tjZ06 Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I tried searching around but haven't found anything yet. What I need is something to help me while I comb the classifieds for a good candidate to build a "Woods Wagon" from. What I'm looking for is something that will tell me the motor, tranny (4 or 5-speed, D/R or not), induction (Carb or EFI), and other details for a given year Subi wagon. I'm not familiar w/ all the model designations so any help there would be great too. Were all Subis of this era AWD or 4WD, or were some FWD only? Would 4WD designate the D/R while AWD would just be full-time non-selectable? Or am I confused and there is no AWD, only FWD or 4WD models. Sorry for all the Qs and thanks for any help and/or links! -TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 try www.cars101.com has lots of subaru history and stuff. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 79 to 84 wagons are EA81's all with 4speed manual or ?speed auto. Most are deul range. If it says deul range it means it must be 4WD. Some come as 2WD's. You can also get 4WD single range. I am unsure how to find out if it is deul range without driving it. 85 to 89 wagons are EA82's with five speed manuals or ?speed autos. I think these ones have deul range writen on the 4WD selector. They also come in single range and 2WD models. In australia they went upto 94, but I am unsure about in america. Some XT's and RX's (and maybe the GL-10 wagons, turbo'd ones) come with AWD 5speeds and I think they have a lockable center diff so you can offroad better (more like a 4WD.) Unsure on EFI, as us Australians didn't get the EFI models. Hope that helps a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Were all Subis of this era AWD or 4WD, or were some FWD only? Would 4WD designate the D/R while AWD would just be full-time non-selectable? All Subis of WHAT era? There's lots to choose from but personally I prefer a fuel injected model from late '87 through '89 with the dual range 5spd.That's an "on demand" 4WD so you're driving in 2WD untill you manually select 4WD Hi,or Lo. AWD didn't start untill later.I'm not big on AWD so I won't offer any info. Full time 4WD was available in the RX and some turbo wagons in the late 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjZ06 Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 All Subis of WHAT era? There's lots to choose from but personally I prefer a fuel injected model from late '87 through '89 with the dual range 5spd.That's an "on demand" 4WD so you're driving in 2WD untill you manually select 4WD Hi,or Lo. AWD didn't start untill later.I'm not big on AWD so I won't offer any info. Full time 4WD was available in the RX and some turbo wagons in the late 80's. Ummm, Subis of the era this forum pertains too: 80-90. So I found a '87... I guess it's a late '87 because he claims it's EFI. I haven't gone and looked yet. He says he just did the T-belts. I can get it under $1k running and smogged. Hmm... 4" lift for around $400... $1k for wheels/tires... hmmmm. I also found a '88 4wd Turbo. I haven't heard back yet if this is dual range or not (or were all turbos not D/R?). Much lower miles than the other one ('bout 100k less) w/ recent tune-up and smog. Are the turbo models less reliable at all? -TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 If they aren't taken care of, the turbo models are more prone to failure, primarly related to headgaskets and cracked heads. That said, many a turbo EA82 has gone past 200k without trouble. That car may have a full-time 4wd tranny, which would not be as desirable for serious offroading. The SPFI cars are vey good. They don't have a lot of power, but they're like the Energizer bunny, they keep going and going and going. I just picked one up that hadn't run since 2002. I put in a little gas and a battery, and it started like it was driven the day before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjZ06 Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 If they aren't taken care of, the turbo models are more prone to failure, primarly related to headgaskets and cracked heads. That said, many a turbo EA82 has gone past 200k without trouble. That car may have a full-time 4wd tranny, which would not be as desirable for serious offroading. The SPFI cars are vey good. They don't have a lot of power, but they're like the Energizer bunny, they keep going and going and going. I just picked one up that hadn't run since 2002. I put in a little gas and a battery, and it started like it was driven the day before. Yeah... I suppose it's a gamble. If it runs well and passes smog it probably doesn't have a blown head gasket(s) or cracked head(s). But then again... it might... or it could be close. He's asking $500 more than the other one. But it has ~140k miles vs. ~240k for the NA '87 and some seriously needed HP help. If it's not D/R that's a draw-back though. If I get one it will get AA's 4" lift, 15" wheels and 29x8.5-15 TSL Swampers. So the extra HP on the Turbo model would be advantageous. -TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjZ06 Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 try www.cars101.com has lots of subaru history and stuff. nipper Very helpfull link... thanks! So it looks like the '88 Turbo Wagon I'm looking at might be a good buy for me. The NA 88s were 90hp/101tq while this Turbo would have been 115hp/134tq. 25hp is better than a 25% gain and 33tq is right on 33% better. That should make a big difference when it comes to pushing a set of 29" TSLs and a 4" lift. The down-side is the mileage doesn't seem like it'll be as good but I'll make that trade-off. It looks like if it's a Full-Time 4wd I also get the LSD, which would be nice. But if it's a Part-Time I get the D/R but no LSD. Sort of 6 one way and half-a-dozen the other. Long-term I'll end up swapping something (diff or tranny) in either one to get the "ideal" match. I don't think I'll really "need" the DR as bad as the LSD for the type of "wheeling" it'll do though. It'll see some snowy roads (non-plowed/salted) out at the cabin in Idaho as well as some moderate trails (some would consider the driveway to my cabin a pretty decently challenging trail). But for extreme crawling and such I'm probably buying my friend's Samis. If all looks well when I go check it out I'm going to make him a cash offer... hopefully he accepts. -TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjZ06 Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 Update: the seller of the Turbo Wagon I was looking at says "it's a 4wd with a push-botton on the stick." So what does that make it, the part time D/R? I imagine the full-time has no button and/or stick since its' full-time... correct? Thanks for any help. -TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggroller Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I used these items as guides for my wagon search. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/80s/specs/general/specyears.html http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/80s/specs/mechanical/engine-specs.html To answer the last question. The push-button 4wd is a single range transmission. The car is FWD until you push the button. If the car is great condition, I personally would get it and grab a 5 speed dual-range transmission from a junkyard and convert it if you are going for the lift and big wheels/tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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