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Wrar posted:It's drat near stock, although it really needs to let the turbo spool more freely. I'd like the power to come on more smoothly and faster. I guess that's what happens when my first car was a torquey 2.4 four and the second weighed nothing. It's got the STI muffler so it sounds much nicer and a kartboy short shifter. I've added a 10" subwoofer in a truck box and made an aux in for the pioneer head unit.   Great to see another Saabaru! Mine is mostly stock so far with only a B&M short shifter and shifter bushings and an Accessport, but I just got an uppipe and downpipe and can't wait to install them. I'm also looking at doing struts/springs and swaybars and want to stiffen it up a bit but not drop it so I don't eat any bumps when I do rallycross. I'm thinking if I get some Forester lowering springs that drop the Forester about 2" that should keep me at about stock ride height. I don't want to go higher because I still want to be able to autocross too. So far I haven't really found anyone that's done this and tried to keep it stock height, they're usually trying to lift it with the forester springs. Any of you Subaru gurus have any ideas or experience with this?
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Oct 5, 2008 16:26
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kimbo305 posted:Holy crap they let you stand close to the course. Well I didn't take the picture, but that part of the course was a 270 degree loop and the camera man was in the middle of the loop chasing the cars around taking pictures. I think it looks like he's closer than he actually was.
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Oct 6, 2008 04:16
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Lando posted:For those thinking of an STI, Subaru is running a deal right now for 2008 STIs. drat that's a good deal. I'm seriously considering trading in the Saabaru now after hearing that. I might have to go take a test drive this weekend. One of my local dealers has one for about $5,435 off MSRP. Is the $8k off a regional thing or would I just have to work them down that far?
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Nov 25, 2008 07:25
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Well you've gone and done it now. After hearing about the STi deal that was going on, and looking around online for dealers with them in stock, I'm now the proud owner of a Lightning Red 2008 STi with 48 miles on it (dealer was about 40 miles away and I took a 2 mile or so test drive). I got the $7k and 0% financing with no problems at all though they did heavily lowball me heavily on my trade in so I'm just going to sell it myself. It's going to be hard to follow the break in procedures, but it'll give me time to figure out what all of the nifty knobs and buttons do. Can't wait to take it to autox when I'm done.
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Nov 29, 2008 07:03
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Mat_Drinks posted:I finally took some pictures of my black Friday purchase Well at least I'm not the only one. Here's mine, got it with 8 miles on the clock the Saturday after black Friday and now have about 750 on it thanks to a couple of trips here and there. This included taking my friend to get his (WRB with gold BBS) tonight. After riding in mine and hearing about the deal, he couldn't resist either. I can't wait to get a few more miles on mine so I can not feel so bad about flogging it a bit. 
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Dec 9, 2008 08:23
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Mat_Drinks posted:I'm about to hit 1k in my STI... Subaru doesn't require an oil change, but I've always heard it's best after an engine break in. When I just bought my 08 STI my dealer said to wait the 3.5k miles before bringing it in for its first oil change. They said that there are some additives they put in the oil at the factory that help with break in or something so you should let it run its course.
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Jan 20, 2009 19:35
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Artemis J Brassnuts posted:New goon with an '07 STi checking in; glad to find a Subaru love fest ready and waiting for me. I envy you guys with snow to play in - the closest I've gotten is frost on my windows in the morning. Where are you located? I did a few Formula Rally X rallycross races last year at Glen Helen and ended up taking 2nd place in SS4 for the season. With my new STI I don't plan on doing any rallyx until I can get mudflaps and skidplates on it. Other than that, rallyx isn't too hard on the car, you'll just get it nice and dirty as it was meant to be. Check out https://www.dirtyimpreza.com for more info from people that do everything from rallyx to stage rally, there's lots of good information over there.
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Jan 20, 2009 19:44
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Coffee Jones posted:9-2x Aeros with a 5 speed aren't all that common in the used market. I know, so how come no one will buy mine?  After a month and a half of having it listed all I've had are lowballers from Craigslist, one "broker" that was obviously a scam, and one guy that came to look at it then never called me back.
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Feb 19, 2009 20:47
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TurboLuvah posted:From what I've seen 9-2xs have been selling for less than comparable WRXs for some reason, it's very strange. Yeah, for some reason the KBB value is a few thousand lower than the WRX of similar equipment and condition, probably just because they're lesser known. I'm currently trying to sell mine and keep getting offered thousands less than I'm asking because people just look at the KBB price and expect to get it for that. I've had a few bites at the price I'm asking so I don't think I'm being unreasonable. When I bought the 9-2x I compared insurance rates with a WRX wagon and it was in fact cheaper to insure, but only a little bit.
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Feb 23, 2009 06:11
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Finally sold my Saabaru this weekend! When I told the guy that bought it that he should make sure and fill it with premium he replied with "oh, I don't usually pay attention to those sorts of things."  I hope his kid who he bought it for takes good care of it, but for some reason I don't think that will be the case.
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May 12, 2009 00:18
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Tremblay posted:Just sheet metal. 9-2x iirc has HIDs, and the STi steering rack. I think everything else is WRX. The 9-2x also has different suspension tuning (softer springs and stiffer dampers I think), different seats (in the front at least), and different wheels. For a list of all of the differences check out this thread http://saab92x.com/viewtopic.php?id=406 . Mechanically it's all WRX and WRX mods will work. I had a gutted uppipe, downpipe, and accessport stage 2 loaded on mine before I sold it.
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Nov 3, 2009 17:28
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I have a friend that just bought a new 2010 Outback. He really likes it, the only problem is he's an avid kayaker and his kayak is too long to fit on the oem roof racks that come standard on it. He actually had to pay to have the OEM racks removed and another one installed so he can put his kayak up there but now there are the holes left over from where the oem rack was. I told him to get the roof rails from a legacy wagon but I guess they don't sell those in the US anymore. So does anyone know where he might find the EDM or JDM roof strips from a legacy wagon do put on his outback?
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Feb 23, 2010 00:11
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Vladimir Putin posted:Edit: This page has tons of people ranting about it and several posters show homemade solutions. That's funny, I sent him that link and said that his comment is one of those first ones towards the bottom.
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Feb 23, 2010 21:56
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Tremblay posted:I'd be a little scared of snapping the stock endlinks. I'm putting on Whiteline 22/24mm sways. I might be a little late to the party here but I had a 25mm front sway on my 08 STi for the past 9 months or so with the stock endlinks. I was waiting for them to give up at any time and they never did, even with attending probably 10 or so autox events. I took that bar off last week and upgraded to a 32mm bar for stock class autox and got some new Perrin endlinks with it in the deal. Upon removal the stock ones still looked and felt ok but I think using them with the 32mm would be pushing it a bit too much. Stock bar (black, 20mm?), big bar (red, 25 mm), extra big bar (silver, 32 mm) 
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Mar 7, 2010 23:59
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Tatrakrad posted:I'm going to finally pull a trigger on a 2010 WRX sometime this week. I'll have a car for the first time in 3 years. I've got a 2008 Sti and didn't really get to choose what options it came with, I just took what they had. The armrest extension is really the only option that is useful, everything else I could easily live without. I've heard nothing but bad things about the sat nav, that it's overpriced and you can get a better one for much cheaper aftermarket (I don't have it). The auto dimming mirror with "Homelink" buttons doesn't always dim when I want it to and I have no use for the buttons, though I may change my mind someday when I automate my front gate (might be useful if you have an auto garage door or something). The iPod connection is ok if you have an iPod and plan to keep the stock stereo, but the stereo has an aux in as well. My friend got stuck with the titanium shift knob (lol at $150 for that thing) and the rear cargo net or something that was also pretty useless.
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Mar 16, 2010 21:16
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syphon posted:Yeah but the media hub in the stock stereo is TERRIBLE and I really want to get an aftermarket deck to replace it. I mean, all the basic features work as advertised, but the UI is atrocious and it behaves really really weird in a bunch of ways. I could rant for hours about it! Sounds like the same system I've got in my '08 STI, it really is terrible but at least it does something. It was already on the car and it was the only one they had so while I wouldn't pay the $250 or whatever they charged me for it by choice I was pretty much forced into it. Sometimes when I turn on the car it says "detached" and won't start at all. I have to unplug the ipod and plug it back in, which is very difficult even when not driving because of the short length of the cable creating an awkward angle you have to be at to plug it in. There was some sticker overlay thing in the packet that came with the ipod kit that you could stick on the stereo that kind of clued you in to what the buttons did in ipod mode. I think I've still got it with my manual if you want me to scan it or something. On mine, if you hit the "text" button while in ipod mode it will switch between displaying certain track info, the most useful being track name or artist and album name. No, there is no way to get it to display artist and track name. To turn on and off repeat/shuffle I think it's similar to switching between play lists/artists/albums you just hit number 1 (I think) before hitting the "CAT" button. I usually just have it on the same playlist and switch between that and the radio, I try not to pay too much attention to it because then it would really piss me off.
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Sep 23, 2010 22:27
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I think I'm the latest victim of piston ring failure. 
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Sep 25, 2010 23:25
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MetaJew posted:In a similar vein, I think the 17" BBS wheels from the previous gen STIs look much better than the 18's of the current gen. Agreed! I painted mine black. 
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Sep 26, 2010 03:35
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Finally got my car back today after over a month. Apparently the #2 and #3 rod bearings went out and they put in a new longblock. What they didn't tell me is that they also put in a new turbo due to excessive play in the turbine. Is that another common problem I don't know about or could that be caused by the rod bearing failure somehow? Anyway, I'm just happy to be out of that lovely Hyundai rental and back into my STI.
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Oct 30, 2010 04:08
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Sterndotstern posted:
Cool, can't wait to see what they do with the hatch, hopefully it won't include stupid clear tail lights. I can't wait to see it with my own eyes when I go on Monday, I'll post pics if I get some good ones.
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Nov 18, 2010 00:29
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Went to a casual autox today and the car was awesome through the puddles this morning. At lunch I had the fastest time of the day with my slightly modded (AP, 32mm front sway, wide tires) 08 STI, hooray for Subaru AWD. In the afternoon it dried up and my times got faster but were bested by two turbo NA Miatas and a Honda S2000 with unknown mods. I was pretty happy with 4th fastest out of ~40 cars considering it included lots of other fast cars that should have been faster than me. I love putting sports cars to shame my super grocery getter.
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Nov 22, 2010 05:38
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Cat Terrist posted:This is why you learn how to drive your car as goddamn hard as possible before you mod - it goes much faster than you realise. Too true, I was at an autocross a few weeks ago and saw plenty of people whose cars were modded beyond their driving ability. I was faster than 95% of them in my mostly stock 08 STI (only has FSB, wider RE-01r tires, Accessport) and most of them should have been much faster than me. I had TTOD in the morning when it was a bit wet but as it dried up others started catching up. Not saying that I wouldn't be faster with some mods, but it's pretty drat good stock and I'd like to stay within the SCCA "stock" class rules. I also love it when guys that have a laundry list of mods/rice ask what I've done to the car and find that they just got beaten by a car that is mostly stock and has a baby seat in the back.
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Mar 22, 2011 01:01
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Wrar posted:I modded mine simply because I found the turbo response lacking. With the new tubing bits, it's like a different car. I actually have some low end power, which makes the car much more driveable. If I had the 2.5T instead of the 2.0 I might not have bothered with anything more than a reflash. That is definitely a must for the 2.0T. I came from a 2005 Saabaru with the 2.0T and did a gutted uppipe, catted downpipe and accessport and it really was a different car. When I returned it mostly to stock to sell it I could really feel the difference. I ended up leaving uppipe in it when I sold it because it was such a pain in the rear end to get in there I didn't want to go get it out. I've still go the stock uppipe in the garage if anyone wants it for some reason you can have it for the price of shpping.
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Mar 22, 2011 03:41
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syphon posted:Sometimes I wish I hadn't bought such a nice car (2010 WRX... bought it brand new). Take it to a rallycross, you'll have tons of fun and then stop caring. 
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May 10, 2011 05:05
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Ribsauce posted:Can anyone tell me about what this is worth? Just for reference, I sold my 2005 9-2x Aero with around 65k miles on it about 2 years ago for $11k and it still had a year and a half on the CPO warranty. It was in good condition in and out, no mods (they were removed and sold separately), had the sport package (sunroof and 17in wheels) and the manual trans. I was asking 12k but took 11k and it took me 5 months or so to sell it (I wasn't in too much of a hurry). With two more years on the one you're looking at and a few more miles, I figure you should probably be able to get that one for around $10k, though I haven't looked at used cars lately. Look at what similar year/mileage WRXs go for around you and the SAAB should actually be worth less (contrary to popular belief of their owners). Also you can check over on https://www.saab92x.com and see what they're going for around the country.
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May 11, 2011 21:42
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Most of the guys who autox in the club put the biggest front bar they can find (I've seen 29mm. Seriously.) on and then a small adjustable rear to dial in the amount of oversteer they'd like. I've got a custom 32mm front sway on my 08 STI for autox. I run in stock street tire class so I still have the stock rear bar and street tires. It really helps flatten out the car in the turns and makes the handling very predictable.
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May 12, 2011 21:29
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Cat Terrist posted:IF you have a suspension geometry issue, do what people have done for 100 years and fix it with geometry fixes, not this utter bullshit of sway bars. While true, this is the only option for those that run SCCA autocross in stock class here in America, which is what I think the previous poster was referring to. Basically, the only performance modifications you can make in that class are front swaybar, tires (any size but on stock size wheels), and shocks (can be adjustable but must retain same dimensions as OEM and use OEM springs). I don't know why these particular modifications are allowed but it's been that way for a long time and I guess it's hard to get the rules changed to make any sense. With these limitations in modification and the quick transitions and slaloms in autocross courses, any Subaru running stock class will benefit from a big front bar because that's pretty much all they can do. Now, if you were to move up to a street touring class where real suspension modifications are allowed, that's a whole different ballgame.
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May 14, 2011 21:00
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I run 265/35/18 tires on my 08 STI stock wheels with no problems. Never had any rubbing issues or anything and they do great in autox.
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Jun 28, 2011 23:15
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Simkin posted:Is there any car tyre equivalent of the motorcycle dual sport tyre? I'm mostly driving (commuting) on asphalt, but occasionally, I do venture on to some gravel to play around. I'm just looking for something that would be decent/good on pavement, and not fall to pieces/be destroyed by a bit of light gravel road shenanigans. All seasons can do ok on and off road depending on the model. In the rallycross club I run with they basically have three classes based on tires: all seasons, snow tires, and rally/truck tires. There are some all seasons that do better than others, ones with larger gaps between the tread blocks do pretty well in the dirt and the snows do even better with larger tread but wear faster. On my daily/rallycross wheels I have General Exclaim UHPs that are actually M+S rated and do pretty well in the dirt and not too bad on the road. I have a separate set of wheels/tires I use for autocross as the Generals wouldn't be too great there, but for every day use they're fine. I got the Generals because I found them cheap on Craigslist but there are others that are pretty good too. Check out this thread for a discussion on rallycross tires that mostly include snows and all seasons http://dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16886&highlight=tire
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Jun 29, 2011 04:15
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So I took the STI out to autocross today and after doing my first run I pulled back to grid and idled for about 5 minutes then shut off the car. When I turned it back on by the time I crept toward the front of the line there was a bunch of white smoke coming out the exhaust. I just left and didn't do any more runs and it seemed to have cleared up by the time I got my stuff packed up and out of the parking lot. I didn't see any more on the hour or so drive home so I'm wondering what to do. Am I hosed or is this some sort of normal thing? I'm reading about cracked ringland symptoms and hope I don't have that, I already had the engine replaced due to spun rod bearings. It's still under warranty for a few months but if I take it in I'd like to know what to expect.
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Jul 25, 2011 04:50
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So it looks like my 08 STI has got the infamous loss of compression in cylinder #4. This motor only has 10k miles on it since it was installed to replace the original motor with the spun rod bearings at 20k miles. I'm still waiting to hear what Subaru is going to do about it, here's hoping it's covered under warranty...again. My question is that last time they replaced the engine they asked me if I wanted to replace the clutch while they had everything apart saying it would be cheaper than getting it done on its own eventually. They said it would be around $800 and that it was "worn" but they couldn't say how worn. I opted not to do it since the car only had 20k miles on it and I don't launch hard or slip the clutch much and my 9-2x had plenty of clutch life left when I sold it at 65k miles. The STI now has around 30k miles on it and they're going to be pulling the engine apart again so I've got two questions: 1. Should I consider changing the clutch at this time? 2. If so, does anyone have any suggestions on what to get and where or should I just have them install another OEM unit? I'm familiar with some performance parts for Subarus but I have no clue what is good or bad or what I need regarding a clutch. I wasn't sure if the STI has some high performance clutch that wears out faster or something so I figured I'd ask. For reference, I've never had to replace a clutch in any of my cars before and one of them had 120k miles on it when I sold it with the original clutch so I'd say I'm generally pretty easy on them. I autocross the car sometimes but don't drag or track it so it probably has pretty normal wear. I'm supposed to hear tomorrow regarding what they're going to do so if I need to order something I should probably do that before the weekend.
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Aug 12, 2011 07:52
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nm posted:My (2005) warranty covered the clutch for 3yrs/36k mi. I'm not really worried about it being worn to the point of needing replacement. I'm wondering if it would be worn enough to justify spending the money now to replace it while they've got the engine apart rather than spending more down the road when it really needs it. They've already replaced my front brake pads under warranty and I'm hoping I can wear down the rears enough to be replaced before November when the warranty runs out.
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Aug 12, 2011 19:22
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Amandyke posted:Clutches and brakes can be described as worn as soon as you've engaged them one time. It sounds like that dealership lives up to the stealership title. 20k on a clutch and they say it's worn to the point where they'd advise replacing it? And they'll only charge you $800 for the pleasure? I trust they at least offered the lube for free. Maybe I worded it a little wrong, but they didn't advise me to change it last time they just said it was "worn" and when I asked how worn and worn enough to be replaced they pretty much said no. They said that it was their policy to stop and ask me if I wanted to change it at that point no matter what the condition since they already had the engine apart and they basically needed my ok to proceed. It sounded funny to me since it only had 20k miles on it but I guess they're supposed to ask regardless of condition which is why I opted not to change it. For some reason brake pads are covered under their warranty, that's why they replaced them for free.
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Aug 13, 2011 05:25
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So after sitting at the dealer with the engine out collecting dust for about 2 weeks, Subaru has finally decided that my STI is worthy of a new engine under warranty. Here's hoping engine #3 holds up better than #1 (20k miles spun rod bearing) or #2 (10k miles blown piston) did. That said, are there any tips for prolonging Subaru engine life or protecting the engine in general? I keep the oil full to the upper limit on the dipstick, have an AP stage 1 reflash, and put a few gallons of 100 octane in if I know I'm going to be driving hard (autocross). I think I'm going to run synthetic in the new engine since the new ones require it from the factory so I figured it would be a good idea. I really love the car and can't think of anything else I'd rather own, it's really a jack of all trades that can do everything I want in one car. If I got rid of it I think I'd have to get two vehicles to fill the void and my wife isn't cool with me having multiple vehicles so I guess it makes us both happy.
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Aug 24, 2011 06:31
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jamal posted:wow, you had some 100 and a reflash and still cracked a piston? lovely. I guess put on a downpipe and have it tuned and then still put 100 in. Well of course the one time I was running late and skipped putting the 100 in it was when it cracked the piston, and I had been running the Perrin stage 1 tune in the past and that time was running the Cobb 91ACN Stage 1 map. sanchez posted:What were you running before? Conventional oil in a turbocharged engine seems insane to me, it's not like the cost difference is that great. Since it is under warranty I just had most of the oil changes done at the dealer and they put the stock 5W-30 in. I actually asked the service adviser about using synthetic when I noticed a poster in the office advertising new Subaru synthetic oil and he said I didn't need to and it was only required on the new engines. He actually suggested that I should use regular oil because it's cheaper. When I asked him what they changed requiring the new models to use synthetic he said he didn't know but 2011 and up require it.
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Aug 24, 2011 17:23
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bull3964 posted:What were your oil change intervals? With engine #2 I had just done the 3rd oil change on that engine with about 10k miles on it so I kept it between 3000-3500 miles between changes.
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Aug 24, 2011 21:53
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The traction control on the STI can suck but it can actually be helpful if you put it in "green" mode. That way it doesn't control any acceleration but will help in braking. I experimented with it once at autocross practice doing runs with it on and off. On the ~40 second course I tried a few runs with the traction control completely off first, then put it in "green" mode and it immediately took about another second off my time. With it in "green" mode you can tap the brake mid corner and instead of making the car understeer like it normally would, it will rotate the car in the direction you're turning like magic and let you get back on the gas. If I forget to change the mode and leave the traction control completely on I can always feel the lack of power and response in turns and will almost always get a slower time and think there is something wrong with the car.
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Sep 1, 2011 22:43
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THE BLACK NINJA posted:I'm fairly sure that sway bars have been discussed too much in this thread, but I still think I am going to buy a set and I have questions for the advocates. I'm sure these questions have been discussed so I re-read 30 or so pages and couldn't find anything. If you autocross you'll want a big front bar. I autocross my 08 STI and I had a 25mm Perrin bar that made a big difference, but now I have a custom 32mm bar that's even better. I drive it every day on the street and the only time it's really even noticeable it is when you don't hit bumps or dips square and it rocks the car back and forth a bit. If you're doing springs as well then you probably don't need to go as big with the bar like I did, but I'm trying to keep it legal to run in SCCA stock class so that's pretty much all I can do. I can't really speak to the rear bar as SCCA rules say I'm not allowed to touch it.
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Oct 1, 2011 06:15
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THE BLACK NINJA posted:Did you upgrade your end links? The Whiteline website say they help induce the effects of a bigger bar sooner but they result in NVH. In my local club they have an indexed stock street tire class I run in that's pretty popular. There's usually 10 or so people running in the class and I usually finish just out of the trophies. If your club doesn't have something similar I've heard of people that run stock prepared cars with street tires in regular stock classes and in ST* classes and I think they do better in ST* because the R-comp tires are such a big advantage if people are running them in stock.
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Oct 1, 2011 23:16
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So my 08 STI is in the shop again, has been for about two and half weeks now. This time it's the transmission. It had stopped going into 3rd gear but was otherwise feeling fine so I just skipped 3rd for a few days until I got a chance to take it in. On the day I was going to take it in I accidentally tried to shift into third out of habi,t and it started making a horrible grinding/whining noise when the car was in motion. I pulled over immediately and had it towed to the dealer. They ordered some part for the transmission but after installation it was still making the noise so they have now ordered and received a new "main shaft." It was supposed to be installed and I was supposed to get it back today, but according to their latest report it "isn't going in easily" and they may have to order another part. Is my car just totally hosed or just cursed? It's on its third engine, second AC unit, and now they're having to rebuild most of the transmission, luckily it's still under warranty and all of these repairs have been at no cost to me. If I had to pay for all of the repairs they've done it would probably total more than I paid for the car. The warranty runs out in a week or so but the powertrain warranty is good to 60k miles. I'm thinking I'll keep it another two years until I have it paid off then dump it for something else even though I really love the car. I just had to write this down somewhere as it's really got me bummed.
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Nov 12, 2011 01:39
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