Well, not exactly. I repaired Subarus for 15 yrs and they NEVER had the 4WD/AWD tire related "disasters" that Volvo owners experience. You're right in that if a Subaru owner installs different sized tires that their AWD system will act differently while those tires are on BUT the difference with their system is that I've never seen that cause permanent mechanical damage to their systems parts. Change the tire(s) and the Subby is still OK, nothing breaks. In contrast, I've seen myself and read here that shortly after installing their (supplied by Volvo) spacesaver spare tire and driving a short distance (yet over what's mentioned about it in the owners manual), the angle gear was distroyed ($2,400 part plus labor). To me and the owners of those cars, that's in-excuseable.