A Subie for Him (and Her!)
by Joe LaMuraglia
In the almost two years that we’ve been working on Gaywheels.com, we have had to explain our mission more times than we can count. That in itself is no surprise. As a small business, we are constantly selling ourselves to advertisers, business partners, investors and the like. Once our audience understands what we are trying to do and we explain the idea of a gay-friendly manufacturer, they inevitably say “Oh, like Subaru”.
Our friends at Subaru have done an excellent job of building brand awareness in the GLBT community. Their commitment to advertising in the GLBT media and supporting our causes has reaped awards, recognition and ostensibly, brand loyalty. The big question is has all this brand building sold cars? That is, after all, the goal of each car company – to move the metal.
While not backed with any hard sales data, our observations indicate the answer is yes, and no. Subaru’s involvement with Martina Navratilova and advertising in the GLBT media has given them a stronghold with the “L” in GLBT. That is fantastic brand association but ask yourself this; when is the last time you associated a Subaru with a gay man? That is what we thought. We are fairly certain that the marketing folks at Subaru love the fact that lesbians are loyal to the company while simultaneously struggle with the notion that they are perceived as a lesbian-only brand in our community. They want to sell to the G, the L, the B AND the T!
We are here to say that Subaru should be on everyone’s shopping list and the 2007 Legacy 2.5 GT is the perfect car to attract those among us that want a sophisticated, gay-friendly sports sedan with all-weather capability, no matter your gender or sexual preference.
We drove a 2007 Legacy 2.5 GT Limited sedan and cannot say enough good things about it. The exterior styling is unique and sporty with a touch of luxury. It isn’t exactly gorgeous but it certainly says “drive me” – think Daniel Craig, the new James Bond.
Everything in the interior from the Momo steering wheel to the wood-adorned shift lever felt wonderful to the hand. The controls are easy to find, well-lit and very straightforward in their design. Stomp on the gas and the real fun begins. The optional SI-DRIVE, a sophisticated throttle mapping program, allows you to choose one of three throttle responses (Intelligent, Sport and Sport Sharp) depending on your situation or whim. Partnered with Subaru’s legendary AWD, it gives you the extra control that we all secretly desire. Want to save fuel? Leave it in Intelligent mode and the computer will maximize MPG while still delivering a fun-to-drive experience. Feel like tearing up some mountain roads? Select Sport or Sport Plus and hold on tight. There is a discernable difference in the shift points. Either way, this car is FUN to drive.
For the price, you’ll be hard pressed to find an AWD sedan that has the stand-apart styling, fun-to-drive factor, visibility and overall ease of use as the Legacy GT. At an as-tested $30,000 it may seem a bit steep for a non-luxury sedan but we think it is worth it. Go ahead, be different. We dare you.
Subaru is a gay-friendly company.
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Joe, I can totally relate – especially to this brand. My first car was a 1982 Subaru GL Hatchback with 4wd inherited from my Mom. Living in the foothills of the Adirondacks, my little Subaru often got me home through some major snow and ice and before me, it safely got my mother back and forth from Syracuse University. At that time, my mother and step-father also had Subarus. The three were named; Sam, Sue and Sonny Subaru. Needless to say, I have a fondness for their reliability and safety. We used Sam (a 1982 Subaru Wagon) to go camping, pull a 21-foot sailboat to the lake at Cooperstown, and on at least one occasion take my Grandma Mabel through a field to look for deer – while she was visiting us from Cali. Today’s Subaru is a completely different ball-game from those 1982 Subies and today my Mom and Sister drive much newer, much more plush versions them. While I know a few Lesbians that take theirs camping, or use them to haul their kids to the market, I totally believe that Gay men would completely appreciate the variety of “personalities” and capabilities of Subaru today. In fact, come to think of it, I know of at least one very hot young gay guy in Northern California, who is an avid sports car club racer, racing his Subaru Impreza. They’re fun, practical, capable, safe, and quite sporting. While I do love me my Lesbian friends, I too think there’s opportunity to leave the typical stereotypes behind.
I drove a couple of Legacy versions and ended up with an A4 Quattro which was a more impressive, um, package as a performance car. I don’t care for options like satellite radio or navigation systems so the lack of such things kept my A4’s price near that of a higher-end Legacy. Living in New England I wanted something with all-wheel drive so that narrowed my choices considerably without veering off into SUV-land (ugh).
The Legacy is a nice car but its prosaic origins are belied in clumsy (compared to the A4) handling and the engine response lacked emphasis. Not that the 2.0T VW/Audi engine is a master of refinement, but the A4 is a lot more fun to drive.
Subjectively the Legacy is far better-looking than anything else Subaru has produced, but the interior styling is… meh. The controls and instruments felt and looked blingy and ergonomically-impaired. In the Audi everything seems magically in the right place, a result of the influential Magic Oktoberfest Elves Audi surely employs for such decisions.
Audi gave me a V6 3.2 Quattro as a loaner and omg it’s like buttah and sooo torquey, but that engine puts the A4 into another and more serious price bracket in which it has plenty of strong competitors. In the $30,000 range, not so much. OK sure you can get a Ford Fusion with AWD but if I wanted a generic rental-fleet special I would be stepping up from a Chevy Classic um Malibu uh Lumina? See, I forget because they’re so forgettable.
By the way, the bottom of most of your pages (with the important Post buttons) is cut off in Safari on OS X. You know, the computer all teh gays use? 😉
As you all know, the market is flooded with alot of so-called “AWD.” Subaru has alway been the TRUE full-time AWD car company. They have stayed true-to-form. AUDI can not even claim that rank with it’s QUATTRO….why do you ask? well…one secret is that not all AUDI have a true QUATTRO drive system, some models say QUATTRO but really contain the part-system called the Haldex system. Any AUDI with a transverse engine uses this “part-time Johnny.” Plus there are other cars out there that claim AWD but use this part-time system from Haldex. I had a 2003 5spd Subaru Legacy Special Edition sedan. I didn’t pay alot for it either….I got alot for a “go-anywhere car.” I never got stuck in the snow EVER. And with a 50/50 split on the torque for the wheels, I could book this car down the road in all 4 seasons. Now I drive a 2006 Legacy 5spd Special Edition with the variable-timing….VROOOM! funny how some of my friends used to think I was driving a Bimmer when they saw my 2003 silver Legacy. It looked more European than Japanese.