Subaru Crew - Modifications

lucien2

I like them, although I like hydraulic ones better; THOSE are kinda heavy, but your bike is darn light, so it could be a worthy upgrade. I didn't like the Formula mech. discs on the Raleigh M600 and decided not to consider mech discs. Then I rode the Giant with DiaCompe mechanical discs and changed my mind. Good modulation, and I can lock it up in a heartbeat. Still, those XTC SE1's with hydraulic brakes are AWESOME.

ramon

don't worry colin, it's not loud at all compared to your borla exhaust. Also i've looked into an MY00 Impreza and they still draw air from the bonnet. however the snorkus is not in the fender well but sits right next to the ABS!

locke2c

Ramon, I actually have both on my 99. The airbox is fed from the fender. However there's a C-shaped tube (said snorkel) that brings it right back into the engine bay 6-10" forward of where it exits. Where it comes in there's another piece of plastic, this one is kind of L shaped and it allows air to be drawn from the nice toasty engine bay... right next to the ABS pumps.

I think we are talking about the same thing.
-Colin

kens

Colin,

I've read that you need to reset the ECU to take full advantage of high flow filters like Amsoil and K&N.

Ken

locke2c

Yep, I've disconnected my battery overnight. I'm not so sure, but the car isn't going anywhere for the next 8-10 hours.

This mod was more difficult than I expected. The good news is I have a real cold air intake now utilizing the factory filter box and everything factory downstream of it.

Since I have an Impreza and most of you don't... if any of you have an intake system that is similar and want to do this, here are some notes:

-plastic fasteners that hold in the fender liner are a pain. I broke two and couldn't get one loose (made do!) but it's all back together now and looks just about like stock.

-the silencer snorkel is somewhat difficult to remove, and now I think my headlight / bumper cover gap is a bit bigger. grr.

After I came in and got cleaned up, I went for a spin. It seems like an improvement beyond 4,000 or maybe 4,500 rpm. There is a humming or maybe vibration noise around 5k rpm, I assume that's what the silencer was for! The is no gain or less perceptible at low speed and no change in noise, idle quality, etc. We'll see if anything changes after the ECU reset.

Oh, and I have temporarily sealed off the other hole (the former re-entry point) with good old cardboard. I cut it to fit perfectly, but it still screams shadetree. I'll make those calls about the plug and order some more of those stupid plastic fasteners too...

-Colin

locke2c

oy with the typos...

first paragraph--
"...I'm not so sure that the reset will make a difference, but..."

second to last paragraph--
"There is no gain or loss in power that I can perceive at low speed and also no change in idle or noise except the previously mentioned high rpm sound."

ramon

Yeah it took me about 45 freakin' minutes + some cursin' to take the snorkus out. YOu can gain som entry at the front bumper side. I broke 1 gromet in the process as well. I just sealed the hole with some duct tape.
The 2000 Imprezas is about hte same. has the C shape plate. Sucks air from the engine bay. Instead of directing to the fender well snorkus, the snorkus in MY00 are right behind the ABS device and infront of the shock tower. It has alot of sharp angle to navigate thru. IMHO not as smooth as our 99s. But they have no MAF.

kens

Out of curiosity, do you need to worry about the effect of a cold air intake on the MAF sensor? There's a Subaru tuning specialist that belives there currently isn't a solution that won't damage the MAF sensor:

http://www.cobbtuning.com/impreza/engine-intake.html

dzartman

After I put in a K&N filter and the Stromung exhaust, I considered doing the ECU reset but as of now have not. The power gain was noticeable and I figured, why mess with a good thing. The ECU reset may give better gas mileage, however.

locke2c

Ken, I don't think there will be any issues at all with my setup. Everything from the filter box back is bone stock, I've just eliminated an unnecessary impediment.

The intakes that cause problems all relocate the MAF sensor. However it should be worthy to note that Shiv from SCC has blown several MAFs since switching back to the stock intake-- just like what I have. I think his BOV is venting to the atmosphere, so besides sucking in a lot more air I have no idea why the MAFs are failing. He doesn't either.

-Colin

locke2c

btw, trey cobb is referring to weapon-r and greddy airinx intakes. I seriously doubt there is a major difference between my AMSOil foam filter and the K&N gauze filter, except mine is trapping more particles. (ever seen a dirtbike with a cotton gauze filter?)

-Colin

kens

Colin, dzartman:

I've noticed that there are quite a few reports claiming Amsoil is superior to K&N and vice versa. Just curious as to what made you choose either one. Any pros or cons of each?

lwhitty

I installed the alarm system upgrade on my 2000 Outback this weekend. Thanks for those that recommended Darlene and QSubaru. With the money I saved, I was able to buy the front hood stone shield and touchup paint. The car is 3 weeks old, and already had 3 decent sized chips in the hood.

For those thinking about doing this yourself, the entire job took about 2 hours, of which half an hour was spent trying to find the starter relay interrupt cable under the dash. The instructions were well written, except that they stated that there were 2 screws holding the ashtray assembly in place when there were three.

I have a question on the alarm system: When engaging and disengaging the alarm, the installation manual states that the lights will flash and the horn will chirp. My horn doesn't chirp in either scenario. I know the horn is installed properly, because it does chirp when trying to set the alarm with a door open. Was this a redesign in the alarm system that never made it into the manual? After thinking about it, the chirp would get annoying if it sounded every time the doors were locked and unlocked.

-Lee

p0926

It sounds like you've got it installed correctly. If so, you should be able to use your remote to toggle the horn chirp on and off (because yes, it gets very annoying). Your owner's manual should have the instructions if the installation one doesn't.

Frank P.

ramon

Since switching back to stock setup with K&N filter, the SCC project ar so far loss only 1 MAF which is still bad but not as bad as several lost MAF thanks to elbow/cone intake systems.
IMHO, I wold think the setup from ISR would be the best as it keeps the plenum therefore helping to eliminate bounced back air.

locke2c

I'm not positive how many MAF sensors Shiv has lost since going back to the stock intake box. He can't use the whole stock intake like you and I do Ramon because he has an intercooler sitting atop the throttle body-- and frankly I'm a bit jealous.

Ken, about the filters-- I pretty much said all I have to say in the other post. I've never seen an offroad vehicle that came with a cotton gauze filter, and have raced many dirtbikes using foam filters. Granted most cars don't see anywhere near that much dirt, but I still feel very comfortable in my opinion that the AMSOil filter stops more "stuff" than the K&N.

But my '65 Chevelle had a K&N 14"Rx3" filter (sold the car) and my dad's '69 Camaro still has one.

-Colin

dzartman

I really couldn't say which is best. At Cobb Tuning's site they specifically mention that they "have seen too many foam element filters fail" to recommend them; Cobb sells K&N filters. K&N has been around for a long time and people swear by them, they have a good reputation. Foam may trap more particles, I don't know. I got my K&N in person from ISR in Huntington Beach, CA, and am quite happy with it. For me, the power gain is small but nice, but far more important (to me, anyway) is the fact that I won't have to keep adding used air filters to the landfill every 15K miles.

Dave

hammersley

Thanks to all for the input... looks like Subaru/Yakima wins... I already have a Thule rack for the receiver hitch, but I'm going to have 5 bikes to carry... going to be quite a parade gong down the road - motorhome, towing the Outback that has 3 bikes behind & two on top!
Guess I better practice my princess wave for the parade... let's see... elbow, elbow, wrist wrist wrist....

aling1

You may want to check out the owner's manual WRT towing. I'm pretty use the OB needs to be towed with all four wheels off the ground because of the AWD system.

Drew

ramon

YOu mean that big black box that sits north of the Throttle body is not and intercooler?!
Yes you're right. I forgot about his turbo setup. That's must've caused feedback air waves. I wonder what do those WRX use - MAF or MAP?

dzartman

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dzartman

I forgot the QSubaru and Juiceman sites!! Someone please post those URLs too, thanks!!!

boris8

Just wondering if anyone has any insight on installing either an armrest extension and/or moonroof wind deflector. I thought I may save some money and buy (QSubaru) and install these options myself (on my new Forester) rather than have the dealer do it. I am just wondering how complicated these installations would be. Anyone have any experience with installing these options?

ateixeira

I have the armrest extension, and I 6' so it's at about the right height for me. Try one at the dealer first. I didn't install it, but I'm sure it's just two or three bolts.

The OE moonroof wind deflector looks like it has two bolts as well. Both should be cake.

Here are the URLs for QSubaru and for yours truly, the juiceman.

Lucien: Kirsten is so athletic that doesn't surprise me! )

On a hot day in Rock State Park, she was the only one with the energy to climb to the top of the water fall after a long hike.

5 bikes? Big family!

Drew: Paul's 5 speed can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground.

-juice

ateixeira

Intake mods, now that's more like it!

The catch is I have the phase I engine, with the air sensor further upstream, preventing me from many of the simpler mods. What options do I have? A K&N or foam filter and a gasket to bypass the 2nd filter? Is that it?

Can you enlighten us on MAF vs. MAP? Mass air flow?

Ramon: gotta love duct tape!

-juice

ramon

Juice : you can read more about MAF and MAP at cobbtuning.com. basically MAFs measures the air flow rate. a sensor is placed in the intake track and it's heated up. As more air passes thru it, the computer will compensate more voltage? to maintain a constant temperature for this sensor. That is how it measures the air flow.
I am not too familiar with MAPs since I don't have it in my car. MAPs meassures the mean pressure within your manifold. How? Maybe with some sort of barometer? Dunno. OH, MAFs are more accurate than MAPs.
FYI : Subaru WRX cars has both! MAF and MAP at the same time. kewl huh?

If yours an EJ25 1999 model then do what Colin and I did to ensure moderate power increase while maintaining a healthy MAF. Otherwise, go nuts with your intake.

ateixeira

Nope, I have a '98, just before the EJ25 (AKA Phase II, right?) was introduced.

-juice

locke2c

I believe the PhaseII 2.5L is actually an EJ258, and the earlier one is some other 3rd numeral (or letter, perhaps). I bet you missed the discussion, but about a week ago in the i club general forum asking for all DOHC 2.5L owners to identify their build date and an identifier tag on the block. Apparently there are some half-way motors that have DOHC but the more desireable revised PhaseII crankshaft.

Trey hasn't yet answered whether or not these halfway motors used the older "pancake" skirtless pistons too or if they were truly a complete PhaseII shortblock with the earlier DOHC heads. The funny thing is that this isn't documented in any Subaru service manual and most dealers have no clue.

-Colin

kens

Interesting. I didn't know that Subaru was doing the phased (no pun intended) introduction of the SOHC engine. I thought the SOHC shortblock was different enough that the older DOHC pistons wouldn't be compatible. Are the pistons on the SOHC engines also skirtless as well?

juice -- the easiest intake mod you can do is simply swap out the standard paper air filter with a K&N and Amsoil. I've ordered an Amsoil filter for my Forester and it should be arriving shortly. I'll let you know if I perceive any difference.

ateixeira

That is odd.

I registered for i Club a while ago and never got an account, but it's too busy to keep up with anyway. I can barely keep up here!

What did you guys pay for the Amsoil filter? What about K&N?

I had a K&N in the Escort and didn't really notice a difference. I felt that cleaning it was a pain, because you had to wait for it to dry, which meant not being able to drive the car while you were waiting. It may be a good idea to have a backup paper filter.

Since my (and Ken's) intake is different than Colin's, doesn't it also use a different filter element?

-juice

locke2c

No, the SOHC pistons are normal.

It was a pain to find Trey's post because the search engine on the iclub general forum only seems to go back maybe 10 days. The posts are still there a lot farther back than that.

Here it is:
http://www.impreza-rs.com/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/010028.html

Immediately after that discussion came up I had asked Patti about it, I think in the repair topic. I'll ask again after she gets everything squared away and is posting more regularly.

-Colin

locke2c

juice, my amsoil filter was something like $37 with shipping and tax. (yes sales tax on an internet order. long story.)

It came pre-oiled but didn't come with an oil bottle. I saw the prices and frankly you should go to your nearest motorcycle / ATV store, it's MUCH cheaper.

-Colin

ateixeira

Thanks to both of you guys.

Honestly, though, I wish Subaru sold more performance oriented accessories directly, like Toyota does with TRD. Dealers even install and guarantee the parts.

I'd be much more willing to breathe on the engine if that were the case.

That Amsoil filter must be a blessing off-road. I'm sure it picks up more dust. I'll go check one out at Cycle Accessories in College Park.

-juice

locke2c

The oil is cheaper, that is. I doubt you'll find the Forester filter in stock at anything short of a really huge amsoil distributor or a subaru specialist.

-Colin

kens

One other thing, I found prices to be pretty much the same regardless of what website I went to. I guess Amsoil must have their distributors on a leash. I figured, I might as well oreder from the source.

The one site which suprised me was Drakenparts. They were asking somewhere around $80 for the filter!

ateixeira

People sometimes drastically overpay for performance mods.

BTW, did you know this topic hit the top 10? A topic about mods, no less! We should be proud.

-juice

hammersley

aling1: Thanks for looking out for me, but I have the 5-speed OB, which is approved for "wheels-down" towing... the AT would indeed have to be trailered. Extra added bonus that the 5spd is so much more fun to drive!

Bike racks, cont'd: Darlene at QSubaru comes through again! Has the Subaru rack (made by Yakima) for almost $50 under retail! Going to order it tomorrow after clearing it with the wife... Whosoever of you that originally tipped me off to Qsubaru, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back!

ateixeira

I'd claim credit but someone told me about them first! I'm just spreading the gospel.

Make sure to let her know you need the clamps, if you don't already have them.

She doesn't charge extra for those, either.

-juice

kens

Here's a question for you mod folks. I've read through lots of boards about how to reset your ECU and people seem to be split between the "unplug battery" method and "unplug fuse SBF-2" method.

The fuse method seems a lot easier, but does it really work? I heard the ECU has back up capacitors that require some time to drain.

Also, any wisdom on if an ECU reset needs to be done on a cold engine or warm engine?

ateixeira

The i Club contingent seems firmly set on a cold engine. Other aspects are debated, however.

Still haven't gotten my account straightened out, hard to believe.

-juice

locke2c

I've done both with good results. SBF-2 is not that easy to pull though, so if I can't get it loose I disconnect the battery. Every time I've reset the ecu I pull the fuse or discon the battery for a long time, usually overnight. I don't reset often, but I did do it 3 times in search of the optimum octane for my car.

Ken, saw your post in the '98 2.5L thread on the iclub. Sounds like you have a halfway motor too.

Oh, and I couldn't believe drakenparts asking $80 for the filter either, that's nuts.

-Colin

kens

Any tools needed for SBF-2 or do you just pull?


Yeah, I just signed up for iclub and posted my first response. Don't know why I waited so long.

Actually, if I read the message thread correctly, I think I have a Phase I block. Two ridges = Phase I, One ridge = Phase II right?

foresterdave

I have a '01 Forester L. Is it possible to lock the vehicle without engaging the alarm?

lark6

Hi all,

Last Friday I performed my first upgrade to my '00 Forester S: I replaced the factory 12mm rear sway bar with an 18mm bar I bought from SPD. Installation was a 30 minute job (I have fat fingers) and consists of removing 2 14mm bolts that hold the bar in place at each end and 2 12mm bolts that hold the rubber bushings in place inside a U-shaped metal bracket, each about 6" (guesstimate) inboard of the end bolts.

For the first trip (my commute is 90% a straight line) I did notice an improvement in reduced body roll on the on-ramps and off-ramps. However, on the drive home I took the long way, with lots of twisties. I went back to the office Saturday AM and did some 360s and other tight sharp turns in series in our empty parking lot. I notice now that I'm getting a loud clunk from the right rear whenever I take a sharp left turn. This happens even at low speeds (<10 mph).

What'd I do wrong? Over tighten the right 14mm bolt cf. the left one? Or might it have something to do with the new bushings? Your input is appreciated. I don't want to have to go back to the Soob dealer and get found out!

locke2c

Dave #43 ...sure, hit the power lock switch on your way out.

Ken, you're right about the engine. It really helps to have a fuse or IC puller but I've managed to get SBF-2 out of there once without one. If someone can do it easily, I guess I'm just a dork. The fuse is nicer because you don't loose clock, trip meter or radio presets.

Lark, did you lube the bushing? It should have come with a tube of grease. If it did not, disassemble a put on a coat of any heavy grease of your liking (I prefer lithium).

-Colin

ateixeira

Still waiting for them to resolve my i Club account...

I'll have to check my block, though. What exactly would if affect, though, having one vs. the other?

-juice

lark6

Colin,

No I didn't - and SPD didn't send me any. Silly rabbit. I'll try that this evening. I keep a handy supply of lithium and other greases around, primarily for use on my hobby car (what is it? see my screen name and profile).

Thanks,
Ed
(a/k/a lark6)

lambchops

I went to qsubaru as recommended and found a fantastic price on the vanity mirrors for the 2000 OB. Mine came with the standard one mirror on the drivers side and none on the passenger's side. I paid $42 with no tax or shipping. My Subaru dealer where I had them installed couldn't believe the price. He wants to know more about qsubaru and the website. Thanks for all the useful information you provide!!

locke2c

Cool, let us know how that goes Ed. In addition to noise, a binding swaybar bushing can cause some seriously undesirable handling traits. I'm glad you came here and asked about it!

-Colin

ateixeira

Hey, lark6 - got a photo?

That dealer comment (buying from QSubaru) cracked me up. Don't they all pay the same invoice? Maybe there's a holdback on parts, too. Or an incentive that depends on sales volume.

-juice