jankemi

Welcome to winter-land! I'm just a couple miles up the road toward St Paul. --Mike

Sounds like fun! I've done that sort of thing a few times. Once with my brothers '80 wagon. Got the tractor we used to pull it out stuck too. Anyway, once you have awd, traction is no longer the problem. Visiblity and finding the road are the problem. If you are leaning a bit to the left, you are probably in the left lane. If you are leaning a bit to the right, you likely are in the right lane. If you are leaning a whole bunch in either direction, you probably are driving into the ditch! --Mike

1) Remove the brake pads. 2) Put the caliper back on. 3) Step on the brakes. The brake pressure will move the piston. I had pistons that were so badly stuck that compressed air in the bleeder hole would not move them. I put them back on the car without brake pads, bled them, and stomped on the brakes. The pistons popped right out. --Mike

I' d a hard time believing that you could buy a 2.5i and make it look and perform like a GT for less money than just buying a GT. It has got to cost more that way. --Mike

As far as i know (which isn't very far) they share the same engine, drive train and body. The OB has more options in the base model, sits up a couple inches higher, and costs more. When I drove the two back to back I thought the OB handled pretty poorly for a car, but better than a typical SUV. I had brochures from a dealer & compared them & decided that I didn't need any of the OB features so I bought the Legacy. --Mike

Is it possible that the wheel was not centered/positioned correctly? If so, it would still torque up OK, but as soon as you drove, it would shift & loosen.

If you are moving to a metro area (mpls-st paul) you really will not have any more snow that you would have in western Mass. It will be colder than hell, but not much more snow. You can get around just fine w/o awd. You might have 1 day/yr where a fwd car will not get you to work. Most cars here are not awd/4wd. Many people get around with rwd cars. Having said that, I just bought an 05 Legacy (non-GT) because my wife (who was transplanted from a warm climate) doesn't believe that fwd will work here in MN & I can't convince her. I'm expecting to just run the stock tires all winter. My 4wd pickup gets along OK on plain old OEM all-season tires, nearly bald to boot. Unless the GT comes with high performance summer-only tires, it should be OK. I'd try it & see. Mike (Minnesota) 05 Legacy, 115 miles on the odo.

I've done it in the past. I think you'd want to be carefull about getting the stuff mixed in with the brake fluid though. I tend to slather anti-sieze on just about everthing too.

Thanks for the replies. I'm thinking that a Legacy LTD Wagon might fit the bill. I'd get the base model if I could, but I definitely want the brake upgrade & so I'll probably end up with the LTD. It would make a good 'transition' vehicle for someone who still wants an SUV, but whose husband wants a sport sedan. --Mike

Bump

I'm looking to replace my wife's '94 Jeep with something less truck-like. She wants 4cyl, 4wd, manual transmission, good gas mileage, and tall seating. We are looking at CRV, RAV4, OB, etc. I'm trying to point her toward a Legacy sedan or wagon or Outback so we have at least on regular car in the family. She nix'd the idea of a TSX. I drove an Outback base 2.5i and a Legacy Ltd to day. I though the OB handled a bit to 'mushy', that the on-center feel of the wheel was 'twitchy' , that its brakes didn't feel crisp & firm, and that the clutch engagement was strange feeling. It didn't really excite me. I also drove a Legacy Ltd. That car felt quit a bit better. The brakes, clutch & handling all were pretty good, at least good enough that I'm leaning toward buying one. The shifting isn't as crisp as I want - but perhaps that can be fixed with an upgrade. Questions: 1) Are the 10.5" standard brakes that much different than the 11.5" brakes on the ltd? The ltd brakes felt quite a bit better. Is that because they are larger brakes? It really was quite a difference. 2) Why would the clutches be so different? Normal manufacturing variation or is the OB intentionally setup differently? 3) Is the difference in handling due to the ride height? Are they sprung/damped differently? Any differences in power steering systems? And of course: 4) Has the head gasket issue been resolved? Thanks. --Mike