outback_97

I don't have these anymore, sold them, but FWIW the dimensions are the same as the King Springs lift springs: Maybe King Springs has the dimensions on their site. Steve

Kevin: Try Edmunds.com, and also there's plenty to compare to here: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=89 Keep in mind that many cars on nasioc are modded and/or beaten on hard. Steve

Just go for the black steelie look Steve

Martin: This all sounds so familiar... a year ago I was at a similar mileage, some interior lights burned out, needed new tires, etc. Sounds like your other questions have been answered, on the tires, you can fit a 205/75/15 AT tire, but you may have some slight rubbing when simultaneously turning and going through dips (I did). That went away when I lifted the car via King Springs, but it was minor enough that it wasn't a big deal to me. Based on my experience, going to an all-terrain tire like this will give you slightly increased tire noise, softer handling from the taller sidewall, and slightly lower mileage on the highway. I have not noticed decreased MPG around town, which is where the car spends most of its time. The ground clearance gain is minimal enough to hardly even count... but the traction and durability improvements are worth it to me. The speedo is in fact more accurate now. I wanted the AT tire for trips off the beaten path and it has not disappointed in that regard. If you went with a taller tire but all season tread, I'd expect only the softer handling drawback, shouldn't have increased noise or rolling resistance. (most) Wheels from other Subarus will fit: http://www.wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html http://www.cars101.com/subaru/tiresandwheels.html I think you should keep the car (especially if you're considering an Element or HHR :-p ) Steve

FWIW: I was overdue to rotate my tires, I've driven around 10,000 miles on them since purchasing them... finally got around to doing it this weekend. I measured both rears at exactly 7' 1-1/8"... the fronts were 7' 7/8" for a difference in circumference of 1/4". Should have rotated sooner... in 10K miles I was at the max threshold that SOA recommends for difference in circumference. It's a pretty tight spec. Steve

We have an '03 Impreza wagon... on our recent >3000 mile road trip we averaged around 28 mpg. I was hoping for 30 (nice round number) but the following things brought it down: 1) Frequent and strong side and head winds. 2) Driving in rain for quite a bit of the trip... and some of it sideways on gravel roads, and some through Mpls / St. Paul traffic and in small towns. 3) Speeds of 75-80 mph vs. 55-65. 4) (maybe) Gas with ethanol. On 65 mph roads the car easily gets 30. It drops quickly above 65. For an AWD car it's quite good IMO. It's not a high MPG car though... if that's your primary consideration there are probably better choices out there. Steve

FYI many auto stores will "rent" you a spring compressor for free, you get 100% of the cost back when you return it. And I highly suggest having air tools to use that compressor, it makes the job much much easier. Steve

Can't speak for others but yes I am... but in this example it's only around 3% larger, 27" is barely larger than stock. There's no room for bigger. Steve

What Zap said about tread pattern and psi... depends on what type of "27" you're referring to. Here's my personal experience FWIW: 97 Outback, 4EAT, 125K miles on it. With stock tires: 20-22 in town, 26-28 hwy. With 205/75/15 AT tires (Firestone Destination A/T): 20-21 in town, 24-26 hwy. So, almost no city loss, a couple mpg on highways. And the car is due for new plugs and wires, so who knows, it could improve above that. These are more aggressive than the stock all seasons but by no means a mud tire or swamper type tire. IMO they are more than adequate for anything I'll ever take my car to. Plus they do quite well on the street which is where the car spends most of its time. Steve

Thanks for all the quick and informative responses everyone. Most likely I'll put the winter rims/tires on sooner than originally planned. Then I can wait until next year to put some fresh tires on these rims. An alignment is probably also a good idea. The picture doesn't represent the orientation of the tire, visually the wheel doesn't have noticeable excessive neg. camber. I don't believe it's adjustable on the rear of these cars. Struts / springs seem fine and this car only has 29K miles. I'm not aware of any impacts with curbs or potholes, etc, but it's my wife's car. She hasn't mentioned anything and is actually quite car savvy and a very good driver, not one to run into curbs at all... plus it's the driver's side, not the usual suspect for hitting curbs. But stuff happens. It could have started on the front as suggested, as far as rotation... I admittedly don't do a great job of keeping track of where the wheels were when I take them off in the fall, when they get put on in the spring the two with most tread go on the front. We put these on this spring and have only driven 7000 miles or so on them, half of that in the week and a half long trip I mentioned. On that trip the car was loaded down with a lot of luggage, gear, cooler, etc. Maybe the trip did it in, with that many miles loaded down. We didn't have excessive weight onboard, but much more than usual to be sure. http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/tire3.jpg http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/tire1.jpg Note the other photos show more even wear, although they're not far from the one shown above in that there's very little tread depth on the inside edge. Part of that is the design of the tires. C/N: These tires will be "retired" from service, winter set on soon, new ones for next spring, plus considering an alignment. Thanks! Steve

<- Outside Inside -> So, what typically causes this inside edge wear... negative camber, toe out, something else? It's the rear driver's side tire on our Impreza wagon. PSI around 32 in front, 31 in rear last I checked, so I don't think it was underinflation. The tires are about spent, planning on putting snows on in a few months (or as needed) and getting new tires for these rims next year. OTOH they did just fine on our recent 3200 mile road trip... except on gravel roads Steve

Those look good... no rubbing on the struts? I bet they handle better than my 75 series tires Steve

OK, as I mentioned in previous posts, you should read the original nasioc thread (or at least SoDealer's comments) for more context. I'll paraphrase: This was made for Subaru salespeople to reinforce what they learned at a demo event and compare with commonly cross-shopped vehicles. There are car salespeople representing other makes as well. The narration and presentation is skewed towards Subaru... what else would you expect from a video produced for Subaru sales? Other systems are shown in a favorable light as well... VW's handled the roller test quite well IIRC... Volvo's wagon climbed the hill. Again, read the nasioc thread if you want some context from people who actually were there. I wasn't there, just found this interesting and figured others might as well. Cannonball: Probably because it's the VDC OB shown I'd guess. Carl: Tires do make a big difference... I believe they ran whatever the mfg deemed worthy of being OEM equipment. You're welcome Steve

There's a lot of discussion (and noise) on the nasioc thread about that. I think some of the tests had independent drivers with no affiliation to Subaru, and some with sales associates for other brands. But, as this is a video put together by Subaru, it's hard to call it objective. Of course they are going to put their best foot forward, but nevertheless I found the videos interesting. I don't have speakers on my computer here at work so I haven't heard the audio yet. I asked the original poster if the video will be available for viewing at dealerships in higher quality and he said yes it will, which will be nice since the quality of the compressed videos on the web leaves much to be desired IMO. Steve

Google Video Link http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...42340359932162 Full Video Youtube Link Truncated to meet 10 minute maximum length Download Link http://www.sendspace.com/file/jl4zdi (30 megs wmv format) From this thread: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1097949 Anyone else seen this yet? It's like the old Outback vs. Volvo video but much more comprehensive. Read the thread for more details. I think it's great that they're trying to do some comparisons with different "AWD" systems that are being sold and marketed. Steve

For the last couple of winters we've used an older set of Hankook studdable snow tires, without studs, with good results. Got them used with low miles for under $100 and figured it'd be worth it to try them out. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25955 I don't have a lot to compare to but they seem to be noticeably better than all season tires in the mix of snow and slush we get around here. Steve

http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/headgasket.html Welcome to the USMB, lots of good info here. Above is a link with some good info on what you're looking for, specifically the "HG Replacement Instructions" link. Also there is currently a thread on swapping a 2.2 engine in for the 2.5, that's an option for some as the 2.2 is much less prone to HG problems. I have a 97 with 126K miles and no HG problems to report (hope I didn't doom myself by saying that). What part of MN? I was just back in the Walker area last week. There are indeed fewer Subarus up there than there should be given the winter driving conditions! Steve

Not sure I fully understand, but unless it's different from my '97 LOB, it should have camber adjustment via the stock bolts in the front (the rear has no camber adjustment stock). If that is not enough adjustment, one can get aftermarket camber bolts from a company like Ingalls to give greater adjustment. Steve

Matt: Well, I don't know the answer to that, but you may be correct. You might contact someone that has done what you're proposing to do (quazar or others) and ask them for verification. Steve

Here's a '95 that's done some similar things to what you're describing: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5593 I sold quazar the used springs from my '97 OB and I think they put in new OB struts or KYB GR2's. He mentions larger than stock tires as well, but I'm not sure which wheels those are... is that what your '95 wheels look like? Steve

Yes, sounds reasonable for a dealer... here in SLC it would probably be priced similarly or higher. No, not a year or model to avoid IMO. Yes. But I'm not a football fan :-p I wouldn't worry about head gaskets on an 03+ Subaru. Sounds like a good candidate for purchase IMO. I'm not aware of any red flags to worry about on this one unless it was abused or not maintained properly. Steve

FWIW, here's how I do mine (also 97 OBW), it requires three gallons of fresh fluid before you begin. 1) Drive car to warm up fluid. 2) Remove plug and allow to drain (almost exactly four quarts is what I always get). Replace plug, fill with equal amount of fresh fluid. Drive car around the block. 3) Repeat step 2. Then repeat again. Done. I have never dropped the pan or changed the internal screen (too worried about resealing and leaks). The above method may not be ideal in that it wastes a small amount of new fluid and doesn't insure that 100% of old fluid is removed... but it works for me. It is indeed very hard to get a good reading on the dipstick for the AT fluid. Steve

n/m EDIT: no message, never mind when you edited your post prior to this one it made my post irrelevant.

Yeah.... Your 91 might have a higher ratio of power / weight even with its smaller 2.2. Plus they could be geared differently, but even if not that weight difference is pretty significant. The Outbacks are rather portly compared to first gen Legacies. Steve *EDIT: I searched on the wrong models, only 290 lb difference between the cars being discussed here, as nickb21 noted below. Still a good amount of weight though.

Got mine at http://www.subarugenuineparts.com, through I'm sure there's other sources out there. Here is a link: https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=838 It says 1999-2001 in one spot but 1999-2000 in another, you might want to verify fitment for yours. Note that for some reason it's more expensive than for the 02/03 models. Still under $100 though, not bad. A guy I work with just bought a replacement remote for his VW which cost $180 (this is just a remote, not two remotes and the whole system)... and the dealership wanted $80 to program it. Steve