outback_97

charlierh2: Yeah, I'm going to make sure that all the tires are within 1/4" of each other. They should be if they have the low mileage he says they do. Probably going to get them tonight! Steve

This helped motivate me to seek out snow tires... the photo was taken in central Utah last Sunday morning before we finished our drive back from Phoenix. We made it 500 miles on Saturday but ran into a nasty storm... <30 mph on the Interstate and then we couldn't see anymore, finally gave up and had to pull in to a hotel for the night, and we got the very last room. By the time the storm was over this area had over 12" of snow. What was interesting was that it wasn't the tires that were the problem this time, it was visibility. But I figure more control for not much money = a good thing. I don't worry about myself driving in these conditions as much as I do other drivers, and being able to avoid them. I grew up driving RWD vehicles in MN, so I fear other drivers more than winter roads themselves. Steve

Chuck: Sorry if I didn't 'splain it very well, but these tires aren't mounted... so I'd be paying around $40 ($9 per wheel or so) to a tire shop to pull off my stock TS rubber and put these on. Then I can sell the stock TS tires which have only a couple thousand miles on them, hopefully breaking even. Subies are fun as it is in the snow with all seasons on, I'm looking forward to the snows. They'd also be pretty good in the gravel and dirt I reckon! Steve

Thanks, Richard! When I put in the TS, it came up with this: http://www.discounttire.com/dtc/findTireDetail.do?rc=CODINT&yr=1996&sw=false&cs=195&pc=11688&vid=006485&rd=15&ar=60 ... which is similar to the W401 you linked to, but a little more $ and slightly different tread pattern. But OTOH the pattern on the one you found looks closer to the picture of the tread on the ones for sale. I'm sure they're pretty similar. I think I might show up to see these with $80 in my pocket, see if the seller wants to get rid of them. The ad was placed a few weeks ago and they're from a car he doesn't own anymore, so maybe he's motivated. Then another $40 to get them mounted, I can probably sell my OEM TS tires to someone, and I have a set of winter tires on my Subie wheels for very little $$$. :cool: Steve Edit: Uploaded a photo of the tires

Hi all, I found a set of Hankook Winter Radial tires for sale locally for $100... they're 195/60/15, which is the OEM size for my wife's TS wagon. Right now the wagon sports OEM WRX wheels / tires which are still doing pretty well and aren't as awful in the snow as I've seen some people say but I'm thinking about putting some dedicated winter rubber on her stock TS wheels (15's). Right now her original TS wheels have the stock RE-92's on them and I think that these tires would be an improvement in the winter. We're planning to drive to Billings, MT for Christmas, and we could get into some bad road conditions on the way. Here's an excerpt from an email from the guy selling them: "Still have them, I don't know exactly how many miles I drove them, 7 miles to and from work for a winter. I sold the car they went to so I have no need for them. We just moved here from Alaska and before I sold the car I had the studs removed, (didn't know if they were legal or not). They are really beefy treads, 90% tread. The exact model is Hankook Winter Radial 195/60/15." Does having studs removed in any way compromise the tire, after having run them for a while with the studs? Still trying to figure out exactly what model they are, he just says winter radial. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks in advance! Steve EDIT: I called Hankook and talked to a tech support rep. He said that removal of the studs doesn't compromise anything about the tire. So the main questions that remains, is this a good deal and is it better than just using the stock OEM 15's for winter?

Would these fit? http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaPortal/WebSite/Internet_usa/ProductsServices/Performance_Lighting/Micro_DE/Micro_DE_Xenon/Micro_DE_Xenon.jsp http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaPortal/WebSite/Internet_usa/ProductsServices/Performance_Lighting/Micro_DE/Micro_DE/Micro_DE.jsp What about checking to see if any online vendors have old stock of the OE lamps that they're clearancing out? I'm pretty sure I've seen those go for a lot less than what SOA originally sold them for. Steve

carfreak85: Good point on the '05 not exactly being brand new... but OTOH... those cars in Japan and Germany, were they made in the same place as the '05's we get in the states? I'm really asking, that's not a rhetorical question. I *think* they were not made in the US, and the ones we buy here would be, right? Not sure where the $1400 and two grand and other figures came from for extended warranties... the original poster said six or seven dollars a month... that's like $400 on a five year loan... not bad in my book. Maybe they were exaggerating and it was a lot more than that, but mine was only around $700 or so... these things are as negotiable as the MSRP of the car itself. But, as others have stated, these things make money for people, or they would not exist. Just like health insurance, etc... Steve

Try another dealer, it doesn't sound like they have a clue IMO, regarding the 50/50 split in 1 and 2, and the ABS. The ABS will not kick in from wheel spin, it kicks in to prevent wheel lock when braking. I've been told the craziest things by dealers... including the one about Phase 1 engines not being prone to head gasket problems Steve

You'll get a lot of differing opinions here, but I think it's worth it. You bought the first year of a major redesign, so it's possible there will be some bugs. These cars aren't exactly cheap to fix, compared to domestics anyway. Is the peace of mind worth a few bucks a month? It is to some people, including me. We bought my wife's '03 TS new, on a five year loan. We opted for a six year / 60K mile extended warranty, which most likely will go to six years as we don't drive this car over 10K miles a year (it's under 15K now). I wanted to have the car covered for at least the term of the loan, even if we don't pay it off early. We did negotiate a $0 deductible for the $100 deductible price, so at least if there is a problem we'll have no out of pocket expense. My $.02 Steve Edit: FWIW, my '97 had a 3rd party service contract. I had the following things replaced / repaired under that: Some oil leaks, power steering pump, and two front struts. It paid for itself, I pretty much broke even even figuring in the deductibles and don't regret purchasing it. If I had put this same $$ in the late '90s in the stock market... would it have been any better of an investment? Most likely not

mtsmiths: I think you did get lucky... mine makes a clunk or thump when the rear wheels engage if I hit the gas hard on snow, plus you can most definitely tell when it shifts. A kind word would be "firm" shifts. This is but one example of what I'm talking about, it's older but mentions an automatic Forester and a similar thing the driver noticed: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35151&highlight=rear+wheels+engage I've seen other people mention this too. I know what you mean... that's why I know how mine behaves when driven "aggressively" and more subtly... I've done both. Snow filled parking lots are just too much temptation. As suggested above, try putting it in "1" rather than "D", see the difference that locking it 50:50 front / rear does. Steve

A slight clunk and delay in engagement of the rear wheels is normal, especially when the drivetrain hasn't fully warmed up yet. Mine does it. I've heard other people w/ the 4eat describe the same thing. If you are more subtle with the throttle so you're not spinning the front wheels, it won't be as noticeable. Steve

One might be able to find the TSB online... http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/tsb/04-09-01_tsb.pdf Steve

Dangderdave: I got a set of nearly new WRX wheels/tires for $250 from a local guy I found on Nasioc, try the classifieds there, or maybe even better the regional forums since most people would rather sell to a local than to ship wheels. The guy I bought them from hadn't even mentioned wheels for sale in his post, but I saw he mentioned upgraded brakes and just figured I'd see if his old wheels (now too small for his big brakes) were sitting around gathering dust. They were Steve

Setright: If you go to the Legacy forum in Nasioc, and search on "clunk", you'll find several threads, including this one: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=368718&highlight=clunk There was a TSB for 2nd gen Legacies. It doesn't sound like many people have done anything about it though, and it's questionable whether it really fixes the problem. I've just added it to the list of Subie quirks that I put up with. It really doesn't seem to have gotten worse in thousands of miles. My wife's TS doesn't do it, but her car has < 15000 miles. Her old GL didn't do it, but my OB definitely does. Steve

Very good site for this kind of info: http://www.cars101.com Archives of older cars: http://www.cars101.com/subaru_archives.html Steve

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23956&highlight=abs+light The diagnostic procedure outlined in this thread might help you out. I found it by searching on "ABS light"... searching is a very good place to start looking for info since in most cases someone else has had the same problem before. Steve

Welcome! This board is great, but for Impreza specific information, it's hard to beat the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, www.nasioc.com. There are forums specific to engine, brakes, suspension, just about everything you could think of. They even have regional forums and you could talk to people in your area. I don't know if that is a good price for an STi, my only personal experience is with our TS, it's built on the new (since '02) Impreza platform and has the 165hp 2.5l engine. This is a great little car, does a lot of things well, but it's a far cry from the STi. Steve

So... what did it cost ? Engine? Installation labor? I'm not sure what path I would take if my engine went bad... probably just headgasket replacement but I've considered doing what you've done with yours as another option. Steve

I like this chart: http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html I can never remember the url, so if you type in "impreza wheel chart" into google, it's the first link. if you type in "subary legacy wheel chart", it's also the first link. Steve

FWIW, JDM = Japanese Domestic Market... it's not a specific company, it means engines or parts or anything really that was originally intended for sale in Japan. Some Japanese engines can be almost impossible to install in US cars since they were set up for a car with the steering wheel on the right. Steve

That sounds like a lot of miles... My suggestion: If you like the '02/'03 OB sports, at least consider a TS wagon. They are almost the same car, but they don't seem to keep their value as well, and sold for less originally anyway... that's good for you as a used car buyer. Don't like the stock steel wheels? Get a set of WRX takeoffs for $300 or so, keep your old wheels for snow tires. I got some WRX wheels w/ very low miles for $250. Don't like the lack of foglights? Less than $100 for a set of Hellas, better than the OEM ones. Ground clearance? The WRX wheels add a bit, now you're within a cm of the OBS. You get cruise control if you stick with an '03, I don't know if the '02 TS's had that. You still will have drums in the back, that's fixable but not as simple as the two things I mentioned above. And, you *don't* have the '90's two tone look and graphics which I don't care for, of course that's personal opinion. Steve

Jelly: I used to have a similar problem with mine, one tire would keep losing pressure and there were no punctures. Took it to one branch of the tire store I bought the tires at, they tried to fix it and said there's nothing that can be done, just keep putting air in the tire. So, I tried again at another dealer, they said, "Oh, these subie alloys do this sometimes. We need to smooth out the wheel bead", or something to that effect. So, they buffed or smoothed or whatever they did to the bead, and many months later the tire still holds air just as well as the others, so it worked great. Another vote for try another tire place, don't give up. Steve

Not to get off topic, but... are you sure about this? Just asking, since I've always heard otherwise Note that I own no turbo'ed cars, just n/a ones, so it's not first hand experience on my part, just parroting what I've read and heard from owners of turbo cars. Steve

SubeeTed: Note that these instructions have very little to do with what you want to do or even with your specific model of car... but, there may be something in here that helps. I had to remove the A-pillar trim, visor, and grab handle from our TS to install the map lights, and there may be some crossover info that's handy: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/maplights/ If this doesn't help hopefully someone else that's done it will chime in. As far as plastic parts, it's best to do these kind of things in a warm garage, or warm them up with a hair dryer beforehand. I've found this helps keep the plastic more pliable. Steve

Yeah, the Tetons are beautiful... Yellowstone too. We've camped up there before, it's not a bad drive from SLC for a long weekend trip. Another thing I thought of (you probably already know this) is that the normally aspirated engines will lose more power at altitude than the turbo ones. If you felt the power was a little low at say 8,000 feet when you drove in the mountains on your trip, it might be fine for you if you normally drive closer to sea level. Just a thought. Our n/a 2.5's are fine for us in the Utah mountains as we rarely have more than 2 people in the car, sometimes a lot of camping gear though. Steve