel drive.
That's not how I define what is an SUV.

A 2018 Forester has 8.1" of ground clearance and, although a wagon, the
2018 Outback has a ground clearance of 8.7", so those are SUVs. My 2002
Legacy L wagon has a ground clearance of 6.1". The 2018 Impreza has
5.1" for ground clearance. The Crosstrek added 3" of ground clearance
over the Impreza and can tow up to 1500 lbs (Subaru does NOT recommend
towing with an Impreza). Who considers the Impreza a SUV? It's a
compact sedan or wagon made to look sporty. Looking sporty doesn't a
SUV make. Geez, anything smaller than an Impreza will be a shoe that
won't have enough ground clearance to go over another shoe.

Do we really want Subaru making a Mini Cooper equivalent that's called
an SUV just because of body style in a tiny car that has AWD but little
more , or no more, ground clearance, than a commuter sedans? Edmunds
only considers the Crosstrek, Outback, Forester, and Ascent as SUVs.
They consider the Impreza a sedan or hatchback car, not an SUV. To be
an SUV means taller (due to added ground clearance) and fatter (to
handle the increased height).

I don't think Subaru can make a SUV smaller than the Impreza because the
Impreza is not an SUV. The Crosstrek is the smallest SUV that Subaru
makes and it enlarges on the Impreza. Are "crossover SUVs" considered
SUVs? Seems those are sedans made to look sporty, and some are getting
so tiny that "SUV" is now just a marketing gimmick to lure consumers
that just must have something labelled "SUV".

Sounds like you got stuck with a parking space for a compact car.
Parking ramps have 'em, too. Need a bigger parking space for an SUV.
Squat (in height and to the ground) and short (in length and width) are
not what define a SUV. SUVs are bigger than commuter cars, not smaller.
You probably need to start hunting around for a Mini Cooper, Honda Fit,
Chevy Sonic or Spark, Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris, Fiat 500, or
some other subcompact to feel roomy inside a compact parking space.

Impreza sedan (not the wagon since you're asking about small[er] sized
vehicles);
Weight = 3075 lbs
Length = 182"
Width = 70" (w/o mirrors)
Height = 57"
Ground clearance = 5.1"
Rollover = 9.5% resistance
Cargo space = 12 cu-ft

Hyundai Kona
Weight = 3250 lbs
Length = 164"
Width = 71"
Height = 61"
Ground clearance = 6.7"
Rollover = not yet rated
Cargo space = 19 cu-ft

Kona is shorter on length but just as fat as the Impreza for width.
Still will have a tight fit opening the doors in a compact parking space
with cars parked alongside.

Honda HR-V
Weight = 3000 lbs
Length = 169"
Width = 70"
Height = 63"
Ground clearance = 7.3"
Rollover = 13.50% resistance
Cargo space = 24 cu-ft

HR-V is just as fat (wide), so you'll still have trouble opening the
doors when in a compact parking space with other cars parked alongside.
For both cars, yep, they are shorter. They are crossovers: lifted
sedans with SUV body styling. They have more cargo space (back seats
up) than the Impreza because they are taller than the Impreza. Since
they are taller and short but with the same width, they would
necessarily be more prone to rollover (measured by www.nhtsa.gov; see
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/02/rollover-101/index.htm on
how rollover resistance is rated). By comparison, the Outback is 17.4%
and Forester is 16.9% rollover resistance: they're more likely to
rollover in an accident than the Impreza, Kona, and HR-V. That's due to
the higher ground clearance: Outback & Forester both with 8.7" (they can
plow through taller snow but are more likely to rollover due to the
added ground clearance).

10 Trucks and SUVs With Highest Risk of Tipping Over
https://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/trucks-suvs-highest-risk-of-tipping-over.html/

[Patty Winter]

In article <1fttpa032qaza$.dlg@v.nguard.lh>, VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote:
>
>A 2018 Forester has 8.1" of ground clearance and, although a wagon, the
>2018 Outback has a ground clearance of 8.7", so those are SUVs.

Has the designation of the Outback changed in the last few years? My
2013 is a station wagon. You said "wagon" at first but then said it's
an SUV.


Patty

[abj...@sbcglobal.net]

I wish they made a decent small car.

Subaru is the only manufacturer that doesn't
have one. Honda has the fabulous Fit, Toyota
the Yaris, Hyundai the Accent, Mazda had the 2,
Mitsubishi the Mirage, VW the Beetle, Fiat
the 500, BMW the fantastic Mini.

Why can't Subaru come up with an exciting
small car. Today's Impreza is the size of
a 1990's or early 2000's Legacy. Its just
grown too big.

I understand that the market may not be
favourable for a small offering- top of
business cycle, cheap gas, plenty of
old/aged people prefering SUV's,
Millenials frequently not wanting to
own a car at all, but a good exciting
and practical car could be succesful.
Look at Mini, or 500.

I feel old in my Forester, even though its
a turbo. To tell the truth I prefer my 2000
Impreza Coupe. Small yet roomy inside, powerful
enough, and the 2.2L engine is not a gas hog
at all, acryally quite efficient. Kia Rio can
make a 1.6 liter non-turbo engine packing 130
horsepower! I am sure Subaru could make a
decent small and powerful engine too. Maybe
a small turbo- Subaru has experience here,
something like the 1.5L Mini, though not
necessarily three cylinder.

Why not come up with something practical
and fun. The BRZ is just not a practical
everyday car.

Basia

[cameo]

I don't care if it's SUV or not as long as it has AWD, preferably the
synch type Subaru makes.

The length of my parking space is the problem, not so much the width.
The back of Impreza would stick out too much into the main cross-traffic
in the garage. Of course a smaller turning circle would also help in
tight places but that seems to be pretty much around 10 M on most cars,
plus/minus 1M.

[VanguardLH]

cameo wrote:

> The length of my parking space is the problem, not so much the width.
> The back of Impreza would stick out too much into the main cross-traffic
> in the garage. Of course a smaller turning circle would also help in
> tight places but that seems to be pretty much around 10 M on most cars,
> plus/minus 1M.

The Crosstrek is shorter than the Impreza but not by much: just 7". The
HR-V is 13" shorter and the Kona by 18".

Impreza sedan:

Weight = 3075 lbs
Length = 182"
Width = 70" (w/o mirrors)
Height = 57"
Ground clearance = 5.1"

Cargo space = 12 cu-ft

Crosstrek
Weight = 3186 lbs
Length = 175"
Width = 71"
Height = 64"
Ground clearance = 8.7"
Cargo space = 21 cu-ft

Because of increased height, make sure the Crosstrek will fit in a
garage (if you ever have one). We got a 2018 Outback and had to measure
from ground to the roof rails to ensure it would go in the garage. We
even got the dealer to give us the car for a week to drive around and we
checked it would fit into our garage. It does but not with a lot of
extra space, plus there's the cross frame on the inside of the garage
door to add rigidity to the aluminum door (which will be on the
underside of the door near the car when the door is up) to consider.
Because of the hatchback style back door, and despite having a key fob
and door switch to stop the door moving up further, we put self-stick
bumper pads on the inside of the garage door (on the horizontal metal
beams that support the door so the pads extended farther than the hinges
in the garage door). That was to keep from scratching the back door of
the car when it was opened, like taking out groceries, in case we
weren't quick enough to stop the opening car door.

Wouldn't how far your Impreza sticks out into the driving lane be
attributed to the vehicles parked next to you? A compact parking space
will be narrower but should be the same length as the surrounding
non-compact parking spaces. Size is dictated by municipal codes. Call
up your city hall to ask them what is the minimum parking space sizes.
In my city, ordinances stipulated the minimum parking length for a
"compact" stall is 16' (192") long and a "standard" is 18' (216") long.
Both stall types are longer than the Impreza's length.

The city council gets involved with zoning ordinances (unless, say, a
suburb borrows codes from the city or state) or the city engineer gets
involved if there aren't clear codes on parking facilities or a builder
wants to deviate from code. In my city's ordinances:

Submission of parking plan. Any application for a building permit or
zoning certificate requiring or including the provision of off-street
parking shall include a parking plan. Said plan shall be drawn to
scale and fully dimensioned, showing parking facilities to be provided
in compliance with this zoning ordinance and all other applicable
regulations.

The ordinance also shows a table of parking stall sizes (which I
mentioned above but there are more sizes, like for angled parking).
Ordinances differ. A Wikipedia article says the recommended parking
stall size in the UK is 7.9' wide (95") by 16' (192") long. Your
Impreza sedan is only 182" long leaving 10" leeway. While compact
parking stalls are narrower, they will be the same length as the
adjacent standard parking stalls. I have seen inside/underground
parking lots where compact stalls are shorter due to an obstruction,
like a pillar or A/C unit but their permit must still have been granted
based on the city engineer's okay.

If you're car is sticking out into the main drive lane, you might want
to find out from your city council if the building designed the parking
facility per their permit. Your building's parking stalls could be
illegally undersized.

If turning radius a problem, try backing into the parking stall instead
of driving forward into it. Overall turning radius doesn't change in
the car but the rears move less distance for a larger distance moved by
the fronts. That is, the rears make a sharper turn (smaller diameter
circle) than the fronts. That's why you pull along a car to then
reverse into a parking spot behind that car (aka parallel parking).
There are some industrial and special-use vehicles with rear wheel
steering but they are not considered as safe as are front-steering
wheels: an overly sharp turn with a rear-steering wheel could easily
result in flipping the vehicle at speed. Just like when you back up
with a front-steered vehicle with the front end swinging out wide, a
rear-steered vehicle going forward will steer out wide of the turn on
its backend and push into the other driving lane to hit someone. There
are some cars where the rears move in a turn but only a fraction of the
angular change for the fronts and only at low speed. Whether you are
skilled at reversing into a parking stall is a different issue and
something that requires practice. I've gotten positive comments from
bystanders on how quick I can back into a parking spot but that didn't
happen from just a couple tries.

[VanguardLH]

SUV: Built on a light truck chassis.
Crossover SUV: Unibody construction.

Other bastardizing adjectives can be added to "SUV", so the vehicle
really isn't a SUV. Or, you could think of recent SUVs being mutations
of old but real SUVs. None of Subies are real SUVs. They're crossover
mutations, even the Forester. It's blue. Now it's light turqoise.
Well, that's not blue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mLZHdybfI4

So when is a SUV not a SUV? The truck-based SUVs have gradually been
supplanted by the unibody SUVs. We get crossover SUVs. "SUV" has
become more of a status symbol. "SUV" has been misused and eventually
will be meaningless. SUV before is not SUV now and won't be SUV later.

Incrementalism has proved very successful at changing perspective and
acceptance. The term has become so diluted that there is no longer a
universally accepted definition of "SUV" (beyond the words in the
acronym). One day some marketing joker will label a golf cart a SUV.