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Comments
-Frank
-Dennis
The brakes should last closer to 36,000 miles and may be covered under warranty.
Jim
Still looks good after two years.
HTH
Larry
-Brian
Only down side is the car wash place warns they are not responsible for hood protectors.
Have Fun.
Larry
When I purchased the vehicle, I noticed the word "COBB" in small letters under the rear windshield wiper, but thought nothing of it. The CARFAX I purchased prior to my visit to the dealer said the XT was a corporate lease in Utah, so I assumed COBB was the corporate lessor. It was only later that I did a Google search and found out it is a Subaru tuner; the head office is also in Utah. [I'm sure most of you knew this right away, but not me.]
Then, little inconsistencies I noticed in the XT started to make sense.
1. The AT gearshift lever was definitely not stock. It was a chrome shaft with a leather-wrapped donut hole.
2. At 20,500 miles, the engine, especially the hoses, looked brand new -- newer than the usual steam cleaning. The engine compartment really gleamed. Is this normal?
3. The salesman said the tires were fairly new -- about 90% tread left. I discovered later that these were Barum Bravuris 225/55s (instead of the stock 215/60s) that were W-rated. W-rated means good to 159 mph! Higher, I think than the Z rating. Up to now, I've never owned tires higher than H-rated.
4. From all your posts, I know that the car is a rocket, even with the AT, but it appears to accelerate from 80 to 90 with just a slight push of the pedal. Normal XT performance or a revised ECU software map from COBB?
I know this sounds dumb, but I have learned many times over that good things rarely come without some sort of a downside. I will truly enjoy this COBB-enhanced vehicle, but what should I be watching out for -- e.g. higher mileage on the odometer because of the low profile tires, or a voided SOA manufacturer's warranty?
Sorry for the long post. I have truly enjoyed reading the informed and varied posts in this forum and am honored to join such a learned group!
Check if the spare was also upgraded. If not, you might want to set the pressure of the spare to 26psi and don't drive very far on it if you ever get a flat.
I think you'll be ok, it seems like the previous owner took meticulous care of it. Maybe it was a COBB demo car? I think you lucked out, given the immaculate condition of the engine bay.
JACKPOT!
-juice
Can't hurt to ask.......
HTH
Larry
I have benefited from your many posts since early on in this forum and appreciate your feedback.
It's great that the Barums only skew the odometer by 2%. Based on other posts that have mentioned XT body lean in turns, I suspect that there might also have been suspension mods in connection with the 225/55 setup. My 2004 XT corners just like my previous Impreza -- i.e. much flatter than I initially expected, although it appears the 2006MY might have corrected this problem -- so I will plan to retain the low profile tires when I need to replace them.
There was a Yoko Geolander when I checked the spare. It appears that you think the optimum pressure for the W-series Barums should be 26 psi. As the neophyte in these matters, I would have thought something in the 30s, but you're the boss.
I'm still stunned by the turn of events. The car was purchased just a few days after it came into the dealership and they might not have had time to check it out thoroughly. It was the end of the month and they might have needed the cash. I brought up the fact that it was a corporate lease (i.e. the potential for abuse) and talked them into throwing in a Gold Plus 6 yr/60K extended warranty with $100 deductible for $300. I told them the normal $850 was mostly profit for them, so they weren't going to be out of pocket very much.
After learning about COBB, I tested the idle with the A/C off, and there was virtually no vibration, perhaps the slightest boxer "shake," almost undetectable. So you may be right about the demo angle. Hopefully, I won't be paying for it too much later.
Best regards.">
Thanks,
Why?
The spare is a bit bigger, but the sidewalls will have a little more deflection at a lower pressure (still within the 26-29 that Subaru recommends).
The 55 tires have a stiff sidewall, combined with higher pressure that should minimize any difference in the tire size.
-juice
I called both Cobb Tuning and their UT dealer affiliate, Modern Garage, and they both disavowed any knowledge of my vehicle -- so I guess I have a renegade vehicle on my hands. Will do my best to enjoy it, though! But I appreciate the idea.
To Juice: Got your message and I understand the logic. Will follow your advice. Thanks.
FXT OEM Hitch
The hitch pictured in the link above; can that be installed on my stock 2005 FXT or do I need additional equipment?
Thanks.
Keep in mind that ball is sold seperately. Ironic that the photo highlights the ball, no?
Mine came with the wiring harness, so it was bolt-on and plug-n-play. But mine is a '98.
-juice
You can get that trailer hitch for free from Subaru using Subaru bucks.
Hmmm... now that's an idea, I can buy 8 Subaru OEM trailer hitches using Subaru bucks, sell them on E-bay, and get some real cash flowing
John
You guys still didn't answer my question: Do I need anything else besides the hitch assembly to install it on the FXT? If the answer is no, then I assume there is something under the rear bumper on the frame which I attach the hitch to, right?
Thanks again...
J
On my 1998, the hitch assembly was complete. I only needed tools and some elbow grease, though a helper or at least a hydraulic jack and some cable ties are useful.
Most likely it's the same for the new ones. They supplied all the stuff, even the grommet to seal where the harness wiring leaves the spare tire well.
-juice
Thanks for your thoughts!
P.S. Of course, I would also welcome comments from MT owners that have an opinion.
just does not make sense to me to keep foot on the brake when the car is trying to creep fwd. I have 27K on my XT
and have done that since day one. Bought it new. Love it so far....
Deadeye
The engine likes to idle a touch below 1000 RPM when in neutral, and is at 750 in "D" in my AT, so it's just a couple of hundred RPMs -- piddling for an AT designed to upshift at 6,500 when called for. However, the engine just seems a lot happier to be in neutral.
The key is to wait that extra half second when going from N to D for the AT to engage before hitting it. I guess that's where the wear comes in! [Screwed up there a few times before I learned the habit!
-Frank
-Frank
-Dennis
-Frank
The former includes a Subaru Gold warranty like my wife has. It's from Subaru.
The latter is basically pre-paid maintenance. Just make sure they can reimburse you if you move to another state! I think these are sold by the dealer, not Subaru.
-juice
Put it this way - if you can take advantage of the other perks, like auto club membership, then it can be a good deal.
It might also help with resale if you sell a car with 90k miles that still has 10k worth of warranty left in it. As a buyer of a used car, wouldn't that appeal to you? Knowing you could mitigate the risk? You'll make some of it up.
Our Mazda 626 was good for about 5 years, then it started to fall apart. We spend $2500 and then sold it. A 7/100 warranty would have tripled our investment and we probably would have sold it for more, or even kept it longer.
Then again, Murphy's Law, you get one and the Subie is perfect for 200k miles.
-juice
-Frank
Of course I can't ask her again, because she's VP of warranty sales, so she might be a little bit biased.
She used to be with dealer services, so she had access to data like that.
-juice
My reason for asking is that, if there is ANY non-obvious weaselling built-in to the "Subaru Bucks" program, this particular MasterCard is very unattractive. (Short grace period, two-cycle (worst of the 6 FTILA-defined methods) biling computation, High percentage fee for international currency transactions, etc.)