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So on the road in the WRX i found I could get the antilocks to come on at less than 20 mph with only small breaking force. (Maybe that's because I was driving on ball bearings of ice.) Got up and down some hills with out any problems but I had a few minor scares. Several times the car would fish tail some on the ice. Actually I think alot of it was getting out of the tracks that were already worn in it (highway dept. finally started plowing tonight since it has ended.) This stuff is so dense that it will really whip you around if you get out of those tracks. I also found out that in parking lots and such if i went through unplowed areas it was like nothing I'd ever felt. Its so dense that you could feel the strain of going through it. twrx
bit
Snow-
well today was an adventure. We were out in the Outback for one of Kirsten's gigs which, to my consternation, was NOT cancelled. Stupid if you ask me, but there it is. Getting to Pikesville wasn't so bad, getting home around 4 was more interesting. 1st time I have ever been high-centered on snow, I tell you what. Ahhhhh, the smell of burning clutch. Or center diff...hard to say. But we did finally get the car parked.Knife through butter? Yea I suppose, until the butter is 20" deep and you have 7" of knife...pass the shovel, honey! SP5000s did fine, considering what was being thrown at them. The GT is hopeless...I can hardly even find it, it is so buried. Just one little side view mirror sticking out. Maybe grab a pic of it tomorrow a.m.
Thanks for the link -- that's some pretty convincing footage there. I think you've convinced me that a 12V impact drill is what will work best for me.
Ken
Len
Twrx - that slippery stuff can be dangerous ... hoping for a quick and successful recovery for your wife .. OUCH!! that had(has) to be painful!!
For Valentine's we got the dryer heating element replaced (it's extremely romantic .. try doing without for 2 weeks ...)
I also had a beautiful card, a box of chocolates, and breakfast out with my honey ..
He had a beautiful card, bags of M&M's, breakfast with me, and his special request dinner cooked here at home complete with lace tablecloth and candles
Bit: Great link. No question that my big impact drill has gobs of torque when in hammer mode, but it also lacks "finesse". I just couldn't see using it to drive screws - I'd be bouncing off of the head. But it sounds like the cordless uses it judiciously (gee, just like a Subaru) to get the added torque without severe pounding.
Bruce: Ouch! Sorry to hear about your wife. I cannot imagine few things that could hurt more!
Lyn: STAY HOME! I am at work, but trust me, I am not sure why!! (OK, it was a fun drive...)
All: Thanks for your concerns about Em. She is a trooper, but we feel like terrible parents...
Steve
That comment was made with ~ 12" or so of snow on the ground, which is about half of what we now have. I wouldn't be making that comment now. This is even too much for Subies, I would assume.
Bob
fibber2: I hope Emily is feeling better soon. And don't beat yourself up about being "terrible parents". Kids don't come with owners manuals...wouldn't it be nice if they did! We (parents) do the best we know and pray for the best. FWIW, my two teens are convinced that MOM stands for "Make Offspring Miserable". :-)
twrx: Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch! I hope your wife mends quickly.
Craig-
Thanks for the info.
So, how did the speaker install go?
I read in NASIOC that the upgrade speakers for the front are 6.5" [rear remain as 4"].
When it is my turn, and the weather gets warmer, I'll nose a l'il more.
Steve-
Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery.
-Dave
twrx
Bruce I hope your wife makes a speedy recovery, I know from personal experience that is a very painful injury, a number of years ago I was working on a friends car and I was standing in front when he fired it up. It had a jammed gas pedal and the thing was in gear it started and shot forward smashing me into a wall and broke both knees.
Cheers Pat.
Steve: Same wishes for little Emily. You can't protect your kids from everything - and if you try too hard, you end up doing different sorts of "damage". It's a hard balance to strike well sometimes.
Impact driver: That 12v Makita sounds pretty slick. I guess I don't mind the size and weight of my 18v. Hefty is good if it means I can't break it so quick. I've completely given up on 3/8" drills - I've busted 3 of them in the last 5 years. Maybe it's my one concession to machismo stereotypes, lol.
SNOW - I am so jealous of you guys out east I can't hardly type straight... If we didn't see the sun for 3 months, it'd be just fine with me !
The Denver area is experiencing the worst drought in 300 years (tree ring analysis). No relief in sight.
My bad luck with the wife's car: I prolly should have looked into a part recycler for the blown airbag control unit. I guess I felt that just disconnecting the idiot light involved some questionable ethics at resale time - and the resale value with that light on would be zilch.
We have the budget planned out for the next 12 months, and "new car" is not on it. We've been investing heavily in our house instead (basement finish - hence all the experience with 18v cordless hammer drills), and have contractors lined up for the last big "push". I've done all the work down there that I care to do.
I am seriously considering a used Legacy though. Something that I could get into for a song to buy time until we can get into the mini-van we want. Subies hold their value pretty darn well in these parts though. Don't want to trade one problem for another. (Ponder, ponder...) Time to bone up on features in the late 90's model years, I guess.
</ramble>
4" speakers drop right into the rear, no problem. I spent additional time applying Dynamat and chasing down rattles.
The fronts are a bit more involved, since I had to fabricate a spacer ring/plate to mount the 6.5" speakers. The stock speakers have a rounded triangular mounting plate with three screws, so you need to construct a flat surface for regular circular-frame speakers to mount to. In addition, the replacement speakers are a bit deeper than the stock ones (which are like pancakes, and sound like pancakes) so the mounting plate needs to add some thickness. I used a plastic cutting board, about 3/8" thick, for material. Traced the outer shape from the factory speakers, and the inner shape from the replacements.
The Rockford Fosgates speakers sound much clearer than the stock ones, which were really muddy with muffled vocals. The factory speakers were definitely louder, however. I have a feeling that the Rockford Fosgates probably take a little more power to drive. But, I can go to higher volume levels and still have clear music, which makes up for the difference. When I add the factory sub, it should round out the system nicely.
The door panels are easy to get off except for the trim ring around the handle/lock. I only got it off "my way" once (which involves loosening up the screw that holds the handle "cup" and wiggling it around). All other times, it came flying off when I popped the bottom of the doors. Trying to take it off as intended (with a screwdriver as a pry tool) is practically impossible and would likely damage the door panel. So, that was a major pain. I accidentally cracked the trim ring on the driver's door (figures, the one I have to look at) and will need to order a new one.
Another pain is that the harness adapters Crutchfield sent me did not fit. I ended up soldering my own connectors, which took time (first figuring out which lead is "+", and then making it work).
In the end, it all came together nicely and sounds good, but it was more challenging than I expected. I used to install car stereos as a teenager, and never remember it taking this long to do speakers! Maybe I'm getting old..... I don't remember having as many scraped knuckles back then either! The WRX door frames definitely have some of my DNA now!
In retrospect, I would just buy the upgraded speakers from Subaru. I have them in my Outback, and they sound quite good. Probably drop right in with no fuss!
Craig
Sounds like an adventure.
I too read that the WRX head unit puts out only 8Wx4 RMS; which maybe why the new speakers sounded under powered.
I got to go check out the OEM subwoofer in Pebbles. I didn't know you could twitch it.
-Dave
Cheers Pat.
Garrett County in western Maryland got 49" from this storm!
Wifey, son and myself spent the better part of the day shovelling out. We have ~ 100' driveway and a parking pad for 3 cars. Woke up this morning to the sound of sleet. So we got roughly an hour's worth of sleet, to make the shoveling really hard, as it put a crust on the snow, and made it rather heavy too. Man. am I going to sleep well tonight!
Bob
Perhaps this is a newer revision of the sub, or they have different versions for different vehicles. The tech specs for the WRX subwoofer also show the two adjustment knobs.
Craig
You should take out your Explorer or Forester for a little snow-driving!
Ken
Enjoy your snow - I'm jealous
MNSteve
bit
The real slap in the face was that I still had to mow every week -- the weeds really flourished with no grass in the way! Survival of the fittest, I guess.....
Craig
The WRX has been awesome. This is its biggest test to date and I'm as happy with it in extreme conditions as I was my '98 Forester.
TWRX
• Speaking of cats... our cat wanted to go out yesterday. When we opened the back door by the deck, she was confronted with 2' of snow, as we have yet to get to that area. Needless to say, she turned and ran...
• Had a snow shoveling lunch party yesterday. Went over to the next-door neighbor's for some nice hot chili and turkey sandwiches.
• The plow went down our street Saturday evening around 9:00 PM, so I was able to get out yesterday afternoon. I guess we had about 12" of unplowed snow at that time. The Forester had no problems. Deb an I went to find an open grocery store, which was not easy, as virtually everything was shut down.
• Arrugh! Speaking of plows... the snow plow just went through about an hour ago, so now I have to re-shovel the driveway entrance.
Bob
Tires, Tires, Tires. In snow, the best thing you can do is have good tires. I saw so many bling-bling SUVs that were spinning their wheels today cause they have either street tires or "performance" tires on them. You need some good ATs or Snows in the snow, then you just gas and go!
-mike
-mike
Bob
Edit: Here are some links to photos. Apparently the M5 wasn't a one-off and the SCHP uses BMW motorcycles as well.
http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Other/best_E34.htm
http://members.fortunecity.com/statepdcars/sc.htm
http://www.schp.org/photogallery.htm
Ed
Bob
Ed
I spent about 5 1/2 hours shoveling out the driveway to the street, but decided to not take the Outback out. It was too nutty on the streets by me. We had guys in their MB & BMW cars driving up and down the streets, skidding all over the place.
I definitely have to get my Dad's snow blower! It would have made things so much easier.
Mark
Bob
-mike
Ken- We got the GT dug out, but the Outback is still completely mired in a good 15" or so. I tried driving it out but succeeded only in shoving the front end up a bit, so know it has one wheel drive. Wishing I had a '01 with LSD right about now.
Bob- yup those crown vics were hanging in there for a while, using chains, but we're down to our Cherokees and Geo Trackers. I suspect the CVs will be rolling again today though. We live on a bus route, and the plows have got the street down to 1.5 lanes of bare pavement. At the expense, you might imagine, of the parallel parked cars.
By the way, it's snowing again. About 1.5" so far.
-mike
Are the factory subs easy to move?
I cleared snow for 4 hours yesterday and I still need to get out again tonight. My wife and I should get an award for clearing our cars. Most vehicles on the road have two feet of snow on the roof!
-Dennis
We're sharing the Forester for the time being -- easier to keep just one car de-iced and ready to go in this weather. I'm going to let the Outback thaw on its own (supposed to warm up by the end of the week), meanwhile the WRX is nice and cozy in the garage and will stay there until the roads clear up.
Interesting tidbit: with ice built up on various areas around the side mirrors, wind noise on the Forester is pretty much gone. The trip to work this morning was very quiet, even my wife noticed a difference. I'm making a mental note of the ice distribution; perhaps that will lead to a permanent noise reduction fix.
Craig
Bob
Steve
Good to be nice to a neighbor who has a front loader.
What would have taken me, probably until Thurday, took just two scoops. Then a little push here and a little push there.
Wish I have a digicam to capture the 12' mount.
-Dave
I bought it at the dealer in 2001 when I bought the car.
Cheers Pat.
Haven't checked which is under the seat.
-Dave
Craig
Check out scoobymods for a pic and info:
http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=199&- referrerid=0
My 03 WRX and my wife's 99 OB have the same adjustments.
-Dennis
I ended up shoveling 5 times, as it accumulated, trying to keep up. It was hopeless! Hadji was buried in snow when he went out. Picture Pepe-le-pew (sp?), that cartoon skunk, jumping up and down out of the snow. It was comical. He loves marking his territory in the snow, however, because it lasts a long time.
Sandy was great. Our street wasn't plowed until Tuesday morning, but the CIA director lives down the street so several SUVs had been driving up and down the street during the whole storm, which made the road passable. Had to drive over what seemed like a cliff at the edge of the driveway. I'm glad that lower bumper ain't painted! :-)
Two cars got stuck on our street, less than 20 feet away from my house. A Corolla driven by a teen that just didn't know any better, and a 626! I pointed it out to my wife and she laughed (that's what she used to drive). What were they thinking? 4" of ground clearance and FWD?
I made it out to the store to get milk, since we didn't know how long we'd be stuck. Funny thing was there was almost no place to park!
Bummer, though, a huge piece of soffit over my front porch collapsed, which may mean a roof leak. Another project to take care of. Gutters are hanging in there, so far. Fingers crossed.
I gotta clear the exterior vents, down spouts, and stuff. Hard to believe how much snow/sleet there is, and it weighs a ton!
-juice
Jim