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jankemi

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Posts posted by jankemi

  1. it was great fun. Subarus rock in the snow...

    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

  2. Anyone tried to break loose a stuck brake piston? My left rear disc brake is siezed on and the wreckers around here have cleared out there 80's stock. Thoughts? I'd like to just bolt a "new" caliper on but I have to find one first.

    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

  3. I cannot seem to make sens of the difference between a plain ole Legacy wagon and Outback wagon in the 05 models. I can't find a comparison anywhere - Edmunds compare says a non-turbo Legacy wagon doesn't exist.

     

    Is it the to days of yore - bigger wheels, heavier duty suspension, gigantic foglights?

    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

  4. Was it that I was sloppy when I mounted the winter wheels? I could swear that I used a torque wrench on all four wheels (to 70+ lbs-ft)? Or is it possible the the lug nuts worked themselves loose in a 100 mi or so?

    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.

  5. 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.

  6. I bled my brakes last week and replaced the fluid but got thinking that maybe I should have put some anti seize or something on the screws so that the next time I get around to bleeding them, it won't be stuck. .

    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.

  7. 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

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