So, after a bit of a road trip this weekend (1800 miles, attempted to fix a RX-7, failed, will have to tow said '7), I have a few observations from me & the other people who drove my Subaru. My Subaru came from a junkyard, 1987 GL Wagon 4WD Manual (EA82 non-turbo). Fixed the fuel pump, gave it a tuneup, and about a week and a half later (and 500 miles or so) went on the road trip.

 

The only problem it had (has?) is a slight leak in one of the rear brake cylinders, which will be solved by replacing the rear brakes with disk brakes (I'd been planning to do it anyway).

 

The load for the trip was 4 guys (probably 750 lbs combined), about 100-150 lbs of stuff (tools, spare battery for the '7, bags, food, etc), and a 200 lb engine block on the way back (blown rotary engine).

 

Observations:

1. The stock brakes kind of suck with that much load. They worked, but it took a bit of effort to convince them to do much. I'm replacing the rear drum brakes with disk brakes, and redoing most of the brake system in the process, so I'm not too worried about that.

2. A non-turbo EA82 with 1000+ lbs of extra load running on the highway through the mountains is somewhat lacking in power going up the hills. Fortunately,

3. the engine has no complaints about sustained high RPM or WOT. Going up some of the hills involved minutes at WOT, usually in 5th or 4th. The engine didn't complain, nor did the temperature rise above where it normally goes.

4. Once people figure out that the engine revs up rather high, they have a lot more fun merging onto the highway. As we observed, "You can drive it like you stole it, and still not speed."

5. My GL will leave a decent amount of rubber if asked to (or driven by someone learning to drive stickshift).

6. For an old car, the alignment seems to hold up really well. Both of my Subarus track straight, and several of the other drivers commented on how well it tracked.

7. All the drivers REALLY liked the "fresh air vent" feature.

8. After the initial confusion, all the drivers liked how the headlights were tied to the ignition.

 

And, on the way back, one of the people asked if it was for sale. After being informed that it was not going to be sold any time soon, he asked me to keep my eyes open for something similar.

 

-=Russ=-

1800 miles without knowing the state of the timing belts. That's brave....

Oh. I thought I had mentioned that. Guess not. I did check the timing belts before I left (they looked new), and I had a spare set in the back of the car anyway. I do need to get around to removing the timing belt covers though, they're a pain in the rear.

 

-=Russ=-

"Once people figure out that the engine revs up rather high, they have a lot more fun merging onto the highway. As we observed, "You can drive it like you stole it, and still not speed."

 

And that's why I never got a ticket, even when as a stupid kid I needed one. Thank god for age with/without wisdom!

Once again...these cars ROCK.

It's hard to convice folks that are used to low-revving V8s that redlining these motors is actually GOOD for them.

When you get to the point where you belive that the red line is only a "suggestion," you've done too much destructive testing with you're engine. My Ej22 saw 8k a couple times in neutral, just because it sounded cool. When I tore it apart, it looked as good as new.

I drove my EA82 loyale w/ 30" mud tires at WOT for 2 hours. The guy i was road triping with said it was scary how the back of my car would buck when I dropped it down to 4th on the hills. Average speed was ~80mph. Only side affect was the loss of an exhaust manifold gasket and then the o2 sensor laid a code. I wonder if the exhaust manifold was glowing?

Loved the #4 comment:

 

........................

Observations:

4. As we observed, "You can drive it like you stole it, and still not speed."

..........................

"Tis more fun to drive a slow car slow, than it is to drive a fast car slow" herd that once, i agree, drive it like you stole it

hay but some of us have gotin tickets in their soobs so, their not that slow

*cough* 94 in a 55 (was slowing from 105) in an xt-t once.

*blinks* Holy bumped thread, batman!

 

I've still got the GL, and it's still running strong. I don't really hit redline very often, because there's just not much power above 6k RPM or so. I've put around 12k miles on it since February.

 

This winter promises to be a lot of fun. I'm working on my 4WD gravel/snow drifting. :-)

 

-=Russ=-

Yeah, it's quite a transition when I go from my Dodge Decrepid to my little sooby wagon. The Dodge, with it's 3.3L V-6 cruises down the highway at 75 and well under 2K RPM. The final drive gearing and torque range is completely different than the Subaru. The Soob needs to have my foot really in it just to get out of its own way and really likes to be in the 3K-4K rpm range running down the highway.

 

Tracy

 

It's hard to convice folks that are used to low-revving V8s that redlining these motors is actually GOOD for them.

I wonder if the exhaust manifold was glowing

 

 

I had a glowing turbo!! once.