Subaru Crew - Modifications

bonnie_rick · April 2000

Subaru modifications such as tires, audio, roof
racks and other aftermarket add ons.

Bonnie Rick
Town Hall Community Manager, Edmunds.com

ateixeira · April 2000

15"x30" ASC glass pop-up sunroof
leather shift knob
leather steering wheel cover
cargo net
3 child seat tether anchors
soft roof top cargo carrier (Samsonite)
SolarGard window tint (30%)
door edge guards

I think that's it. You can follow the link below to several related photos.

http://www.thejuiceman.homepage.com/directory.html

Wish list? Well, I dream of some 16" alloys, the supercharger from the ST-X (to get the baby's diapers QUICK), and uh, uh, not much else, really.

How about you guys?

-juice

PS Well, a turbo wagon for the wife, but that's not really a mod, is it?

locke2c · April 2000

KYB AGX adjustable struts
18-22mm adjustable rear sway bar
Goodridge stainless braided brake lines
DIY mudflaps (side skirts on the RS stink)
2.25" catback exhaust w/ Borla turbo muffler
Yokohama Nexus tires

The car came with leather wrapped wheel and shift knob, and 16" alloys...

What's next:
Michelin Pilot MXX3 tires (Nexus will die next weekend at an autocross school)
trunk light
window tint

-Colin

ramon · April 2000

K&N filtercharger
18mm no roll bar
UR lightened Pulley
2.25" catback with Borla SS muffler
Graham Goode Shortshifter
STi titanium knob
STi embroidered leather boot
20% all around window tint with front visor
Redline tranny and rear diff fluids
Removed roof rack

coming soon this summer:
WRX spec wagon springs,
KYB AGX adjustables,
Dunlop SP8000 summer tires.
Cusco rear strut tower bar

ateixeira · April 2000

Sounds like some sweet performance mods to me!

How did you guys like the results?

Don't forget to fill us in on the school. I guess that's a mod for the driver

-juice

PS These mods sounds worthy of a dedicated page on my web site. Photos, please?

locke2c · April 2000

re: results of mods

Tires are a must. There is absolutely no mistaking the original equipment tires on the Impreza RS (v rated RE92's) for a performance tire.

The next best modification is definitely the sway bar. After that, struts. I really like the way the car handles now. Too bad there isn't another 50-75 HP under the hood.

Oh, and I missed the autocross school. Fortunately I hadn't prepaid. I was the best man at an evening wedding Saturday night and had a few too many to get up at 5am to head to the school.

-Colin

ramon · April 2000

i'm going for one this summer. can't wait! it's BYOC - Bring your own car. hopefully by OBS will be shodded with some decent SP8000s by then!

ateixeira · April 2000

You're right, tires are the critical contact point with the pavement.

Now, where'd I leave that info on the 225/60 on new 16" rims I was considering?

-juice

aling1 · April 2000

I wonder if any one has considered adding High Intensity Discharge Xenon headlamps to their Subie yet. I know that the current MY00 Legacys are available with this option in Japan, but not in North America (not officially, anyway). Too bad...

But, check this link out: http://www.hidlights.com/subaru/index.htm

They look great!!
Drew

abhidharma · April 2000

Drew -- they do look great!

They also work really well -- my Acura TL has them, and night driving is really enhanced.

Randy

kens · April 2000

Drew,

Cool link. That Legacy looks pretty mean with it's HID lighting -- especially the fog lights. Unfortunately, I don't think any HID lighting kit for our Subarus here in the US would be street legal. All the kits are imported from Japan and therefore aren't DOT approved. On the other hand, I've never heard of someone getting pulled over for using illegal lights either.

Whatever you do, don't use those imitation HID bulbs with a blue tint. My brother got me a set for our VW Jetta for grins and we tried them. Although the light is much 'whiter' it definetly is much lower in intensity. Needless to say, they went right into the trash.

aling1 · April 2000

Yes, there's no doubt that they won't be street legal, but if they provide superior illumination, I'd be willing to take the chance. I have them on my E320 (was a factory option though), and they're great!

Yes, the cheap blue tint bulbs are useless, but I suggest that you check out the Sylvania Cool Blues or the PIAA Superwhite bulbs. Both are street legal and have no visible loss in brightness in intensity. Actually, it's quite the opposite. There's a slight improvement, along with the accompanying increase in colour temperature (read whiteness).

Of course, the PIAAs are whiter than the Sylvanias, but they're also quite a bit more expensive. Just last week I switched my minivan's 9004 bulbs to the Cool Blues (CDN$25 for a two pack) and I noticed an improvement right away. I got the C.Bs because I couldn't bring myself to spend that much money (for the PIAAs) on that older vehicle (it's a '94). I have the PIAAs (for the foglamps) on my ML320 though.

Drew

locke2c · April 2000

PIAA makes some good auxilary lights, no argument there... But their Superwhites are a rip-off.

Read and learn.
http://lighting.mbz.org/faq/

-Colin

aling1 · April 2000

Don't believe everything that you read. I've visited that website before and despite that, I still continue to buy the PIAA bulbs and recommend them to others. I can now also place the Sylvania Cool Blues on my recommended mods. list.

Once you get them (PIAAs or C.Bs) and see the difference between that and the stock bulbs, you'll get it. The biggest difference is the much higher colour temperature of the PIAAs providing greater contrast between objects. The Sylvania Cool Blue bulbs are a cheaper alternative PIAA Superwhites. I used to have a URL to a website where a Nissan Maxima owner showed comparision pictures of the different bulbs that he experimented with, but I can't seem to find that link now. Have a look at this link: http://www.sylvania.com/prodinfo/auto/cool/welcome.htm

The thing with Daniel Stern is that he can't provide an alternative to these bulbs. Others in from the M-class mailing list have e-mailed him in the past asking about any suggestions, and yet no response.

aling1 · April 2000

BTW, I believe that the Cool Blues are also available in H1, H3 and H7 size.

kens · April 2000

aling1,

Thanks for the feedback on the PIAAs and Cool Blues. Between the Daniel Stern website and my experience with my cheapo blue bulbs, I've become kind of skeptical of their performance.

However, I keep reading about people who claim they've found an improvement with 'higher-end' products like the PIAAs. Have you done a side-to-side comparsion with your stock bulbs and replacement bulbs? Does the beam cutoff change at all? Maybe if the Cool Blues aren't too pricey, I'll try them out.

My Forester, forutnately, has great lighting IMHO. I've been very impressed with just the stock setup in all weather conditions. It's my VW that I'd like to get better lighting for.

kens · April 2000

One more question -- what's your take on those Xenon-gas filled bulbs (ie. Hellas). I don't necessarily want high color temperature light (ie. blue or super white). Would these be a good choice?

http://www.hella.co.nz/xenon.htm

aling1 · April 2000

Yes, I've done side-by-side comparos with the PIAAs and the stock bulbs. Huge difference especially in colour temperature. When I first did one bulb on my Camry, I was blown away by the huge difference in colour. The PIAAs were so much whiter that it was unbelievable.

I think that the PIAA's advertised increase in wattage is exagerrated, but they are noticably more intense. No noticable difference in beam pattern or cutoff whatsoever. Just very clean white light, especially in dark areas. High beams were even better...Everything that I've just written also applies to the Sylvania Cool Blues, but to a lesser extent. But, then again, there is a huge differential in price between those and the PIAAs.

Funny you should mention Hella because Hella USA also sells their own brand of whiter bulbs (called Optilux). Go to www.hellausa.com for more details. WRT the Xenon filled bulbs, I actually have those on my ML320. The headlamp assemblies are made by Hella, hence they came with H1/H3/H7 (High beams/Foglamps/Low beams) Hella Xenon gas bulbs. The colour is definitely whiter than regular bulbs and the brightness is also superb. However, keep in mind that the H7 bulbs themselves are superior to any other halogen bulbs. I'm satisfied with them, but I'll probably upgrade to Xenon headlamps soon (DOT/SAE legal MB OEM units, of course).

aling1 · April 2000

locke2c · April 2000

Seems to me aling1 that you're looking at the wrong end of the light bulb. Instead of evaluating the COLOR of the bulb when illuminated, perhaps you should do another side-by-side evaluation of the amount of light produced and the beam shape.

How's the visibility in the rain with those superwhites?

-Colin

kens · April 2000

Drew,

Thanks for all the info. Boy, you've done your homework on this topic!

So, if all I want are bulbs that have higher intensity, don't have a blue tint and can be used as direct replacements for stock bulbs, what do you recommend? Are the Optilux replacements the most cost effective?

I'm sure you've seen the below article, but what's your take on it?

http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102

locke2c · April 2000

I've seen that article, and had friends that paid $50-90 for PIAA bulbs. They suck just as bad as the article indicates.

-Colin

aling1 · April 2000

Visibility is not diminished at all in any weather. But, (here's my warning) for some reason, it seems that a couple of sizes of the PIAA Superwhite bulbs are not as effective as others. These bulb sizes seem to be the kind that earlier model Honda Civics use (which was the test vehicle in the Overboost article). I was skeptical at first, but you'll be able to understand once you see the actual thing.

I've had success with the Superwhites in H1, H3, H4, H7 and 9004s, so I can recommend those. The Forester uses H4s and H3s (foglamps) and so I can definitely recommend those. If you would like to change the bulbs, I suggest that you start off with the H3s first (they're much cheaper), and if you like them, you can then move on to the H4s. Keep in mind that the H3s are only foglamps, so you may not notice much difference as far as light output goes. You should be able to notice a big difference in colour temperature though.

Note that autosupermart.com also sells the PIAA Plasma Blue H4 bulbs which are even nicer looking (from the outside) than the Superwhites and with no visible loss in brightness.

The Hella Optilux bulbs are around the same price as the Sylvania Cool Blues. Here's a price list of the Optiluxs:

http://www.escribe.com/automotive/european/mbmc/m4334.html

But, I have no personal experience with these bulbs, so I can't tell you if they're good or not.

Drew

dzartman · April 2000

Just got an email back from Stromung. They are in development of a twin-tip 76mm muffler for the 2000 Outbacks. Mandrel tubing. Check in four weeks is the word. Sounds cool.

http://www.stromung.com

ateixeira · April 2000

Colin: your RS has excellent lighting (just check out those fog lights guys!), so perhaps a swap in your case is redundant.

In some other cases (think 1st generation Dodge Intrepid), they're almost necessary.

-juice

jagarland · April 2000

Juice-

What about the fog lights? I have a brand new 2000 OBLW and I don't think the fog lights would do any good....they are aimed too low. Am I wrong or is that the consensus. I'm sure I can probably have them adjusted, but is that worthwhile doing? They don't appear to be very bright and aiming them higher might not be either legal or useful. Thanks in advance.

Jack

end

locke2c · April 2000

If your OBLW has fogs anything remotely like my RS, then you should turn the adjuster screw and make them a bit more useful. From the factory they probably are aimed about 8-10 feet in front of the car.

I've brought mine up a bit and there is a very noticeable difference. I don't drive around with them on all the time though, only when it's rainy or foggy or there are no other cars around.

-Colin

jurek2 · April 2000

You have tinted your Outback. Can you tell how much it costs? Thanks.

torek · April 2000

I started writing this a few days ago when someone mentioned light bulbs. Then I had to do something else for a while, so now it is a bit out of context. Oh well. What makes a great bulb?

This stuff is hard to measure objectively for a few reasons, but there are some basic points to observe.

First, any resistive light bulb (i.e., filament-based, i.e., not fluorescent) works on the simple principle that if you heat up a thin strand of wire, it gets red- and then white-hot. It emits "blackbody" radiation in all kinds of energy bands. Since the light bulb is (nominally) not an energy source or sink, whatever electrical power you put in (in watts) will convert entirely into other energy: light, heat, microwaves, radio waves, etc.

Unfortunately, resistive bulbs generally emit about 98% of their energy as heat, and only 2% as visible light. What everyone tries to do here is get more of the energy into the "visible light" band, which basically means increasing the filament temperature. The problem here is that the hotter you make the filament, the more metal molecules tend to boil off of it. (Tungsten, chemical symbol W, nominally melts at 3422 degrees C and boils at 5555 C. Invidual atoms will boil off long before the wire as a whole reaches its melting point, due to thermal irregularities.) Quartz-Halogen bulbs use a simple trick: the bulb itself is made of quartz, and is filled with a halogen gas, under pressure. Metal molecules find it almost impossible to bond to either of these, and the pressure pushes the boiling point up higher, so you can go ahead and "superheat" the filament. There is a limit to how much of this you can do, though. Halogen bulbs are already rather explosive (I dropped one once and boom! awfully loud for such a tiny thing).

Now, xenon is a halogen gas. (The halogens are helium, argon, neon, krypton -- yes, as in kryptonite; no, there is no such thing :-) -- xenon, and radon.) Xenon has another property though: if you pump electricity through it, you get a flash of light. This is how xenon flash tubes (strobe lights, timing lights, etc.) work. This light is a form of fluorescence. Lots of things "fluoresce" (or glow) under the right influence. Ultraviolet or "black" light makes ordinary aspirin and vaseline glow an eerie color. (Scorpions also glow under black light. Someday I want to take a black light out in the desert at night....)

Fluorescence is fundamentally more efficient for lighting than blackbody radiation, because it emits its energy in a narrow band, or several such bands. (The actual bands are determined by electron orbits in the molecules of whatever it is that is being made to glow.) Fluorescence is useful for lighting only when the band is visible to the human eye. Something that fluoresces in the infrared or ultraviolet bands might be great at converting electrical power to light, but you would not be able to see it.

This brings up the other point: whatever kinds of light are emitted, you have to be able to see by that light. As it happens, we can see the "Roy G. Biv" rainbow (red orange yellow green blue indigo violet), but we do not see all of those equally well. The human eye has a peak response around green, with an odd response curve. (There are different chemicals in the color-sensing "cone" cells that pick up on different frequencies of light. People with red/green color blindness have a defect in one of these chemical mechanisms.) Things lit up only in blue are hard to locate spatially, too, i.e., you can see that they are there, but not exactly where there.

So, ideally, you want to emit a white-ish light with its enery peak in green. This is pretty much un-achievable though.

Now, whether xenon headlight bulbs actually use the fluorescence property usefully, I do not know. But, if they do, it would make sense that xenon bulbs could emit more useful light from the same power input. Other than this, the only way to get more (useful) light out of a bulb is to put in more power -- i.e., a higher wattage bulb. Of course, if you do that, you have to make sure your wiring can handle that (the wiring itself has some resistance, causing a voltage drop, and as the current draw goes up, the wiring dissipates power too, and gets hot -- just like the filament, only much less hot, one hopes. Engine compartment fires are no fun....)

Other than making the light brighter, you can also try to "aim" the light more precisely, with reflectors and lenses. This is not something one generally does with the bulb itself, though.

Chris

dzartman · April 2000

To see larger rims and lower profile tires on the Subaru OB, check the following sites:

http://www.syms.co.jp/pages/legacy.html

http://jprova.co.jp/parts/legacy.html

http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/contents.html

Dzartman
Sandman

ateixeira · April 2000

Great idea, a factory upgrade that could even be dealer installed.

jurek2: I paid $170 for my Forester, and the Outback is the same price for tinting. I had 35% SolarGard installed by New Again in Silver Spring, MD (Mike's town). There is a Window Tinting topic under Accessories with plenty of good advice.

-juice

miksmi · April 2000

Dude, you should be a technical writer. You routinely explain technical ideas in lay (accurately, I might add; well, I can confirm only some of it

I appreciate your contributions to the board. ..Mike

lucien2 · April 2000

thanks for the pics! I love the way those look, but they ain't outbacks. I am a little worried that the raised suspension will make big sport rims look a little goofy. Then again, the WRX gets a lift for dirt stages and looks fine. We'll see. Either way it is expensive, and I don't exactly have 1400 bux lyng around for something like this right now. Plus my wife would kill me :-)

ateixeira · April 2000

That's an interesting point. I wonder how our rides would look if we weren't family men.

Either lifted or lowered, huge wheels, bracing, WRX brakes, the works. We'd probably go broke investing in our rides.

BTW, you think if I order 16" rims she'll notice the huge boxes on the front porch?

he he

-juice

lucien2 · April 2000

Hell, I'm thinking 17"! No way to hide THOSE boxes! Then again, I might be able to find a set of GT rims, or even '00 Outback 16" factory rims somewhere for cheaper....hmmm.....

Here's another one: the magnetic base of my CB mast is ruining the paint. Anyone know a clean way of mounting an antenna on a Soob luggage rack?

dzartman · April 2000

If you look under the hood, the stock OB air intake scoop is positioned just above the right front headlight. Partially blocking the scoop is a small plastic shield that is bolted to the hood itself. I've removed it, to give just a little better airflow to the filter (K&N due out in July)
Can anyone see a reason to keep it on there--why is it there at all?

bigelm · April 2000

Damn...Sorry I was behind in this hall...
I decided to look around for light mod for MY00 RS, and I can see some familiar people are in here....
Anyway, I'm just in the process of changing my light bulbs cause I travel more than average at night...
I've read all the posts here...very interesing. Does the 2000 RS remain with the H4 headlights and the H3 foglights? Do I need to change the wiring to have Xenon lights? And if I do...what bulbs would be the best for vision...? I was looking into PIAA Plasma Blue. But now I'm not so sure...although your test was on the PIAA Super Whites. What about the Hella Xenon...any ideas???
Thanks in advance.

aling1 · April 2000

The Plasma blues are definitely good, but pricey. If you don't want to spend so much money, the Superwhites or the Sylvania Cool Blues are also good. The C.Bs are not as white as the PIAA Superwhites or Plasma Blues though.

No, if you go with the PIAA/Sylvania/Hella Xenon - not Hella Optilux - bulbs (which are not as white as the Cool Blues), you don't need to change any wiring, provided you buy the bulbs with the same wattage as your stock bulbs.

I personally would recommend the PIAA Plasma Blues/Superwhites/Platinum Superwhites, the Hella Xenons or Optilux, the Sylvania Cool Blues, and the Phillips Blue Visions. Forget all of the other cheap knockoffs since they're not worth it.

fredly · April 2000

regarding the plastic piece under the hood scoop area, make sure that it isn't a rain deflector... it may serve a very important purpose. I don't know not having seen it. But that is my guess

dzartman · April 2000

Here's the latest links page, updated with new entries and divided by region.

MANUFACTURERS and RETAILERS
------------------------------------------

JAPAN

http://jprova.co.jp/index.html
Feel free to drool over these items!!! Wow!

http://www.syms.co.jp
SYMS parts--badass stuff for all models!!

http://www.zerosports.co.jp
Excellent Japanese Subaru parts

http://www.rd-tanabe.com
Tanabe exhausts homepage--great wagon exhausts here!
U.S. distributor listed below

http://www.poweraxel.com/sti/catalogue/legacy/index.html
Japanese-parts importer

http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/contents.html
STi homepage

http://www.axa-int.com/link.html
Importer of Japanese performance parts. Site dead?
-----------------------------------------------------------
U.S.A.

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive
Oregon-based fabricator of high quality parts,
mostly for Impreza/WRX/RS

http://www.spdusa.com
Excellent Subaru-only shop, very, very knowledgeable
Good 2.5RS/WRX parts source

http://www.spomotorsports.com
SYMS reseller and aftermarket

http://www.challengerdeep.com
SYMS parts reseller and aftermarket

http://www.mackinindustries.com
U.S. distributor of Tanabe

http://www.quicklink.net/bham/paeco/home.html
Paeco makes flywheels, camshafts, pulleys for Subaru and other makes

http://www.geocities.com/flatlineracing/Subaru.html
STI parts and more

http://www.subaruparts.com
Discount Subaru parts from Tacoma, WA

http://home.cdsnet.net/~zastava/products.html
Oregon-based performance Subaru fabricator

http://www.stromung.com
Very nice mufflers w/chrome tips designed for Impreza and OB-NEW 2000 MODEL DUE OUT IN 4 WEEKS!

http://home.att.net/~teaguesauto/
STI, Cusco and genuine Subaru parts and gear

http://autocaresubaru.com/
Scorpion lift kits(!) for Forester, STI, Cusco, more

http://www.bpmsports.com
Subaru performance

http://www.junusa.com/products.htm#SUBARU
Impreza parts

http://www.subysports.com/
Recent newcomer to Subaru performance, has SYMS

http://www.jcsports.net/
strut bars, nice exhausts, decent prices
-------------------------------------------------------
OTHERS

http://www.minnamracing.com
Canadian shop--turbo specialists and other perf. parts
Recent internet opinion: Customer service rated low

http://www.mrtrally.com.au/frames2.htm
Aussie-based, rally oriented, good parts

-----------------------------------------------------
U.K. based Subaru shops

http://www.powerengineering.co.uk/index.htm
U.K.-based tuning and products for WRX Impreza

http://www.blitz-uk.co.uk/subaru.htm
Blitz product specialists

http://www.grahamgoode.com/
Subaru performance for Impreza

http://www.tdi-plc.com/Subaru_home.html
Subaru products for Legacy, Impreza

http://www.sleeze.co.uk/subaru.htm
Another UK-based shop-WRX and Impreza

-------------------------------------------------------------
LINKS and OWNERS PAGES

http://www.cars101.com/subaru_links.html
Many many links

http://www.umr.edu/~esidik/subapart.html
I like this page, has manufacturer's URLs and much
more

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/m.hunt/subaru/subaru_main.htm
U.K. owners page

http://www.ifeng.demon.co.uk/scooby/index.html
Read this for excellent Impreza/WRX info from a U.K. owner

http://www.toad.net/~rrubel/outback.html
Outback page by an owner

http://members.aol.com/Emily23PG/index.html
Murasame's page on the 2.5RS

http://importcars.net/subaru/
An owners Impreza RS site, with a great section
of pics showing how to install parts

http://www.egr.unlv.edu/~simon/
Wow! Great 2.5RS Impreza stuff!

http://projects.shn.nu/subaru/links.cphp3
Excellent links to worldwide sites

ateixeira · April 2000

17"s would look sweet. Too low profile for pot-holed DC streets I drive, though.

I'll add my own page to your list, if you don't mind:

http://www.thejuiceman.homepage.com/directory.html

This is a text only page (for speed) with links to all my other pages.

-juice

lurker4 · April 2000

Dzartman-- I would just watch out for the warm-air factor: If the plastic shield keeps engine compartment air out of the intake, you'll want it there in warm/hot weather (you know the principles behind aftermarket Cold Air Intakes). Have you thought about adding a CAI kit?
Dan

locke2c · April 2000

dzartman, I can't believe you would specifically comment on Minnam's customer service and your comments for JC Sports are "strut bars, nice exhausts, decent prices". Are you aware that JC Sports is the single most complained about Impreza parts supplier? Their lack of customer service and shipping parts when they say they will is legendary.

-Colin

bigelm · April 2000

Thanks for your info...I kinda like the idea of putting either PIAA Plasma Blues or the Hella Xenon. Want to upgrade my fog lights...I'll look into that too.
Thanks again!!!

lucien2 · April 2000

...are my brand new SCOA decals! Thanks, Gerry.

dzartman · April 2000

Colin,

I am aware of JC Sports history. Their own page refers to their troubles. However, please refer to the link mentioned in the list:

http://www.umr.edu/~esidik/subapart.html

Where there is a positive vendor update on JC Sports, dated March 7, 2000: "Vendor update !!!
I havent heard a complaint about JC Sports in a long time and some praises actually. So the old unreliable status was most probably outdated. I've been out of the loop for so long and am trying to catch up." Whereas MinnamRacing has had several more recent bad reviews in the STi listserv. Apparently someone at Minnam who had his act together has left and now it's kind of fallen to pieces with his departure. I sent an email to them, excited about their Cusco strut bar, air intake system AND their 2.25" exhaust system...ready to buy...but never heard back from them with my requested information. Whereas I have written JC Sports twice for info and both times have received replies within two days. It's nothing personal Colin, I am just relaying what recent info I have gleaned from public sources (the site, the listserv). I have nothing against Minnam. If people out there are happy with Minnam, please, send in your comments, let us know how they are. Thanks for the input.

Best,

Dave

miksmi · April 2000

Hi Dave, I think Colin is referring to the numerous posts on i Club. I've been on i Club since Oct 99 and I was just shocked to read about their poor customer service. I did a search on i Club to give you an example of some of the horrible customer service but the archives are hosed (i Club recently moved from one server to another, and they are in the process of redesigning the site). From what I gather, the folks local to the JC Sports in CO fair better than those out of state. I've seen positive and negative posts about the quality of JC parts (just as you would about a part from any company).

One good thing about JC is that he's making aftermarket Subaru parts; many companies ignore the Subaru market and focus on the larger Honda/Acura market. So it's good that JC is willing to make parts for our rides.

I haven't seen recent gripes about JC on i Club, which could mean customer service is better (though I haven't seen any compliments) or i Club folks have wised up and don't order from JC anymore. I guess the point is that everyone should be aware that in the past JC has had delivery problems (some 6 months or longer) and poor customer service. Caveat emptor.

..Mike

PS - Thanks for posting about JC, Dave. Information from multiple sources is a good thing.

jurek2 · April 2000

Thanks for your tinting info, but I'm looking for canadian prices. So far I found Solargard Quantum or HP-Titanium $365.00 for Outback in Toronto area. It looks high,is it not?

ramon · April 2000

Oh yeah! that's really high. I had my OBS done at tint king for 260 in London, ONT. Mine's 20% all around.

luck11 · April 2000

Are those Tint King buggers still around? They did my Laser and warrantied against fade or peel for 5 years. Well it was faded after 3 and a bubble developed after 4. But of course, it was an installer warranty and the shop was gone after 3 or 4 years...too late to claim warranty. I hopw your shop uses better materials than the one in Ottawa did 6 or 7 years ago.

Jurek2: You're right...it does sound high. However, I'm in Ottawa and prices in TO may be higher. I paid $240 for all windows (except windshield of course) for Solargard Quantum. My 00 OB is Winestone with beige interior. As such, I used 22% shade all around and it looks great. Personally, I don't like the look of having different shades from the front side windows. My installer told me that the Quantum, which is metalized and therefore will not fade, provides same UV protection regardless of shade.

ateixeira · April 2000

With any tint job the installation is key. Ask to see a sample of a job they've done (often they tint their own cars).

Once it's done, let them dry for a week before using the windows, to be safe. It's hard, I know, but worth it.

-juice

Subaru Crew - Modifications

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles