TomahawkLabs

The minority of spending money to make it perform worse at the racetrack. I’m 31 and because I drive it like an old man my insurance premium stays low and it stays in working order.

This is where I feel like I’m in the minority. I drive my car on the city streets, so 99% of my driving is 65mph or lower 90% is 40mph or less. I don’t track it and it’s my daily so it can never be “race car”. It is super fun since the “extra” gear down low I’m constantly shifting from 1-3 in town. It’s like I’m driving in a F&F movie. Every time I look at adding go fast parts (engine) I think of everything that has to be done to “do it right”. A catted down pipe and tune would run me $1500-2000. I’d make more power and my 0-65 time would improve when I merge onto the interstate. Then there is the increased wear due to increased forces which will lead me into a very expensive rabbit hole. So the incentive to do that is rather limited. Because why buy the upgrades to not use them. I listen to music every time I drive, whether it’s an album or Twitch Stream there is always something playing when I drive. I don’t listen loudly so I still hear my stock car noises. Putting that same amount towards a modest audio system including sound treatment. You’d be adding 50-100lbs of sprung weight mostly evenly around all 4 corners. If I have either of my kids in the car I gain that much but localized to a rear corner. It would reduce/remove vibrations in the panels and improve the overall sound and modernize the navigation to CarPlay. Really make it feel like my Spec B is a grown up STi. I didn’t want an STi because they are visually loud cars that attract attention. The 3 main differences between the Spec B and an STi are: the engine power, the brakes, and the DCCD/Front Diff. All of which are unnecessary for the kind of drivingi my car does or will do. I’ve done and will continue to do suspension upgrades (STi Pinks/Bilstiens, OZ lightweight wheels) and hopefully a 2015+ steering rack soon because I can enjoy those at 25 mph around the round abouts and everywhere else I drive to.

I love the full stealth builds. I have had some sort of car stereo upgrade in every car i've ever owned, except this one. The plan is after my to fix list is finished I want to get the OEM McIntosh HU and replace the OEM Navigation with one of those android tablets and then run the line level out into a modest system. OEM+ vibes.

What kind of active filter were you using for the tweeter? You would 100% blow up a tweeter with that much power AND sending a full range signal to it. Also the C1 6.5" component can only handle 50w and that's tweeter and woofer. Curious what the setup looked like. That being said, I love car audio and it's a shame it's so niche. The few times you see any amount of car audio it's always about the bass. I'd love to see some Legacy GT audio systems.

My comment was more about driver safety than preservation of the chassis lol. There are enough busted LGTs to restore if one wanted. It's a daily in the sense it's "my" only car, but my wife has the workhorse ('22 Ascent) that we use to haul the family on trips, etc. My car takes me to work and on errands. But in the midwest our roads are trash because the frost so it's already a rough ride and I don't need to make it worse.

I had the OEM pitch stop, likely the one put in from the factory. From what I have read about pitch stops, the STi version is stiffer, but nothing big as far as changes, and the Group N mount causes a lot of NVH, so I went with OEM. I noticed on harder acceleration or deceleration the engine would tilt and I could feel "judders". There was also a nasty click sound that is now gone since I replaced the mount. The rubber surround on the engine side had worn down and had play. I read that the CNC aluminum pitch stops are not great for street cars because in a front end crash the pitch stop will snap, by design) reducing the backwards pressure of the engine into the firewall/cab. The CNC metal ones won't snap and can be pushed into/through the firewall.

I swapped my pitch stop for an OEM part and the difference is night and day.

Good deal. The hammer slide has a pointed shaft attachment for pushing the axel free from the wheel hub. Way better than pushing it in via a punch. Is this the seal that is worth the $8 insurance to have on hand I’ve seen talked about in other threads?

I am to understand that I shouldn’t worry about the rotation of the axel as it should fit back into the splines. Just don’t take any gasketing with the axel when I remove it?

Not sure how much your are into Tech/features, but some of the 2019 MY of the Outback have CarPlay and you can option the 3.6 flat 6 (last year the Outback could have the 3.6). I had a 2016 premium before my spouse traded it for her Ascent. I liked it. Did a 2" lift which was neat. Wobbled at 16 mph but I thought it was funny.

Did you learn any tips/tricks on replacing the boots? I plan on doing the Pitch Stop dogbone this weekend if the dealer can get the part in Saturday. Next week is the opening F1 race weekend and I plan to be in the garage plenty and figure I can do an axel or two while watching the race. I know one suggestion was scrib a mark on the axel and the trans to realign in when re-inserting it. I picked up a boot collar(?) crimp as well so I have that to clamp the bands on the boot. Figure I lift it up, push the axel out via the hammer slide tool like I did the rears. Mark the axel and trans for alignment and place on my prepped bench to get dirty. Was there anything else tool wise or process wise you would suggest? Looks like you have baggies for hardware, which is labeled, shop towels and a sharpie to label the bags and bearings.

I still need to watch some videos, etc on replacing the axel boots in the front. Already have the boots/grease, but love to fully know what I am doing before I crack any bolts. I really enjoy working on my car, but my shoulder hurts, but I saved $200 so my wife thought I deserved a new hat and hoodie, so this weekend was overall a pretty big win. Now the only noise I hear in my car is road noise and motor noises which is how I like it.

New hub assembly went on without fuss (once it was orientated correctly lol. Wasn’t to hard. Conveniently had a 32mm socket so the only new tool I needed was a hammer slide hub puller which is a 10/10 tool. It pushed the axel out of the hub assembly and pulled the assembly out in 3-4 good hammer slides. Note, I did punch in the wheel axel hub locking material back in, but it was after I took the picture.

I got it up on stands and letting some penetrant soak the bolts front and rear. Hopefully it plays well tomorrow and comes out easy.

These upgrades would only be if there was a need to touch the engine in a meaningful way. The agreement with the spouse is "If I have to touch it, then I can upgrade it". My current wheels only are on there because the curb was stronger than the stock wheels. If I am paying for new wheels, I am getting ones I want vs the stock SpecB wheel. When I have to touch the motor I want to be one and done. Living in the midwest sucks most of the time, but easy access to e85 is one of the few upsides. Pump+injectors, etc to run e85 will give me more gains than any other upgrade. My understanding with the IC is the end tanks and would feel safer with a nice welded product vs something reinforced. Good to know on the intake I am fond of the sleeper look and the less amount of giveaways the better. DP + a dyno tune would also be in the cards because I'd rather my car tuned for my fuel, etc than what Cobb thinks would work everywhere. So this would put me above stock power and that would be by design only if I had to crack into the block for pistons/rings, whatever. I figure if I am forced to put any new internals in, it would be justification to spend a bit more to get stronger parts and turn up the boost. I have no intention on tuning my engine until it blows and with careful maintenance it may never, which isn't a bad thing.