RallyKeith

The car is worth every last cent. In my opinion the article misses a few things and even is wrong about a few things. #1 Ok, so it doesn’t come with a stereo, but it’s wired for it. You can go to your local stereo store and have on installed for around $300, including stereo and speakers. Not a big deal when you consider that 70% of the people buying the car would rather have their own stereo in the car over a factory stereo anyway. #2 Compared to a $30k luxury car the interior is loud. Compared to other 300hp sports cars the interior is quiet. #3 Compared to a $30k luxury car the ride is harsh. Compared to other 300hp sports cars its rides like a Cadillac. In fact, compared to the equally handling (Or just a tiny bit better handling from the test reports) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the STi rides like a Cadillac. Stiff and uncomfortable is an understatement for the EVO. #4 You don’t have to get down to get into the car. The seat is height adjustable, and at it’s lowest you still aren’t climbing down into the car like the writer makes it seem. My stock Honda Civic del Sol is much worse. #5 The interior is not cheap in the slightest. I think it’s the best looking Impreza interior yet. The fit is exceptional and once again I ask, who buys a sports car for the interior? The trunk area is covered in a standard gray trunk carpet material. Why does my trunk need to look good? Are there people siting in it on long trips? #6 The bit about the pink. It translates as Cherry blossom red and is a highly respected color in Japan. If you care about that aspect of the car then it’s not the car for you. #7 Would you really expect the intercooler sprayer to make a difference when it’s the dead of winter in Seattle? He is correct about the purpose, but in the dead of winter you would never really need to use it. It does have a purpose in the heat of summer and it does make a difference. #8 Insurance for a responsible 25 year old is nothing out of the ordinary. Insurance for even the regular WRX is a bit on the high side for price of the car, but that is thanks to all the parents that are buying them for their 18 year old kids that can’t handle that much car are wreck them within a few months. The Sti #9 It’s rally inspired. Not road-rally inspired. I guess they have to say that so people don’t substitute “Protest Rally” for “rally.” That’s really just a pet peeve more than anything. A road rally is traditionally an event that is all about navigation skills and not about car performance. The car is flat out incredible. Everyday I drive it it’s like the first day I bought it. It makes power everywhere in the rpm range, and handles like a dream. Just driving the car on the street does not give you a true understanding of the abilities the car has. Take it to an autocross or find a wide open gravel road, with no trees on the side, to play Then you’ll begin to see just how special the STi is and you’ll see that $31,000 is not a lot for what you’re getting. Keith

If I remember correctly the factory headlight switch actually swithces ground to the different filaments. Can anyone acknowledge or deny that? If that is true do you have the lights wired corectly for that? You would need +12 going from a fuse off the battery to each lamp, and then the negative going back to the switch. Keith

Just talked to a good friend who bought one of these ('04 Forester XT) and he said that yes they shift hard when cold. That included down shifting. He said the one they test drove did it and also the one they bought. They haven't taken the car back for it. Let us know if you get anywhere with it. I'd like to pass it along to my friend. Keith

The pedal travel can be set. On most Vaccum boosters the rod that comes out and pushed the piston in the master cyliner is threaded for adjustment. The problem with this is that you have to get the master cylinder out of the way to adjust it. I just helped a friend replace the master cylinder in his 86 300Z a month ago and was amazed at how off the pedal was between the two master cylinders. Adjusting that part made all the difference. BE WARNED that you can over adjust it to the point that you always have pressure on the brakes. That is bad!(We did it. The car seemed lsuggish and when we started smelling burning brake pads we knew what we had done. ) Anyhow, adjust the rod coming out of the vaccum booster. Braided brake lines will firm up the feel of braking, but not how farr the pedal travels before the brakes engage. Keith

I've never worked on a gen 1 anything so I don't know if or how they are different. Are you having trouble getting the caliper piston back in? If so are you threading it back in or just pressing? I know on gen 2 stuff the piston threads back in. Keith

How sure are you that this is the brake pads?????? Subaru's have a lot of driveline to move and with each piece of driveline you have certian amounts of what I'll call slack. When you back up, you take the slack out in one direction, then procede to go forward and now you take up the full amount of slack in the other direction. Here's the thing. I own an STi and have lots of friends that own WRXs and newer outbacks. All of our cars make the same clunking like you described. The key here is that the STi has Brembo Brake calipers on it which are nothing like factory subaru calipers. Also, has the car always done this or is it a new thing? My STi has made the noises since the day I picked it up. No shims worn out, or cheap pads installed with mine. Also, have you checked the lug nut torque? make sure they are tightened to factiry specs and no less. The brake rotors on subaru's are held in place by the wheel and the lug nuts. The rotor has holes for each stud to go through and they are usually a little bigger than the stud. If you actually go and remove a tire and then grab the rotor, you can spin it back and forth a bit without the hub spining, each time with a little clunk as it hits the studs. So you car start to see how there are a lot of things on our Subarus that could add up to a bit of a clunk when you do something like reverse and pull forward. This can very well include to some extent the brake pads, but as said before there should be metal spring clips in the caliper that prevent the pads from slapping around. Keith

I'm not so sure this isn't normal. My STi is lucky to break 18 these days. Since it's really the same motor just tuned differently and mated to an automatic I'm not surprised to see lower gas milage numbers. Infact, the subaur website list the STi as 18/24 and the Forester XT as 18/23, and that doesn't say if its with the 5spd or the automatic. As for the hard shifting I wouldn't be surprised if that was really and honestly supposed to be that way. With all the torque those motors produce you need it to shift hard in order to keep it from slipping excessively and wearing things out. Same thing goes about the downshifting. Depending on the RPM change during a downshift it will throw you front in the seat. I don't drive automatics other than big vans and Trucks so I'm no expert, but with out driving your car and seeing what RPM changes occour and just how hard the shifting is I can't say you really have a problem. If you're used to driving a cadilac and then drive a ford F-350 with the towing shifing in the trans you'd probably think something was wrong when in fact it wasn't. No matter what, Keep on the service department until they can defiinitively prove to you that this is or is not a problem. ALSO, make sure they are putting notes in the computer with dates and milages so you can prove that you've thought it was an issue long before there was any question of warrenty. Good Luck, Keith

I believe it's no different. The work and time will be the same. As for engine reliability the 87 and newer will have better heads and the hotwire MAF which I believe is better. Keith

http://www.nasioc.com and http://www.i-club.com are also good places to look. Lots of people put rims on their WRX's and sell the factory 16" rims, with tires, cheap. Keith

VERY Nice! Do you have a website or anything about the car? One question though, Do your windows go all the way down? I guess the back ones don't go all the way down to start so you can stick a monster magnet in there. Very nice. One day when I get my RX back together I'm going to finish the system I started. Mix match of stuff that all sounds good, but currently looks bad. Good Job Keith

Unless he gets a dual map/switchable map ECU, or learns how to retune for lower octane fuel it's a really bad idea. Running lower octane fuel on a car tuned for higher octane fuel means you get lots of knocking or detination, and that means by by main bearings. Honestly, if he doesn't know or understand anything about it then he is going to be a danger, and he should start putting away money to replace the motor cause it's gonna happen. Keith

Well, Until further notice mark down RallyKeith and RallyNutDon as present and accounted for. I may take the Friday off and come down, but I doubt Don will. Rock On!

I'm not sure about this but I see your cars in an automatic. Do you have the 4spd automatic or the three speed? I believe the 4spds had a switch on the stick that you pressed for Power mode which let the engine rev higher before shifting. I know the Legacys with the 4spd auto had that, just not sure if the Loyale autos had that. Keith

That wasn't Jamie / Subie Girl was it? If I remember correctly she works at Carter and would have been good help, especially if you mentioned the USMB or NASIOC. Keith

Paul's been selling race stuff for some time now and isn't hard to find. It's called Primitive Enterprises http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/ Specializes in Rally equipment (Since that's what he does) and I don't believe carries anything other than Impreza parts. Keith

Use a very small guage wire like 20. This way the wire will burn apart berfore the car. Anyhow, this sounds like what happaned to me once. I let my brat sit for several montsh while trying to figure out why I had a massive backfire. Then I went to work on it again only to have issues starting it. I did the same thing as Miles suggested and got mine running. Turned out to be a bad ignition switch. Easy way to tell this is turn the lights on and then try to start the car. Since the lights are run off the same circuit of the ignition switch they sould stay on while trying to start. If they go out then you've found the problem. You could probably try this before jumping the coil directly to the battery if you're worried about things blowing up. Keith

You being a wise guy or do you not know that Jersey Shore is the name of a town near Williamsport?

Oh no. I smell , or is it taste, an argument coming. Just ask Hocrest who is from the town of Pottsville. It's all about the Yuengling! Keith

I live in Reading PA and work very slightly south east of Allentown, in Coopersburg. I've never been to Jersey shore, but I see signs for it every time I got up to Wellsboro. BIG BIG BIG Rally there every June. If you haven't been up you should come. http://www.stpr.org Always lots of Subarus around, and always lot of them in the rally. (Including ours) Keith

I believe that is the turbo used on the early legacy and impreza turbos. Not really sure though. I start getting confused with the numbers a letters sometimes. Keith

Corky, There should be plenty of high tech jobs out in Vegas. I'm not sure what you mean exactly by tech jobs, but I'm an electronics Technician and my company has sent me out there on field service before. There is a ton of high tech stuff going on in each and every casino. Just look at the water show in front of the Belagio, as can be witnessed in the new Ocean's Eleven movie. These Casinos have so much money to throw around that they put together some of the most technologically advanced shows around. For me I know I can find a job, in fact I was offered two while I was there. One with the MGM Grand Tech department and one with an outside company that works with touchscreens. As long as you don't have a gambling problem it can be a great place to live. Chris, When I come out there later this year I'll look you up! A friend and I are going to go out sometime, probably for the SEMA show. Later, Keith

I would normally agree with Meeky Moose on this one but being that this is a 2.5 DOHC motor It's a toss up. If nothing else I'd drive this motor until the weather gets good and warm or until something does go wrong. I can undestand not wanting to deal with replacing all the little stuff again like you have already, but if nothing else I'd wait until I don't have to freeze my arse off. Anyway, same year same model should be an easy swap. I don't know of anything different on the motor it self between an auto and a manual. Keith

Nuwan, where did you get your info from? I thought the turbo legacy 5spd had a 4.11 in it. Keith

First off, are we talking about the auto or the fairly rare 5spd? Next, as far as the manual goes no. The turbo 5spd used a different drive ratio than the non-turbo. Keith

Ya..... You should see my Dad's car. It's got big subaru decals on the fenders and hood. It's got big SCCA stickers on the doors. It's even got all sorts of Sponsor decals everywhere on the car. Keith