[waynez]

Hello subies,

I see myself going away from current 2010 buick enclave FWD and towards Ascent. But I have a few questions regards driving dynamics. If you have some driving experience of the two, please share your 2cents.

My enclave is over 120k now, still running strong. I have always felt it's riding quality being too mellow, or soft if you will agree. Suddent steering wheel maneuver will always bring substantial body roll from sometime if not day 1. Shocks and struts's absorbers have been replaced not long ago, but still. If I have replaced the four shocks with bilstein stiff type, body roll may be less, but that will be in price of ride quality for sure.

I have always enjoyed German cars' ride and steering/maneuver quality, much refined than US cars. But never drove a subie before.

How would you compare the two in regards to the ride quality/ maneuver feeling etc in a comparison?


Thanks in advance.

 

[cjkenton]

Only a very small handful of people have driven the Ascent to date. That should start changing drastically in the next few weeks as pre-production models hit the dealerships, and final productions come into full swing.

I know nothing about the Buick, but as you may know Subies are know for their Boxer engines. Which lower the center of gravity and greatly reduce body sway and increase traction/awd handling. We all expect the Ascent to follow suit.

 

[jacket4256]

Well very few people have rode in the Ascent and far less have drove one, so its going to be all speculation, at this point and time. You are however comparing apples to oranges when comparing just about any car to German. I have owned all of the above American Subaru and German, I find the Subaru drive better than most American cars and will have fewer issues than any American (just my opinion). Then to actually get to your questions the Subaru with being AWD will have more rigidity and less body role than most and car that is not AWD, therefore you will have very little body sway or motion.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

This should answer your question. The car is very firmly planted on the ground.

 

[Carl Abrams]

I have always enjoyed German cars' ride and steering/maneuver quality, much refined than US cars. But never drove a subie before.

How would you compare the two in regards to the ride quality/ maneuver feeling etc in a comparison?

Thanks in advance.

Well, the best description I ever had someone give of an Outback is that it feels like a German car with Japanese cost of ownership and longevity.

But as for how the Ascent handles in person? I'll let all y'all know after next Tuesday. (That's when we get to do our Ride and Drive event.)

 

[pashi266]

Well, the best description I ever had someone give of an Outback is that it feels like a German car with Japanese cost of ownership and longevity.

But as for how the Ascent handles in person? I'll let all y'all know after next Tuesday. (That's when we get to do our Ride and Drive event.)

I hope you guys will get Blue or white for the test drive. Looks like all the dealers are getting the brown one.
Also, don't forget to take ton of pictures :tango_face_wink:

 

[Jason]

I hope you guys will get Blue or white for the test drive. Looks like all the dealers are getting the brown one.
Also, don't forget to take ton of pictures :tango_face_wink:

Both of our corporate cars are white. One is a touring and the other is a limited with black captain chairs.

 

[pashi266]

Both of our corporate cars are white. One is a touring and the other is a limited with black captain chairs.

Ok, great.
Could you please share the thread link where you posted the pics?

 

[meyeracer06]

I will be interested to hear if the tuning of the suspension is closer to the compliant tuning of the standard Forester / Outback vs the stiffer Forester XT. I suspect it will be on the cushier side similar to the Outback, but it may be tuned slightly stiffer to combat excessive body motion with the larger curb weight and also to facilitate better handling during towing applications.

Both of our corporate cars are white. One is a touring and the other is a limited with black captain chairs.

Sorry to threadjack, but I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing more pictures of the limited with the black interior. :tango_face_wink: There are not many good pictures out there of the black leather interior.

 

[Jason]

I will be interested to hear if the tuning of the suspension is closer to the compliant tuning of the standard Forester / Outback vs the stiffer Forester XT. I suspect it will be on the cushier side similar to the Outback, but it may be tuned slightly stiffer to combat excessive body motion with the larger curb weight and also to facilitate better handling during towing applications.



Sorry to threadjack, but I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing more pictures of the limited with the black interior. :tango_face_wink: There are not many good pictures out there of the black leather interior.

We will get them up asap.

 

[Subiesailor]

I think the best description to date around this question is that Subaru targeted the much smaller Mazda X9 driving dynamics which for sure drives and rides dramatically different than the floaty Buick. I would say your trying to compare apples and Oranges.

Now can I ask? Who’s the first soccer dad to Auto cross the Ascent on Saturday between baseball games?

 

[waynez]

Thank you all for your kind inputs. From many ways, I am comparing apple to oranges. But from the main purpose of my "large suv purchase" standpoint, I am still comparing apple to apple :-D. I just need a larger suv with quality ride with awd capability, oh, also, good fuel economy.

Enclave is notorious in its body roll. I know, some people do like it, floaty during long haul may have some benefit. But it is indeed toooo floaty that once I ride over the mid lane berm of a half restored highway and it lurched to one side so severely that I had an idea right there that I need to replace it with something much much much stiffer. Because, at there and that moment, I saw the grin on the bmw driver driving in the next lane...

I did had a test drive of Benz gl450 some time ago. It is very comparable to Enclave in many many ways. But I believe GL450 is floaty but also body roll to a limited degree. In Enclave's case, if I drive over 35mph on loop highway ramp, I always feel like I am about rolling out of my seat.

So I am very looking forward to your test drive experience from the Ascent in the next few weeks. Do let me know how it handles when you make some sudden steering wheel turns.

 

[jacket4256]

check out youtube as well I cant link since I am at work, but there are some good videos of people beating the ascent and it seems to be what your looking for. I would be surprised if their is much body roll at all, and like Carl said Subaru is stepping up their game with this car so it is close as you can get to German without the price tag.


The only difference in options on the Ascent touring that we have ordered and my C6 A6 Prestige is that the Audi had the full circle cameras of the car. I will differently take that for about 20k less plus there is way more room.

 

[cjkenton]

We will get them up asap.

YES! Pics of black interior would be amazing!

 

[waynez]

I have test drove honda pilot before. To be honest, the experience was very plain. Weak power, floaty feeling too. But the body roll shouldn't be as bad as enclave tho.