Dr.Outback

Since I wasn't selling it, and it something so rare and special, I thought it would be best discussed in this forum. I did email the owner and suggest that he post it for sale in the marketplace here. Craigs List is so hard to search on because it seems you have to search city by city. Instead of just searching the whole board. So when I found this, I thought someone here would want it.

Been a long time since I've posted here. Been through a few Subaru's and now have a '07 300C. Started searching for a Suby on Craigs List and found this! http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/car/730679291.html

Having uneven tire wear between axles, is like making the car drive in a circle for thousands of miles. The diff gears are not meant to take that type of abuse. It would happen eventually to a front drive vehicle if driven long enough and with a substantial amount of diameter difference between the tires. Google differentials and read up on them.

To swap a WRX short throw into a '93 Legacy, all you need is the joint between the linkage and the shift fork on the tranny. I forget the part number. Now I can't be sure for your year because the Impreza and Legacy were a little less related then in '93. But there's a pretty good chance it'll swap. But it won't shorten the range. So why swap them? If you have bad bushings, just replace and that will make the shifter much less sloppy.

Cool story. Make sure you wash your undercarriage.

DSC is BMW's stability control integrated with traction control. You don't need traction control with AWD. Traction control is a Band-Aid so they don't have to make the car AWD. Stability control, though, is a nice feature even on an AWD car. And Subaru's VDC is one of the best, even if it reigns you in early making it a little to over-protective. Subaru needs to offer it as standard, but with a defeat switch. Unfortunetley, some auto makers are using stability control to cover up bad chassis design. Case in point, the Mitsubishi Montero. It flipped up during Consumer Reports accident avoidence lane change, but didn't when equipped with stability control.

What you have to remember when comparing a Subaru to a same year car of another make is that Subaru has a 5 year design cycle. Honda and Toyota have only recently switched to a 5 year cycle. They used to be 4 years. So sometimes Subaru's models get lost in the middle. They are designed to meet or exceed the competion when they debut. Think of the '00 Legacy compared to the ancient '00 Accord, or the equally ancient '00 Camry. The '00-'04 Legacy was more on par, in some peoples books, with those models then with the '02 Camry or '03 Accord. Subaru will probably redesign the Forester in '08 which will put it ahead of the RAV, but then 2 years after the new Forester debuts, a new RAV will, and start the cycle again.

Usually it's on the right side of the manifold with a large diameter vacuum line and a clip style hose clamp. Use a 3/4" wrench.

Very cool and subtle mod.

You really shouldn't put on a larger tire. It'll throw off your speedometer, change your transmissions shift points, and possibly be reason to void your powertrain warranty. The warranty issue is the one to be most concerned about.

The reason the headlights were going out on the '05 was because the bulbs were the wrong hour life. My dad just bought a new '06 Outback and the instrument panel lights are always on. I just drive with the headlights on all the time so I don't forget to turn them on. I've seen people driving when it's completely dark with no headlights on. There were shopping mall lights that were lighting the road, so I guess they thought there headlights were on.

No harm, no foul....

Grounding kits are good for reducing ground resistance thereby alowing lights to work more efficiently. But they won't increase HP unless you have a high alternator draw caused by extremely high ground resistance. Performance chips are risky from no-name companies, and will void a new cars warranty. Plus they could cause poor running under certain situations if they are not mapped well. A high flow muffler might reduce exhaust resistance thereby increasing high rpm power output on a normally aspirated engine, but they usually won't make a huge difference without an entire exhaust of a larger diameter. With air filters it's better to stick with Genuine OEM. They are not much more then after market filters and provide the best balance of flow versus cleaning ability.

Only because they were hooked up to 230hp engine with an inadequate tranny cooler. Put a tranny cooler on them and they are fine. They can handle a 1000hp WRX, like ESX's WRX. ESX's WRX runs the EG33 tranny with a shift kit.

Exuse me? I was just giving him reasons for keeping the DRL's. But just being subtle about it. I was also showing that I wasn't just some old man that couldn't see to drive. But can see perfect and still like when oncoming cars have DRL's. BTW...Take some Mydol.

I always drive with my headlights on. No matter what car I drive. Oncoming cars are so much easier to see as well if they have their headlights on. And no I don't have poor vision, I can read the bottom line of the eye chart. The only problem with DRL's is that they don't turn on the tail lights, so if you are driving and it's getting dark, you may forget to turn on your headlights because the DRL's are almost as bright as headlights. Hence the reason I just keep the headlights on all the time. Saves the headlight switch as well.

You'll probably average 22 with the RAV4. That's not bad considering the power. I think Tribeca's average about 19. But it is heavier and more luxury oriented.

I seem to remember a Forester winning a 24hr endurance test. But I forget the year and the race. I want to say it was Le Mans, but I can't be sure.

Dude, your supposed to plug Subaru's. Seriously though, the CR-V's AWD system is no where near as refined in the snow as Subaru's. It can get confused on patchy roads. The CR-V's Real-Time 4WD is front wheel drive untill slip is detected, and then it engages the rear wheels. Consumer Reports said it gets a little confused on snowy and dry roads. The HG issue on the 2.5L is around 8-10%. Not a huge issue. The (last-gen) CR-V tends to burn it's exhaust valves at around 100k. I work at a Subaru dealer. If you are looking at a Subaru, I can run the VIN and let you know the service record, provided it was dealer serviced.

160Hp at 5400 rpm 181lb/ft torque at 2800rpm 8.7psi boost pressure

That's a pic from the April '05 issue. Checkout the latest issue showing the new Impreza. Looks like they are thinking of a hatchback model. I like it! http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/66963/this_week.html

How many miles?

I've heard a lot of newer cars pinging as they drive past. Camry's, Accord's etc. Cars use 87 octane as the minimum recommended octane level. Under most conditions the engine will run fine on 87. But there are times when it still might ping a little. (I'm not suggesting that everyone use 93, that's only of benefit to cars designed to use 93) And if you've run a couple of tanks of bad gas, you shouldt use Seafoam or Techron fuel system cleaner. Bad gas can have lasting effects.

That feeling is the torque converter locking up. It probably does that when you are very light on the throttle. (right?) It's normal for newer Subaru transmissions to have that feeling of lugging. The transmission is designed to hold the highest gear for as long as possible to improve gas mileage, and can seem to lug sometimes. I've gotten used to it on my '00 Legacy. I like trying to see how long I can go with the converter locked up.

Yeah, and use Subaru's battery technology. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/02/toyota_fuji_hea.html Why build it yourself, when you can buy it from someone else?