Pleides

The engineers used the intake they did because it’s best for air density for both fuel economy and power. Adding an aftermarket intake just gives you turbo noises. These cars are not like your Honda at all. The only stuff you want to change straight away are the uppipe (catless), downpipe (catted), and an intercooler with a tune, so you can have all that extra boost.

I don’t believe any part of the strut/top hats/spring equation on our cars is shared with the WRX. Give BC an email and see if they can help you out before you embark on that.

They fit either way, just gotta clip a couple plastic tabs off to fit on a pre-facelift.

Yours is for any USDM 2005-2007 Legacy or Outback. Looks to just be a custom piece with mesh.

FWIW, the vacuum line T did absolutely nothing for me. I think this thread serves as a good list of potential issues and fixes for the platform. Replacing my AVCS OCVs and doing an engine oil flush solved my stutter, which I wouldn’t have discovered without this thread.

Endlinks are all new so I doubt it's that, but I do know I need some control arm bushings, so that's my best guess. I monitor tire pressure more than the average bear and the tread looks nearly new with 12K on Michelin AS3+. CV joints are new as well. Oh well. On to more diagnosis!

This honestly doesn't look too hard to replace yourself and it seems like my service department is letting sales screw with their cars in service again so long as we wear a mask. Any idea what part numbers to look for? I'd just be replacing the bolt and washer, right? No road salt to see here, so I'd think most stuff would be re-usable.

I’ve also noticed that the steering wheel visibly oscillates on the freeway and you get a little wobble in it that you have to control. Still seems to point straight though. Also a potential driveshaft issue?

Do you have any nice condition OEM headlights or newer DEPOs that still have the amber installed? Mine are faded both inside and outside and polishing hasn't completely fixed them, so I want to replace them.

I had one of the techs at work lift the car up today and help me out diagnosing my driveshaft woes. He really manhandled the driveshaft of the car and showed me how much extra play there was in mine from a worn out center support bushing (that donut-looking thing). He then did the same thing with a newer Chevy Equinox and showed me how little play there was. This is the part that went on yours, right Jolbaru? Guessing the whole driveshaft is gonna have to be replaced for this part. Sounds like you guys are enjoying the serviceable replacement?

This kind of sounds reminiscent of the "blue thingy" click in NA Miatas. Not sure it helps much, but hoping someone can garner info from this. https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=653836

Is this transaction through PayPal? If you've ever sold anything on Ebay, you know that PayPal is a pain in the ass as a seller because they always side with the buyer. Since you paid for a product that was different than what you received, it would save you a lot of hassle to send it back. Look for an 05 unit (or whatever the proper one is for your car) from a junkyard and your life will be made easier. Sadly, I tossed my OEM head unit because nobody wanted to buy it. I'd have shipped it to ya for nothing

You'd have to tune the car if you do that anyways. I doubt you'd be able to find such a part. Good luck with whatever solution you find.

I work with a few Subaru techs and they always joke that every recall would induce a new rattle. Keep in mind that our cars require the dash to be taken apart to replace a cabin filter. It's inevitable. My glovebox doesn't latch always when you shut it. It's part of life for a car that's had the interior taken apart four times due to Takata's negligence. The tech probably did try to put it back together in a fashion that would leave it in the best shape it could be.

AFAIK, there isn't a prebuilt kit from any manufacturer. Since Accuair is gone, guess you're going Air Lift? Make sure you know a good shop for alignments on air suspension cars. Also make sure the rest of your suspension's bushings are replaced (preferably with aftermarket polyurethane if you're gonna be super low and/or running lots of camber) since they're going to be trashed by now just based on age alone. Also, look into air cups for coilover kits like the Fortune Auto 500.

The vast majority of modern cars, especially ones with push-button starters, shifters without hard detents (something like a modern BMW shifter), etc, need the brake pedal pushed in to start. Jags with third pedals actually need both the clutch and brake pedal pushed in! You'd notice a lot more in a car with electrically-assisted brakes some problem akin to OP's, but I definitely don't recall ever being able to push my pedal down in my wagon that far before starting the car. Habit, I suppose, from driving new Chevys at work.

You will have to tune the car, which I assume you know. You can plop a VF52 in our cars without too much trouble, but you'd be best suited to leaving the car stock until you have an idea for it. A VF46 is the best turbo that will fit like OEM and not need tuning, from what I understand. VF52 is the OEM turbo for a 2011-14 WRX. It's recommended to do a fuel system upgrade with this but with low enough boost levels, it should be fine.

I went to Safelite in Beaverton near me. I went through insurance to do it, but I got an aftermarket heated windshield that I have zero complaints about. $100 due for the deductible. The windshield on there prior was an OEM Subaru one that didn't appear different to me in any way. Hope this helps.

I'm 21, work full-time, and am a full-time student. I love my wagon, but if I could do it again, knowing that I would later find cleaner examples of my car also in blue, I would not have purchased my particular example with 202K. I had more money saved up for a better one, but jumped on mine once I discovered how rare the wagons are and how my odds of finding another manual turbo wagon in blue were fairly low. This car has needed a LOT of work. It's currently sitting, waiting for a new shortblock. Mine has 214K and now burns too much oil to feel safe driving it. I have replaced every single suspension bushing, done VERY little in the way of mods that weren't just replacing worn-out OEM parts, and, although the car has never left me stranded, it's had its fair share of issues. My car has lived in Portland its whole life and has no rust, so I haven't even had to think about that. I would easily have quadruple the money in my bank account now if I didn't own this car. Granted, I love it, and wouldn't trade it for the world now, but I'd really recommend just owning a moderately fun car with a manual transmission to get you through college. Hondas are great for this - a Fit or Civic from the early to mid 00's is a blast with a 5-speed and will be much more reliable. I also have a 2000 Civic that I recently bought as a beater and, to be honest, driving it is much nicer most of the time as I don't have PTSD over when the engine will pop like it finally did in my car. TL;DR, I wouldn't really recommend this as a college car. They don't take well to neglect, parts aren't tremendously cheap for them, they're not amazingly simple to fix, and they're not really that reliable, all things considered given the other cars you could find in their price point. People recommend Miatas to young guys like us because A. They're cheap enough to buy used, B. they're super reliable, C. they're super cheap to insure, and D. they're fun as hell without being so fast they'll get you into trouble.

Ball joints sound like a potential culprit. Would be a good idea to jack the car up on four jackstands or on a lift and test all four wheels for play, check ball joints, wheel bearings, etc.

I'd recommend an IAG shortblock, Stage 2.5+ for the type of power you're talking. IMO though, that sort of power is best left for the big boy V8s and whatnot. This is a 4-cylinder car and stressing it out that much will leave you with issues forever and it probably will never be as fun as you want since you'll be stressing about the next thing that'll break every time you drive it. That said, if you want to do it yourself, by all means, do it yourself. Put a nice IAG short block in there, probably some new heads, call up a tuner or your choice and have them send you a base map with a break-in tune on it for your new engine, drive it a bit, then get it protuned, and you've got a car. For 500 WHP, yes, you will need a much bigger turbo. https://www.iagperformance.com/Blouch-Dom-1-5XT-R-Ball-Bearing-Turbo-WRX-STI-p/sub-dom1.5xt-r.htm Something like this. You'll obviously need accompanying fuel mods, probably E85, etc. You will also need a 6-speed swap and upgraded clutch. You will never get anything close to OEM reliability, and you'll definitely need to learn to do a lot of work for yourself as many shops won't want to touch a car like this.

Group N mounts had less NVH than worn out OEM for me, but to each their own.

Coronavirus has halted production of almost everything. You're probably gonna see inflation of many ordinary items in your life soon, if you haven't already. Get the Group N motor mounts anyways. Much more fun Oh, and replace the dogbone mount (pitch stop mount) while you're in there as well. I'd recommend an OEM one for that, but searching for Group N dogbone mount on Google should get you what you're looking for.

Always good to have some extra money stashed for a rainy Subaru day!

Yep! Good luck!