During a flood, I forded standing water up to the headlights, bow wave to the hood, slower and for a distance of about 200 feet and the car was fine. A Mitsubishi Eclipse that tried to follow was not. This was with the stock snorkel, not the current NACA intake, of course. However, a year later I did have to replace the steering rack because water had gotten past the seals and sat there eating away at it.
Midnight in a Perfect World on Amazon or order anywhere. The first book in a quartet chronicling the rise of a man from angry criminal to philanthropist. Midnight... is a distopic noirish novel featuring 'Duchess', a modified 1990 Subaru Legacy wagon.