firstwagon

No air bags at all. Without an airbag, the passenger is always safer because there is no steering wheel to slam into. Those numbers are good for the day, remember that car safety has improved dramtically in the past 10 to 20 years. As for side impacts, Legacys are strong cars but I guess it depends what you plan on being hit by.

Here's what I found.... 3 starts for the driver, 4 for the passenger http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jc/90-94legacy.htm Safety Anti-lock braking: available Airbags (driver/passenger): yes/no (later years) Traction control: all-wheel drive available Driver/Passenger Front Crash Protection (0-5 stars with five stars the best): three stars/four stars (1990

Sure changing an O2 sensor is easy but if you never done it before you don't know that. What's that old expression "there are no dumb questions, just dumb answers" (or something like that). Also a coolant sensor can certainly screw up your fuel mileage. As Nipper said, if your sensor doesn't read that the coolant is up to normal temperature then the ECU will stay in open loop. That will make you run rich and you mileage will suck. It's basically the same effect as a bad O2 sensor. Whether or not the coolant is hot or not doesn't matter. It's sensor that the ECU gets it's information from, not the coolant itself. If the car doesn't warm up at all then you have a different problem, likely a therosat that failed open.

I get a slight bit of front wheel spin if I nail it on a slippery surface. Hard to notice really. I can burn rubber no problem on dry pavement if I put the fuse in and stand on it from a stop. (91 Legacy LS Wagon)

I've driven em til they break a couple times though not on a Subaru and not on purpose. I had an 88 Buick SkyHawk which snapped it's belt at 101,000 km (recommended change interval is 100,000 km). I was in the middle of nowhere (passing through Lac la Hache for anyone who knows BC) so the the towing bill and repair cost sucked. The new belt snapped at 202,000 km (close to home that time). Changed it myself in under an hour for less them $50.00. (No damage to the engine either time.) I think GM hides little micro charges in their belts to catch anyone who doesn't change them on time. :mad:

Interesting, I thought I read otherwise. Good to know though. Since I need everything if I replace the air suspension, I could use non tapered springs on my 91 as long as I get the correct mounts. Cool (they're cheaper)

I know what you mean there When I first bought my 91, there was a slight leak in the front struts. It rapidly became a big leak. Every morning I would start out on the bump stops, it would rise up a little for about 10 minutes then the computer would throw an error code and shut off the compressor and down it would go. On the plus side you could throw it into a corner with NO body lean on the front and it looked really cool (from the front). I picked up a couple used air struts for the front (cheapest, quickest way to get it back on the road) and solved the problem in the short term. (took about 2 hours to change both in my driveway, could do it faster next time) Last spring, the rear got a slow leak. I meant to change the whole suspension out this summer for WhiteLine springs and KYB struts but the leak takes a couple days of sitting to deflate and it's fine while driving. My budget is just too tight right now to fix anything that is not completely broken.

The answer is yes (sorta). Any Legacy wagon from 92 to 94 will have the right struts to match to your car. (90 and 91 have slightly different mounting point that will mess up the height of the back of your car). If you want new parts though, you'll have to do some shopping (or buy a "kit"). You need struts, springs, strut mounts and a handful of washers, nuts and other minor parts to build the parts into a strut. And you'll need to buy/rent/borrow a spring compressor.

I put a Fenco clutch in my 91 Trooper a number of years ago. I then drove the crap out of it for 5 years and 100,000 km (lots of off road too). It still was fine when I sold the truck. Maybe the OEM would have been even better but it was 3 times the price and money was tight. I would have no problem putting another Fenco in an old vehicle.

Audi's works really well but I know 2 Audi owners that have had very expensive AWD repairs. Makes Subaru parts look like a bargain.

I'm not a big fan of the wide varity of engineering solutions to the problem of putting power to all 4 wheels on dry pavement. Subaru has the only car based system that I put any faith in. Dodge should have used a version of their Jeep based Select-trac sytem for the mini vans. By using a simple open center diff with a mechanical locker, you can have full time 4 wheel drive with the smoothness and durablity of open diffs and the option to lock the center when the going gets really slippery. Works great on our Grand Cherokee and you don't have to worry about mismatched tires sizes. Perhaps they felt that any driver input was too much for minivan drivers though.

I haven't heard of many rear diff failures other then normal wear in older high mileage cars. I doubt it's any higher then any other 2 wheel drive car. Mismatched tires won't damage a open rear diff in any car. Some have limited slips in the rear which can wear out over time. That doesn't stop the car though, it just loses the limited slip function. The front may be different as it's incorporated in the transmission and four wheel system. Still I don't think it's that common a failure. According to the PO, the entire drivetrain is original on my Legacy and it's 15 years old now. Seems reliable enough to me.

Actually that depends on the sidewall ratio. The 14 inch rims on my 91 come with 70 series tires. I could install 16 inch rims with 215/50/16 tires and the diameter (and thus the effective gearing) would be exactly the same. I think it's a combination of a short 1st gear, tight torque convertor and lighter weight that gives the early 2.2's such a great jump off the line.

I've read about a number of people replacing the rear sway bar to balance the car more. An 18 mm seems to be the popular choice for non racing use. Some links I saved... http://www.legacycentral.org/library/rear_sway.htm http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/subaru_corner.html http://www.legacycentral.org/library/literature/kevin_suspension.htm http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=2153

If it were completely empty, it would cost $60.00 fill the tank and it would go roughly 600 km (more on the hwy)

Pardon the rant but I'm I'm getting tired of this marketing crap. THAT AIN"T AN SUV!!!! You can't throw a few SUV styling cues at a car and call it an SUV. It's an all wheel drive wagon just like Subaru has been doing for decades. People complain about everyone driving SUV's who don't need them but nobody says a word about manufactors building SUV's that virtually have none of the attibutes that SUVs are supposed to have. It's like taking a family sedan, throwing on some wide tires and a wing and saying "Look! it's a sports cars" OK, I feel better now

VW diesels are very common here in Canada and I've known several people with them. Great engine, troublesome car. I don't know of any other mainstream car that is in for repairs so often. Seems like every month they are back at the dealer having one thing or another fixed. Nothing really big but I would never trade my 91 Legacy for one. A company has probelms when a 2 year old $30K diesel Jetta can't match a 15 year Legacy for day to day reliability.:-\

I have 2 kids in booster seats and we travel a lot in my Legacy wagon. It does fine. I agree with the above post though. If you are used to the barn like space of a Grand Caravan , you might not be happy. The Outback is simular in interior room to mid sized SUV's (like our Grand Cherokee) but it's not even close to a long wheelbase minivan.

That would mean a full size pickup could only tow 3000 lbs. If your vehicle is built for it you can tow trailers that are heavier then your vehicle without a problem. You need brakes on the trailer if it weighs more then 1000 lbs. If the brakes are working correctly then you should barely notice the trailer even on a hard brake from freeway speeds. I towed a loaded 3500 lb U-haul trailer from Ottawa to Vancouver (about 3000 miles) with a 2700 lb Ram 50 pickup (Mitsubishi) without a problem. The only thing I would worry about is over heating the auto trans on the Subaru. (My truck was a 5 speed so no worries)

Off topic a bit... Hey Nipper; I notice you only need 1 more post to hit 4000. Is that a record?

I hear people warn against flushing on older cars. What happens in that case? How is it harmful?

Mine is about 650 in park or drive and very smooth. Hard to tell for sure the exact rpm on the factory tach though. Haynes says 600 to 800 in neutral or park, no load and 800 to 900 with the AC on.

They felt the same to me. My 91 2.2 auto jumps off the line really well and pulls strong right to the 6500 redline. The 95 2.2 auto I drove last year felt the same. That makes sense since theres no noticeable change in HP. The only 2.5 I have driven is my sister 05 Forester with a 5 speed. It does feel faster but not a huge difference. Mostly more low end.

Try to avoid wagons with the air suspension. When it's working it works quite well, good ride and handling and you can raise the car an inch or so at the push of a button. However these cars are getting old and when the parts fail they are very expensive to replace. Regular springs and shocks wear out too but they go slowly and are cheaper to change.

There's almost nothing a car's electrical system can do in one day to wreck an alternator. If it failed after one day then something they replaced on the rebuild was on the short end of the bathtub curve. Take it back to the rebuild shop and have redo it or replace it.