LRegvall

This includes it but it is wrong for the Rallitek rear drop. Should be .9". http://www.subiwiki.com/wiki/index.php/BL_%282005-2009%29

See the attached link http://www.flyinmiata.com/V8/ for inspiration and amazement. Who would have thunk it, but once you have, props to you for taking it on. The 3.8 Buick V6 has had a reputation as one of the best motors ever out of Detroit - OHC or pushrod. Good luck...

This looks like a clean and tidy installation. How was it that the Cobra got started?

Ambitious undertaking. Very cool. By way of comparison, attached is a pic of a Porsche 912 with a small block Chevy. The guy who did it said his research showed that the Chevy motor was actually lighter than the Porsche boxer 6 that he was going to put in there. He also said it didn't suffer from tail heavy oversteer. He raced the car for a while.

I'm in West LA and don't know if it's within your range. But I'll check in with you when I need work done. Congratulations and good luck with your venture!

Don't be spoiled now. Think of your car. I even cheer for SC sometimes.

The stock tires are 215/45-17 so they're going to be harsher.

I hadn't used Yelp before. Thanks. They are deserved good reviews. There are two Steves there. Steve Krieger (sp?) and Mike are owners and (big) Steve and Chris are service writers. As one of the reviewers said, they work as a team and try to take care of their customers. Tell them Leif sent you. You may have to cheer for UCLA though.

Crestview Service on Pico near Doheny. I've been going there for years. Good general mechanics. Reasonable and honest.

I switched from the BFG KDWs (I've used both first and second gens) which I really liked. They had sharp and precise turning with as much predictable communicative grip as I am able to deal with. They were a bit on the noisy/howly side which was annoying at times but they did deliver 30K-35K life. I find myself driving the Sube in heavy rain at times and occasionally in light to medium snow so I decided to switch to A/S tires. I picked the Goodyear Eagle GTs based mostly on the Tire Rack test results, very few TR negative reviews, and the bang-for-buck tradeoff. Although they don't have the ultimate grip of the BFGs, I'm not driving for timing and scoring. I like their handling. They are pretty crisp and precise at turn in. They still have very good grip and they are communicative and predictable. Certain freeway surfaces (generally longitudinal grooving) will make them growl (as opposed to howl) a bit, but they are generally quiet (much quieter than the BFGs). I would definitely buy them again (unless of course something else gets my attention).

Kinder - I missed what kind of springs you have. Also, what size tire do you have on? Thanks for the pics.

I agree that the best thing about these forums is exchanging information about what we do with our cars, what seems to work and what doesn't. Everyone's tastes are (hopefully) a little different and there is no right or wrong approach. I opted for the coilovers because some were available at only a little more than new struts and springs. I got mine from Import Image for less than $1,000 and it seemed new springs/struts were going to be at least $800. I've never used coilovers before and wasn't sure what to expect. The BC BRs seem to be built really well. At first though they were either pretty harsh or pretty bouncy (depending on damper settings). I think this may be due to inadequate spring/damper travel relative to some of the others available. But I learned a bit about using preload (mostly from motorcycle websites) to compensate for this (it basically enhances the amount of spring travel avail for bump absorption)and now find them to be pretty civilized. I haven't usually been that adventurous about working on my cars but playing with them has really been a learning experience for me. I'm now figuring that I could actually do the install myself. I have them set at a pretty modest ride height (not too pimpy or too DTMish) of 13.75" front and rear, measured from fender arch to wheel center. I have my AVO 20mm sway bar set to full stiff. The car sticks amazingly well even with my new Goodyear Eagle GT all season tires. It's definitely a lot more fun than the stock springs/struts especially on twisty mountain and canyon roads. I've got a little more understeer than I'd like and need to talk with my alignment guy to see if some of it can be dialed out with some toe or other adjustments. Overall I'm pretty happy with them at this point. Since I haven't tried a strut/spring combo on the car, I don't know which best optimizes the ride/balance tradeoff. One thing I really like is that you can adjust ride height generally independent of spring travel. And you can easily adjust the dampers and ride height (lowering the center of gravity) if you want to focus your driving more on the handling side. I'd post pics but haven't figured out how to attach my 2-3mb jpegs to the posts.

I've seen some pics of lowered outbacks that look pretty good. But it does seem like fighting mother nature. But there have been more perverse attacks on mom than lowering your outback. On the other hand lowered wagons and sedans do seem to look better when they are lowered (even though I initially resisted the concept). The front especially is too high on both. And Eibachs, Ralliteks, HTechs and Pinks seem to be the mild lowering alternative (I went with BC BR coilovers that are working pretty well). I think confusing sexy and ghetto was the same problem Hugh Grant had.

Same drop = sexy and ghetto???

I don't think there are any springs other than Pinks (.5") that don't drop close to an inch at least. Some coilovers will let you get close to stock. The car will look better with at least the front dropped a bit.

That's better than I get on my unmodified motor. What did you do to get it to spool up faster?

The Eibach website doesn't list them. Ralliteks seem like the closest alternative.

They are showing up as a special order item when I look. But only for sedans and not wagons even though they work on both.

Last I looked they showed up but not if you search for an LGT wagon.

Can you post it?

HB installed my coilovers and I was impressed at their work. They did a great, conscientious job. I'll go back to them for the things I'm not ready to do myself (many things). I'm in West LA so I'd prefer they were Culver City Speed.

I usually find the same 1mpg difference between the computer and measured reality. Not surprisingly, I have a hard time understanding how many of the folks on this thread are getting such good mileage. As I mentioned above, my driving style will maybe make a 1mpg difference (like 15mpg vs 16mpg), never 3-5. My driving pattern (city, hiway, number of stop-and-goes, etc) will account for the 16mpg to 22mpg swing. This thread (and other mileage threads) seems to have about 75% reporting very decent mileage and 25% reporting crappy mileage (or thereabouts). I guess the question I have to pose to SOA is the one I mentioned above - take a random sample of 100 LGTs and what will the mileage distribution be like if run on the identical dyno test cycle. I'm sure they'll have a good answer.

I hadn't heard of it. I'll ask my dealer service department about it. Has anyone else heard of it? I do think I'm running rich. My brother has an '06 LGT with absolutely clean tail pipes while mine are thoroughly black. His mileage is better than mine. Who knows whether that explains it or not, but it is interesting. Thanks.

Ah yes. My dense. Cruise control.

What's CC? I'm probably being dense. I've tried most mileage saving techniques that you talk about. They will usually account for about 1 mpg. The only thing that seems to matter between my 16 mpg city and my usual hiway trip 22 is how many times my foot goes from the right pedal to the middle pedal. The angle of attack (abrupt or hard acceleration vs easy acceleration) or the duration (staying on either pedal for more or less time) doesn't seem to matter much beyond around 1 mpg.