SBT

Man - that's a lot of work and I really hope you are driving today. Good luck. Would be interested in seeing the spreadsheet of costs for the conversion (parts and any fab work).

I'll be heading up to HB Speed tomorrow to have them swap out my stock strut/springs for Bilstein and Swifts SS. The Bilsteins are TOs with LGT Sedan-specific Pink springs (which I'll be putting up FS as soon as I get them off) and the Swifts are new, wagon-specific versions. Once that's done, Jon is going to do a few baseline pulls to make sure everything is good to go for some upgrade tuning I'll be doing next month. Looking to install a WBR FMIC, an STI UP (replace the stock CUP) / MadDad Shorty DWG DP or a full Cobb TBE to the cans and do a pro-tune. Looking forward to seeing what Stage 2 really feels like.

The horizontal, body-colored one that also acts as a door protector, or the lower one that wraps the bottom of the door? They both apply with adhesive tape and 1 or more clips. I have P/Ns for both, just need to know what color and which one, upper or lower.

Holy schnikees, your dentist must love you. Is there possibly something wrong with your tire gauge, because at those indicated pressures, those things should be like driving on lead donuts. SBT

Thank you & good info - at some point, I would like to do this, so it's good to know there are others in LGTland who have already done this. I was thinking of just going with the Spec B and not worry about Front or DCCD, but what's the fun in that? If you're going to go to the race gear, might as well have the full round. SBT

Nice setup and is it equivalent to the STIs OEM setup (better/different - how?) SBT

VN setup. I can only imagine what it must appear like though, to someone traveling in the opposite direction and watching that rig crest a hill coming towards them. You'd see the top of the boat and then this tiny spec of a thing in front of it. I imagine you really take advantage of the 1st gear 50/50 torque lock pulling this out of the water though. And, I don't recall it in your previous posts about this, but are you running surge or electric brakes with this? SBT

With only 61 of my version sold, you can bet I'm keeping all my stock parts. SBT

1 of 61, SWP/Tan Leather Interior, 2005 LGT Limited 5MT Wagons delivered. On the rarer-side. I tried finding the color codes for the units listed as alpha/numbers only (seems to be OBs only). Not a lot of success on that one. Perhaps members could post up their color codes for the ones not otherwise identified. SBT

Was that vid edited, because about halfway through it, the clouds jumped a couple thousand feet (give or take a few hundred). It was weird. Completely distracted me from listing to the boxer melody. SBT

' Oh noes.... it's pervasive.

Running them at stock and even higher pressures (39F/37R), the tramlining was just too much - think tired after driving from fighting the wheel more often than not. And rainy, wet roads with high winds really exacerbated this feeling. At first I thought it had to be alignment, but everything is spot on and it's the same alignment I use with the MPSes. It just got to the point where it was too much bother and I traded them in. Definitely did not feel as confident on snow and ice as the MPS ASes, but that's possibly due to regional road/temp differences. Perhaps in really cold climes, the MPSes wouldn't be any better (or worse) than the CECs. Dunno. Just know that for SoCal snow, I really like the grippy tread blocks and the ice compound in the MPSes better.. SBT

#1) 225/45x17, Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season on stock wheels, $780.00 Mounted/Lifetime Balance (at Discount Tires), 31,000 miles on Set 1 (w/about 10K left in the tread) about 1,000 miles on Set 2 replacements #2) San Diego (SoCal metro and mountains) #3) Commuting, Canyon Carving, light tracking (hopefully) #4) Percent of highway vs. city driving: 70/30 #5) Original OEM RE92A; folby Conti Extreme Contact AS (too much tramlining), folby MPS PS-AS, folyby MPS PS-AS. #6) Dry, wet, snow (live for snow) - all excellent. Dry - absolutely no tramlining which on SoCal roads is immediately noticeable if the tires tend this direction, i.e., Conti EC ASes. Corners very linearly, turn-in is crisp and precise and makes for some fantastic on-ramp and canyon carving moments. Woot! Wet - Love this tire in the rain. Unlike with the RE92Aes, I don't tense up when I see standing water, the car doesn't pull or dive when you hit large freeway puddles or collected water at the road edge. They just sipe it off and keep going. Standing starts and traction on rain-slicked roads feels just like on dry roads. The harder you push them, the more they "bite" and really communicate well what's going on at the tire contact. Snow - Ah, snow. Had a huge Valentine's Day snowstorm hit the county here and we got to the mountains, just ahead of the road closures (you can read about it here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1710713&postcount=125). We were in 6-8" deep, unplowed snow (with some ice underneath) and had no problems starting, stopping (on serious uphill and downhill stretches) and getting around where others were hung-up, stranded, or otherwise unable to move. Compared to the RE92s and the CEC ASes, the MPS ASes are as different as night and day. The MPSes grip and keep gripping, where I never felt confident on the previous tires. Even on icy roads - Another time, we were again in the mountains and it was raining and freezing. While the ambient temps didn't indicate freezing temps, the road surface was freezing. I couldn't even tell that the road was slippery until I did a 2nd gear "romp" and felt the wheels churn a bit. I let off the gas, and the car immediately straightend out at which point I locked the brakes and with no drama, it stopped quickly and straight - something that would never happened with the RE92As or the CEC ASes. Braking - Another strength. These tires will quickly bring you to a halt, even taxing the Anti-lock system in dry, wet and snow situations. Again, very linear and resonsive to brake inputs Trade-off - the tires are marginally less quiet than the RE92s and the CEC ASes and they feel slightly heavier (could be the 225 size vs the stock 215 size) - but you quickly get over that when you realize what you're getting in return. Treadwear - How many ZR rated tires, sport-driven, will last 40,000 miles? Like I mentioned above, I had 31,000 miles on my original set of MPS ASes and could have gotten another 10K miles out of them, but wanted to be ready for the rain and the snow season, so changed them out for a new set. Balanced every 5K miles and run at 38F/36R pressures unless I'm towing, then I run 38F/40R.While I researched all of the possible replacements, I felt that for value vs. performance, longevity and safety, there was nothing on the market that compared as favorably, and bought a second set to replace the first. I will be putting these on my 18 x 7.5" BBS RGRs as well when these wear out. Hope this stayed true to the OP's orginal intent. SBT

Agree with the oil being a contributor, especially since heat "applied" does tend to enable it to start. Also agree with battery diagnosis, including all connections at the battery end and at the engine side, including the starter, the main fuse block and the ground system. If it's rolling over and still not starting, then it's going to be fuel, air or ignition. Check that the throttle body is opening up and that it's not stuck (frozen) closed, check the spark system - including the ignitor, and that fuel is getting to the cylinders. SBT

Went back to stock over the weekend and I've got to tell you, I'm just not content. The car is too quiet. Think I'm going to work on a little mod and go back to some version of the HZ mod. This all of course, in anticipation of some stellar sounding CBE system that works, looks good and hangs right. So my $1.40 HZ Stg 2 mod sound was setting the sound/aural standard for what I'm looking for in a CBE and prepping the family for a more "permanent" change. SBT

Should one interpret "higher revs" to = higher speeds, or just revving into higher RPMs. If it's the first, then of course it'll sound quieter at speed, you're leaving the sound behind man. If it's the latter, then sitting in one location and revving makes a tremendous amount of noise... Just have someone do a driveby at WOT with STG II HZW mod and you'll likely change your view. It's pretty throaty and loud - more furious (mad as hella) burble but I'm sure some of it is still lost (attenuated) going through the cans. SBT

Sounds like what I was proposing here... http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=752520&postcount=663 except using varying gauges of copper wire so it would mold and form a good seal across the top portion but leave the bottom open to exhaust the Hog-zawst. lol SBT

Aight! For those of you getting carbon build-up on the bottom of your cars - here's my proposed solution. Single 10-12 gauge solid copper wire should approximate Stage 1 (1 thick HZW). Single 8-10 gauge solid copper should approximate Stage 1.5 (1thick / 1 thin HZW). Single 4-6 gauge solid copper wire should approximate State 2.0 (2 thick HZWs). May still get buildup, but should be significantly lessened. SBT

I defintely agree and I hadn't thought about the difference between the MT and AT brethren. I think if I had an AT, I might view the mod completely differently. We've all heard the autobox rice rockets roaring up through the gears only to hear that "sag" between upshifts. For those of us with MTs, there's no way to mistake it for anything but an MT.... Very subjective but imho HZ, V1.0, Stg 2.0 + MT = definite goodness HZ, V1.0, Stg anything + AT = jury's out... SBT

I want to hear that boxer burble all the way from barely turning over (which certainly helps with clutch engagement) all the way up into the upper registers of the RPM range - read full lilt or aural nirvana. That's what makes a Subaru boxer burble so special. It calls to you AND to those who are used to hearing the typical I-4 EL header'd hopefuls - "that was something different and it sounds good". The HZ v1.0, Stg 2.0 does that SBT

It's actually leading the SoCal Post Whoring Thread by about 4,000 views. Meh... wthc... SBT

39 2x now... lost my cookie... did I just say that???? Had to restart the thread. my HZ v.1, Stage 2.0 SBT

Ordered SWP, baby! Just exactly the way I wanted it. SBT

Love the freer revving/breathing of the stage 2, but will probably drop it back a notch. Three months and no soot, carbon or other buildup - other than a little (normal) combustion moisture-related carbon on the flanges. Make go back to stage 1 just to compare and/or may go the 10AWG half-blocked mod instead. Actually, since it's so easy to go between, will likely try both. My real reason for going this route was to see 1) how much noise attentuation the stock muffler system was really adding and 2), how much additional noise ABOVE stock was my family (read wife and daughters) really willing to put up with. Daughter no. 2 commented yesterday that it reminded her of sitting in the back of the cabin, NEXT to the engine (think MD-80, DC-9) while flying at cruising altitude. I guess that means there's a drone... SBT

vel0mac - superb writeup and analysis of alternatives. And you're a machinist too. Nice. Keep up the good work and every OBW owner should be tipping their hat to you for the effort. SBT