gravelRX

It would be the maiden long trip for the RX. About 6.5 hours from my door to the area code of the meet. that's using MapQuest. Have all the particulars been ironed out? eating, drinking, and the like. (Crashing if drinking) I've heard they have a road course up there somewhere? True? That would be way more bitchin' than watching cars go in a straight line. Ooo..ooo.. tracktime! or an autocross? a little rallying would be fun. I would have to sit on the sidelines or ride with (?)Dennis if we did an offroad thing, that would be fine too. How about part swapping? I'm going to have a big empty hatch coming up. 88 turbo wagon for parts. Discs, seats, basically anything that I haven't stripped or claimed. Pushbars, etc. Guess I could drive the GL hatch and go offroad. It's a little loud on the interstate though, or the Leg and get there quick. Somebody give me the lowdown again if it's changed from the initial one. Regards, Jay

Give more info. RPM related? does it do it on idle, acceleration, what? Using the phrase "like a jackhammer" doesn't sound minimal. Me thinks you might have a problem. Expound fair sir! First Day of Vacation, Jay

the rear emergency brake "drum" inside the hat? It's all one piece. Jay

If it matters, My 5 lug swap used a two wheel drive XT6. My parts and stuff for the swap are pictured on MSN USMB if it's still there, album is RX GL. J

I had to drill out the crossmember and used a jack under the control arms to get the bolt in. It does fit. Maybe your not holding your mouth right? It was a bitch though. Jay

I'll try to get into spring rates after vacation. Specifically Subarus if I get enough info. More opinion, eh? Doing spring swaps on the RX soon. Jay Edit: spelling

Well Len, let’s break it down a little. Sway bars are put on a car to limit the roll angle of the car during lateral acceleration and deceleration. Since tires develop the maximum amount of traction when they are perpendicular to the ground (and the tread is parallel) that’s what you’re going after. Subarus are notorious for little to no usable camber adjustment. It has an innate inability to keep the outside front tire perpendicular to the ground during corners. In fact, they are forced to positive camber setting when pushed hard. Understeer. Standard Subaru engineering. It’s also a safeguard when Japanese manufacturers brought over cars to the US. The average driver can control understeer, not oversteer. Domestic cars too, for that matter. Back to the topic. Sway bars increase roll stiffness and they are, by far, the cheapest and easiest modification to increase roll stiffness on a Subaru. When you turn your car, one wheel will be up because of compression and one will be drooping down. The sway bars limit the roll angle of the car by using torsional stiffness to resist one wheel going up and the other going down. If a car has understeer, too much of the load is on the front outside tire. By increasing the size and effectiveness of the REAR swaybar, some of the load can be transferred during cornering to the outside rear tire. This will decrease the load on the front tires and make the car handle in a more neutral fashion. The very opposite is applied when increasing the front. Simple. No not really. The stiffness of a swaybar increases very quicky as its diameter is increased. The stiffness is a function of the diameter to the fourth power. For example: A 1 ¼” diameter swaybar is 2.44 times as stiff as a 1” swaybar. Now, I’m too tired to do the math right now, and you’re welcome to, but 1mm will change the understeering characteristic of the wagon enough to notice. Especially in sharp, on throttle turns. Let’s not forget about weight transfer. Get that long wheelbase car nose high in acceleration, with the weight transferred to the rear, then cut the wheel. Push. Panic, jump on the brakes, overload the fronts, transfer weight off the rear. Push. A rear swaybar will help balance out the weight in a lateral manuever by not letting the trailing wheel get too high and thus not help with traction. It will help take the load off the fronts, too. You state that “The car doesn't have a rear sway bar now and with an 18mm front they don't handle badly.” Okay. You must not drive the same Subaru as I do, or do the same Autocrosses or Rallycrosses I do, or look to increase the handling as much as I do. You post here and bust my chops about my opinion. Sad thing is, I’m going to have to agree on the swaybar choices you suggested for his wagon. See, you've got one. You quoted someone saying that they(Subarus)handle like garbage. Well, fix it. Do some research, figure it out. I agree comments like this are also an opinion. Yes, I stated outright what I said was an opinion. But opinions are usually based on fact if they are worth a damn. James Hogan

Beggars can't be choosy so I'll take whatever you can offer. If I could get the templates, patterns, hell, even the font that would be farther than I have gotten trying to find them on the web. Car is a 1987 RX coupe. Decals are currently blue. Thanks McB., Jay jaykili(at)cox.net

Low profile 13" tires do not fill up the fenderwell and look very odd in my opinion. If I was still autocrossing this GL, I would lower it two inches, and put 205/50 15's on the Pugs. Victoracers more than likely. More toe out in the rear might help too. ROTATE NOW! twitchy on the street though. Bought the RX for this kind of stuff. GL might get a fresh engine, That's about it. It has been relegated to a back-up, nothing else will start, wait until it snows, make a dead spot in the yard car. Edit for Allturken . When you drove past Roanoke on I81, if you looked into the distance it flanks the valley on the opposite side of I81. Wanted to get the GR2's for it but they are not adjustable for height. i need that for the snowtires. So, to answer your question. Old, stock, worn out. That might account for the attitude of the car in the pic, EH? Jay

It doesn't FEEL like it's leaning that much! Car has discs and an XT swaybar, 15" pugs with old BFG's, engine mods. Picture is a bit deceptive. This is the turn around after a longish straight. About 40mph, Trail braking to try to get the car set for corner exit. Bad weight transfer. Not smooth. BAD, BAD Subaru driver! This is the only picture of this car autocrossing that is posted right now on the web. I do have better examples of how I'm supposed to do it. Even a couple short movies. Just thought I'd share. Jay C'mon with the comments, I can take it!

Thought I replied. just checked and it doesn't have the arrow thingy in it. Trying to work out coming to the dragstrip for the Subaru meet on the 13th. Will let you know. I'll reply to Email soon. highjack conspirator, Jay

What I did is get the RX, GL and XT6 swaybars F&R and am planning on swapping them out until I find the one that suits my driving style. Putting GR2's on the back this week Should tighten up the rear even more. I grew up on rear wheel driven, overpowered cars. 86 Mercury Capri (Mustang clone with built 5.0 and many suspension mods, 1971 510, with a severe 1600 with Mukuni's, again, many suspension mods( yes, that LSD), 1965 Buick Skylark GS 401, 16x8F 16x10R" wheels with Global West suspension. Blah, Blah. The point I'm dancing around is it will take a bit of time to acclimate to the changes in handling. Do things one at a time and drive the car for awhile. If it oversteers to much for you, go with the smaller front bar. Still to much, next biggest, and so on. Remember tire pressure and toe have a lot to do with turn in and tire deflection during corners. Jay Jay

My computer is about to hemmorage. Been search for a source for reproduction decals for a 87 RX coupe. I'm thinking that subaru still retains the rights to these older decals? So, does that mean that a local company with the ability to reproduce would be hesitant to do it because of the copyright dealy with the Fuji? Hmmm. I know Corky had a shiny set on his RX after the paintjob. NOS or an inside line on a big vinyl cutter in the back room? Someone here works for a company that does stuff like this for a mean but I can't recall the board name. was that Flow? Ayo merta, Jay

Search for it online. Cheapest I've found. It's morning, I'm not awake enough yet. COFFEE, Jay

Linky brokey? Could be me. Jay

Watch for the metric sized wheels. They are marked. If you are getting these for a EA82 car, it's hit or miss whether they rub in the back. Jay

Located on its own bracket directly behind the engine on the firewall. Same simptoms, got to the point it wouldn't move, oh, it would idle rough, but when you put it in gear it would cough and rack violently for a sec, then die. Got progressively worse til it wouldn't idle after it warmed to op. temp. Jay

Not to be short, but I've kind of been waiting for one of these repeat questions so I can direct someone to the search engine to see how thorough and competent it is as far as archived material. ( now that's a run-on sentence!) Try it. If it doesn't answer your question, someone will. Respectfully, Jay

A small thread hijack I've got the Autometer LED gauge and just wondering about what range does your gauge "tick tock" when sitting at a light after running for a while. I take it during closed loop it's static? Mine goes to the one red lean LED sporatically ( you can see the ECU compensate for it on the gauge) when idling and going down the mountain off throttle the light will actually go out on the lean side. Guess knowing if we have the same gauge would be a good Q too. Looking for a reference to see if mine is correct. Runs great, idles a bit rough though. Can listen to the idle change with the light fluctuation. Doesn't miss. Curious and good luck with your quandary, Jay

I took the intake off my RX and got Very lucky that none of them broke. I see a couple problems you probably already figured out. To get the intake manifold off your going to have to tilt it backward to clear the ancillaries on the front of the engine. Then when you get it high enough you're going to have to tilt it back to clear the bellhousing. Big PITA even without breaking a bolt. Find a nice sharp punch and see if you can get a good solid whack or two onto the broken bolt shaft. I mean, smack it good. Make sure your punch is dead center in whats left of the bolt. This is to loosen the deathgrip of the rust on the bolt and corrosion on the aluminum. Next, and I'm sure you have done this, coat it in PB blaster or the like. Now, while it's soaking, go to Wallyworld and spend twenty dollars on a propane, or better, a MAPP torch(hotter.) Go ahead, you will use it again. Even if it's to start the grill for chicken, you got to eat. Take a few deep breaths and with lots of water to put out a fire, heat the intake around the bolt. No, more. Until your elbows and back hurt from staying in that position. Quench the hot aluminum with a splash of water and pull, tug, pry(gently), on the intake to get it loose from the bolt. no? Do it again. Hopefully you will be able to get the intake up from the bolt far enough to start the acrobatics to get it out. Good Luck. Remember to walk away when you bust your knuckle or become frustrated. Good practice for when you have kids. Regards, Jay

It wasn't the crank sensor, or the cam sensor, or the fuel system. The igniter! Now that took long eough. Hard to diagnose a problem when you can only work on it in 20 minutes at a go, in the dark, after work. The good news is I finally had a reason to buy a new Legacy. warranties are a good thing. thanks for everyone's help. Jay

Cool Picture Jay

Yes the front will bolt straight up. Get the mounting bushings from the donor car. If your car came from the factory with a rear bar you can swap for a bigger bar using the bushings as in the front. If it didn't you can fabricate some brackets and break out the mig. I've heard people say they have swapped the arms to ones with brackets for swaybar application It is, IMO, definately worth the trouble. Subarus from the factory have quite a bit of understeer designed into them because the average Joe Smoe can handle push better than a bit of oversteer. They are dumbed down for the masses. If your looking at making your car handle better and not roll the front tires under, I would recommend getting the rear bar first. The first thing you will notice is it corners flatter and your front outside tire edges will last longer. the next thing you will notice is the car has a tendency to want to oversteer a bit if you trailbrake or lift throttle mid corner. I noticed you are thinking about this for a wagon. The long wheelbase is going to negate a bit of the oversteer, and any severe inputs can be caught because it takes longer for the rear to step out. Regards, Jay I put a XT6 rear on a 85 hatch. Almost squirrely, then I got used to it. Weee, great four wheel drifts in gravel induced with a quick jab of left foot braking while on throttle.

I used the link in the post. You get it? Jay

Yeah, I knew these were photoshopped, just thought you guys woiuld get a kick out of them. Another Last one. Jay