Setright

Hey cool, that's the email I sent to the site admin! I reckon the secret is lots of calm cruising. Limit on the sort of roads he's been driving is 90km/h. (55mph) Of course, hitting 800k km is extraordinary regardless.

Yes, Brumby Boy, I see what you mean. However, my EJ22 engined Legacy ate it's bearings by 110k miles. No tuning. My present EJ20 Impreza, non-Turbo has developed a nasty crunch when shifting into 3rd from 2nd. Also, a long standing Subaru fault. (62k miles)

Replace it. The housing is probably cracked, causing the sensor to return some garbage signals, which makes the ECU switch on the CEL.

Nice. If the roar begins to get on your nerves consider extending the pipe into the top of the fender cavity and placing the filter there.

The Impreza "daddy" is the limited edition 22B - which is the old body style. That pumped out 350bhp from 2.2 litres, running 100 Octane. The new STi will be using the 2.5 litre engine. Currently as seen in the Forester it develops 211bhp running 95 Octane. If I may now stray into pure guesswork: The Original Impreza Turbo had 208bhp. The same engine when installed in the Forester had 177bhp. Based on that ratio the 2.5 liter Turbo installed in the coming Impreza will develop ca. 250bhp. The standard WRX to STi ratio, is currently 225bhp to 265bhp. Meaning that a new STi would run 295bhp. Mapping for 100 Octane would yield how much? On the gearbox thing, the 2004 model STi's have an oil pump in the gearbox! I reckon that Subaru have finally realise that their gearboxes need some improvements.

Getting back to intake mods:

Plugs, plug wires, "coil pack", igniter. I would lean toward plug wires. A breakage can cause quite a lot of shaking. The wires take a few minutes to replace. Tell them to get on it!!

If Porsche can shift the Cayenne, then Subaru can surely sell a few Tribecas !

You could suck up as much fluid from the reservoir as possible and refill with fresh ATF Dexron II or III. Bleeding is quite simple, get the car on loose ground like gravel and swivel the steering wheel from one extreme to the other. Hold it in the extremes for a few seconds, where pump makes a louder noise as it recirculates the fluid. Hopefully any air will be purged too.

It must decrease in volume as the engine heats up.

muse, the ECU thinks there is an exhuast leak because the O2 sensor is returning bogus values.

Agreed. The center LSD is sealed. A rear LSD might need a particular oil. I would suggest using an API-GL5, 75W-85 oil the manual gearbox. Or a straight 80W. 90W gives slower shifts.

It's a deal breaker if the piston slap is still present when the engine is warmed up. My car slaps in the morning, and again if left off for over four-five hours. However, it disappears soon after the engine temp needle hits normal. IF the slap gets worse as the engine heats up, don't walk away, RUN away :-)

Maybe the AC clutch is worn. Is there a lot of red dust around the AC compressor? OR, the compressor is not being told to switch on. Meaning a loose connection or a faulty sensor. Please have a look at the heat exchanger inside the cabin vent system.

Looks nice. Well done on re-using the oringal bolts. The restriction isn't gonna pose a problem.

Yeah, that GL4 thing bugs me too. Otherwise I would tried some other oils before. I have just foound that Motul makes a 75W-80 API-GL5 gear oil. Trying to get some now...

If the now working AC is too cold, just dial in some cabin heat. No need to freeze yourself.

You'll be fine with Mobil's products. Don't let the mineral vs. synthetic debate scare you off. I like to run 5W-50 in my engine, but I do take it on tracks every now and then. Plus hunt the redline daily Replacing the tranny filter is probably a good idea. Stick with genuine parts - for the engine oil filter too.

Wouldn't you think that those two oils have the same viscosity at operating temp? Maybe it's just the additives making the difference? I am gonna risk another bundle of money on the 75W-85. If that don't work, I'll switch back to EPX 80W-90. Based on the fact that it's cheap!

Try a 5W-40 oil and use a genuine Subaru filter.

Okay, the WRX has gotten heavier, but how can you describe the performance as dissappointing?? Sure it needs revs before the turbo comes on full song, but these days the transition is so smooth that the "kick" we used to get in the bad-old-days is gone. If you want Turbo kick, get a Porsche 911 Turbo. The 930 model from 1975. That engine has about 2 hp up to 3500rpm and then it suddenly dumps 200hp on you at 3501rpm

"Captains log: I've lost my toupee and girdle. And I can't leave my room!" Courtesy of MST3K

Lower viscosity ratings will improve shifting. I spoke to a tech at Castrol today because I was trying to find out if I could get some friction enhancing additive to help soothe the shift into third. Since that wasn't possible I asked about using a thicker oil, like 75W-140. The reply was "no, since that means the oil will take even longer to get out of the way and leave the synchro cones time to work". Conventional wisdom would otherwise lead me to believe that a thick oil would tend to have more drag and hence enable a better synchronization. He went on "well, the oil would stay between the cones and the thick film would provide fantasic lubrication". But no speed matching. So, I will be draining my much loved TAF-X in favour of some SMX-S. The ratings are 75W-90 and 75W-85. I'll drop back in when I have tried it out

Nice perspective :-)

As Loyale has pointed out: One tyre alone can't do the damage. The open diffs on the axles will absorb the difference. (Yes, yes, some models have LSD in the rear.) IF you have different sizes front to rear, you will run a high risk of damage. Even the manual center diff will be destroyed. Heating the oil causes it to expand and press the plates together, giving more or less torque transfer. OVERheating the oil with different axle speeds will shear the oil molecules and thin it out. In the end it won't expand as much, or be able to transfer the torque.