Ranger83

I recorded 0-60 times on both our 97 OBW's. What have you logged now that you have the 2.2?

You can also get a dump from your ECU and see for yourself.

Not unless you beat on it. Check out legacygt.com.

The 2.2l Subarus are old, slow, have limited features and few creature comforts. There's a reason why Subaru went to the 2.5 in the Outback especially with automatic. Other than the head gasket issue the 97-99 OB wagons are readily available in that price range, but will have a lot of miles on them. There weren't many wagons on the market in the late 90's and the Outback was the most popular. Ford Taurus wagons are cheap, have terrific parts availability, are easy to work on and as dependable as other $5,000 cars as long as they don't have the 3.8.

What do you mean by not so high budget? $10,000? $5,000? You're not planning on competing, you just want better reliability durability on dirt roads?

Go directly to legacygt.com. Do not pass go....5 million stutter threads.

Nope, but if you drove it that way in Germany, you'd be ticketed. The Volvos and some Audis with the high intensity rear fog lights are the worst. They work well in fog on the Autobahn, but give you a headache after following for about 10 minutes. But "There are people on our roads who are so unaware of their vehicles--and what good driving is-- that they just aim the thing, turn on their fog lights, push the go pedal, push the stop pedal. It's scary."

They don't notice because most 05 & 06 Subarus light the instrument panel all the time - even the ones without the electroluminescent display. They're generally brighter than when the headlights are on. But "There are people on our roads who are so unaware of their vehicles--and what good driving is-- that they just aim the thing, push the go pedal, push the stop pedal. It's scary." This discussion reminds me of the George Carlin routine. My futile wish is that people stop driving around with their fog lights on when it isn't foggy.

The stuff I quoted is from the website. A two-edged sword, though.

A lot of people diconnect the DRL on the 05's & 06's because they drive off at night thinking the lights are on.

It isn't. 05 7 06 Outbacks have LSD, although the Legacy does not except the GT.

Unlikely to see many US new gen Subarus lifted, as they don't have a low range or locking differentials. Other than a few rally cars or wannabes. The Impreze chassis has had all the rally development so seeing a lifted Legacy is unusual. The 2005/2006 Outbacks are raised an inch and a lot of people are putting in aftermarket springs to bring them back down to 7.3" clearance, which was sufficient for a full load on rutted dirt roads.

Probably not. I have always removed mine and put them in the back. It makes snow easier to clear and a little less noise on the highway. Check wheel alignment and tire pressure. The gusts won't move the car as much as the air warms up, as well.

I thought you used Interstates.... In Germany our chopper pilots could always find home because of the immense nuclear plant cooling tower nearby. In the day only medevac choppers had GPS. Now LPC's have GPS.....

I've never seen LPC's (Leather Personnel Carriers) crash and burn...... Mine was set for the wrong zone as well - it was set for 5, as I recall.

OK - quick! Show me how to zoom scale on a map? Detour from your route when the highway ahead is blocked? Give you your precise speed and compass heading? Give speed-based directions for upcoming highway exits and turns? Automatically reroute you if you miss an exit or turn? Road maps are frequently out of date, and you need many of them if you are navigating metro areas. I used to carry: - Boston city map. - Metro region city guide (city street maps). - New England map - Eastern US map (included NJ, PA and NY) - Massachusetts map - NH State Highway map - ME State Highway map - VT State Highway map - CT State Highway map Most state rest areas have official highway maps - usually free - but they're often out of them, or they're old. The GPS navigates based on the shortest travel time; can navigate to multiple destinations; will give you the distance and travel time on each leg, including ETA; and will point to the nearest gas stations, hospitals, ATM's etc along the way. I have many examples, but here's one of the best. I was driving up Route 4 in FL towards Rt 95 to St Augustine. I saw a backup on the ramp - two lanes, stopped dead. I hit DETOUR - 2 miles - and the GPS sent me up Route 4 a mile to a state highway that paralleled Route 95. the traffic jam was several miles long, and I avoided all of it. A friend of mine has a Garmin Quest. It is a car-oriented system but has a battery. When he has to park in a strange city, he marks his parking space as a waypoint. When he wants to get back to his car, it shows him the shortest way back, even if he has no clue were he is. Of course, if you don't drive much, you surely don't need maps or GPS. But "anyone with an IQ of more than room temperature" would understand this, no? Roads in the Northeast are not straight and flat.

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/ The lamp replacement guide gives you all the part #'s. I've used Sylvania Xtravisions, there are some other good bulbs out there.

You don't have Castrol High Mileage there?

If you register on my.subaru.com they will also tell you what recalls have been performed and what are outstanding.

Does the Impreza have variable valve timing and 175hp like the Outback 2.5? If so I'd leave it alone. You can buy the BBS RK wheels used on the SAAB 9-2 from some SAAB dealers for $500 per set. They weigh 18lbs (in 17x7) which is 4lbs less than the stock 5 spokes on my OBW. The aftermarket exhaust generate little if any additional power, and many are annoying on the highway. you probably get more enjoyment for the buck by upgrading the factory speakers.

If you look at the suspension, particularly the rear, you'll see that there's precious little extra room. As increasing the tire width .3 or .4 inches doesn't make a significant difference in handling, and might interfere wit hthe suspension and trash a couple tires, 99.5% of Outback drivers buy the stock size. The other 0.5 percent buy the stock size but upgrade to a high performance tire with a stickier tread, and lose some longevity. At significant expense. The speedo might be right or wrong before or after the change. We have GPS's on six different vehicles and all but one speedo reads slow - 2-4 mph at 75. That's 2.5 to 4% or so.

In the states WalMart has them in a two pack for less than $20.

On legacygt.com there is a thread on disabling them. 05 OB's have had problems burning up bulbs (though covered on bumper-to-bumper warranty). Others don't like them because they forget to turn on the headlights.

It's one of their oils. We had two 97 OBW's. One was much louder than the other on cold start, but they were both loud compared to inline fours. You should hear them below zero....

I've been using regular in my 06 3.0R for the last 2,000 miles. Mileage is up a little, could be breakin. No obvious difference in performance. We have a Nissan that gives the max power on high test and regular. 242 max hp with 91 Octane, and 237 max hp with regular.