RallyKeith

Interstingly enough, I just decided to switch my 95 over to the Castrol Sythentic Blend 5W-30. My engine has 191,000 miles on it, and at about 4000 miles from the last oil chage it was a very dark brown, but I got at least 3.5 quarts out of the pan and filter. It doesn't seem to leak at all, and doesn't seem to burn anything. I've decided I want a little extra start-up protection with that many miles on it. I do a mix of driving that leans towards highway typical driving, but I'm never on a highway. Keith

That setup is very nice looking. The only problem is the price. I seem to think it was over $600. Keith

OEM Gauge + OEM Mounting Location = Blocked Instrument Cluster. My STi had one installed against my will at port. It blocked part of the instrument cluster including the outside air temp display. A boost gauge is nice for helping manage fuel economy, but by far isn't a necessity. I don't have one on my 05 Legacy GT, and don't feel a need for one at this point. If you plan on making mods to the car for power, then it's a must. Keith

Not trying to sound like an arse, but read your owner's manual. That is normal reading for the factory gauge setup, and the manual states that it is normal for the gauge to appear to read 0 at idle with the engine up to temp. If you were to hook up an aftermarket gauge you would find that it is actually around 10psi. Keith

Hey! Another one in PA... and not too far away. Something doesn't sound right. I've got 190k on my 95 and it never pings. My wires are aftermarket cheap ones, and my plugs have 20k on them. I get gas where ever it's cheapest, which lately has been Giant ($2.45 last night for 87! Most places were $2.49 to $2.59) I'm not really sure what would be causing it though. Maybe a reset of the ECU is needed? I know the newer OBDII ECUs learn their timing curves. It was what caused the major pinging issue in the first released STis. Anyhow, something sounds wrong to me, I just don't know what. Keith

I had the speed-o in my STi reading 155 a few times, and it was really sad how little it seemed to take to get there. I've had the 05 GT up to 110 and it seemed to have a lot more, but nothing like the STi. I would imagine 136 is pushing it anyway, but I also have the 5spd Auto which will make some difference. Keith PS - of course this was all done on closed roads or tracks

So, this go-cart track... how big, how fast, how expensive? I go down to that area every so often for work but didn't know it was there. If my arm was twisted the right way I might be intersted in going. Keith

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to stop pand look at it on friday. Keith

The Saris Bones rack has been recommended to me by a bunch of people. It will fit over a stock WRX or Legacy spoiler and I'm told it would work on the back of my legacy wagon. I'm planning on getting one soon, but probably the 2 bike version. http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.cfm?SKU=17289&item=30-0326&slitrk=search&slisearch=true Keith

I drive over one everyday to and from work. My 95 with 15" 185 series Hakkapalitta snow tires and my 05 with 17" 205 RE92s both act the same way. With my bridge it sits in the middle of a curve in the road. It's fun! As I'm turining in and starting to hit the bridge I actually aim so that I would just clip the edge of the bridge as it ends, but since it's open grate the car misses by about 8"

Off topic but yes. We run a home built 96 shell with an 02 WRX driveline and very mild tuning. We regularly beat professionally preped '04 STis and EVOs with inexperianced drivers. Then you have people like Randy or Emmilio Arse who beat us in fairly stock RSs. It's all about commitment and talent. Keith

That would be because he said that isn't his concern...... You don't really need to worry about anything other than struts or springs in the suspension. We've been "professionally" rallying a 96 Impreza for 5 years now on factory bushings, ball joints, tie rods, control arms.... We've never had anything let us down, and the only time anything was replaced was when we hit something big (usually involved the car rolling or flipping somehow.) Even Factory Struts and springs aren't all that Bad. Randy Zimmer was rallying an RS with nothing more that Forester struts and springs, and he was fast. Like top 10 fast. These cars were very much designed with Rally in mind. They are very strong in every way. Tires are a big thing to worry about though. Standard tires are a 4 ply tread, 2 ply sidewall design. Makes them very easy to puncture the side wall when sliding. Rally tires are something like 6-8 ply for the tread, and 4 ply for the sidewall, and are very hard to mount on a rim. I also believe they are not DOT approved. So, tires are your real limit. Keith

I think a lot of dealerships stock those bolts because they break or stretch. When you go to put it back together keep the bolt and the inside of the threads as free of oil as possible. Keith

There has been an XT just sitting (exact same spot)at a local garage for about 3-4 years now. Every once in a while, when I have a car in for inspection or something, I'll ask what the story is, and if they want to get rid of it. Finally, last week they said that the person wants to get rid of it, and would probably take $100 for it. It is only FWD and has what appears to be the 4eat by the shift console, and it has the vent on the hood so I'm assuming it's a turbo. I didn't look too closely at it, but there defenitely are some rust issues with it on the body. Guy says it will start right up if he jumps it. I didn't ask anymore questions at the time, but I'm thinking I might stop back and take a closer look. So, is this car rare? I don't think I've ever seen one before. Keith

Well, if you add "when used with any other light" and you've hit the nail on the head. Fog lights have a low wide pattern to "cut" through the fog. a regular low beam is too high and the light is just reflected by the fog and you see nothing. To get the best results, you need to have only the fog lights on. Keith

The thing with the Fog lights turning off never made sense to me. They are a low wide beam, and that is why they aren't legal as low beams. Their only use is to cut under fog and with high beams on they become useless in that manner, but why would they really need to turn off? I've never understood that one.

So I'm gonna ask this because you're spewing fourth a lot of stuff. Are you a PA lisenced inspection agent? Subeman90 has already stated that he is. Spidering cracks in the windsheild to the best of my knowledge pass. The only thing that fails are large chips or cracks in the drivers line of sight. (yes complete holes through both layers fail no matter what) I ought to know since I have one on the right most edge of mine and it just passed, and my father drove with one across most of the very bottom of his windsheild for about 2 years and it passed. If you are right then I'm very suprised that I got my car passed. Rear window stickers? Now, I know truck rules are different, but most cargo vans don't even have rear windows. I've seen lots of people drive around with tons of crap on their rear window. I've got no experience with this, but I've never heard of it before.

Someone made the point earlier, how can something be required to work when it is optional equipment from model to model. Many cars do not come with fog lights. Obviously those cars are safe to drive on the road. Just because mine has fog lights, why should they have to work? They are not truely a safety item, but instead an option item. Safety things SHOULD BE anything that must be installed on the car to meet federal guidelines. Front wipers, high and low beam head lights, tail lights, turn signals. All the stuff that is on every car.

I became a HUGE fan of annual inspections 3 years ago when I went to my buddies wedding in MN. His soon to be brother-in-law was driving a mid 80's blazer with rear shocks that might as well be sitting on the floor of his garage. The bushings rear bushing were shot, and one of the front tie rods must have been ready to fall apart. We were going out the night before the wedding and had to make some evasive manuvers and almost died. Stupid thing was swerving all over the road and almost rolled over. We had just gone over some rough railroad track when somebody pulled out of a driveway in front of us. The back end of the car was still bouncing violently when he swerved to the left and the thing lost all control. Ever since then I've been a big believer.

I trust this guy whole heartedly. I've been taking my cars there for about 4 years now and he knows me. As soon as I say my name he say ah, so which subaru is it? He knows that I do my own work and has always given me the car back to fix when something is wrong. I know that the law sates all lights on the car must work, this includes aux. fog or driving lights. I've been given a hard time on that before. Since he said he would let me go on the wiper I'm not going to give him a hard time, and by next year I should have the realay I need to make it work, and the arm.

Last week I had taken the 95 Legacy Brighton in for inspection. They failed it because the gas cap wasn't sealing properly, and one of the rear brake shoes was too low. Both of those things I've got no problem with, but they also failed me for my rear wiper not working!!! First thing I did was ask why that makes a difference. They said that all factory equipment must function. My simple reply was great, but that's not factory. See, mine is a base model with crank windows. It never had a rear wiper. I've been slowly getting all the parts to have a working one. In fact, there is no wiper arm on it because I haven't found one at the yard yet. After I explained all that he said he would let me slide on that. The car is there today for them to verify that I installed new shoes and a gas cap, we'll see if they remember the wiper. Keith

FWIW, the Harry's Pennsburg Location is only about 10 minutes off the Quakertown exit of the PA Turnpike Northeast extension. There selection can be hit or miss though. As for me, hard to say. I need lots of stuff for my wagons in the way of body parts so I might be interested in meeting up. It's always so hard for me to plan with my job. Keith

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/car/137139679.html

Dealer ALWAYS asks for a vin when ordering parts. They do this because there are parts that change mid production year like seals and minor gaskets, but the odds of something like an O2 sensor changing are slim. Valve cover gaskets on the EJ25 DOHC are a prime example of something that actually does randomly change in the cars.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Haven't run one in two years, but I do that too. The last one I ran in my RX was the Pine Barrens Express. Came in something like 3rd overall 2nd in class with nothing but a calculator.