Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

ateixeira

lol

And he's passing much more powerful cars...

I think the Legacy turbos could make more than 180hp, though, wasn't there a variant in Japan that made 200+?

-juice

locke2c

ours was different. the 90-94 Legacy RS in Japan used a much larger IHI turbocharger and was rated at greater than 200 HP from the factory... versus our North American 160 HP.

~c

rsholland

And he's passing much more powerful cars...

Maybe in the corners, but not the straightaways.

Bob

ateixeira

Of course not...but that means he earns each pass.

Colin - couldn't he swap out for a rebuilt JDM turbocharger? Or are the heads that different?

-juice

locke2c

yes the cylinder heads are different-- the JDM model was DOHC-- but that's not the problem. it's the turbocharger plumbing-- the inlet size, up-pipe, downpipe, everything is different.

~c

paisan

The "faster" cars I passed simply either went off or weren't reliable enough to finish. That's how I started in 15th and finished in 12th place, beating:

NASCAR Truck
3 RX7s
1 Miata

"In order to finish First, first you must finish"

The rules may or may not allow more "power" however in it's "stock" class it will run against much less HP vehicles. Bumping the turbo up and adding an IC is legal but bumps your class slightly higher, whereas a motor swap bumps you right up to Unlimited.

-mike

locke2c

so don't swap the L's engine. just add a turbo, intercooler and engine management.

~c

ateixeira

Or just slap on 3 yellow stickers that make claims to that effect.

Works for Civics.

<ducks for cover>

-juice

lucien2

Because your press relations people play way too much golf, that's why. ;-)

 Of course I've complained before, but you have to admit they don't do a god job. They don't get the cars into the hands of the magazines in a timely manner, they don't get those editors excited, and then the writers don't even print the right info. You all need a full court press press.

dcm61

Looks like Loosh would be a good candidate to head up the SOA Wine & Press department.

Or is that Whine & Press? :-D

DaveM <ducks and runs>

ateixeira

It's not that, Lucien, it's the size of Subaru and their ad budget.

Face it, these mags run on revenues. They might get 40% of their revenues from GM, maybe 1 or 2% from Subaru.

So I'm not sure they're even paying much attention. Performance helps, though.

-juice

paisan

so don't swap the L's engine. just add a turbo, intercooler and engine management.

Was gonna do that but aftermarket turbo bumps you up a lot and we all know how well subie NAs like to be turboed. They don't last very long. Great for the 1/4 mile guys who run them to redline 6x a day for a total of 3 minutes on track, however running it on-track for say 3hrs or 4hrs straight at or near redline will not make turboing an NA motor a viable option IMHO.

-mike

subaru_team

folks are spread a little thin. Subaru really operates with a small staff for a veh. manufacturer and the $$$'s are always an issue. Now - if we strengthened our presence on the web, it would be a way to get the word out at little or minimal cost.......

Patti

ateixeira

Like at tonight's chat?

Don't forget folks!

-juice

hondafriek

I added a new skill to my resume today, the Armstrong vinyl flooring in our kichen and bathroom was damaged in several places, so I decided to repair it.

The flooring was in a 4"x4" tile pattern and it involved cutting out a tile and gluing in a new piece in several places on both floors.

Lesson one for anybody interested in doing this themselves, practice on a bit of the floor that is out of sight like under the fridge and stove before hacking out a piece in the middle of the floor.

This way if you screw up nobody is going to see it.

Lesson (2) make sure the bit you are using for the repair is still nice and pliable, if it is hard and stiff you are doomed to failure because the edges of the repair will curl up. (Take my word for this)

 (3)Cut a piece that is slightly larger than the damaged tile, then stick on top of the damaged piece with double side carpet tape to keep it from moving.
Get a good straight edge and a sharp utility knife and carefully cut round the edge of the grout line and through both layers, scrape out the old damaged piece along with the old glue, make sure your new piece fits perfectly and then glue it in place.

If you do it right the repair should be practically invisable. Finally stand back and admire the excellent job you have just done.
 You have the satisfaction of repairing it yourself and you didn't have to replace the whole floor at great cost.

  Cheers Pat.

c_hunter

#3 is great advice, I use the same technique when reparing carpet. You can make the seams pretty much invisible that way. I believe I have discovered #1 and #2 the hard way at some point in time!

Craig

ateixeira

I'm sure the floor looks like your car after you wash it. ;-)

Great chat, and congratulations to Patti!

For those that missed it, she got a nice promotion at SoA. Well deserved I might add.

-juice

dcm61

Congratulations on the promotion. :-)

DaveM

lucien2

No they don't get off the hook that easy, Juice. The 9-2X came to market months after the FXT and about the same time as the '05 WRX. And everyone commented on the "upscale" "un-Subaru" "European" interior appointments. Which of course were 100% Subaru but for the door panel inserts, because not one of the major mags had set foot inside an FXT or an -05 WRX at that time. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I sell esoteric wine and so I know something about how to be a champion for such a product in a brand-oriented market. I'm frustrated to see SoA fail to put together a cohesive, smart plan for touching both the consumer and the rags they look to to create a buzz.

Patti, I'll grant you that bit about the web. The opening days of the need-desire sit ehad me completely hooked. Too bad it didn't draw wider attention.

lark6

No lack of sponsorship, just that we have run into the issue of not enough power in the L to really do what we want with it, we were gonna go full bore with a motorswap etc but realized that a motor swap in a racecar is just gonna cause us more issues than it's worth.

Understood. I wonder if anyone would consider it a platform for a rally car?

As for the AWD series, we are looking to hopefully get about 10-15 cars with AWD to come out and eventually make it into a Honda Challenge like series for AWD cars [snip]

That's a very good idea, and probably one that will find support if the organization's there. I have a hunch NASA could do something with this.

Thanks for the explanations, Mike.

Ed

ateixeira

I think a lot of Saab getting the credit had to do with preconceived notions about Subaru and Saab.

If Saab was to build a Subaru, it just had to be enhanced in some way, or so they thought. Saab is a (pseudo) luxury manufacturer so there had to be improvements.

Editors from the car mags noticed them on the 9-2x first. In fact those arrived before the 2005 Imprezas did. By a little but enough that they saw it on the Saab first.

The Forester gets so little press they probably didn't even see it before on the Forester. 2005 Imprezas didn't get big enough changes to warrant a new write-up/review, so again they didn't notice.

So the editors assume Saab did all the enhancements. You wrote in and pointed out their mistake.

Subaru's PR could have pleaded for them to notice new interior trim, but that's a hard sell. They'll look at an STi, maybe, but focus on the mechanical upgrades.

-juice

lark6

While my son Paul got to dress up as a pumpkin for Halloween at day care, when he got home he shed that outfit and went rallying:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286358289&p=4132489858- - - - &idx=21

I bought him the replica driver's suit from the SWRT in Banbury, UK. We put the handle on the back of the Coupe and pushed him up and down our block.

Ed

bluesubie

You'll have to take him to a nabisco meet!!

-Dennis

ateixeira

Awesome, you've outdone yourself!

-juice

bluesubie

New title???

-Dennis

ateixeira

I'd suggest "Goddess of all things Subaru". ;-)

-juice

lark6

Patti: I missed the promo - congrats! I did see your quote re the McDonalds incidents in our local paper of record.

Hard to believe but our son's first birthday is tomorrow. How time flies...

Ed

ateixeira

Already? Holy cow...

bigelm

Great job!!! Even for that age... pimpin' ain't easy ;-)

locke2c

I'm sure Ice-T would agree. LOL

that is one cute kid.

~c

stever

You better get ready for a backup plan for when the kiddo outgrows the current rally car. He's not going to want to let this one go - you may have to bronze it!

Steve, Host

rsholland

Good job!

Bob

hondafriek

The whole little set up looks really good, your son is getting an early indoctrination of all things Subaru:-)

  Cheers Pat.

lark6

I don't want to brainwash him; maybe I should stop?

Ed

kens

So what new role has Patti been promoted to?

Ken

ateixeira

Nah, go ahead and brain wash him. LOL

-juice

tsy

Nice Ed. You should sell a conversion Kit. Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3. ;-)

Congrats Patti! So, any chance Juice's suggestion for a new title will stick?

tom

tsy

Does anyone know realistically how far you can drive on the limited spare? After I flatted yesterday I replaced my tires and asked the tire guys if in the future I ruined one tire can they shave the other to match. They said they could but it would take a few days. Is it better to drive on 2 tires of different circumference or just one?

Any ideas or thoughts?

tom

ateixeira

I don't see how 2 would be better than 1 if they're older. It would reinforce the difference.

-juice

hondafriek

Agree with juice Ed, go ahead and spoil him while you can they grow up in a hurry.

 Cheers Pat.

ateixeira

My 5 year old daughter pointed to the speedometer while we were driving to the beach and asked what it meant.

:-)

I was smiling from ear to ear. Of course what followed was a 2 hour lecture about speedometers.

I can't wait to share my hobby (OK, sickness) with her.

-juice

tsy

I was thinking if the problem is with the differentials wouldn't it be more even with both front or both rears the same circumference? Would it still screw up the center diff?

Hmm, I need a Subaru engineer.

tom

bat1161

Ed - Nice to see your son starting young:-).

Patti- Congrats (per juice and co).

Mark

subaru_team

the new job is Insurance Products Marketing Mgr. aka - why you should all buy Added Security!

While I love the title Juice suggested, I think the job description might be a little confusing to write?

Patti

subaru_team

He's adorable and it's great to see that early Subaru enthusiasm!

Patti

subaru_team

than 50 miles. Make sure you put in the front-wheel drive fuse! That should eliminate and diff. issues while the donut is on the car.

Patti

rsholland

So Patti, that mean you are no in charge of all of SOA's extended warrantees, and that sort of stuff?

Bob

subaru_team

anyway. The focus is on helping the dealers sell a quality extended service agreement that provides value, etc. The big difference with ours is that the focus isn't on how profitable the agreement is, but rather on its impact on customer satisfaction. With the "others" out there, it can be a pretty shady set-up - they don't care if you buy again. In the research I've done alone in the past week, the percentage of those companies that go out of business with no recourse to the customers is amazing. I hate to see our customers buy them, but it appears that one of my goals will be to get the word out on why Added Security is the better option. Can you tell I'm excited? I'll shut up now! When I feel strongly about something, I kind of get carried away. Sorry.

Patti

rsholland

I'm hoping, as Subaru moves up market, their standard warranty coverage will improve. 3 years/36K just doesn't cut it in the crowd they're going to be competing against.

Bob

dcm61

Make sure you put in the front-wheel drive fuse!

Geez, you get a promotion and forget the basics. ;-)

Remember, there is no FWD fuse on AT w/ VTD or MT cars.

DaveM