Firenza

Don't have any of the WRX this time, and havent gone to the south island yet, so only have these from one trip.

For what car, what size and what do you want out of it? Those seem alright prices for what your getting depending on what size you have. You said in another thread you might be driving on snow, so the SP Sport 600 wouldn't be a good choice as its a summer tyre, and the blocky tread pattern wouldn't grip very well. The Sport Maxx RT could be pretty good given its the factory fit on the 2015ish WRX STi. I went with Continental MaxContact 6 for mine and very happy so far. Managed to get a set down from 1100 to 800 after battling 4 different shops against each other. So far they seem quite good.

Usually Bilsteins come on GT-B IIRC. Do you know what year and month, i can try and get hold of the OEM brochure. If i have the applied code and option code I can see what it might have come with. I know I can do it on 4th gens, but happy to give it a go UPDATE Had a quick look at the brochure and came up with this; From that it looks to me that it the S pack is a sport package, verses L pack with is luxury. I cant read Japanese, so can't read it exactly but heres it zoomed in if you want to try to google translate it

On what car? and which bumpers? If youre talking something like a BL/BP legacy then you have different bumpers for Spec-B verses a non Spec-B, If its a H6 verses a flat 4. But generally yes, they will be different enough they wont just bolt up

Had a SuperPro sway bar come in at work, so decided to see if it would sort my squidgyness during cornering. Bit harder to fit then the an impreza due to the duel exhaust, but so simple enough. Did manage to snap a bolt while tightening it down with the torque wrench. Only 55nm, so perhaps I should be happy it failed now instead of mid corner.... Also got a v11 STI steering wheel the other day, so finally got around to stripping my old Momo wheel of all its buttons and switches and adding them to the STI wheel. Much nicer to hold as the old Momos go super smooth with lots of use, and the red stitching must give an extra 5kw or something. Matches the red dash lighting too!

The fully synthetic one, you wouldn't want to use a mineral oil on something like this. Hpr5 would be fine, as it uses what penrite call "extra 10" so it should behave like a 5w30. And it's on sale at the moment at repco iirc.

I would, i've had two BP legacies, one N/A one that had 270k and my current turbo one has 240k, and both are run on 5w30 (Fuchs Flex 23 to be precise). However my WRX which has only 220k on it runs 10w40 (Penrite HPR10) HOWEVER this is a general recommendation. Thats because it depends on how worn certain parts of your particular engine are that were caused by many factors from before you even owned it. Thats why i've ended up using two different grades for essentially the same engine on my cars. If you do try the recommended 5w30 it would be worth checking the oil level regularly (say every fuel fill for a few weeks, and then maybe once a week if everything seems fine). If you notice the engine consuming oil, then it would probably be better going back to the thicker grade next oil change, but if you see no change after 5000k or so then you should be fine to continue checking the oil as you would normally, And then you can continue on using a oil that would allow your engine to work more efficiently.

Finally found the cause of my burnt oil smell, after replacing the rocker cover gasket to no improvement dug in further and found... a leak from the Cam Cap. So a bit more difficult then the rocker cover then Got it finished, and put a new Timing Kit and Water Pump I had as I was in there (taking the AVCS cam pulleys were a c*nt even with the proper subaru tool don't believe the videos on youtube!) Then drove it to Whangarei as a test. So far so good it seems, no more leak onto the exhaust manifold. Also finally managed to complete my Genome gauge install, as the supplied sandwich plate wouldn't fit. So went to pick a part to grab an adaptor to install it into the engine block. Then had to steal the pressure off my WRX as it turned out the supplied pressure sensor didn't work Still, theyre up and running now, and they look good and allow me to track how the car is going which is what I want.

Its tidier, and a lot more accurate. IIRC cyl 3 is the one that gets the hottest, so thats the one you want to track anyway. If you don't have the threaded bung, you can grab one off any subaru pretty much from pick a part, as the same one is used for the oil pressure sensor under the alternator on every EJ motor.

On my black face set of Lamco gauges, mine is oil temp. I can't say I have ever seen one measuring air temp before. What range of tempratures does yours read? If its the same range as wabbits ones that seems very low for oil I should have the guide i used to install mine somewhere on my other pc. What kind of wiring are you missing? Usually theyre like this.. And that installs in between the radio harness. Then just a hose into the engine bay off a tee from boost line for the boost gauge, and then a sensor for oil temp. Either the Lamco style ones which replaces the sump plug (which isnt the best as it can get easily damaged and also can be cooled by air flowing over it at speed) or using a defi sensor and using the bung off the back of the engine block under the intercooler.

As far as I'm aware Defi is what you're looking for. I got mine from North Shore Toyota (which is the Defi agent near me) but dpending on what sensor you're missing you can get aftermarket made Defi Sensors off eBay, and sometimes they appear on trademe. Which Lamco set did you get? I'm after another set to match the ones in my WRX

Holy crap, i'm sitting on a goldmine! !

Pretty sure the fronts will fit, but I'd assume the rears wouldn't as the back end would be heavier in a wagon. Also make sure they're in good nick. Bilsteins can get knocky after about 10 years

Looks very nice, the bodykit can't be too common either! I was going to go for one of those, but had to go outback for the tow rating (....but then I never fitted a tow bar ) Must have been cared for when it came into NZ given its got a set of michelins on it. Unfortunately I can't decode your applied code at the moment, id be interested to see what its spec'd like.

What happens if you shut the turbo timer off early with the remote?

Remembered that I had several sets of STi pedals sitting in the garage, so mashed together an Auto GC/GF and a manual BP/BL set to make a set up for the wagon, and now have a set for the WRX too if i decide to get rid of the V7 pedals i have fitted at the mo. Weirdly I have a cover that looks like it fits the foot rest, but the instructions make no mention of it, so can't figure out how to fit it. So if anyone knows let me know

More superfluous mods for an Outback. Managed to find a Prova Eifel carbon intake duct (http://www.prova.co.jp/products/intake/ksg9b60000000hze.html) Dunno if it gives any more power, but it looks flash as fk XD

I think anything 90s and enthusiast focused is going up. People who wanted one when they young are now older and have a bit of money, and the supply is less and so prices go up. Same happened with older cars like 60's Falcons and Commodores, and will always happen pretty much. Thats also mixed with the fact that 90s stuff is the last era of analog cars, that are every day usable. You can still have bluetooth and aircon and a bit of safety without everything being tied into the ECU.

The bendix ultimates are a track capalble pad, so a tad over what you need, and why they will be dusty. Would be worth checking out the rest of bendix range https://www.bendix.co.nz/product-range I have their General CT pads in my turbo outback and they're quite good daily driving and for the odd blat. Otherwise I've used TRW pads https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/passenger-cars-and-lcv/disc-brake-systems/brake-pads/ and they were very good, even coping with a track day at Hampton Downs (though they were pretty shagged by the end, but that was over what they were ment for !) If you want something more specialist EBC pads work quite well. Ive got the EBC Yellows in the WRX now, and i've know people use them and the greens to great effect, but they can be a little costly.

I have a spare facelift unit in Auckland if you want to give it a try after the lock downs finished. Its out of a NZ new legacy, but should still work fine, at least to try. Otherwise, for now, all you can do is check the fuses if its died completely, otherwise its multimeter out time 😛

Congratulations on the new car, Generally, on a turbo subaru, 98 octane minimum. They can usually cope with using 95 in pinch, but you risk pre-ignition/knock if you give it a boot full. The ecu can adjust, but only so much, and its harder to compensate under heavy load. There are ways you can tune the car the compensate beyond what the car itself can do, but I personally haven't played around with that, my GC8 is still running what it left Japan with 14 years ago. Might be good to ask about in the tuning sections, or have a talk to someone like PBMS and see what they can suggest, especially if you're wanting to increase power, as just wacking up the boost and fanging it is a good way of breaking something. 😛

I'm rather interested to find out what they put it, as the 5eat is the BP/BL series at least doesn't use anything too special, instead just using something that meets the Subaru/Idemitsu ATF HP rating. I've checked on a few oil selectors, and so far Castrol, Fuchs and Penrite all have oils they recommend. Be interesting to see what Oil supplier they use to know to steer away from!

Getting a replacement your best bets are either Strong For Subaru (https://strongforsubaru.com), Dodsons (https://dodsonautospares.co.nz). Subwrecks (http://www.subwrecks.co.nz/) There was one in hamilton, but I can't remember what they were called. I've only dealt with the first two, and both have been pretty good to deal with in the past. It might be worth putting in some research, as you might find it had to find a trans with the exact code you have, but you can sometimes use a similar one as long as the wiring, and gear ratios match. Have you thought about getting it rebuilt but an interdependent trans company instead? I know winger have sent tranmissions to Kaspa before to get rebuilt, and just added their mark up on top. Swapping the trans is fairly easy i'd assume (note - i'm basing this on the 4eat, and 5sp manual transmissions i've installed before), as the orientation of our engines mean the transmission is sitting there in the transmission tunnel as apposed to in the engine bay like a average car. You'd want to get it up high enough in the air, and I would assume the 5eat would be a fair bit heavier then the 4eat i've removed from cars before.

Alas, i don't have space for a welder, but can just about fit a drill in the hovel I have as a garage! I did think about trying to get someone else to do it, but managed to fix it with stuff I had laying around. I'm just happy theres something for people to search, When I tried searching for symptoms, I found lots with the same issue, but not much about fixing it. Hopefully this will help people try themselves, rather then just leaving it as is and being uncomfortable

Does the base of your seat feel loose on one side? Does the height adjustment only work on one side? Well, turns out subaru seat bases aren't as strong as they should be, and if you sit on them the wrong way, you'll bust the spot welds off the frame, leading to one side of the front of the seat squab flapping about. Hopefully it broke in a useful spot, otherwise I hope you enjoy being uncomfortable! 😛 Heres how to fix it, you will need; Socket Set 2x small bolts, washers, and nuts Drill + drill bits a bit bigger then the bolt threads Reaming tool Magnetic Pick-up tool Step one, look at this image, everything circled is important Step Two, Remove the seat There are 4x 14mm bolts holding the seat into the car (Circled in RED) you'll have to move the seat back and forward to get to all of them. Once thats done move the seat base as far forward as it can go, and the backrest to straight up to make it easier to remove the seat from the car disconnect the battery. Then disconnect the battery, press the brake pedal to disperse any latent power and you can then tilt the chair forward and disconnect the 2 connectors (circled in GREEN) Then carefully remove the seat from the car and place it on something soft. Step Three, Located your busted welds The two spot welds (location circled in ORANGE) that hold the front of the seat will have busted off on one side (or both if you're REALLY unlucky) Good Weld BAD WELD! Same from above, totally busted Step Four, Fix the weld. The bracket that has busted off, will be part of a assembly that hold the seat in place, and as its busted will be super loose. Every time i've seen it, the metal work holding the seat cushion is left with two nice round holes perfect for putting a bolt through, leaving you with the job of drilling holes in the bracket to match. Do your best to brace the bracket, and drill two new holes. Try to get them as central to the location of the welds as possible, but if you drill larger holes and use washers you can give yourself a bit of leeway Once thats done, use the reaming tool to clear out the left over material from inside the bracket, as if left you'll end up having to squash it when you tighten up the bolts, and as theres no easy access, you may not have enough torque to pull it flat. it'll still work, but you may have to go back and tighten it up again. Use the magnet tool to recover as much metal dust as you can that fell into the seat to save it getting into the mechanisms, and the carpet once you turn it back over. Step Five, Replace the seat You just removed it, do the reverse and you should have a seat in the car bolted down that doesn't flex, and you can now enjoy(?) the feeling of lifted thighs!! Make sure to test the seat through its full range of movement before you bolt it in, as if somethings gone wrong you'll both save having to unbolt it, but also if its loose you may get away with just making a noise rather then snapping something.