Subaru Impreza Outback Sport & TS

celeste2

Ramon-what did you think of what that guy said about the balance of the crankshaft? And whatever he meant about most good tuners not using them? Do you just have the underdrive pulley or all of them? I'll see if he explains himself more, too. I do mostly in town driving. Do you think I'm wrong to hesitate about the pulley because of some negative stuff I'm seeing? Maybe it's people who's complaints aren't valid, but still it puts doubts in your mind. And I've heard that if you don't replace all the pulleys, just the underdrive, you shouldn't have the electrical, etc., problems.

RSHOLLAND: A new SVX? Boy, they just love to leave us in suspense, don't they? All we need is a hint of what they're planning to do and everyone's goin crazy! They could torture us with rumors and just watch is squirm!

ramon

celeste, i've posted my comments on the yahoo board. I can only speak from experience and from others. I too know alot of tuners who decided to go with it and so far no problems reported.
I've had mine for a long time now and the engine has been running amazingly well. And yo uknow I do drive my car hard. bounce of the limiters too.
If you want to keep your car forever, leave it stock. It's perfectly ok to hesitate and be cautious. After all you will void your warranty. That is why I got mine black so that it does not stand out as say a blue, red or a silver pulley.
It really depends on your application and why you want it.

celeste2

my man, you been busy or what these last few days? haven't seen you on the OBS web and guessed you musta been out racin or diggin out of snow or something!

celeste2

On the Impreza club website, re: the inquiry about what makes a girlie car? Huh? Pink paint with Barbie stickers?

ramon

Hey,
Yeah over the weekend I had been busy tootling around with my lil OBS. It was sorta sick. Drank some bad gas. Started to detonate (you don't want that to happen in your engine!!!) so I scrambled for 94octane. Later it got hesitation due to the drastic change in octane rating. Anyhoo last friday I've reset the ecu and on saturday help the car to relearn my driving behaviour .
Was glad that the car didn't puke on me. So on Sunday took it out to the last autoX of the season and terrorised the cars in my class. Yup. Among cars I beat were modified civics, a supercharged T-bird, an RS (later we sawpped cars and I still beat him.) Celica, tercel?! and some others. I was happy and now tired. Just finished swapping back my stock OBS wheels and tire.....and installed mudflaps. I was bushed. I slept at 11pm!! Yikes!

Thot you don't come here anymore now that you can get awesome advice at the yahoo and iclub board. Bet you can't figure out who I am at the i club! hahahhaha.....

celeste2

bet I can! someone says they're from "anyplace" or something vague like that. It's hard to disguise your dialect and figures of speech.

How did your car get bad gas? been hanging around those sleezy bars, eh? was it backfiring? Wow, your driving technique must be really good. Wouldn't you say that counts for alot, even when another car may have a little edge even on hp?

Congratulations! Now you'll have to fly south and race, eh?

ramon

You're one smart mamma!
It wasn't backfiring. It was detonating within the engine. It's when the gas combust prematurely. very bad for pistons. However it happened only when I was at high rpm. It's gone now....I hope.
Well I have to say a cavalier z24 with race tires and also modified beat me tho. So once I get some R compounds I'll have my revenge next year. But will end up with in the miata and some other very very fast class. =( I really hate the classification in my autoX. It's not streamlined enuf like the US.....

ramon

hey celeste,
I've added some new pix at the yahoo site. It's under my yahoo user name. The new ones are all links now.

celeste2

Do you mean the pix at the Outback Sport Club site? Saw that one with the sexy looking #19 painted on the back window. Loved the one with the lights on. The fog lights look really nice. You get fog lights, we get black window tint!

ramon

i have black tint too. Didn't u notice?
Nah the miata will eat any Impreza we have in an autoX in stock form alone. But for traffic drag then it's different since the old miata has like 115hp (108lb-ft) vs our 142hp(149lb-ft). So it's a matter of putting your foot on the gas.
BTW lately my OBS has been sick. It's hesitating off the line. =( So I picked up a new fuel filter this morning but the hesitation's gone. I'm puzzled. Oh well I'll see when it'll come back and then change the filter.

maybesubie

I'm in the market for a 2001 obs 5speed/base model. i have dealer in TN who will not drop below $17885 (all fees/destination charge included). he and other dealers i've contacted in GA and NC don't have one on the lot and won't until mid-late december. Considering this availability issue, do you think $17885 is a fair price? Do you expect availability to loosen up after the turn of the year and could i expect a better price if i hold out? all of the dealers are telling me that availability will be a continuing problem because the factories are churning out foresters and not obs's

thanks for your help

ramon

please head down to http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/subaruimprezaoutbacksport

they have quite a large number of OBS owners there which can help with various information.the price might drop since the new WRX is coming in and also the 2.2l OBS will be replaced by 2.5l OBS sometime next year.

celeste2

Do our cars have fuel injectors? Do you think something got in your gas line or one of your injectors is screwed up? When we had our Volvo I kept having trouble like that and it was some electronic part that does something with the fuel mix.....

maybe your car needs a good Florida vacation to get back on it's toes! A little drive on a sandy beach, etc., etc.....

ramon

errr all modern cars have fuel injectors. I think our Imprezas are some kinda Multiport Injectors....
Anyhow I bought a new fuel filter. But was too busy over the weekend to replace the old one.
Here's another theory why it might be the fuel filter. I did some research and apparently when you have dirty gas, thus causing the filter to clog up, you get hesitations. I know prior to all these hesitations, I ran my car below empty and with the gas light on, I drove for another 10km. So what ever gunk at the bottom of the gas tank might have been sucked into the filter thus clogging it. What'cha think of my theory? Think I had a little too much of Capt. Morgans?

Or we can go with your theory and head down to Florida state. But then again, what with the crazy election fiasco..... I dunno. What did you do celeste? Did you screw up the ballots like them old citizens there?! Floridians...always up to no good. 8-)

maybesubie

thanks for the info. ive gotten a carsdirect price about $200 below the dealer offer, $17726 total with floor mats. I think i'm going to take it considering their seeming scarcity here. i also don't want to wait until spring/summer for the clearance price thaws - my 18 year old honda-hatchback is demanding early retirement.

celeste2

Who said election? You gotta understand that booze flows like water in south Florida. All that water, all those resorts,etc. It may be the wealthy Palm Beachers who screwed up the ballots and are afraid to admit it!

So your car was a bottom feeder, eh? Ouch, no telling what was floating around on the bottom of that tank, were you going so fast you couldn't find a gas station? Now, what if some of that crud clogged one of your injectors? Would a new filter fix that?

I guess I didn't see the dark tint on your windows, I'm thinking of the pic where your window is down and a number is on the side of the car like 47 of 49 or something. I guess you guys use dark tint so you don't go snowblind, huh?

ramon

dunny har har missy.
Well you raise a good point about fuel injectors. I will look into it too. If the fuel filter gig doesn't work then I'll pour some cleaners in it.
The tint is for kewl factor. hehehehe...nah actually I needed the tint! In summer the OBS is light a freakin' green house! So must tint the scooby up. Also it's nice so that I can stare out at night an no one can see me doing it.
My car is usually 47..... but at one time I went with 19. I hate shoe polish! Never again!!!

ramon

Replaced the fuel filter yesterdee nite. It was easy. 5 minute job. I disconnected the battery prior to it. Anyhow there were minor gas spill when I disconnected the fuel lines. Plop the new one in and the car has been driving very nicely. We'll see if this is the solution after the next few days. Because sometimes a reset of the ecu can also get rid of the hesitation problem temporarily. Yay.... now I can go look for that old lday in a Geo Metro that smoked me at the traffic lights. =0

celeste2

a GEO METRO?????

That's the reason for the tint. You don't want anyone to see those challenging sideglances you give them at red lights, and you catch them off-guard. That's what I like to do to hondas around here. Even if they are faster, with AWD and a little edge I can pull away and those little boys can't figure out why that lady would want to be so mean!! It's a riot!!! Glad your baby quit pukin'. Time to go out and do some dukin'....

ramon

gees! Even I at a tender age of...err low 20s don't go around staring at ppl to race at lights! Girl you gotta hold a tight reign! Maybe it's because I take all the pent up energy at the autoX events... It helps you know. And it feels real good too. However the season's over and I am now in some kinda repression thingy. =( So must seek out that lady in the metro that spanked me.
Day 2 post hesitation...... so far so good. Watched Anna and the King. It was actually purtty good for a chick flick!

ramon

Yup. Had a run in with some kidna Dodge dakota sport truck thing. All decked out with fog lights, rollbars, brush guards yada yada. Anyhow it snowed yesterdee and the road was wet. I didn't even know he wanted to race me until the light turns green and I hear him screeching his bulbous off road donuts. Anyhow, I gunned it. When I reached the opposite light, it was all over. The road turns into some kinda curve which snakes up a hill. The gap I put b/t that put [non-permissible content removed] was not even funny! It was wet and I even slowed down bit cus normally i take the twisty at redline in 3rd gear (you do the math). Anyhow the road straightened out and I slowed down. He came charging behind me unable to overtake since turns to single lane after the curve. Tailgated me for a while. What a loser.... Woner how powerful are those stupid trucks. Anyway... the car hasn't puked on me yet. Still no site of that Granny Geo. So the Dakota sport will have to do. ;-)
BTW, all these were done when I was listening to a sappy song on the radio. hahahaha

celeste2

Man, I gotta get an online service that works! Our free service kept screwing up so should be back on next week. I'm at the library now. So now it's a Dakota. Wish I coulda seen that. Last week was takin a short cut home thru a neighborhood with twisty streets by a lake. Of course, my son said, "Punch it, mom!" So the first curve was fun. The second curve--someone had their lawn sprinklers on--was wet and my back end slid out a little, but I just let go of the wheel and she straightened right up. My co-pilot says, "Oh, bad, Mom! That was cool!" What a bad impression. If he does that when he gets his license I'll smack im'!!

celeste2

Went to Ft. Lauderdale a few nights early this week. We saw not ANOTHER OBS or RS on the way down or the way back. Plenty of Outbacks! Of course, in Ft. Lauderdale on one of the main strips there is a car dealer that has three showrooms called The Toy Store. NSX's, Lamborghini's, Porches, Aston-Martin's, you name it, it's there. There was an NSX with beetle paint--gold, green and purple and it was so sweeeeeet!

ramon

Problems with ISPs eh? Well try Netzero.com, I think it's free service as well. I see their commercial quite often. Luckily I get free internet access through work. 40hrs remote access. You know jus tin case I have to work from home in the weekend..... yeah like i will. Actually I did before. Not fun!
Anyhow, I wonder is it because you're back or what, my car is puking again! =( Of and on. I give up, I'm bringing it back to the dealer. Maybe the 02 sensor's busted.

ramon

Must be bad gas. Anyhow car's running fine and strong. Yay.

celeste2

He, finally got back on-line here at home. Bad gas again? Do you always buy the same brand or switch around? Boy, it's scary to think there might be that much bad gas around, what do you think they put in it? When ay think about it, they could be putting anything in there and how would we know it? Pretend I didn't say that.

Let my son's friend take my car for a spin, as he's looking around. He likes Audios. I went along to show him a route, so he'd get in a few curves, etc. My son in the front--me in the back saying, "Now, punch it!". He was favorably impressed and I could tell he was more than a little surprised by the handling. Also, he's mesa-tall and had plenty of leg and head room! We're going to see if they have any two door Rally Sport's at our dealer up the road and if they do, take him in there and get a test drive.

He gets out of my car when we get home and says--are you ready for this--"I hope I didn't scare you with my driving." We just looked at each other and laughed.

ramon

well it's gone for now. I've nto had bad gas for a while now. YOu do know that, u've been gone for a loooonnngg time eh?
i vow not to go back to that gas station anymore.....

bought a set of winter tires yesterday as my city is being hit with snow almost on a daily basis for the last few weeks. And also it would be swell when I take it to the winter rally school this 23rd. Yup. Our Toronto Subaru Club is organizing a day long Rally School. So it should be fun.
There should be a few RS around.

celeste2

I wanna see some pics of an OBS plowing thru alot of snow! Will this car do that? What's the deepest snow you've driven your car through? By the way, you've probably driven the RS. How does it feel different from the OBS? I wouldn't think much but maybe the small differences really add up!

ramon

the RS has more torque to boot. You can feel it has more power. handling's about the same.
I beat an RS bad on my last autoX event. actually on my last 2 event I beat them bad. Of course my car ain't stock. I save the money I was gonna spend on buying an RS and put it on my car and therefore I got a better car?!
Then I took his RS and still beat the guy. hahahaha Also bear in mind that the Canadian OBS/TS are better equipped than the US equivalent models.
Oh celeste, I got stuck last week on 2 feet of snow. I live in a cottage at the end of a street and plowers are too lazy to come all the way in to plow my portion. I was shodded with stock BFG T/As. I thought eh, should be ok. got AWD. Whatever. Got stuck 10ft later. Had to dig the car out. Earlier this week I picked up some snow tires and I haven't gotten stuck yet. The BFGs are really bad. No traction at all. =(
I'm attending a rally school this weekend. Will take some pix of various scoobies doing their thang. I'll post them on the yahoo board when I am done aight.

rsholland

I drove through about 14" of fresh snow last winter with my son's '96 Impreza Outback. It had stock tires with about 60K on them, so they were not with full tread depth—still, no problems at all.

Bob

celeste2

Saw the rally pics you posted on the OBS club. Man, I can't believe how you guys get out in that weather, stand around in it, etc. We're dyin down here right now because someone up north left the door open and it's been friggin COLD. All the way down to below 30 degrees last night! I don't know how you guys get out in it, but I have a heckuva lotta respect for you and it does look like fun! Keep on truckin>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

ramon

celeste,
It was wayyyy fun. I love it! The ppl there were awesome. For only $100 it was more than worth it since we get profesional quality instructors who are Rally Masters. THe Canadian Rally Ace and 2000 champion - Tom McGeer came to teach us as well. It was fun in the morning as it was still snowy but it got icy once towards end of the sessions. Still fun though. Hahahah...
It was really cold in the morning but it warmed up quite a bit in the afternoon.

tara

Hello! I just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Tara and I've just started working for Edmunds.com. I'll be your new host for Station Wagons:)

celeste2

Hey, did you see the pics of my car at the RS meet here in Orlando? The ONLY OBS there. They were really friendly and invited me to park right in the middle of their lineup. There's pics of me with both my sons (the pic labeled, Table 1), in the group of photos submitted by Peaty. We stayed about 4 hours, got our necks burned from stading around outside so long. Didn't get to make the autocross Sunday morning, but had fun anyway.

ramon

i am still alive and kicking. And I did see hte pix. very nice day the down by sunny Florida! So unlike up in the frozen north. =(
So u're that happy lass putting on that V on your son eh? So where is your husband in all this?! Isn't he like into cars? I think in general, all Subie ppl are nice irregardless what they drive. Wish there are more non RS owners to show up. Our local club even switched the name to a more generic Subaru club name so that we can get others to join in. It's getting there slowly.
Nice shiny OBS you got there! ;-)

celeste2

The hubbie was working while we were playing. He's mostly into relaxing when he's not working. Of course in his younger days he was into cars and even had Ralph Nader's favorite, a Corvair. And I didn't stop to think they'd post those pix when I put the ears on my kid. Oh, well, paybacks are hell. He's trying to get his older brother (also in pic) to buy a Rally Sport, and so his plans are underway for that as soon as he pays off his current car. You should be thawing in about another what, 8 weeks or so?

ramon

right now it's not snowing. just cold. stupid. i want to put back my regular tires so bad. the winter tires are so darn squirmy.

celeste2

How'd ya like to have some of those studded snow tires they used to sell? I remember as a kid in the Cleveland area hearing those things clicking on pavement when there wasn't snow on the road. Bet they're a real treat to drive on.

How do your snow tires make the handling feel on your car? Just not real sure-footed?

celeste2

Hey I don't remember if you said your O2 sensor ever went out... I'm paranoid now as I was hearing Subaru got a bad batch on those and alot of people had trouble. I'm up to 10,000 miles now and no trouble yet.

That's funny about you sliding into the church parking lot. I can just see some little old ladies talking outside about how nice the young boys are in their congregation and you come slidin' in behind their back... hehehe..

Nice to hear you do attend church. Your manner is always so courteous and polite, I bet your mama's proud!

ramon

yup. been going to church since i met the good Lord back in '92.

I don't remember about the O2 sensor issue. Do you mean hesitations? I dunno. It's gone I think. Who knows. I wouldn't be worried about the bad batch. If it happens then go for warranty recall or something.

BTW, I have somewhat of a mix news about my OBS. It is turning into a 2001 2.5rs. Why? I've been good friends with the dealers ever since I moved into the town (lone Subaru dealer). and the town is a Outback/Forester town. This RS has been sitting in the showroom for like months gathering dusts. So last week one of th sales guy offered me if I want it. Anyhow to cut the story short, we cut a good deal. I am not paying anything much more for this RS than my current monthly financing payment for my OBS. So I pretty much got a 2001 brand spanking new 2.5RS for the price of an OBS.
I am happy because it's been the car I always wanted but couldn't afford way back when. But really sad because the OBS has been my baby and the first ever car that I've owned. It's like saying good bye to one's first relationship. .... but I don't want to pass out that deal. So no WRX for me for another while.

celeste2

Hey, that's really good news! I kinda wondered how long it would take you to get one of those, but figured you'd just wait and go on to the WRX. That's really cool--what color? 2 or 4 door? We met a guy at the RS club last week who lives not far from us and installs different kind of turbos. One guy was giving rides in his, who had one of these tubos installed, up and down the strip in front of the restaurant. He burned up the rest of his tank of gas on giving rides! It was really fun watching him rip up and down the street. Are you going to take the letters off the back?

I found a list someone put on the RS club of those cars that may have bad O2 sensors, and OBS wasn't on the list. One guy with a Forrester had to take it to the dearler 3 or 4 times to get it fixed and with the lemon law in his state, got a new car to replace his!!

If you ever decide to jump in your car a take a long ride to Florida, let me know. We have a spare room and live in the tourist metropolis of the world.

ramon

well i am quite thrilled at the good deal of this outgoing RS. It's blue ridge pearl.
I am sad to see my little cure 5dr wagon go tho. If it had more power and came with rear discs, I would've been so happy with it. But alas, it is not very competitive at autoXs. Although it does hold it's own. I am gunning for some miata blood soon. ;-)
Well thanks for the invite. It would be awesome to go visit Florida. But it's so darn far! would really help in adding to the break in miles tho. hahahaha...
Oh yes it's the one of the last remaining 2dr RS in Canada...
Too bad, I can't take out my OBS' side skirts. Otherwise, I'd sell it to you for cheap. It's titanium slate tutone too... matches the OBS real nice.

celeste2

So, when do you pick up your car? I was going to ask, "It doesn't happen to be a 2-dr. in Blue ridge Pearl?" Because I think those are the awesomest ones. Bet you can't wait to start modding, eh? Got the fever..... Yeah, I hear they can do some pretty heavy things to those Miatas, I used to only make fun of them as my husband calls the girlie cars, but #2 son has a magazine that shows one with a pretty awesome engine. Well, keep in mind that if you ever do decide to hit the road, it comes all the way down to my house!

nippononly

if you were in a wreck that required replacement of a lot of the suspension, make sure all your alignment specs are good - bad camber especially can cause you to lose a good portion of your contact patch, and then if the tires are a little overinflated on top of that, it would be easy to be real "goosey" as soon as the road was not dry.

ramon

for the invitation. It would be tre kewl to go down with my gf.
Yes it's a 2dr blue ridge pearl. I will be trasnfering al my mods over. Question is when? Not sure. I might just want to drive it as is for a while. But I know it will not handle as well as my modified OBS. However, the dealer is transfering my catback for me for free. hahahah.... doubt they want to sell an OBS with a loud Borla exhaust.
Actually my stepdad has a 90 Miata modified for autoX and it's very fast. Not alot of power tho but does really well. I think with good R compound tires, I might be able to give him a run for his money with my new RS. We'll see...
Good thing is that all the suspension work will fit perfectly onto the RS so I don't have to buy any new parts. Must be good stewards of my own financial too...
Now I have an extra set of 16" RS wheels sitting in my basement. Hardly ever used. Gonna sell it. $CDN1000 with re92s. Yup.... should be an easy sell considering how good those rims are for the price.

celeste2

Boy, you must be in good with that dealer. My older son will be buying an RS when he pays of his car now, hopefully this year. Our local dealer is a real dirtbag. I'm going to encourage him to look around and even go somewhere else to buy if he has to. Is that Borla exhaust louder than a Stromung? When you get it, post a pic somewhere... can't wait to see it! Will your stepdad be begging to drive it? What about your girlfriend?? Can she drive a stick or would you even let her drive your car??

ramon

The local dealer is small. I can walk in and out of hte service bay as if it's like another room. I always converse with the sales guys all the time. They are nice. I want a good deal. But at the same time I udnerstand that they too need to make some money. So it's a compromise I guess eh? . The Borla is a really good bang for the buck muffler. It weighs less than the Stromung and it is Stainless Steel. Not to mention it is cheaper. I have a full catback midpipe exhaust system, so in the highway or winter time when the windows are all up, it gets drony. I would recommend you to get the Borla muffler only and not the midpipe. This way you will get the deep burble but won't get the drone. It sets off alarms for goodness sakes!
When my stepdad heard ove rhte phone that I am getting the RS, he was off on the web searching for technical details about it. hahahahah... he owns a 330Ci (5spd - no autos in our household. Even my mom has a 5spd mx-6) as well. I drove it before. Very nice. Weird clutch tho.
My gf does drive manual (gotta love girls who can drive manuals!). I told her if she's nice, I'll let her take it for a spin.... we'll see.
Know what? I doubt I'll be going nuts with photos as I was with the silver OBS. Personally I think the Impreza wagon has a much cleaner lines among the Impreza models. I'm quite sure I will still hang out here at the wagon forums. In hope that one day I shall own a WRX wagon! Or an Audi RS4 Avant wagon. hahahahha....
Is your son planning to get the new age RS or the outgoing models?

celeste2

Well, The #1 son likes the old-age Imprezas. He already liked them before he went to that RS club meet with us last week, but after seeing all those, he's really convinced.

I know what you mean about some of those loud mufflers, at the club meet someone's muffler set off an alarm next to it, it was pretty funny. Did you put your own muffler on? You do most of your own work, don't you? Learn from your stepdad, or? I have an uncle-in-law who was a stock car driver, and had national titles in drag racing back in the 60's. He was a guest in the pit crew for A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones when they would come near where he lived in Wisconsin. Loves Nascar, though.

You'd really want an Audi? I thought I heard they were finicky like VW's. You know, all that German engineering....

Yeah, I really like the looks of the WRX wagon. Maybe by the time I get ready to buy one, they'll be even better (yeah, like how?), but can't wait to see one and sit in it. How do you like that racy little IS300 Lexus? Now that's yellow! I saw one in a parking lot and it really shone. Or like southern white trash talk, "It sure do shine!"

ramon

no, since it's a catback, I had the performance muffler shop bend me a custom midpipe for it to hook up to the Borla. If you want to hear the sound, I can send you a sample of my buddy's exact same Borla catback taped off his RS. It sounds exactly like mine.
At the recent Toronto Autoshow, I got to check out Lexus' new IS300 SportCross 5dr wagon. It is so purtty! Well so was the new age WRX wagon.... yummy.
Yeah generally Audis can be a pain. But the RS4 Avant which we will never get in North America sports a 380hp Twin turbo in it's AWD belly. So that makes getting groceries much more err..... efficient.

celeste2

yeah, I'd like to hear that muffler!. My email is katzkratch@hotmail.com