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Subaru Crew - Modifications II

24567…106

Comments

  • originalbitmanoriginalbitman Member Posts: 920
    This is the grille I want.


    http://www.bitman.com/BlitzenGrille.JPG


    bit
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The B4 seems to have a tiny label at the bottom right. If you could remove that, it looks best.

    The Blitzen's label is too obvious, and yours is not a Blitzen. Unless it comes off.

    Cobb's bulges out too much for my tastes.

    Prova is pure rice. I'll shut up since I can't say anything nice.

    -juice
  • originalbitmanoriginalbitman Member Posts: 920
    The Blitzen is the most subtle and to make it more so of course the badge would have to come off. But I imagine it is contoured to fit the Blitsen bumper and would not likely fit the stock bumper.

    bit
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    My vote (maybe I shouldn't use that word :-)) is for the Hellas. I have heard great success stories with them; I believe Harold has a pair custom mounted on his ML for night off-roading uses. Plus, the city lights are kewl.

    Drew/aling
    Edmunds.com Townhall host
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    Check this out: http://www.4x4abc.com/ML320/ml320_Hella4000.html

    image

    image
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Yeah I hear the Hella 500s are availble OEM on the front bar of the MLs. Are the ones Harold has 4000s? I'll likely get those. I'm not sure of the quality of the Landmasters (All the Hella products I have are excellent, horns, lights, etc)

    -mike
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Yeah with the Landmaster 216s, I'd have a whopping 750watts of foward light! People will think a freight train is coming down the road!

    -mike
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Drew: what's with the blanket covering the front of that ML?

    Nothing bad to say about Hella here. E-codes and a 2nd pair of H4+30s are on the way.

    I guess I could have gotten the Philips Vision Plus, but Ken had a package deal for $81 plus shipping. I'm sure buying the Philips lights from a different vendor would cost more and be a pain to wait for, so maybe next time.

    -juice
  • alingaling Member Posts: 598
    Mike, yes Harold has the Hella 4000s and it seems like he likes them a lot.

    juice, I think he was doing some welding on the spot (his Toyota LC has an onboard welder, I think), so the blanket was to protect the headlamps from sparks.

    Check out his toys: http://4x4abc.com/vehicles/2000upgrades.html
    http://4x4abc.com/vehicles/general_info.html

    Drew/aling
    Edmunds.com Townhall host
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Drew,
    Yep they are Hella 4000s. I was kinda leaning toward them anyway, but Harold seems to know what he is talking about so it basically confirms what others have said.

    -mike
  • aussierooaussieroo Member Posts: 78
    to get under the cars boyz? Are you lot in hibernation??
    it was 25deg centigrade at 5:00am here (Sydney) this morning.
    don't have to worry about drying them after washing the car its so hot the water has condensed before it hits the metal

    condolences

    gus
  • miksmimiksmi Member Posts: 1,246
    Hehe, Gus yer a dawg! Might have snow in DC later this week.

    ..Mike

    ..Mike

  • fandcfandc Member Posts: 51
    It'll be -25 Centigrade here at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Don't have to worry about drying the car in this weather, either!

    The kid and I are going out to play in the snow. Roll on ice racing season.
  • amishraamishra Member Posts: 367
    well we just got dumped on ~ 30 cm snow and still falling

    I may just have to buy snow tires if the winter continues to be like this...

    Ash,
    (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada -- about 1 hour west of Toronto, 2 hours Northwest of Buffalo)
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    London, Ontario.
    Loads of fun going home. While traversing up a hill, the cars behind me just slipped and slided while I pulled away going to the top of the hill. hehehe...
    Western cancelled its exams for the day. If hte gas is cheap, i'd go out and find an empty parking lot and play.... =(
  • amishraamishra Member Posts: 367
    U of Waterloo cancelled its exams for the day (that's where I work and study). I pity those students who have to wait until the 23rd now to write!

    I was out playing in the snow with my OB, but I doubt it can compete with your Sport. Still, no problem plowing through 30 cm of snow!

    ash
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    On-board welder?! Just what I always wanted... ;)

    Snow forecast for Wednesday night. You know what that means, right?

    Nothing. We'll all be at work on time. Drat!

    -juice
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    The Toronto Subaru Club is organizing a winter rally school on the 23rd! I am going. In fact I know a few guys from U of Waterloo going too. It's a whole day event and will be taught by the rally masters (McGeers, Sprongls etc...) In fact there will be some reps from SOC who will be attending too. Maybe show off the new WRX?! It's 100 bux for the entire day long session. It's held at Mosport racing circuit. I doubt it's gonna be too intense as they are quite a bit of err... bodykit RS out there who can't risk damaging their cars. =) But should be fun. It includes food and in class tuitorials. And of course hands on experience. Yeehaaa!!!!

    http://hammer.prohosting.com/~25rs/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.cgi

    here's the Toronto Club BBS. Most of the members are Impreza guys but there's a growing number of Legacy owners now.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Did you want to say "rice" but couldn't? ;)

    Have fun. I'm sure you will.

    -juice
  • amishraamishra Member Posts: 367
    looks like that rally meeting is booked? only 27 seats?

    ash
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    Juice : you know what i mean. Unfortunately I spent too much on my autoX mods that I have no $ left for winter rims and tires. So I will be going with my lousy BFG T/As. From the thread look, I think it should bite more than the RE92s that some of the owners will be going with. Not sure if I want to pray for snow or just slush....

    ash : sorry to hear that. Yeah it was initially set at 32. I dunno. I hope it's worth it though. I really want to learn some technics in performance driving in the snow. At least defensive driving rather than just stomp on the brakes. Know what I mean.

    I'll be taking pix and will try to post them. Prolly give it to juiceman. Do you have space?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'll make space for a Soob drifting 4 wheels in snow! But yes, I have space.

    Ash: go as a backup. Someone always fails to show up. If not, ride along with someone. It's fun and no risk to your car!

    -juice
  • amishraamishra Member Posts: 367
    my soob was doing four wheel drifts for a good 2 hours tonight in a unused parking lot! probably a good 25 cm of untouched snow! (well at least till i got to it)

    couldn't get it to do fast donuts, because the snow was so thick it was bogging me down. still, drifts were very cool around the lamp posts, with snow billowing up around the car like crazy. what a blast!

    no problem whatsoever with traction even with the stock tires. you just can't beat awd

    -- ash

    ramon: pray for snow, at least you can do controlled slides. with slush, not all the wheels may be on the same type of surface, so you get alot more wheel jerking, and less consistency
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    Yeah I think I would pray for some snow. Not ice though But good snow.
    I had an argument more like a discussion with my friend the other day. I was telling her that I was out playing with the snow and she said "Oh doing donuts? Yeah my brother does it all the time". See her brother drives an old Accord (boxy ones) and I said "err.... no way in heck can a FWD do a proper donut. You meant giong in circles yes?" But she kept insisting it was donuts. Anyways I had an opportunity to show her what a real donut is like.... needless to say she was quiet. =)
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Ash: sounds like Lucien's foray last year. Get any photos?

    The only way an Accord can do proper donuts is in REVERSE! I'm serious, too!

    -juice
  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    It's called a handbrake, people ;-)

    Back when my Mini station wagon was one of the only FWD cars in country I used to do donuts in the snow by yanking on the handbrake lever. Get up a bit of speed, turn the wheel, and pull the lever - presto, around you go! After a while I got the bright idea that, after letting the handbrake jerk the car halfway around the circle, if I then reversed the steering direction and tromped the throttle at just the right moment I should be able to achieve a full 360 degree spin, ending up traveling in exactly the same direction as I began. I actually pulled it off once or twice too!

    Cheers,
    -wdb
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Did a bit of handbrake turning last night... My wife wasn't impressed. She needs to learn to relax and have fun. ;-)

    -Colin
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The handbrake trick is better for U-turns in tight intersections, not so much for donuts.

    -juice
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    the handbrake method is when you're moving and not really a donut. You have to start from idle. Great thing about AWD an RWD is that, you just have to lock the front wheels up and gas the car. Perfect 360s.
    I wouldn;t use the handbrake too much on AWD cars as you'll be essentially locking up your rear wheels therefore creating undue stress to our AWD system and the rear diff. It's ok for FWD since they don't have a rear diff anyways. I've heard of cases where AWD cars with mechanical AWD system like the Quattros blew up (ripped apart) because the sudden lock up of the rear wheels over stressed the mecahnical gears within the Torsen device. The simple viscous coupling may have higher tolerances because it works on liquid but still I wouldn't go nuts with the handbrake.
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    (or Paddy Hopkirk turns) used to be great fun and very practical in my Mini Cooper. The moment of inertia was so small that control was almost perfect - certainly usable in real world driving. I did actually use it on the road in my youthful insanity. Now in my senile insanity, ... ;-)

    Ross
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The Escort GT could actually really get its tail around using the hand brake.

    Too much, one time, in the snow. Coming out of an empty subway parking lot, I tried to make a 90 degree turn Colin McRae style, and just spun out just more than 360 degrees.

    No biggie. Just felt wild to lose it like that.

    -juice
  • miksmimiksmi Member Posts: 1,246
    juice, I think you mean Richard Burns. We don't talk about Colin anymore as his is now on the dark side ;)

    ..Mike

    ..Mike

  • francophilefrancophile Member Posts: 667
    Heh. Yes, handbrake turns were useful on the road too. The cars were so small that you essentially had twice as much road to work with and could do all kinds of fun tricks.

    Recommended viewing: _The_Italian_Job_

    Cheers,
    -wdb
    (former owner of an 850 wagon, 998 Cooper, and 1275 Cooper S)
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Hey guys,

    I will soon be the proud owner of a set of Tein HA coilovers. Ride height adjustable, 16 position damping adjustment (compression & rebound together, not individually adjustable), and 7kg/mm springs front, 6kg/mm rear. That's roughly 400lb/in front, versus the stock 149lb/in... obviously this isn't going to be a luxo-cruiser. It will make a world of difference in performance street driving, autocross and open track though.

    I also will be getting camberplates for the front and probably STi strut top mounts for the rear. Rear camberplates are too noisy, so I'm going with STi units which are much harder rubber than stock. I could probably use the stock mounts in the rear, but this way I can sell my complete suspension (stock 2.5RS springs, AGX struts) and it will be easy for someone else to install. I think I can get $300 or thereabouts for it, we'll see in Spring when I install the Teins.

    I also am going to get an MRT header sometime after Christmas. Then around Spring I'll get another set of wheels and R compounds and I'll be set. :-D

    -Colin
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    This is like not even close to the end of the discussion, there's quite a few messages missing. Oh well.

    I got the teins, they look good.

    BTW, it would be nice to be able to jump directly to a particular message. I bet the old javascript discussion shortcuts don't work any more either...

    -Colin
  • seamus3seamus3 Member Posts: 98
    please can anyone help me. i am considering changing my bulbs to xenon but have heard both good and bad things. your help would be much appreciated.

    seamus
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    They are pretty close. The Xenon gas filled bulbs are slightly whiter than the halogen ones. Unless you are talking about putting in an HID system. That's about $1000 but it is nice. People here like the Philips Vision Plus bulbs. I've had good luck with Hellas.

    -mike
    '00 Trooper LS
    '88 XT6 when it dies -> '92 SVX
    http://www.iace.com/ia/trooper
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    One other thing to point out is that there is no DOT approved HID retrofit kit available.

    Ken
  • fernieguyfernieguy Member Posts: 55
    Up here in Fernie a hand brake turn would be useful, BUT aren't the subaru hand brakes attached to the front wheels on these cars. I know that in my old escort with a little practice you could pull off a perfect 180 no problem but with my old GL wagon the front brakes would simply lock up and you'd go strait, not very fun. As for driving in snow there are a few general rules to follow, an object in motion remains in motion, no sudden movements, brake in a straight line, if its super slippery simply try gearing down, at least double the distance between cars.

    Stephen
  • armac13armac13 Member Posts: 1,129
    nice to see yet another British Columbian on board. I can assure you that the handbrake turn does work on the Forester (see my post on Forester III). Try it, you'll like it if you managed it in an Escort. You're winter rules are spot on.

    Ross
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I'm not sure it would be illegal to put in an HID kit, because it doesn't change the reflector/lenses of the lights, it merely changes the source of the light. I would think it would be more illegal to put higher wattage bulbs (as a lot of us have done) into the car than an HID kit. Mostly I feel the $1000 could be better spent on other modifications.

    -mike
  • drew_drew_ Member Posts: 3,382
    It is illegal because the modified lighting system is not approved by the DOT.

    "...because it doesn't change the reflector/lenses of the lights, it merely changes the source of the light."

    That's exactly the problem!! The reflectors and lenses are designed for halogen bulbs and HID Xenon bulbs are a heck of a lot different. For example, the HID bulbs have to be aligned a certain way and obviously when you retrofit your existing headlamp units, you'll have no clue as to how this works. The stock halogen lenses and reflectors WILL cause glare not only to oncoming drivers, but to you as well.

    BTW, I've seen HID conversion kits for almost half of the amount of $ that you indicated.

    Drew
    Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
    Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    No, the handbrake has been on the rear wheels for quite some time. I don't know if the Legacy debuted with it, but definitely the Impreza has never had them up front.

    You are correct that the older ones (GL, DL, Loyale, etc.) had the front mounted parking brake.

    -Colin
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    The best thing to do would be to get Japanese spec HID replacement housings. That is what I was looking into for my Trooper, but they don't make HIDs in any market, the best I could do is get the E-Code setup from NZ or AUS @ $300/side. I love my E-code replacements for my sealed beams on my XT6 though!

    -mike
  • north_twinnorth_twin Member Posts: 7
    O.K. The wheel/tire guy is asking some more questions. I have been on the phone with Tire Rack and Wheel Warehouse trying to find some wheels. I have discovered this little thing called "High-Offset Fit" I think I am getting the hard sell from Wheel Warehouse. They tell me that the 2.5 RS requires a minimum offset of 50 and that a 45 offset will stick out from the wheel well approximately 1/4". If this is true the only two manufacturers that are available would be OZ and Team Dynamics. Neither of which has the design I was looking for. So what's the deal with the High-Offset and the 2.5 RS? Any practical input from the gang? Will a 45 work?
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    The stock RS wheel is 16x7 (16" diameter, 7" wide) with +53mm offset and a 5x100mm bolt circle. 45mm will probably fit, and the 8mm difference is more like 1/5". The RS does not have a great deal of rear fender clearance though, so it is possible that this mere 1/5" change outward could cause tire rub. It will definitely cause the load on the wheelbearings to go up a bit, and Subaru's wheelbearings are not one of their strong points.

    Are you looking for 17" rims or what?

    -Colin
  • north_twinnorth_twin Member Posts: 7
    Yes I am looking for 17" Wheels for my 2.5 RS. The Offset is proving to be a pain.

    -Chris
  • north_twinnorth_twin Member Posts: 7
    Once the wheel issue is settled I will be looking to upgrade my factory tires as well. The recommended tire for the 17" wheel, according to Tire Rack is the 205/50/R17's. I was hoping for something a little more aggressive with regards to the width. I was told however that the 215/45/R17's and the 225/45/R17's would not fit, even though the 215/45/R17's appeared to be the closest match to the factory tire's overall diameter. Does anyone know if the 215's or 225's will fit on a 17" wheel without any additional modifications? What about after the installation of Eibach springs which will effectively lower the car approximately 1.5"?
    The tires I am interested in are the following; "BridgeStone Potenza S-02 PP's", "BridgeStone Potenza RE730's" and "Pirelli P7000 Supersports". As you can see from my selections I am looking for added performance with the ability to still get 20k to 30k miles out of the tire. Again, any practical input on these tires or others would be greatly appreciated. This is my first performance parts purchase.
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    You will be very lucky to get 30k miles out a set of S-02s, although they are a magnificent tire. I expect my summer tires to last 15,000 miles and they usually do, just. Anyway, you've picked 3 tires from 3 different categories so that's a bit odd...

    The 215/45-17 is a good fit while staying at or near stock ride height. Lowering more than 1", I would highly recommend a 215/40-17. I would not recommend a 225/45-17 as it will almost certainly require modification of the rear fender lip. 205/50-17 is too tall for lowered ride height and it will be prone to rubbing on the rear fender lip more than a 215/45. However the BFG Gforce KD is available in 205/50-17, and it is an awesome dry performance tire.

    I run a set of 225/50-16 Yokohama AVS S1 on stock wheels and I've had to massage the fenders a bit.

    -Colin
  • kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    Colin,

    I know you use summer and winter tires, but out of curiosity, what all-season have you found to offer a good balance of wet/dry?

    Ken
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