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A guy I work with has an 85 Sube,I asked him if that is an RX and he told me he didnt know. He said the title states the it is a Subaru L.There aren't any badges on the car itself but it is a 4 door sedan with an EA82T,5 speed d/r,lsd,and it has the cool checker board interior. Is that sound like an RX? I unfortunately have never seen an RX so I am not sure what they look like. Please help this ignorant fool.

USMB for life

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Took this from another prior post but Dr RX knows his stuff on these models.

 

Originally posted by Dr. RX

Let's see, they built RX sedans from 85 to 88 and 3drs from 87 to 89, so the first two years of RXs were nothing but sedans. When comparing the RXs to all other Subarus, yes, they are rarer, but the 3dr is rarer then the sedan. But what makes your car rare is that it is an 88, that is the last year of production for the RX Sedan, and there aren't many 88 RX Sedan around.

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Sounds like an RX. Get the VIN and sent it to corky, as come standard GLs were specially odered with RX stuff.. you could order almost anything..

 

WagonsOnly.. Turbo Traction sedans didn't come with D/R (Don't think they came with the checkerboard interior either) and were most commonly equipped with a digidash.

 

RX had no digidash, so that would be another way to help clear the air.. does it have a digidash?

 

Additionaly, I don't think any soobs came with LSDs until 87 and later.. Could be wrong about that though.. Again, Corky would know better than I.

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Calebz, I'm thinking Turbo Traction because the RXes had badging...also the title would read "RX" on an RX, whereas "Turbo Traction" wouldn't fit. It could've been modded, unless he has the whole history (and if he had the whole history he'd probably know what kind of car he's driving). You're right in that the VIN is the only way to know for sure.

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tell ya what, my 85' RX sedan does not say RX on the title.. it just says 4 door sedan..

 

also mine came factory with an LSD, d/r 5-speed, etc..

 

originally it also had checkerboard interior, but that was replaced a long time before i got the car (i want it back but can't find it anywhere)

 

also it would have a regualr gauge cluster, and not a digidash

 

my badging is almost non existent from the years.. so that one might not have any badging at all left.

 

mine also says 4wd turbo on the center light plastic in the back..

 

i'd ask him if it had a digidash, thats the most distinctive feature i can think of that will determine if its a fully loaded gl-10 or an rx..

 

also the gl-10's had sunroof's, the RX's did not..

 

just my .02 have one sittin in my driveway..

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Not all RXs had badging, I had an 86 3dr that had no RX badging, but the VIN showed it to be a RX. The important numbers and letter to look for in the VIN is 56B in the sixth, seventh, and eighth positions. You can use the following to check the VIN, VIN code

 

All RXs had LSD, from 85 on, it was optional on any turbo car because of the 3.700 ratio, non-turbo had 3.900 ratio rear diffs.

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I got my LSD from a car exactly like what is described here.

According to my '85 owner's manual, there were both RX sedans and Turbo 4wd D/R sedans. From what I've seen, the plain turbos had neither RX nor GL badging, but simply said SUBARU on the back like a Loyale. All GL-10s were non-turbo in '85 (hence the Turbo-Traction Wagons), so this vehicle filled the turbo GL-10 niche. I believe these Turbo sedans had the digital dash and other "luxury" options that the '85 RX did not, but were otherwise very similar to the RX.

 

My '85 owner's manual indicates that the '85 RX did not come standard with power steering!? Can anyone confirm this? If so, then that would be another difference between the Turbo sedans and RXs.

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All will tell when we get to look at the VIN. By the way, I have one of thsoe Turbo Traction Wagons, it's the wife's car, it's got a rebuilt engine in it with less the 300 mile on the rebuild. It's a sweet wagon, but I hate the digital dash.

 

Come on Dave, let's see the VIN.

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yeah i want the original checkered interior back in my car.. ship it frieght to where i work.. will be cheap :D

 

and as a confirmation my 85' RX sedan does not have power steering..

 

 

the other difference is the mirrors on the front doors.. they are not mounted at the edge of the window.. they are mounted on the door below the corner of the window and stick out 1/2" from the window.. the 86's had them like every other soob.. the 85's were the only year that had those mirrors.. guess i need a close-up pic huh..

 

god help me if one gets broke huh? lol

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