Subaru Crew - Modifications II

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  • rplumrplum Member Posts: 48
    well, yahoo seems to have some free file sharing/photo hosting, so more pictures of my 98 Impreza are up if anybody cares to look.


    http://briefcase.yahoo.com/rmplum


    there is another shot of the Sparco seats, as well as the Japan Spec Spoiler, reduced ride height from the STi V5 suspension, and the Bridgestone Ragtime S6 wheels with Potenza S-02PP tires. I'll put more pics up today as I have time.


    STi V5 engine/ECU and tranny will go in next summer after my wedding, unless I get motivated this winter and install the Swiss spec EJ20 turbo I have.


    Ryan

    -long live the GC8

  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Sweet, looks race-ready.

    What strut tower brace is that?

    I like those bi-plane spoilers on the Imprezas. A local guy, Justin, has one in blue and it looks pretty wild.

    -juice
  • rplumrplum Member Posts: 48
    Cusco front brace. No heim joints!

    Original spoiler was broken/vandaled. I wouldn't spend big bucks on a rear spoiler, so I'm lucky to know/work with people in Japan. It looks decent, and since my last car was a N/A Porsche 944, I'm used to having a slow accelerating but fast looking car that turns real good.

    My WRX feels somewhat big and sloppy after hopping out of the RS though.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Nice to have friends like that! :-)

    Any spare Forester GT powertrains laying around?

    -juice
  • p0926p0926 Member Posts: 4,423
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    hey, my exhaust is considerably bigger than Ryan's. looks like maybe a Brospeed SPT part...

    looks pretty good to me!

    -Colin
  • rplumrplum Member Posts: 48
    That's a Hayward and Scott Stainless backbox
    (or scoobysport if you prefer)

    Hayward and Scott is the exhaust manufacturer for the Mitsu Ralli-Art team I believe. It's pretty bombproof.

    I think the tip is nearly the same as stock (90mm dia.)

    RP
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    I mentioned last week on the chat that the parts guy at the dealers has built up a WRX. sti.

    well I saw it today and all I can say is wow, it is an exact replica of Subaru,s first world rally WRXsti.

    I had no camera but I will give you a list of the mods.

    Japan spec.STI.engine and Tranny.

    4piston front brakes with big rotors.

    2piston rear brakes.

    Full STI suspension.

    Rear diff. with limited slip.

    Uprated drive shafts, and suspension knuckles.

    Uprated wheel bearings.

    Front and rear Japan specSTI bumpers and rear spoiler, rocker panel covers.

    Recaro front seats.

    Momo steering wheel.

    Iam sure I am leaving a lot out but you get the picture.

    Cheers Pat.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That's a lot of dough. I guess he can swap for parts a lot of the time.

    -juice
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    He has an appraisal of over $30,000 CND.and he says that is still not enough.

    Nobody in the appraisal business has any experience at appraising something like this.

    The only thing I did not like were the gold rims but then we are talking authenticity here.

    Cheers Pat.
  • dwratedwrate Member Posts: 1
    Does anyone know of a CD changer that will connect to the factory deck in my '00 Legacy GT. I have tried in vain to find an adaptor;i.e. Blitzsafe that will provide the interface but have come up empty. Subaru of Canada says my deck is either Alpine or Clarion but that has not helped any.

    Thanks in advance
    David
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Unfortunately you have to go with the factory CD changer. the CD changer controls are built right into the factory radio.

    The only way you could use an afermarket CD changer is with an FM. modulator.

    Even though the the deck is Alpine or Clarion is built specifically for Subaru hope this answers your query.

    You may want to check the I Club, The Cassette 6CD changer combo from the WRX. is turning up there for sale on a regular basis saw one a couple of weeks ago for less than $200 US.

    This is from guys wanting to go with a high power aftermarket unit.

    Cheers Pat.
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    KenS, drop me an email if you're still interested. Cleaned the heck out of my garage yesterday and happened to find it! I think I've got your email at home but I'll forget by then. ;-)

    -colin
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Sweet! I just emailed you.

    Thanks, Colin.
  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    The more I look into it, the more I think spending money on mods is a losing proposition. Aside from wheels/tires, a little bigger swaybar and a brace, I am unconvinced that spring/strut lowering combos are worth it for the sacrifice in ride and budget. I haven't gotten any real gain from my snorkusectomy, and I don't know if spending money on exhaust will really yield a gain worth the $600 outlay either. Plus the constant drone. I dunno....I want to spend some money on the car really bad, but the little voice inside my head is keeping my wallet in my pocket.

    Unless someone is selling a cheap pair of RS/WRX seats, of course. ;')
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I want those seats, too, but they don't match my interior. :-(

    -juice
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    The struts springs will make a difference. I noticed a vast improvement from my air-suspension to stock non-air. Far less body roll. Exhaust and intake I believe aren't big gainers though. I'm gonna upgrade when I need a new muffler.

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    It's hard to get value from mods on a normally aspirated powerplant. You spend anywhere from $40 to $500 to get just 5 horses, if that.

    My excuse is I haul a toddler around, and it saves me quite a bit of green!

    -juice
  • barresa62barresa62 Member Posts: 1,379
    on the WRX though being that it's a turbocharged vehicle. Anytime you improve the breathing on turbo cars you net significant gains.

    Stephen
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    quote: Aside from wheels/tires, a little bigger swaybar and a brace, I am unconvinced that spring/strut lowering combos are worth it for the sacrifice in ride and budget.

    Skip the strut brace, that's money saved. About the ride quality, the only thing I can offer is that you should ride (ideally drive) in someone else's car that has the same or similar modifications you wish to make. Bear in mind that you will develop some tolerance to increased suspension harshness as time goes on, but unless you live on ultra-smooth roads or are in serious denial, something like the 400lb/in springs I have on my Impreza will never be comfortable.

    But something more reasonable like H&R springs could be! Firmer springs and struts will make a large difference in handling.

    As far as value... that's totally up to you. I would agree at some point though since I haven't done anything to my car since I resumed riding motorcycles.

    -Colin
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Heck, I don't find the stock suspension on my Miata comfortable. But you do learn to tolerate it. I can't believe folks lower them.

    Going to the Forester afterwards, it feels like a Lexus. Seriously.

    -juice
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Colin - I'll take your word for it on the strut brace. As for finding others with similar modifications, well, how many people other than juice have made significant mods to a Forester in North America? Maybe one or two guys on the i-club but that's the extent of it. Most of us haven't done more than sway bar, intake and exhaust. I think that a tire with stiffer sidewall and stickier tread compound will be a good start for me, especially given that the overwhelming majority of my driving is done on tarmac (I have to admit that a lot of the notoriously nasty PA roads have been getting repaved this past summer and into the fall).

    Ed
  • miksmimiksmi Member Posts: 1,246
    The more I look into it, the more I think spending money on mods is a losing proposition.

    I won't say anything. :D

    Sorry I missed you and Ed on Saturday. I didn't make it back to my house until 11pm and wasn't sure how late you'd be playing.

    ..Mike

    ..Mike

  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I wouldn't even call my mods significant.

    I would call my accessorizing significant, but that's a different story.

    -juice
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Well it's all relative, juice. People who've change anything on their Foresters after purchase - or who are at least vocal about it - are a small slice of Subedom indeed.

    Ed
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yeah, all four of us!

    -juice
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    quote: Heck, I don't find the stock suspension on my Miata comfortable. But you do learn to tolerate it. I can't believe folks lower them.

    Wimp... My wife's Miata has the sport package, which has lower ride quality due to the monotube Bilstein struts but corners nicely once you get past the significant body roll.

    Anyway, since installing Tein HA coilovers last March my RS rides easily 2-3 times worse than the Miata. Easily. Since I don't autocross much anymore I'm considering selling them and buying H&R springs to go with my KYB AGX struts. I'd keep my camberplates and STi mounts though!

    -Colin
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    Everything is a trade off, the more the handling goes up, the more the ride quality goes down, you usually can have one or the other but not both.

    I had tokico adjustable shocks with eibach springs on my 89Accord lowered if I remember correctly 1.75 inchs.

    The stock rims were 14" 60 series at one point I was running 16"40series but my back just could not take it any more and I went to 15" 50 series tires.

    The handling was great but the ride suffered badly, the first thing my daughter after she bought it from me, was return it to stock, she did this before she even took it home.

    Cheers Pat.
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    colin, u're selling your teins and going back to AGX?! well welcome back to the AGX family bud! =)
    Somehow, I too am leaning towards lucien too. I am quite bored with modding my car now. the last and mod I've done are putting a se to S-03s on because I no longer can stand the re9s anymore! Anyways my enthusiasm on modding my RS has dwindled quite a bit. I am happy with the overall form of my car. corners nicely and has good acceleration.
    See... modding a car for us regular folks will come to a point of diminishing returns. Meaning, in order to get anymore meaningful performance increase, the cost of it no longer worth it.
  • jimmyp1jimmyp1 Member Posts: 640
    I had never seen this website before, and here's a page I thought you might be interested in...


    http://www.subspeed.org/catalog.htm


    Jim

  • lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    well I'm not opposed to a spring/agx upgrade, I just no longer want to actively pursue it. I don't think I'll be messing with breathing at all.

    Love those S-03s though, yea??? :'))
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I've heard the Miata sport package is unbearable for anyone but an AutoCross freak. Many folks will tell you up front not to get it unless you are serious about handling at the expense of ride quality.

    Pat: did you keep all 3 sets of rims? Yeah, a Plus Two is pretty extreme.

    It can depend on your starting point, though. My 60 series tires ride and handle better than the tallish 70 series tires that came stock. Less bounce, more ride control, so it's actually more comfortable and quieter.

    The tires are holding up really well. After 14k miles they have barely worn much at all. Of course many of those miles were trips.

    -juice
  • barresa62barresa62 Member Posts: 1,379
    Go to page 3 of this link, there is a pic of the 17"OEM wheel(in markets other than N.America) next to the 16"OEM wheels that our cars come std with. You can see the differences in size and details.


    http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77571&highlight=p1s+silver


    Stephen

  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    I gave the 14" to my daughter and left the 15" on the car sold the 16". I don,t see her putting the 14s back on but at least she has them.

    Cheers Pat.
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    I agree with juice, a lot of what folks call "mods" are more like enhancements than actual significant changes to the vehicle's dynamics. I also got over the need to beef up a car's suspension to the point of pain a long time ago, in my Mini Cooper days :-) So I'm guilty of it, just not recently.

    I just put WRX rims and Blizzaks on my car. I don't think of this as a modification, but as an enhancement. I like the looks of the wheels, but more importantly I have what I hope is a safer car for my nightly commute. Same with upgrading the headlight and foglight bulbs. The next move for me will probably be driving lights, again to enhance the value of the car for my needs.

    Brakes: I might put better pads and rotors on, when these wear out, but the car stops pretty darned well so it's not a high priority. Suspension: I should probably put a Whiteline rear bar on it because I think it would make the car more suitable to my driving style, but it's not a high priority. Shocks and springs are fine, I *definitely* don't need a lower car than I have already. Same with 17" rims, just not practical for a daily driver. I wouldn't mind some WRX seats but I can't really justify them; for anyone who can there is a set for sale on i-Club ;-)

    Cheers,
    -wdb
  • lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    All semantics. You guys could have a promising career in the law. ;-)

    Ed
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I find Mods = performance gains (quicker, handle better, see better, etc) Accessories = visual enhancements, that don't provide anything but eye-candy (spoilers, wings, ground effects, alteza lights, etc. etc.)

    -mike
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    ...cutting a big hole in one's roof is pretty radical :-) I might have to raise juice from the realm of "enhance" and put him in the "mod" category!

    I had a chance to really, really test the new tires last night, as the deer were doing their best to bang into the front of my car. One buck caused me to do a full-on jab into the brake pedal so as to stop as quickly as possible from about 45 MPH. In dry, cool conditions the new Blizzaks definitely did not stop as quickly as the old, smooth RE92s; had the deer not kept moving I would have hit it. I'm confident that wet conditions would have produced a different result; the RE92s were *horrible* on wet roads. The good news in all of this is that the deer lived to munch someone's shrubs another day.

    Regards,
    -wdb
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    So, you had an original Mini? You getting the itch for the new ones?

    I just checked my brake pads when I rotated the tires. At 42k miles, they show almost no wear. They also have never squeeked once. Knock on wood, but it looks like these babies will last forever. The fluid was bled when they recalled the master cylinder.

    Q: is there an easy way to check the brake shoes on my rear drum brakes? I looked around but didn't see any eye holes to check those. Do you have to look from the inside-out?

    My accessories aren't about looks, they provide at least some function. Trailer hitch, skid plate, dual cup holder, grab handle, moonroof, etc. Well, the fender flares, window, tint, and wheels are, a little, but that wasn't why I got them.

    -juice
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    I had 2 Minis (one a Cooper) and the new "Mini" doesn't do much for me. It is a totally different type of car than the original. The Cooper's forte was being incredibly tossable with its sub-1500 lbs. and the hydrolastic suspension which let it deal with poor road surfaces better than it had any right to do. It was very quick and not at all fast. Totally bare-bones. The BMW is a totally different beast with few of the advantages or the original as far as I can see.

    Ross
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I think the new one is all of those things, compared to current cars, at least.

    -juice
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    "compared to current cars, at least."

    Unless you drove one of the originals, you don't know what *tossable* means! It was also very noisy and totally lacking in creature comforts, but for pure fun it was hard to beat.

    Ross
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I haven't driven either!

    I guess it feels a lot different than the Miata, being tinier plus FWD.

    -juice
  • barresa62barresa62 Member Posts: 1,379
    What kind of Blizzaks do you have? I'm either going to the Blizzak LM's or Dunlop Winter Sports mounted on my stock WRX rims before X-mas.

    Stephen
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Juice, is your last comment referring to the new Mini? I realize it's not in consumer hands yet but AW's last data on it said it was pretty hefty... at least 2600lb if I recall correctly.

    Nothing special about that! A Focus ZX3 weighs 2600lb. I think the production Mini has failed miserably to live up to the pre-production hype.

    -Colin
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Actually, no, I meant the original Mini, which I've never had the chance to drive.

    2600 lbs? Wow, that is kind of hefty for such a tiny machine. My Miata is about 2300, and even the new, better equipped ones aren't that heavy.

    -juice
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    my MX6 is only 2600lbs IIRC!

    -mike
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    was 1485 lbs. soaking wet. :~)

    Ross
  • hondafriekhondafriek Member Posts: 2,984
    The brake shoes on the emergency brake should last forever, there is no moving wear on them, but if you do want to check you have to remove the caliper and then the rotor there is no way around it.

    Personally unless you are having problems I would forget it. Cheers Pat.
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    I have LM22's. I wanted an H-rated tire, and the H-rated Michelin did not fare well in Tire Rack's comments section. Q-rated tires just don't sound sensible for the kind of driving I do.

    I had a Mini 850 wagon, a 998 Cooper, and a 1275 Cooper S at various times. Never had a hydrolastic suspension, mine were all the rubber cone models. To someone who has driven Minis, "tossable" is defined as "being able to round a corner on a 2-lane road in a 4-wheel drift while simultaneosly staying on your own side of the road." As for lightness; I once found one of my Minis in the middle of about an acre of snow, under someone's Christmas decorations on the top of a hill. Four guys had carried it up there! But then you could do the same with the VW Beetles of the day. As for creature comforts; the "sit up and beg" driving position for which Minis were, umm, well known was intentional on the part of Sir Alec Issigonis, the designer of the Mini. He didn't want the driver to get too comfortable lest his attention to the road waver. The ashtrays in the car were a last-minute concession to the marketeers; Sir Alec would not hear of having such a device in a car, since its presence implied consent that the driver could be smoking rather than paying full attention to the serious business of piloting a motor vehicle. Other creature comforts included sliding windows, cable operated inside door latches, and door pockets large enough to house a modern-day laptop bag - if the pockets weren't always filled with water, that is...

    Mini Coopers actually had disc brakes on the front (10-inch) wheels. They were the cutest little things you ever saw. The cars still didn't stop worth a hoot though.

    Cars really are better now. A lot more expensive, but a lot better. I'm just not sure that they're more fun.

    Best,
    -wdb
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