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Comments
-juice
-Frank P.
http://photos.yahoo.com/barresa62
Stephen
but maybe you should have gotten gold. ;-)
-Colin
(wait, that's 2 words)
Yet another Serge
BTW the wheels look nice...good job. Any thoughts on some 35% tint on the windows? (just enough to give it a little privacy?)
-r
Colin: I'm not a big fan of gold wheels but they did look nice on that pic of a white previous generation Impreza RS. Hey...I still have the gaudy blue rim border stickers in blue I could put on. :-)
Frank: LOL, yes. I wanted to get a reality shot you know. Actually, the sun came out for a few minutes after I took the pics....go figure. Also, they say a chance of some snow this weekend. Right after I take the snow tires off. Oh well, it never stays around for long so no worries.
Serge: Thanks. Actually, if you say the words really fast it becomes one! :-)
Robert: Just had driven the WRX back from the tire place right before I took the pics so not too much opportunity to test the tires. I did notice more grip as in less tire rolling over themselves. Of course, I'm comparing this to the Dunlop Wintersports I had on prior. Actually, compared to the winter tires, the ride is actually noticeably smoother. I do notice the tires follow the road imperfections more but not obnoxiously so. I'll have more impressions later as I have some errands to do around the area. I'll let you know my further impressions.
Funny, I've been thinking about tint for a while. 35% is the legal limit in WA State and I'll get at least that. Right now, it's kind of gray and cloudy (a typical Seattle winter) so it hasn't been a priority.
Stephen
Now I have a question about weight.
Earlier, a couple of people commented about too much weight being a bad thing. A 20-something pound wheel could be bad.
Is there a downside to a wheel like the P7's weight? It's around 20 #, but is made by Prodrive. Hypothetical application is a WRX Wagon driven in NJ (and not that concerned about wheel weight affecting 0-60). :-)
-Dennis
In everyday driving a wheel weighing some 3lb more than stock won't make a bit of difference in the grand scheme of things.
Professional race drivers that can feel every little thing the car is doing might notice if the wheels (and nothing else) were changed and 3-4lb lighter each, but mere mortals usually cannot.
But if you go to the extremes then you'd probably notice... i.e. extremely light forged aluminum wheels swapped with some blingin' chromed steel wheels.
-Colin
Getting back to the order, the parts showed "in stock" on the webpage. Monday 3/4 I received a form-looking email from C. Scott Williams at subaruparts saying that my order was in stock and would ship soon, and I'd receive an email when it did.
Fast forward nearly two weeks with no other contact. I have no intentions to install the springs until after an autocross on 3/17, so I'm in no rush but a little peeved about "soon" being quite so long... and then finally last night I get the shipping notice direct from Airborne.
If anything isn't exactly right I'm gonna be upset. As it is, this service sucks... I'm trying Troncalli or Maestro next time. A very convenient website does me no good if the order fulfillment behind the scenes is this slow.
-Colin
I am one of those people that would notice 3 or 4 lbs more a wheel, and remember this isn't including the heftier weight of a 17" tire vs the 16". My goal was to stay as close to the weight of the UK (and in all other markets outside of N.America) 17" OEM wheel/tire combo. I also don't believe that one has to get a heavier wheel to have gotten a stronger wheel. The only caveat to this is that you will most likely pay more for a strong, lighter wheel.
Anyhow, I'm enjoying the new wheel/tire combo. I haven't noticed a discernable (by the ole buttmeter)lag in acceleration w/the 17s. Even if there was (or is a measureable difference), I am more than happy with the trade off of better handling. Once again (to quote Jamie, aka Subiegal), "Any fool can go fast in a straight line". :-)
Stephen
I just have to give the inside a wipe with the wash cloth, I can reach in all around the rim.
The downside you cannot have scruffy loking brakes, ruins the whole appearance, I had the rotors cad plated siver after I had them crossdrilled, I also painted the calipers with red Foliotec Paint, they are also easy to keep clean.
Cheers Pat.
Hey, are you going to make the chat tonight? I'll be able to chat for a short bit before I have to out to dinner.
Stephen
I did the rotors and calipers right away before they got scruffy,as the rims were about the first thing I put on.
I had the rims and tires before the car was even delivered.
Cheers Pat.
It is easily removable. and the changer is hidden from prying eye,s an added benifit is that it does not take up any cargo space.
Cheers Pat.
Just checked out your pics. Very nice wheels. I like what they do to your wagon!
Ken
PS. Zelda looks like a cool cat -- I'm a cat person myself.
Yeah, Zelda is one cool cat but sometimes she's a little too cool for her own good. We have a test of wills sometimes, which she wins of course!
Stephen
I agree, 17" should be a factory option. Lots and lots of cars come with OE 17" rims now, even the Altima.
I wax mine at every tire rotation. Inbetween, it's easy as using a wet wipe to clean the wheels. They still look brand new 15k miles later. Wax keeps the brake dust from caking on.
-juice
Jim
Stephen
They sent me a wrong part, when I realized it 2 months later they ordered and sent me the correct part (which I received). They also sent me a pre-paid UPS form so I could send back the old part for free (still waiting for that)
I called in my order, mailed them the coupon with a note, and then when my backordered part arrived they called me to settle the difference with a credit card. Two days later, I had my stuff.
-juice
I've also put in a leather shift boot and leather steering wheel cover.
(I mean I sort of helped someone else do 95% of the work. The shift boot was the hardest.)
With my coupon I bought: sway bar, rubber floor mats, cabin air filter, oil filter + washer which of course took me well over $100 but shipping was only $7.
I feel so much better charging $3333 knowing I can get a $100 coupon :P
-juice
Is 215/60-16 the biggest (tallest) tire you can put on the OEM 16" rims w/o rubbing, or can you go bigger?
You can't go much bigger than that. I also have 225/60R16, but my wheel offset puts them farther out from the body. Still, they very nearly rub, just at the limit.
-juice
Ken
John
Kit Consists of:
Vishnu Up-pipe
Vishnu Underdrive Pulley
Vishnu-Tuned Unichip
Manual Boost Controller
Colder Spark Plugs
Waiting in Seattle,
Stephen
Are you sure about the 30 min. installation time, or is that just the Unichip?
-Dennis
Stephen
Good luck Stephen! Sounds like fun. Didn't need that powertrain warranty anyway, eh? ;-)
-Colin
-mike
-juice
Sweet! I'm sure you will, but keep us posted on the installation experience as well as the before and after impressions.
So, what made you choose the Vinshu over the Cobb kit?
Ken
As far as the 30min installation time....I just laugh when I think of that. Heck, the up-pipe would take all of that by itself. A Subaru specialty shop in N.Seattle (I have a free 30k service certificate from them) told me today that it would be at least a 3hr job to install the Vishnu Stage 0. He was also familiar w/the pkg so I don't have reason to doubt him. I have had several guys over at the Pacific NW i-club offer to help install. One of them installed the pkg already on his WRX. I may just go this route, we'll see.
I chose the Vishnu pkg(s) over COBB because of Shiv's rep of being a stickler for exceptional performance but not at the risk of reliability or daily driveability. COBB has this same philosophy but in the end I couldn't justify their prices. Shiv has waited to see what TurboXS and COBB have come to the market with and set about creating the best systems he knows how to produce. His knowledge is and attention to detail is truly impressive. I actually talked to him myself despite the fact that he's super busy. My emails have always been attended to in a timely fashion. This is something that has not been true w/COBB. Hey...it's the little things that set businesses apart, especially when both have great reputations.
Okay...enough keystrokes in this post.. :-)
Stephen
I just installed a helmet communication system that could be useful in any of those environments and is very affordable.
This is a Motocomm 550, it is for a late model Motorola TalkAbout. It was $55, and the lowest end TalkAbout will run you about $50-60 and there might be a rebate on it. Motocomm makes other kits as well. If you wanted a constant open comm line, say to dictate during an autocross run, you can simply tape the push-to-talk button down.
This is far cheaper than ChatterBox or integrated comm systems, plus you can adapt them to any type of helmet you might have. My Arai Quantum /f just happened to be particularly well suited to it because of the removable cheekpads. The speakers come with an adhesive velcro backing and generally you stick them to the liner, hopefully in earwells if the helmet has them. I pulled my cheekpads, removed the padded front of the speaker and inserted them inside the cheekpad liner. I cannot even tell the speakers are there!
Besides that, I placed the microphone under the mount vent and tucked in all the wiring. I plan to leave the system in full time and you could too if you integrate it well. When not using the system I'd just tuck in the cable to my jacket on a motorcycle or let it hang free while driving a car.
Five high resolution (1.3 megapixel, 200kb) pics are here:
http://home.kscable.com/lockes/motocomm
-Colin
Out of curiosity, I went to the Vinshu website and read up on the Stage Zero. The 30 minute install time refers only to their Unichip. They estimate 2-3 hours for the up-pipe and another for the plugs and wiring.
http://www.vishnuperformance.com/products/stageZero/StageZeroFAQ.html
Ken
Hey, the hardest part is not the installation times, it's the 2 week backlog wait! :-)
Stephen
Colin - Are you sure you're old enough to drive? :-p
Last weekend a few of us met up for a drive through PA and used FRS radios to communicate. Two of the guys had a Motorola headset and it looks like a great idea.
-Dennis
-juice
Stephen
Ken
Ok I'll admit it will be pretty rare for me to use this in a car. I posted it on the iClub too, I know there are some folks that could use it there.
dennis-- young because the helmet is hiding my grey, or because of the design? It's a Tadiyuki Okada replica. (I think he just retired to be a test rider for Honda... I wanted it because it looked cool.)
-Colin
Stephen
When warm I can believe that. At true cold start though, that's complete rubbish. Subaru would never put a catalyst in front of the turbo unless they absolutely had to.
-Colin