Tundra vs Subaru

guy in a 2 month old Subaru wrx backed into me in a parking lot. I didn’t have a mark on me but the Subaru........bumper pushed in and the clips all popped on the drivers side so the bumper was flapping on the drivers side and the trunk wouldn’t open.

I always shake my head when someone asks why I drive this big gas guzzler....... it’s built like a brick shithouse.

 

Maybe this pic is better.

 

I don't understand the whole "bumper is gone, substitute plastic and honeycomb" approach to design. You lose safety and drop some weight. It's like someone going on a Jenny Crank diet...then reality steps in.

 

any smaller vehicle VS a full size truck will lose kinda obvious.

 

My wife drives a Subaru. I really worry about that POS in an accident. Plastic bumpers. Are you fuckin kidding me?! Why is that acceptable?

 

Because plastic absorbs impact energy and wont transfer it to things like... Your lungs, kidneys, vertebrae... you know things like that.

 

My wife drives the Ascent, I've had a couple Subie's, they are the BEST at crash test, BETTER than the Tundra by far per testing.. why worry. Our tundra's actually don't do so well FULL ON CRASH!

 

This is true. It's a change in design theory to make the occupants, rather than the vehicle, survive the crash. The more a car crumples, the more energy it absorbs, and then there is less energy left over by the time the occupants suffer the impact. Crash science and testing is actually pretty neat stuff.

 

Fine, be objective and scientific about it. Dammit.

I think I'm deflecting. I just don't like the Subaru. I think the build quality, especially the interior, is CRAP. With the worst stereo ever put in a vehicle. This includes vehicles from the 1980s.

 

Do they have a Tundra vs Subaru crash test? Because I know which one I would want to be in.

 

This hurts a bit. I still miss my WRX, but they are pretty cheap on the interior. Reliability and speed/handling for the money is tough to compete with if you still want AWD, though.

 

I took a class in dynamic design analysis many years ago. Exact same theory, instead of making something really beefy to survive a shock event, make the things that support it flexible to absorb the energy. Pretty cool. The Navy did a full scale shock test, replacing an existing shock hardened design with a DDAM design. The results were awesome. It never got implemented because it was way too different than the existing designs.
It does suck though that because of it you have to pay more for a minor incident. But you're not paying for a funeral.

 

This is just my rant, man. My wife's Subaru has had some huge repair bills. That's all. My singular bad experience. I do like the look of the older WRX. Looks like alot of fun to drive. Not trying to step on any toes here.

 

No toes stepped on. It just makes me miss the car. You are totally good.

 

Cool

 

Ascent is big enough to handle the truck hands down. Anyways, again anything small would not win, David vs Goliath.

Look at the results of it's self evident. I know which one I rather be in as well head on full crash.

Which is which?

 

I've owned 3 subarus. 1 NA 2.5 RS wagon, 1 2.0 WRX, 1 2.5 turbo Legacy. If you stay with the non-performance, practical vehicles, they are great. Once you go turbo, prepare for wallet rape. I've seen (live, in front of my eyes) a stock, EJ255 (2.5 turbo) wrx with 33k spin a rod bearing and need a new engine. It was covered, but... da fuq? My EJ205 died at 88k. It had 275 whp, though. Lost compression in 2 cylinders and had a bad 2nd gear. My EJ257 (variant, not full STi engine), died at 95k lost compression in one cylinder. The EJ25 (non turbo) is still running to this day with 155k on it. I gave it to my mom who drives it only occasionally at this point. Just regular maintenance.

 

I have built and raced a few Subaru’s in my day. Ej257 with glass ring lands and plastic can gears. Fuck that engine. That said I’d take another tomorrow.

 

Yeah, I'll buy another.

 

My wife was in a '98 Subaru Outback, stopped on a two lane road waiting for a person in front of her to turn left. She was hit by an F350 doing 35mph. She walked away. They do very well in crash tests. It's all about absorbing the impact and not transferring it to the occupants.

 

This is why electric absolutely rock at crash testing. They have more space to absorb impacts than an ICE car.