Subaru Crew - Modifications II

lucien2

Maybe. Someone from Nabisco is coming to my house to do this. He's a regular poster which is a plus. He's also 19, which may not be a plus. But he is driving an hour to come do this, and charging $50 plus lunch; he's bringing his own tools as well. I am hoping this isn't an involved endeavor and that it goes smoothly. Ya know, just like all the other installs. Heh. Er...

locke2c

what's his handle/username?

if he's done lateral links before it shouldn't be a problem.

~c

lucien2

scoobyimprza. He's builing a boosted 1.8T at the moment.

ateixeira

Interesting, they finally added a warranty to SPT parts, even retroactive.

Guess my sway bar and strut tower brace were under warranty from 1998 to 1999 after all! LOL

-juice

lark6

So wait: Loosh's lateral links are covered under warranty regardless of who installs them?

That's very interesting and, if true, a step in the right direction for SoA.

Ed

lucien2

Dealer wouldn't touch the job though.

volkov

Maybe I don't know how lucky I am. Local shop manager said they'd be happy to install STi up-pipe, and then went on to say I might be better off finding it myself instead of them ordering it in. Only warning was that my emissions warranty would be voided. NBD for those of us with no smog check.
Also gave me a complete installed price for the STi swaybar when I asked.

paisan

My guess is that that warranty will require some kind of professional installation to continue with warranty or may fall under some heavy questioning if there is a failure. Emissions items like sti catless UP would void your emissions warranty.

-mike

lark6

I can see where emissions equipment would void the emissions warranty, but non-emissions parts would not, dependent on who did the installation.

...oops, I see Mike beat me to the punch on that one. :-)

Ed

kens

Loosh,

Too bad you didn't have your FXT out in Santa Cruz. The local dealer there does in fact install STi parts as well as other aftermarket parts, even Kartboy.

Have you considered an independent mechanic to do the job? Around here, there are severeal independent shops that specialize in Subaru that would do such work. There's got to be a few in your area.

Ken

ateixeira

I doubt he wants to take a road trip in his condition, so he's prolly looking right inside Baltimore.

-juice

dublo7

Hello everyone! I recently bought a used 99 outback sport (obs) and i'd like to get keyless entry installed. I don't think I need the alarm, but after viewing the options out there it seems I should have that installed too. I've been told my car is pre-wired for this feature.

The dealer said it would cost about 300 usd to install without including labour. that to me is overpriced. My question is am I better off having it installed @ circuit city/local car audio store or having it done @ a dealer? I not very good putting stuff together so the diy kit is not an option.

Thanx for any comments

paisan

It's a PITA to do them IMHO, so see what the price difference is in labor circuit city v. dealer.

-mike

locke2c

a Viper 500 is a very typical and decently featured alarm with decent upgradability. it should be about $300 installed-- call around in the phone book.

~c

jfl

In 2000, when ordered with the car, the Security Group pkg was: invoice $219/msrp $360.

Keyless entry alone was inv $114/msrp $175.

The dealer had to install the keyless entry on mine as they didn't have a Legacy with it pre-installed.

Jim

rob_m

Had a keyless entry and alarm installed on the 96 Outback when it was new. I think it was a Code system. Cost $350 with family discount. IIRC it was a PITA, because of the central door locking system vs power door locks. Required an actuator to be installed in the driver's door to activate all the doors. Rob M.

paisan

Viper alarms haven't impressed me, saw at least 2-3 sti's with them that we recovered after being stolen here in NJ....

-mike

locke2c

what's your point? we've covered many times that an alarm can't stop a professional thief. :rolleyes:

I have used Viper, Alpine and Code-Alarm. Based on that personal experience instead of secondhand hearsay, I believe that Viper is the best for both entry-level features and higher end stuff with many options with one tiny caveat... Alpine's dual-zone radar cannot be beat for open-top vehicles. It can be used in a standard car for a 'promixity' warn-away or full alarm, but that's annoying (illegal in NY I think!) and ineffective. it does work great for someone reaching into a Miata or Wrangler when you have it parked with the top down.

~Colin

bluesubie

I have a toasted 4th gear synchro. Don't know when it happened, but first noticed it while merging into traffic on the freeway.

The car is currently under the knife, and I'm having an SPT short throw shifter (for the Forester) and an STi tranny mount installed at the same time. :-)

volkov - Are you getting a USDM or JDM STi up-pipe? Or do you choose to remain silent? ;-)

-Dennis

volkov

Didn't know there was a difference, other than the fact the JDM's are usually take-offs.
Likely a new USDM. Not the cheapest at $275, but not ridiculous and fitment/stealth properties are the best.
I've been talking about it and Cobb Accesport for a while, but want to let her break in first, and make sure there are no underlying problems before I actually fiddle with her. Still hasn't seen her first oil change. Only hiccup so far is that it's sticky to take her out of 1st when she's cold. Please note I said coming out of 1st. If I give a tiny throttle blip after hitting the clutch, it goes smoothly. I have no idea why. Goes away after 3-4 shifts - which is half-way to work for me, LOL. Obviously a warm-up issue, but I wonder what it will be like at -30.

Nicholas

ateixeira

On the Forester?

They fixing it under warranty?

-juice

locke2c

I certainly assumed that it was covered under warranty since Dennis wasn't hurling a stream of expletives.

~c

paisan

what's your point? we've covered many times that an alarm can't stop a professional thief. :rolleyes:

I have used Viper, Alpine and Code-Alarm. Based on that personal experience instead of secondhand hearsay, I believe that Viper is the best for both entry-level features and higher end stuff with many options with one tiny caveat... Alpine's dual-zone radar cannot be beat for open-top vehicles. It can be used in a standard car for a 'promixity' warn-away or full alarm, but that's annoying (illegal in NY I think!) and ineffective. it does work great for someone reaching into a Miata or Wrangler when you have it parked with the top down.


We all know pros will get them, however we've recovered at lease 3 FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE HERE where the viper alarm was defeated easily by the theives via the valet and via replacing the brain of the viper alarm with another one...

So I was simply commenting that I'm not convinced of the viper's quality in protecting ones car. Sorry to have offended you SIR!

-mike

bluesubie

volkov - IIRC, the biggest difference is no cat in the JDM up-pipe.

Uh, yeah Colin would be correct. They found it not to be customer abuse. :-) They showed me some nasty pics from SoA of some non-warrantable issues.

Meanwhile, I'd love to swap some stuff from this loaner F-X I'm driving. Fully manual climate control with no annoying HAL, Single CD changer w/extra storage space. Ah, the simple things.

-Dennis

volkov

No kitty in any STi up-pipe, that's the point of replacing it. I think the JDM WRX is cat-less too, but I can't remember for sure.

lucien2

Interesting set of tranny issues we have all had very soon in the cars' lives.

Subyimprza got the 2 aft links in today before he had to leave, so functionally the car is back to 100%. I'll give the forward links a go when I am recovered.

lark6

Not a good testimony to the robustness of the MT. Even without the extra cog and Sportshift functionality I'm starting not to feel so badly about having the 4EAT.

I'm also watching you and those control arms...;-)

Ed

ateixeira

We've seen a few cases, emphasis on few. I don't think we can consider it a pattern, at least not yet.

Compare the number of wheel bearings and gaskets, those showed clear patterns.

-juice

bluesubie

I thought there was a cat in the USDM STi up-pipe as well. Maybe I'm wrong.

Yeah, I was a little surprised at this mis-hap since I've been driving manual Subes for seven years. The tech said it's "possible" that the gear could've been slightly out of spec. I think the long throw shifter is out of spec. :-)

Ed, I have a very close eye on my suspension. I think I check it once a week.

juice - Ed is very familiar with the wheel bearing issues.

-Dennis

paisan

USDM STi UP has no cat in it.

-mike

lark6

Ed, I have a very close eye on my suspension. I think I check it once a week.

Good to know. we'll have an opportunity to discuss firsthand on the 11th.

juice - Ed is very familiar with the wheel bearing issues.

You bet. No wheel bearing issues = no intro to Patti = no confidence in SoA ability to stand behind product. All those happened and my confidence level in SoA is fairly high.

That said, I am also very familiar with the head gasket issues. Lest this turn into a complete lovefest, I have to admit that the head gasket issues were a factor (albeit a minor one) in my decision to trade the '00 with <70K miles on the odo. Granted the coolant conditioner remedy looks to be the fix, the need to add that with every coolant flush just didn't give me a warm fuzzy. Here's hoping the new 2.5T block is less weepy.

Ed

lucien2

now we'll see how long those endlinks last. ;-)

bluesubie

Is there a little negative camber now, or is that just the pic?

-Dennis

hypov

I see positive camber.

-Dave

bluesubie

You're right. :-)

-Dennis

kens

Nice Loosh! So how does it ride?

Ken

lucien2

Who knows, the positive camber makes it hard to judge. I'd like to get the forward links in before paying for an alignment, but I don't know if I'm going ot have the time. I have camber bolts to throw in there if need be.

paisan

Get some rear camber bolts as the rear isn't adjustable...

-mike

lucien2

you gotta quit skimming and read entire posts- It's AZP, not ADD ;-))

paisan

you gotta quit skimming and read entire posts- It's AZP, not ADD ;-))


Sorry the WIDE picture put your camber bolt sentance off-screen.

-mike

lucien2

I'm going to try and install them before going to get an alignment, just in case. Plus it might be fun to see if I can eke out a degree or so of negative once they're in.

locke2c

to use some vernacular from the BIG state I just returned from visiting:

welp, that ain't gonna to break.

~c

bluesubie

Picked up my XT last night (thanks Flemington Subaru!) and the short shifter is a huge improvement.

It's a little stiffer, but the throws are wonderful! Feels a little closer to the Rex's shifts instead of those looooong Forester shifts. More of a snick-snick feeling. I'll probably get the Kartboy bushings too.

Oh yeah, the new 1st and 4th gears and synchros aren't bad either. :-) I didn't even complain about first gear. Thought is was just me causing the grind downshifting to first, but they duplicated it and found that synchro/gear worn as well.

-Dennis

rsholland

I know this STi short-throw shifter is a money-maker for Subaru, but I wish it were standard on their performance models.

Bob <dreaming again...>

bluesubie

I think there would be too many people complaining that they didn't like the feel if it was standard.

At least it is an option now, unlike 17" wheels. :-(

locke2c

the STi's six speed seemed to have fairly short throws as I recall... about the same as the Evo. vendors still make even shorter movement shifters of course.

~Colin

bluesubie

I considered aftermarket, but I try to go OEM for stuff like this whenever I can.

-D.

ateixeira

You get more NVH, Bob. I think making it optional is wise.

The stock shift lever has a rubber insulating layer that the STi shifter doesn't.

-juice

locke2c

the NVH difference is meaningless. a performance car (which all subaru turbos are by definition) should not have shift action most similar to churning butter.

~c

ateixeira

Not when the Legacy GT is being compared to Audis and Volvos and Acuras.

I've had both, the STi shift vibrates more, something people in that price class may not find acceptable.

This topic is oft debated, some like short throws, others argue longer throws give you more leverage so they're actually easier to shift.

An extreme example - the S2000. That shifter is *stiff* and if you're off by 1mm you'll miss the shift.

Maybe you don't want to churn butter but a $30k near-luxury shopper doesn't necessarily want to stir a box full of thumb tacks with a skewer, either. :P

-juice