2008 Outback XT Build

[01Outback]

Good day to you all,

 

I have purchased a 08 OBXT with 83K miles about a year ago and have saved up enough to finally do some mods. Currently has about 88K without missing a beat. Previous owner seemed to be calm and collected without any kids (so no hoonage that I can tell). Some MX has been documented for this car. No weird noises, smells, smoke, or vibration has come from the engine, chassis, or drivetrain.

 

Here is my build so far:

Cobb AP running Stage 1 91oct, and that’s it.

 

 

Here is the build that’ll happen sometime December or January after the parts come in and I get several days off of work outside the holidays.

 

Rallysport Direct:

Cobb stage 1 drivetrain - 214X01

Cobb Downpipe - 524203

Mishimoto X-line Radiator - MMRAD-STI-08X

 

Amazon:

Borla LGT- 140123

Blackvue Camera DR650GW 2Ch Dual Lens Dash Cam and Power Magic Pro

 

Unorthodox Racing:

Unorthodox Racing Pulley Set WRX

 

Bulletproof Intercooler

 

“You just got beat by a wagon” sticker

 

OEM Intake silencer delete

Fix clutch petal squeak

Check intercooler-throttle body oil blow by

Turbo shaft play

Clean turbo banjo bolt

Cobb Stage 2 OTS map

 

Somethings I was thinking about, but decided to put off because I don’t seem them as a performance gains for this car at this time without a professional tune. Maybe in a year or two I’ll add them on with a new turbo.

Tomei Expreme Headers and up-pipe

Cobb EBCS

Sway bars (see if they’ll clear the Borla exhaust)

New Turbo

 

I’m not looking for 400WHP out of this set up, just a little bit extra butt HP with a nice sound.

 

I do have a couple of questions about this build. Anyone install Unorthodox Pulley? The website lists just a Light weight crank pulley for the OBXT, and the WRX has the full set; crank, steering, and alternator. Will the WRX set match up to the OBXT?

Second question is the squeaky clutch with the weak tack welds to the firewall. My clutch does squeak the last little bit of travel towards the firewall. The sound is the same, and comes from the same location (under intercooler) as some youtube videos, however, their brake pedal would move (side to side), mine does not. Does the clutch/brake assembly need to be drilled and bolted to the firewall? Or is this just a lack of grease issue?

 

If someone sees something or wants to suggest something go right ahead! Any help is appreciated, otherwise I’ll update as time goes on with pictures!

[Rhitter]

The Outback needs a RSB. It feels so much better with one. I waited too long to install it.

 

The squeak for me was a lack of grease issue where the clutch goes through the firewall.

[01Outback]

I'm planning on adding grease in the next couple days to the clutch mechanism to make sure it needs just that because I don't want to drill if I don't need to.

I read about an 05OBXT that got an aftermarket RSB with the borla and it barely made the fit without touching. RSB does mean I'll need more money haha

[housemusic1]

Do you plan to weld on turn down tips on the Borlas, or just trim the bumper, and hope for the best?

[01Outback]

Not too sure yet. I want to see how they fit underneath first. See if I can let them hang a little lower to clear the bumper with metal zip ties or something (if I can even do that haha).

[housemusic1]

XL hangers will help. If you go with an aftermarket RSB, you may need the hangers, as the RSB may rest up against the mufflers. Any plans for suspension upgrades?

[01Outback]

I undertook upgrading the car a couple of weeks ago after all the parts came in. Overall, wasn’t extremely fun, but very enjoyable and rewarding in the end. Also, I learned what I was expecting to be difficult turned out to be easy, and what was expected to be easy, turned out to be frustrating and more frustrating. These picture are not in order of how I went through this.

 

Here are most of the parts waiting to be installed.

 

Draining the coolant. My plastic drain valve stripped right away when I tried to use the screw driver. So I just undid the lower hose and drained it from there. After it all drained, safely cat proofed it.

 

Next was the pulleys. While the car was on the ground, I just loosened the power steering, alternator, and crank pulleys. After getting the belts off, I was trying to undo the A/C tensioner and wasn’t aware there were two nuts on the bottom side of the top bolt. So the impact wrench cracked the tensioner slidy thingy. At the Subaru dealership, it was $10 for a replacement piece.

 

[01Outback]

Replaced the 3 pulleys with a 2008 WRX set from Unorthodox Racing. They are extremely light! All 3 added up to around 18oz, and the stock power steering weighted 15oz. Putting the belts back on was easier than I thought. I just made sure the alternator was loosened all the way. With the crank and power steering bolted hand tight, and the belt around them, I put the belt on the alternator pulley then just slipped the pulley onto its shaft with little effort. The A/C pulley went on because the tensioner was not installed yet. Then torqued everything down and brought the belt tension to where I had marked everything. And yes, I did re-use the belts because they were not cracked or in bad shape in any way. The car is due for a service very soon.

 

 

While trying to jack the last side, the jack started to leak black fluid, so I went and bought a scissor jack. The jack can still lift the car but I don't trust it. So I gave it the new job of supporting the exhaust when needed.

 

[01Outback]

Putting on the new Radiator made the space very cramped. The upper and lower hoses were trimmed. However the passenger side fan was still obstructed by the upper hose. So the side attached to the engine was also trimmed.

 

 

Cobb Stage 1 driveline was installed easily for the most part. The rear bushing took a lot more…persuasion. It still didn’t want to bolt up. A crap ton of frustration later, the girlfriend got it to fit up within about 15 minutes.

 

Cutting the heat shield took 4 cutting disks.

 

 

This O2 sensor connection put up quite the fight. Long story short, I finally used 2 long needle nose pliers to disconnect it. After getting to Cobb D.P. on, the two connectors could not not reach each other. After reading some review on the Grimmspeed downpipe, I cut some plastic covering the wires to the firewall, extending the cables. Then taped up the wires.

 

 

The exhaust got new turbo-downpipe and downpipe-exhaust gaskets.

 

[01Outback]

Borla, #140123, fit for the most part as expected with the OB bumper style. The front exhaust hangers actually fit up and make the whole system more rigid. The rear hangers were "professionally zip tied" together with 3 ties!

 

 

The only complaint I have is on a cold start, you can hear the exhaust leak a little bit. I’ve double checked all bolts and moved the exhaust around while tightening the hardware trying to get the best fit. In the car you can’t really hear it, unless next to a wall to have the sound bounce back.

There is no drone from the Borla exhaust. It’s got the right amount of bass and brings out the boxer rumble. I just wish there was more backfire, gurgle, and burble when you let off the gas.

 

 

Blackvue DR650GW-2CH with power pro magic works very well! I am pleased with the outcome of the install. Quality of the video is great, even for the rear camera. The way I've got the power magic pro set up for Parking mode is pretty cool. It'll turn on to record but not have the battery drop below 12 volts. This will record up until 11 hours. I read that if you back into your parking space, disconnect the rear camera, and turn off wifi, it should increase the length of record time.

 

The work shirt!

 

 

After a couple of weeks, and close to 1500 miles, the car runs great! MPG on a 700 mile road trip still returned 24.2 going up and down mountains doing 75!