jamal

how much do you want to spend? A friend of mine has a budget rally suspension consisting of 04 STi struts and stiffer, taller springs from a place called king springs in australia. And he won CRS PGT last year. Or you could spend 5 grand and up on coilovers. DMS makes a pretty good one...

I think mine was $22 from SubieGal. Another protip is having a magnetic socket or something like tape stuck in there because it's tough to get the new one in without dropping the bolt.

If you don't know when it was changed, it's probably not a bad idea. They're cheap. The OEM Subaru part is recommended. I used a purolator from Pep-boys and there hasn't been a problem.

could definitely be the tie rods. Or the bushings. I put on some superpro steering rack bushings and it made a HUGE difference. Might be the rack but mine is sort of fine at 164k (I replaced my suspension, and hit a curb and am dealing with a slight steering/handing issue that seems to be a strut).

Oh gross. I have a thule rack that I really like: It's only noisy with the ski racks on. I have it off at the moment for weight/aerodynamic benefits. Plus my bike got stolen awhile ago so I don't have much use for it. They're pretty expensive. My V2 bike rack was $125 and the ski racks are around there. A fairing is like $60, and bars, feet, and the fit kit all come separately and work out to something like $250. I've had it for 6 years or so and don't remember exactly how much it was. Well worth it though. You can price them out on the thule site I think.

02-03 wrx springs should be compatible with outback struts, and at the very most you'd need new upper front perches. The problem could be an uneven ride height. I would e-mail king springs and ask them. I think they have stuff for most Subarus. Also, check e-bay for the gr2s. I usually see new sets going for less than what they cost at tirerack.

great article, thanks. And considering it's for streetrodstuff.com I would expect a bit of V8 bias. What kind of omissions and errors are you talking about?

Yes. You can get away with keeping the struts but I would replace that top ASAP. Here is a handy diagram scottzg of legacycentral made: On your 90 the parts marked strut top and spring perch are actually one piece, as shown in this picture: You need a new one. 90-91, 92-94, and FWD all have different top/perch setups, so you'll need a top mount for a 90-91 AWD Legacy.

I did it and found it to be very straight forward. The hard part is getting the bolts that connect the strut to the spindle loose. Buy a can or two of PB plaster and a 1/2" flex handle at least 18" long. Once I had that stuff it wasn't too difficult and I had both front suspension assemblies swapped out in about an hour. You'll also want to rent some spring compressors. I found the ones I got at Autozone to be surprisingly not scary to use. It sounds like you need at least one new strut top in the rear. If it isn't centered properly your bushing is trashed. That is most likely the cause of the banging. If you want to do struts, replace all four. KYB GR2s are available for a 90-91, are slightly stiffer than stock, and pretty inexpensive. Ebay and tirerack seem to be good sources. If you want to use struts for a later legacy or an impreza you run into spring and perch issues that basically require replacing the whole suspension. This is pretty helpful Also I noticed one of those threads mentions removing the brake line. Just cut the tab on the strut with a hacksaw and you don't have to worry about it.

There is a good light bar for legacies. I just can't find it at the moment. I think it's much cheaper to build your own though. It's really not worth it to buy a set of cheap lights. My FF1000s were ~$100 shipped from rallylights.com and put out much, much more light than my clear lenses and good bulbs. It is a fantastic deal and I would not spend less than that on driving lights. This week I'll go somewhere dark and take pictures using the same shutter speed to compare low - high - high with DLs. Another important thing is they have to be at a certain height and wired a specific way. The only way mine go on is when the switch is flipped and I turn on my high beams. It's nice to just be able to flick the brights and have everything come on. And that's how it legally has to be.

I've posted this a few times before: They vibrate slightly but it isn't really noticable. I was going to make new channel shaped mounts to get rid of it but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle. I have four bolts about 3" long on each plate that go through the bumper. I managed to install them without taking it off by reaching through the front with a wrench. The most important part is to aim everything properly. I had them aimed in the right general direction for awhile and then went to a parking lot with a level and some tape. Having everything aimed properly per Daniel Stern's instructions made such a huge difference. I also have Xtravision bulbs for the headlights which I like. I might eventually up the wattage a bit all around (I hear the FF1000s handle a 100w bulb with no problems), and run relays to my headlights.

This applies specifically to the last body style, but it's a good comparison chart: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/subaru_comparisons2.html

Kuhmo makes great tires for the price. Look into the ASX if you want an all season tire.

well, all an LSD can do is limit the speed difference between the left and right wheel. It won't ever allow 100% of the torque to go to one side because it can't lock. More like half at best. It seems to be that SH-AWD has sort of a permanently locked diff with clutches going to each axle, so one wheel can be getting all the power and the other will be free spinning. The STi, which has the fanciest Subaru AWD, just has front and rear LSDs and a center diff that can lock. All the DCCD does is vary the amout of lockup in the diff. The difference is that it's strong enough to send the majority of power to whichever wheels have the most traction. How this compares is the Honda can send 70% of torque to one rear wheel. The STi can do something like 45%.

Kind of like Subarus?

I wouldn't be too worried. Honda isn't in the business of making unreliable, high-maintenance cars.

To be fair, SH-AWD is really, really cool. http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2004-4040401a

The difference between an OEM or Brembo blank and some fancy slotted rotor is questionable at best. OEM rotors, good pads, good fluid, and well maintained calipers are really all you need to do unless you're tracking the car or something. Also be sure to properly torque lug nuts as it keeps the rotors straight. The other brakes not mentioned: 00-04 Legacies have 10.7" 2-pot front and 11.4" solid rear brakes. They use the same rear calipers as other cars but a larger bracket. The 98-01 Impreza 2.5RS had 10.7" front and 10.5" rear brakes. 02 WRX has 11.5" front brakes, which use the same 2-piston caliper as the other Subarus but a larger bracket. The bracket design and caliper changed sometime in 03 but the size stayed the same. 02-05 WRX rear brakes are still 10.5" solid discs. 06 WRX has 11.5" front discs but 4-piston calipers, which don't fit under 16x6.5" Subaru wheels. The rear brakes are 11.4" vented and use a two piston rear caliper that doesn't bolt up to other cars. 05+ LGT has the same rear rotors as an 06 WRX, but a single piston caliper, and that bracket will bolt up to other cars. Front brakes are 12.something inches with 2-pot calipers. And there are also the brembos on the STi. Front calipers bolt up but only 04 rotors work. Rears, like the 2-pot, don't bolt up to other cars. There are expensive adapters available though. Is it wierd that I know all this off the top of my head?

05+ STi, SVX, B9, and most old gen wheels don't fit. That is all.

word. I've bought two sets of 02-04 WRX wheels and tires on nasioc. I paid $220 for the last set and picked them up locally. Unless they don't have RE92s, don't pay much more than that. None of my wheels had a scratch and the tires have been at ~90%.

that is mad tyte jdm yo.

You could probably find an older non-dccd 6-speed from one of those mad tyte jdm type shops. It's going to be expensive in any case, and as was mentioned isn't going to get you lower cruising rpms or better mileage. Plus you would need a custom driveshaft if you don't want to switch to the R180, which either involves using the whole rear end or getting custom axles. Although that's a pretty small amount compared to getting a 6-speed and swapping it in.

Also I think the old legacy endurance records were set with the 2.0 turbo.

Also manual transmissions don't have one.

right behind the passenger side strut tower. http://www.jamalb.net/pictures/carstuff/mycar/misc/DSC01496.jpg