Wrar posted:

My car is shuddering under accelleration. I just had my tires changed. It feels like there is a lot of extra vibration in the drive line. 05 WRX wagon.

The amount of vibration scales with the amount of acceleration, not with engine speed. Please help

Splinter posted:

About a week ago, my drivers side rear swaybar mounting bracket blew off (bolt heads ripped off) right after I installed a whiteline swaybar. I think the reason this might have happened is I wasn't able to torque the bolts down to spec on that side (they'd start spinning in place after a certain tightness). The passenger side bracket bolts torqued without issue and didn't break off as I drove this past week with only 1 bracket attached.

Yesterday, my replacement bracket arrived. I extracted the bolt shafts and installed the new bracket with new bolts (which were more expensive than the bracket ) with some blue loctite. They torqued with no issues this time. However, I checked the torque on the passenger side bracket, and the bolts were spinning in place, much like the driver side bolts during the original installation. So far so good, but I won't be surprised if it pops off over the next few days (thankfully I ordered a spare bracket with the replacement). Any reason why this happened? No loctite? The stress from only having 1 bracket for a week?

On a related note, anyone know any brick and mortar stores that sell M8 1.25 grade 8 flange bolts?

quote:

May 17, 2012
By Peter Lyon
Illustrator: Holiday Auto Magazine

The latest news to leak out of Subaru is as red hot as it is shocking. Remember how the international media called the silver Advanced Tourer Concept at last year's 2011 Tokyo Motor Show the next-generation Legacy? Looks like everyone got it wrong -- including us. We're going to make up for that here, however, since we have just learned that the Advanced Tourer was actually an early look at the next-generation Subaru WRX. That's right folks, the highly-anticipated WRX has already been revealed in prototype form,

This artist's impression depicts what we have been able to scrounge from a Subaru insider about the company's all-new sports car. The new WRX will get headlights, air dam, grille, and front brake ducts like those on the Advanced Tourer Concept. The overall side profile will resemble the Tourer as well, though the new WRX will incorporate far more aggressive front and rear wheel arches and fenders. Odds are it will be bigger too -- at roughly 180 inches long, 72 inches wide and 56 inches tall, the Advanced Tourer is more than 6 inches longer, 3.5 inches wider, and almost 2 inches shorter than the all-new Impreza. Like the outgoing model, it will likely be offered as a sedan and hatchback.

Speaking of the Impreza, the WRX will diverge the way the Nissan GT-R completely diverged from the Nissan Skyline sedan in 2007. While it will ride on a heavily modified version of the current Impreza platform, the WRX will no longer employ the suffix Impreza. The harsh reaction to Subaru's attempt to appeal to a broader audience by softening the 2008 WRX's ride and handling traits planted the seeds for that radical decision. We also learned that in designing the new car, product planners aimed to redefine the WRX from a turbocharged boy-racer into a more-mature sporty grand tourer with a higher-quality interior. Make no mistake, however, the new WRX will come with a stiff suspension setup and enough power to satisfy even the most hardcore fan.

Speaking of power, a critical fact not yet clear is exactly what engines will motivate the new WRX. Our insider tells us that Subaru's R&D team is currently testing new FA series 1.6- and 2.0-liter direct-injected turbocharged boxer fours in addition to a hybridized version of the 1.6-liter turbo -- the powertrain featured in the Advanced Tourer Concept -- but he also says that while the R&D team is satisfied with the hybrid's mileage and emissions, they believe that the hybrid unit and its added weight wouldn't suit the WRX's performance focus. We're betting on the new 2.0-liter unit.

"There are those engineers who do support the hybrid idea, not least because the hybrid we are developing might employ some Toyota componentry. But the actual hybrid unit we are using is far lighter [than Toyota's THS-II] single-clutch design," explains our insider, adding that it was developed in-house. He told us that the current thinking inside Subaru is to channel the hybrid powertrain away from the WRX and into the all-new Legacy, due out in 2015. The new model will also incorporate a choice of the standard six-speed manual transmission or the updated version of Subaru's Lineartronic CVT fitted to the face-lifted Legacy that just went on sale in Japan.

The new WRX STI should surface in 2015, and it will be aimed squarely at the U.S. market. It is expected deliver more than 320 horsepower (presumably from an optimized version of the new FA 2.0-liter turbo) and compete in WTCC and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, in which the current model recorded a dramatic class win last year.

This new WRX is part of Subaru's recently announced "Motion V" initiative, a plan to totally reinvent its powertrains and SI chassis, versions of which currently underpin both the Legacy and Impreza. "Expect to see more model downsizing and hybridization, while chassis will become even lighter and boast a higher quality finish," says our source.

DEUCE SLUICE posted:

kylej posted:

Looks like a Dodge.

jamal/Subaru people, how's running an EWG on a daily driver? My tuner says they provide great results but can be a little... offputting for regular use.

toplitzin posted:

can I likely wait, get a tactrix cable and post some logs?

Terminus Est posted:

Got my 08 LGT back from Subaru after they rebuilt my "transfer case". They put in something like 12 new bearings in and now it is whisper quiet. I'm a little pissed though, because whatever gear oil they put in shifts like poo poo compared to the extra S I had in there.

Sockington posted:

Putting new oil in there is cheaper than rebuilding it yourself, so don't complain.

If you would have specified before the service though.

Terminus Est posted:

Oh, I'm quite happy about not footing the repair on this one.

I still have about 10 liters of extra S sitting at home so not a big deal, just a quiet hope that they would have used some decent oil on the re-fill. Its surprising the difference the oil makes on shift quality.

jamal posted:

Loud as poo poo. I get annoyed just taking a car with one around the block for a test drive. If you have it plumbed back into the downpipe it's not any louder but that's usually an hour or two of fabrication. And while it does make the turbine side more efficient, you are still blowing really hot air our of the compressor. So after buying the new up-pipe, ewg, and having dump tube fabbed you are pretty far toward a bigger turbo.

The Jabberwocky posted:

^^ It's just in the later model STIs, isn't it?

I replaced the drivebelts on my 03 Legacy and came across a Subaru "quirk" I guess. I had to remove the shroud on the belts, and tightened all of the bolts down when I was done. Now, apparently there's a weird design flaw in there that lets air into the PS system if one of the bolts is tightened all the way down. I found this to explain it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ifANBSb8DA. My question is, is this a real thing? I backed the bolt up to give the shroud some play and flushed and replaced the PS fluid, and it's still pretty whiney. It sounds like whale sound. Is my power steering hosed or so I just "own a Subaru?"

jamal posted:

No, that is not the problem. The problem is the hose between the reservoir and the pump. When the car gets older the hose gets hard and doesn't seal as well, so it sucks in air. You pretty much just need to look at it funny to get this to happen. New clamps is a good quick fix solution but the hose is only like $20 at the dealer so just replacing it, the clamps, and possibly the o-ring on the pump inlet fitting will solve the problem. It happens because that is the only part of the system that is under vacuum. So the tiniest leak is going to draw air into the pump.

22 Eargesplitten posted:

I posted a while ago about getting new tires. I still haven't bought new tires, but when I started looking at the recommendations from earlier, I noticed that Seat Safety Switch linked 16 inch Conti DWSes, when my car has 15" wheels. Am I right in assuming that if I got those, I would need to buy new wheels to fit them on? What other differences would I notice? Is there a good resource to read up on this stuff so I don't have to keep asking a bunch of questions?

The car is a '99 Subaru Outback Sport, 205/60 r15 right now.

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Dammit. Almost wondering at this point if I should just buy new rims, since there are so few 205/60R15s.

tehschulman posted:

Welp, just put my deposit down on a 2012 Impreza Sedan! It'll be nice to replace my 2000 Impreza Sport wagon with something a little less falling apart.

Any advice for me and my new whip??

22 Eargesplitten posted:

I might just go for those 16" wheels, since that makes replacements down the road a hell of a lot easier too. This car is either going to be with me or my little brother pretty much until it stops running, so long haul stuff seems worth it to me. New tires are going to swallow bumps a lot better than my old worn out ones even with the shorter sidewall, right?

quote:

The Legacies also frequently have 16" wheels, right? Is there anything particularly good about the 16" WRX wheels over the Legacy ones, or would I be fine with either? I need to stop by a junkyard soon anyway, I could look for wheels while I'm there.

kylej posted:

wheel talk? I know it would be very poser-ish but gottdamn I would love the RC-G4s in Gold in 17s Enkei only produces them in 15 inches.

Seat Safety Switch posted:

The difference probably isn't that noticeable, you can play around with tire pressures to make up for it. Stuff like the Contis is pretty optimized for ride comfort anyway so I wouldn't be surprised if they are much more comfortable.
I suggested WRX wheels since they seem to come up all the time, but 16" Legacy/Outback/Impreza/Forester wheels would be just fine as well.

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Okay. Where do you tend to see the WRX wheels popping up a lot? Craigslist around here seems to be mostly people going "Hey, pay $200/ea for my lovely chrome rims".