Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

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Comments

  • hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    Happy Birthday!!! to you too Brian :D

    -Dave
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'm hungry again, why do we always end up talking about food?

    34 now. Older. Wiser. I wish! :o)

    Happy belated b-day, Papa Bear. Hope Mama Bear and the kids threw you a nice party.

    Happy Anniversary Ed. I won't ask how many years, so as not to reveal your age! Our 9th Anniversary is on 10/30. Next year makes 10 years!

    I also felt the 4Runner went down hill in terms of styling. I just didn't feel as strongly as you did about it.

    I'll miss the chat tonight - got a hot date with my better half. We'll probably go to Bombay Palace. They have some darn good Shrimp Marsala, melts in your mouth.

    Loosh: that's why I always remove the skin from any chicken!

    Guess I gotta try some better duck. The stuff I've had was home-made. OK, next gathering in Baltimore, we gotta find a place that makes some serious duck.

    -juice
  • storytellerstoryteller Member Posts: 476
    You sound wiser already, Juice! I think turning 34 has given you more perspective.

    Steve
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Isn't it funny when you get asked how it feels to be XX years old?

    As if you suddenly feel totally different, from one day to the next.

    Yesterday, I was a child. Today, with the benefit of experience, hindsight, lessons learned, I am....a child!

    -juice
  • hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    a child at heart. :)

    -Dave
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    a belated Happy Birthday!

    Bob
  • bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    STi's across the board??

    Baja STi. Yeah!!

    -Dennis
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Check out the Baja thread - this guy fido, who has a turbo 2.5RS, just bought a Baja. I'm trying to convince him to move the turbo to the Baja. Would that be wild?

    He also had adjustable coil overs, I wonder if those would fit, so you could raise/lower the Baja?

    -juice
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    His turbo blew up and his RS is in shambles. That's why he got his Baja. He's probably going to be selling the RS cause it got all messed up by a now de-funked shop up in allentown. :(

    -mike
  • bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    Or at least Ed did. Remember that day during lunch in the turbo RS?

    -Dennis
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Bummer. That thing was truly fast. A WRX with boost coming on 1000 rpm sooner, and more thrust at all rpm.

    Dennis: I rode in the back with paisan. And with two "paisan sized" adults in back, his coilovers were set too low and the tires were rubbing! LOL

    -juice
  • hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    juice-
    You share the same birthday as Evel Kenievel (sp) :D

    -Dave
  • rangerron7rangerron7 Member Posts: 317
  • Karen_SKaren_S Member Posts: 5,092
    Happy b-day, juice! And a belated happy-happy to subearu!
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Happy birthday juice, and a happy belated birthday to Brian.

    Cheers Pat.
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Will miss chat for obvious reasons. juice, I trust you will too.

    Ed
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yup, but other folks should go anyway. Without me, you might be able to keep up if you speed read!

    Patti asked me to say hi to all. She's still looking at a couple of options before surgery, even though that's tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday. It sounded pretty serious, so maybe my wish is for a healthy Patti to join us again after a quick recovery. :-)

    -juice
  • subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    and here's to a healthy Patti to rejoin us after a quick recovery!

    it's only mama bear and 1 kid right now (brooKe) ;-)

    -Brian
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Happy BD! I missed your comment in the chat about 30 on the 12th - it went right over my head. If I had read the post first, it would have made far more sense!

    Steve
  • hgutsteinhgutstein Member Posts: 65
    became even older on the 12th....

    Chat seems to be a constant problem because 8-9 thurs. is 7-8 here, and that is bedtime for the kidlets!!

    Oh well, maybe someday..

    HG
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    Happy birthday to all the Librans here. I turn 44 on Sunday so can reassure Juice that "Yesterday a child, today a child..." still holds true even ten years on. I still have problems with the concept of being "Grown Up" and look furtively over my shoulder for my father whenever anyone says "Mr Peters!".

    On the food front, I am particularly fond of duck, particularly when it has been roasted very hot to drive off the fat. I also love the Chinese dish which is duck skin roasted (is that Peking Duck?).

    One of the occupational hazards of my job is frequent exposure to food processing, when they have suffered a disaster. There is nothing quite like a fire in an abbatoir to make you a temporary vegetarian. The worst I have had was a large chicken processing plant which went up in flames in mid summer. I had to stick around for four days during which the smell got worse and worse. It was months before I could even look at poultry again.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    Thanks for sharing! :'))) Happy 44 to you, BTW!

    RS-T---that sounds suspiciously like TaiChih on i-club. The DC cop? His car was ruined by, oh, I forget the name of the shop now....In Penn. though. He is suing the former owners for the costs.
  • storytellerstoryteller Member Posts: 476
    Graham: right, Peking duck is one of the great dishes of the world. Less expensive, but still a bit of heaven, is "pressed duck."

    And let's gently steer the topic AWAY from bad smells. We did that before! :-)

    Steve
  • storytellerstoryteller Member Posts: 476
    Juice: we all are concerned about Patti and will be pulling for her. Thanks for keeping us updated.

    Patti: if the good wishes of lots of friends could heal your back, you'd be playing tennis today. You're in our thoughts.

    Steve
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Perhaps as a backlash to the whole Duck-Duck-Goose thing, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory last night. Well, bo-ring!

    Sorry Loosh, my apologies, I promise to avoid food chains for a month, stick to the better local places. We should have gone to Bombay Bistro, got that Shrimp Marsala.

    TaiChi and fido are not the same person, BTW. I guess a couple of turbocharged 2.5s have blown up?

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    PS And saw The Transporter, too. Ronin it ain't, the car chase scenes are just silly. How could a FWD Peugoet oversteer that badly?
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Does your Oz-spec Outback have the self-levelling rear suspension? If so, any problems? And/or, have you heard of any problems, in general, with that setup on other Subies? Finally, if there are problems, do you know if it's a costly feature to repair?

    We've had some discussion on this feature, in terms of: Should it be a feature offered on US-spec Subies? Your "down under" experience/comments would be welcomed.

    My personal feeling is that Subaru has been offering this feature in other markets for so long, that it should be pretty much trouble-free by now. If it weren't, I'm sure they would have long ago dropped it from production.

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I wonder, with all the new technology out there, couldn't they use some type of polymers to replace the rubber in the air bladders?

    I tend to think long-term, because even if you're not gonna keep it for 10 years, you're still gonna have to sell it, and durability (perceived or real) helps resale.

    For instance, I'd like a '99 Miata because is had a rear glass windows instead of the cheap plastic on earlier ones (including mine). My window is still transparent, but I know at some point it will have to be replaced - with labor it's not cheap.

    -juice
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    Yea I guess you could say a few 2.5Ts have gone up here and there.... ;-))

    It's o.k. Juice, you're allowed to go to Cheesecake factory! :-)
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    If you're out there, I hope everything comes out o.k.!
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    is that it's about as durable as your rubber CV boots, and probably about as difficult/costly to replace.

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Don't remind me. The Mazda dealer charged us an arm and a leg to replace those. How much was it again, $400 or so? I forget.

    Worse, the grease got all over the place. I cleaned the wheels myself, but the grease ended up shorting out the 02 sensor, another repair of several hundred ($220 for the part alone).

    Bad memories, I'm happier now with a 7/100 B2B warranty! No worries! :-)

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    but the point I was making, we already have cars with rubber CV boots, and nobody blinks an eye. I'm not saying that's good or bad, just a fact. So I don't think air bladders are that big of a deal.

    Bob
  • jfljfl Member Posts: 1,399
    Graham, it's Saturday Down Under as I post this, but I'll probably forget later so HAPPY BIRTHDAY! All of you guys are so young!

    Patti, ditto on the good wishes.

    Duck's not a problem on my diet. 8~O chomp!

    Jim - from car fanatic to basic transportation and back to fanatic.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Bob - but springs virtually last forever(*), so you're replacing a non-service item with a serviceable item. So you add one more thing to fix down the road. And at least you can drive with a cracked CV boot.

    I think lots of early 90s Legacys lasted a long, long time, but owners had to get rid of them when they gawked at the prices to replace the air bladders. That's a shame - they might have gone on forever.

    Maybe on a $40k plus Audi it's OK, they're used to paying more for service anyway, and they have more invested in the car.

    I would like to hear if they are more durable now, though, and if they were a stand-alone option that would be fine.

    -juice

    * Let's ignore the springs that were recalled, that was an anomaly
  • lilbluewgn02lilbluewgn02 Member Posts: 1,089
    please pass on all our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Patti on her (hopefully not) forthcoming surgery.
    -Owners of 1/4 of the Florida Subies-
  • yellowbikedon1yellowbikedon1 Member Posts: 94
    Another 1/4 of Florida Subaru owners echo Serge's wishes. Let her know she's in our thoughts and prayers.

    Don
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    << but springs virtually last forever(*), so you're replacing a non-service item with a serviceable item. So you add one more thing to fix down the road. And at least you can drive with a cracked CV boot. >>

    I'd still like to hear Graham's take on this matter, since the self-levelling suspension has been in Australia for some time.

    How about if they offer it as an option? That way it's your call...

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That would be cool.

    This is probably somethign that I *should* want, because I tend to carry heavy loads all the time.

    When I bought new tires, I made sure their weight rating was higher (not just the same) vs. stock, for instance.

    -juice
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    I am not sure how the Self Levelling rear suspension works. However, I can tell you that it does! My Outback is three years old and the suspension has never given a problem. It works superbly and I have never heard of any problems with it.

    I will be testing it a bit today as I am intending to take a trailer load of concrete pavers down to my mother's place in the bush about eighty miles away.

    When you load up the rear, it sinks normally. When you start driving the normal action of the springs jacks the rear up level, usually in the passage over the crossover from the driveway to the street. I would guess that it is something to do with the struts but can't see that they are unusual.

    Earlier generations of Subaru had adjustable struts which you could screw down from a bolt on the top of the shock tower. I saw one such Subaru las night, jacked up to the maximum all round.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Did you buy an extended warranty with the legacy? I just got a notification in the mail today that Subaru Canada are going to offer an extended warranty here.

    They have not offered an extended warranty in Canada before, I have until 3 year limit to make up my mind.

    Cheers Pat.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I hope you didn't wake up at 3:00 AM just to respond to my request for your expertise. ;)

    Bob
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Graham,

    What happens once you stop driving? Does the rear sink back down?

    Ken
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    In answer to Ken, the rear stays level once you have driven the first few yards, even when you stop. Once you remove the load, it rgoes through the same routine in reverse. The more I think about it, the more I suspect it is something in the struts.

    On timing, we are aboout 14 hours ahead of Atlanta (that's where our corporate head office is, so I can figure that out) This is equivalent to ten hours bheing but tomorrow. Hence 8:00am our time is 6:00pm for you. This improves in a week or two when we shift to daylight saving where the difference drops to nine hours. It's even closer to the West Coast.

    However, one of the regular complaints of non-USs citizens has always been the difficulties that some US residents have in identifying time zones and differences. I do not take kindly to people from the East Coast ringing me in the early morning as happens all too frequently.

    Cheers

    Graham
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    and it sounds like it's durable. That's good news. So why not offer it here, at least as an option SOA?

    Bob
  • cptpltcptplt Member Posts: 1,075
    this self leveling thing may be a totally different beast but I had an air suspension on my 92 Legacy LS which allowed you to hit a button and the suspension went up about an 1in or two - get you through the snow better or some similar marketing garbage.
    Never used it again after the novelty wore off after the first winter, but when it started to leak and the car started to lower and look like I had done some suspension mod to race it, it costs me over 700 bucks to fix!
  • grahampetersgrahampeters Member Posts: 1,786
    G'day

    No, it definitely different to the air suspension on earlier Subarus. Never heard of any problems with it here and this is a tougher environment than most US places

    Cheers

    Graham
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Is it *not* (now) an air suspension? Or is it just a better version of what Subaru offered in the past?

    Bob
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    If I remember correctly, the current self-leveling suspension works off of oil pressure, not air. The rolling motion of the wheels builds the oil pressure and allows the system to adjust back up to it's preset level.

    It's partly a cost issue that SOA doesn't bring it to the US. Even if you made it an option on some vehicles so only those who wanted it could buy it, SOA still would need to deal with the trouble of supporting a different suspension. Any new major part of component always brings in quite a bit of cost to support it -- spare parts, training mechanics, documentation. The other reason is probably that there is no competitive pressure to offer it here. I think Subaru would get more bang for the buck by offering, say a 6-speed manual transmission option instead.

    Just my $0.02.

    Ken
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