What did you do to your 5th gen today?? -V4

[creep_nu]

i love that the solution for a winter beater for your GT is another GT.  glad you got her up and running and everything's working itself out

[dgoodhue]

I wan't planning on using GT as a winter beater so I could put my '12 GT away. I was planning on buying a new Legacy Sport with the down payment from 20210 GT.  I just wasn't able to sell it, either the 2010 GT prices are very low or they are afraid of the miles/new motor. I started off last December / January at $9500 / 9000. I had a couple inquiries at that point We had snow and it was unregister/insuranced, so I decided to wait until the spring.  I put iy up for sale in May for $8250, but my son had some medial issues and they didn't get resolved until September. so I put it on hold (but I had no inquiries either).  I put it for sale in September/ October / November for 8250 / 7500 / 7000.  On Black Friday, I figure since no one was willing to give me a price in the 6's that I might as well use it. I didn't want to rush into buying another car. I am sure if I lower the price further, someone will buy it.  It is a good car, it lot more fun to drive than my other winter beater, 2009 2.5i 4EAT Outback.

[Falcor]

Sorry to hear it didn't sell. Especially after you put all that work into it. Did you ever take it to a dealer or place like Carmax for a trade in quote?

[Falcor]

Swapped in the new O2 sensor on Wednesday and so far so good. I also cleaned the MAF sensor just to be safe. 

Today I went to install new rear brakes since the local shop told me they were thin and the Subaru dealer told me the were 3mm. I pulled the calipers off, and they still have alot of life left. Checked my maintenance app and realized they only have 17k on them. I'll be returning the pads to the parts store.

Front:

 

Rear:

[motorbreath]

I applied more Fluid Film to the underbody, removed all four wheel well covers and sprayed there as well, along with replacing a few broken clips. I checked the oil and topped it up, burning around a quart per 1k miles but then noticed something weird with the radiator.

The coolant return line was backed-off the radiator quite a bit, I got pliers on the clamp and pushed it back on, but there is very little compression being applied from the clamp. I replaced both the supply and return hoses when I did the timing belt a few years ago. Used new clamps from Subaru, but the hoses were aftermarket (Gates), you can see that the engine side of the upper hose is clamped correctly, but the radiator side will not clamp any further

I am wondering if I should replace the upper hose, seems to be a bit too thick for the stock clamp. Note that it looks like is it still captured by the indentation that keeps the clamp open when you first buy it, but prying the clamp over that does not result in any further compression. I don't want to fiddle with it too much, that radiator plastic is 14 years old...

[creep_nu]

On 12/24/2023 at 12:00 PM, dgoodhue said:

I wan't planning on using GT as a winter beater so I could put my '12 GT away. I was planning on buying a new Legacy Sport with the down payment from 20210 GT.  I just wasn't able to sell it, either the 2010 GT prices are very low or they are afraid of the miles/new motor. I started off last December / January at $9500 / 9000. I had a couple inquiries at that point We had snow and it was unregister/insuranced, so I decided to wait until the spring.  I put iy up for sale in May for $8250, but my son had some medial issues and they didn't get resolved until September. so I put it on hold (but I had no inquiries either).  I put it for sale in September/ October / November for 8250 / 7500 / 7000.  On Black Friday, I figure since no one was willing to give me a price in the 6's that I might as well use it. I didn't want to rush into buying another car. I am sure if I lower the price further, someone will buy it.  It is a good car, it lot more fun to drive than my other winter beater, 2009 2.5i 4EAT Outback.

 

 

hope everything's good with the kid...but hey, if nobody wants it for a reasonable price i see absolutely no reason not to enjoy it.  a decently rare, manual turbo sportish sedan is a pretty niche market at this point.  the person that wants it will seek it out and pay what it's worth, don't shoot yourself in the foot.  we all know you put a ton of time and effort in to the vehicle, get what it's worth.

[ToolTime]

Did a little maintenance today. Threw some BG EPR in and ran at 1500rpm for about 20minutes before letting it idle for 10. Oil change and it was DARK dark, plenty of carbon buildup in this 118k GT. Oil change with Penzoil Ultra 5w-30 and a can of BG MOA and a mazda Tokyo Roki filter.

 

The butt dyno says it was effective.

 

Noticed the oil cooler gasket is leaking, and looks like a pain to get to. Anyone do this recently?

[motorbreath]

20 hours ago, ToolTime said:

Noticed the oil cooler gasket is leaking, and looks like a pain to get to. Anyone do this recently?

Unfortunately that was something I *should* have done when I replaced the turbo and exhaust manifold...not sure if it can be done without removing the manifold.

[ToolTime]

6 hours ago, motorbreath said:

Unfortunately that was something I *should* have done when I replaced the turbo and exhaust manifold...not sure if it can be done without removing the manifold.

*sigh* I know that feeling.

After the third nice filter to have a slow drip of oil I was thinking "hmmm must be above". I was hoping it was just a bad gasket on the filter(s).  I did it on my old 05 LGT and it was stupid simple but the configuration on this gen makes it look like a huge pain.

[NVAKeith]

Greased the starter…. It has occasionally made a grinding noise in the winter for about five years. This winter it started happening every start. Followed a thread on here for removal tips and a you tube video for dismantle/assembly tips 

While I had the battery disconnected went ahead and finally installed the DAMD steering wheel I picked up a few months back. Couldn’t get the original wheel loose, had to use a wheel puller which fortunately I already had in the garage for an old project.   Also replaced the steering wheel radio/cruise buttons with a new set as the originals were occasionally not working properly. 
 

Took a quick test drive to make sure the intercooler hose clamps were tight enough (BTDT having one unexpectedly pop off under boost in the past). The wheel is awesome but the shape will take some getting used to as I fumbled it backing into the driveway when I tried to palm it. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by NVAKeith

[Humble Rumble]

Been slacking on posting updates for months, so prepare for a big picture dump post. 

September - Had a small rust bubble starting on my roof that got a bit out of control during the time my car was sitting last year, so I got my roof repainted, and while I was at it I had the shop doing my roof also paint an extra trunk lid and  the TommyKaira (Rowen) wing for me as well. Went with body color for the base and gloss black for the blade and end caps. 

Installed the new trunk lid, assembled and installed the TommyKaira (Rowen) wing. Opted for the low-drag blade alignment rather than high-downforce. This is the 3rd one of these wings in North America but the only one with the TommyKaira branding (other two have "Rowen"). Surprisingly, this spoiler mounts without bolts, and uses entirely 3M adhesive tape and small side clips that going around the edge of the trunk lid (my clips are missing) so install was painless and is completely reversible. Fitment is fantastic and the wing follows the trunk curve perfectly, and I love this spoiler way more in person than I thought I would. It extends backwards off the trunk (when looking profile view) a tasteful amount and overall just looks really great. Black blade and endplates was the right call as well. The wing flows with the entire car much better than the Wangan wing I had on there before, and I like how its wider and more visible from the front view. 

The day after installing this wing (and throwing some flashy taillights on), I participated in Tuner Evolution Chicago along with Four Star Society. We rolled in nearly 30 cars deep and ended up taking 6 total awards from the show as a collective group, including both Group Participation (size) and Group Quality (level of builds). It was an awesome experience and I'm really happy with how the car was looking for this event. 

The weekend after Tuner Evo, I participated in Subaru Speed Expo 2023 at Autobahn Country Club South Course. It was overall an awesome event and the car felt better than it's ever felt before. It felt like I could truly trust it and drive it to its grip limits and really huck it into corners. I was genuinely one of the fastest cars in my run class, and got tons of compliments on both the car and my driving. The last session of the day ended up raining but they still let us go out, so it ended up being a low speed drift run lmao. Absolute blast of a way to cool down after a fun race day. 

One of the coolest things I got to do during SSE was participate in the mid-day on-track vendor roller shot groups. The paint shop who did my roof, trunk, and spoiler invited me to go out with them and their shop cars, and it made for some of the downright coolest pictures that exist of my car. Super neat experience to be a part of. 

The week after Speed Expo was SubieFest Midwest. As I've done in the past, I entered my car into the Turbo Stock class since the NA class is typically super small and completely unfair when I'm in it (my first ever autox at SubieFest 2018 I won the NA class by 6 seconds lmao) and my times fit much, much better with the Turbo Stock class. It's been a goal of mine to win the Turbo Stock class without a turbo, and I damn near did it this year. I ended up run 2nd in the class, missing 1st by only .5xx seconds. It was disappointing, but the gentleman that took 1st had gotten 2nd the last 3 years in a row, so it was well deserved and he did some great driving. One of my favorite events of the year, car always gets a ton of attention since it's screaming loud and the entire autox course is ringed by spectator spaces. Can't want for next year.

Also got my first 3-wheeling pic lmao. 

[ToolTime]

19 hours ago, Humble Rumble said:

Been slacking on posting updates for months, so prepare for a big picture dump post. 

September - Had a small rust bubble starting on my roof that got a bit out of control during the time my car was sitting last year, so I got my roof repainted, and while I was at it I had the shop doing my roof also paint an extra trunk lid and  the TommyKaira (Rowen) wing for me as well. Went with body color for the base and gloss black for the blade and end caps. 

Installed the new trunk lid, assembled and installed the TommyKaira (Rowen) wing. Opted for the low-drag blade alignment rather than high-downforce. This is the 3rd one of these wings in North America but the only one with the TommyKaira branding (other two have "Rowen"). Surprisingly, this spoiler mounts without bolts, and uses entirely 3M adhesive tape and small side clips that going around the edge of the trunk lid (my clips are missing) so install was painless and is completely reversible. Fitment is fantastic and the wing follows the trunk curve perfectly, and I love this spoiler way more in person than I thought I would. It extends backwards off the trunk (when looking profile view) a tasteful amount and overall just looks really great. Black blade and endplates was the right call as well. The wing flows with the entire car much better than the Wangan wing I had on there before, and I like how its wider and more visible from the front view. 

The day after installing this wing (and throwing some flashy taillights on), I participated in Tuner Evolution Chicago along with Four Star Society. We rolled in nearly 30 cars deep and ended up taking 6 total awards from the show as a collective group, including both Group Participation (size) and Group Quality (level of builds). It was an awesome experience and I'm really happy with how the car was looking for this event. 

The weekend after Tuner Evo, I participated in Subaru Speed Expo 2023 at Autobahn Country Club South Course. It was overall an awesome event and the car felt better than it's ever felt before. It felt like I could truly trust it and drive it to its grip limits and really huck it into corners. I was genuinely one of the fastest cars in my run class, and got tons of compliments on both the car and my driving. The last session of the day ended up raining but they still let us go out, so it ended up being a low speed drift run lmao. Absolute blast of a way to cool down after a fun race day. 

One of the coolest things I got to do during SSE was participate in the mid-day on-track vendor roller shot groups. The paint shop who did my roof, trunk, and spoiler invited me to go out with them and their shop cars, and it made for some of the downright coolest pictures that exist of my car. Super neat experience to be a part of. 

The week after Speed Expo was SubieFest Midwest. As I've done in the past, I entered my car into the Turbo Stock class since the NA class is typically super small and completely unfair when I'm in it (my first ever autox at SubieFest 2018 I won the NA class by 6 seconds lmao) and my times fit much, much better with the Turbo Stock class. It's been a goal of mine to win the Turbo Stock class without a turbo, and I damn near did it this year. I ended up run 2nd in the class, missing 1st by only .5xx seconds. It was disappointing, but the gentleman that took 1st had gotten 2nd the last 3 years in a row, so it was well deserved and he did some great driving. One of my favorite events of the year, car always gets a ton of attention since it's screaming loud and the entire autox course is ringed by spectator spaces. Can't want for next year.

Also got my first 3-wheeling pic lmao. 

hot dang if you don't have one of the greatest GT's in the US. Looks amazing! Your build is such an inspiration

[ToolTime]

Giving the car a little love at the shop right now, the invidia turboback needed some help, got the Hardrace engine mounts put in, and fixed the oil cooler gasket. Also threw in a Grimmspeed 3 port boost controller.
The drivetrain was so sloppy from engine movement it made the downpipe hit against the sub-frame under acceleration.

Also have some brakes in the works for when she gets home...it's snowy up here and a little more brake pedal will be nice. all four corners brakes and rotors, SS lines, Hardrace brake master brace, and stoptech Z26 street pads. Should add up nicely methinks

[Humble Rumble]

1 hour ago, ToolTime said:

hot dang if you don't have one of the greatest GT's in the US. Looks amazing! Your build is such an inspiration

*3.6R  but thank you either way. I love my car and it's uniqueness. 

[Scooby Fan]

I had an early appointment this morning on the far side of town and we had just had about a foot of snow over the last few days so it was pretty heavy sloggin' in traffic. I obviously hit a lump of hard snow or ice with the front right wheel....no damage but when I got home I noticed that there was a plastic flap hanging down in front of the wheel. Apparently the little flap took the impact and blew out 3 of it's 4 poppits and was just dangling from the one left...the 4th one was gone somewhere in the snow.

I put the car  up on my ramps and went to work....but since I didn't have any poppits I had to put the flap back in place using just the number 1,2 and 3 poppits (I hate those things at the best of times!!) It was in place but I could easily tell it was not very secure. Grabbed my cordless drill and put a small hole in the plastic shield that the flap is supposed to mount onto then zip tied it in place securely........the every man's ultimate fix it item....  It was just slightly below freezing this morning 

Just a little "Mid Winter Ghetto Engineering" 

 

Edited January 19 by Scooby Fan

[ToolTime]

Just got the car back from PSI Proformance here in Pennsylvania, and she's got the beans. Tuned by Drunkman (dmann)  Very happy right now, the car feels amazing and I can't stop smiling. New engine mounts made a world of a difference for my clutch feel as well. Plus the cabin doesn't rattle from the downpipe!

Big brakes next...

[Humble Rumble]

12 hours ago, ToolTime said:

Just got the car back from PSI Proformance here in Pennsylvania, and she's got the beans. Tuned by Drunkman (dmann)  Very happy right now, the car feels amazing and I can't stop smiling. New engine mounts made a world of a difference for my clutch feel as well. Plus the cabin doesn't rattle from the downpipe!

Big brakes next...

 

People totally under estimate just how much even brand new OEM engine mounts will improve this platforms response and feel since the rear mounts are literally ON the transmission itself and function as trans mounts too. Especially considering that the youngest 5th gens are now 11 years old, even if the car has literally no miles on it, the rubber in the mounts will be suffering from age fatigue and not performing their best.

I have the Kein hardened mounts on mine and the immediate acceleration feedback difference compared to before is insane, feels like it just pulls forever now. It also completely eliminated the hesitation and shift shock when shifting down into 1st, which is something 99% of 3.6R drivers complain about. Smoother than butter now, totally worthwhile maintenance item or upgrade for anyone.

[lagwagon]

Anybody running the JDM Bilsteins in their car? 

[creep_nu]

i know a couple people have removed theirs for konis...from what i gathered from old posts they're over damped and over sprung so they're not particularly comfortable.  great for handling, bad for comfort.  @Scubaboo removed his as far as i can recall.  i'd like to hear more experience too, i keep seeing good sets for a reasonable price and am curious...my lady needs new shocks and they've got my itching

[lagwagon]

8 minutes ago, creep_nu said:

i know a couple people have removed theirs for konis...from what i gathered from old posts they're over damped and over sprung so they're not particularly comfortable.  great for handling, bad for comfort.  @Scubaboo removed his as far as i can recall.  i'd like to hear more experience too, i keep seeing good sets for a reasonable price and am curious...my lady needs new shocks and they've got my itching

I'm coming off B8s and pinks on my 4th gen (sold it last night) so if anybody has a comparison to that setup that would be great. I was ok with that setup 4 years ago when I was still in my 30's but its a bit harsh on my back now. I would say they were overdamped.

From what I've read, USDM, or JDM OEM Bilsteins would probably suit me better, on the 4th gen chassis. I'm hoping for feedback that the 5th gen stuff is similar. I assume that most 5th gen folks are less tolerant of overdamped suspension than 4th gen since it is not as sharp/precise a vehicle as the 4th gen overall.

[lagwagon]

4 hours ago, Humble Rumble said:

People totally under estimate just how much even brand new OEM engine mounts will improve this platforms response and feel since the rear mounts are literally ON the transmission itself and function as trans mounts too. Especially considering that the youngest 5th gens are now 11 years old, even if the car has literally no miles on it, the rubber in the mounts will be suffering from age fatigue and not performing their best.

I have the Kein hardened mounts on mine and the immediate acceleration feedback difference compared to before is insane, feels like it just pulls forever now. It also completely eliminated the hesitation and shift shock when shifting down into 1st, which is something 99% of 3.6R drivers complain about. Smoother than butter now, totally worthwhile maintenance item or upgrade for anyone.

Is that the same mount as for the 3.0? 

[Humble Rumble]

2 hours ago, lagwagon said:

Is that the same mount as for the 3.0? 

It's not. 4th gen mounts and 5th gen mounts are different. All 5th gens share the same rear engine mounts as each other though. 

4th gen: 

 

5th gen:

[Humble Rumble]

2 hours ago, lagwagon said:

I'm coming off B8s and pinks on my 4th gen (sold it last night) so if anybody has a comparison to that setup that would be great. I was ok with that setup 4 years ago when I was still in my 30's but its a bit harsh on my back now. I would say they were overdamped.

From what I've read, USDM, or JDM OEM Bilsteins would probably suit me better, on the 4th gen chassis. I'm hoping for feedback that the 5th gen stuff is similar. I assume that most 5th gen folks are less tolerant of overdamped suspension than 4th gen since it is not as sharp/precise a vehicle as the 4th gen overall.

There was no factory Bilsteins for the USDM 5th gens. I'd say the best comparable setup to what you had previously would be H&R 3.6R springs ("-2" suffix on the part number) paired with either 13/14 versionOEM/Rockauto struts, or if you want more, Koni Yellow struts if you want adjustable damping, though you'll need to cut some donor front struts to harvest their strut housings for the Koni's. I had the Koni+H&R combo and was sublime, absolutely perfect sports sedan handling and ride, and could get racetrack stiff if you wanted to on the hardest damping setting. 

[lagwagon]

2 hours ago, Humble Rumble said:

There was no factory Bilsteins for the USDM 5th gens. I'd say the best comparable setup to what you had previously would be H&R 3.6R springs ("-2" suffix on the part number) paired with either 13/14 versionOEM/Rockauto struts, or if you want more, Koni Yellow struts if you want adjustable damping, though you'll need to cut some donor front struts to harvest their strut housings for the Koni's. I had the Koni+H&R combo and was sublime, absolutely perfect sports sedan handling and ride, and could get racetrack stiff if you wanted to on the hardest damping setting. 

Thanks Rumble! 

 

I went through your project log and the Kein mounts you have (ksub015) don't seem to be available from anywhere right now. 

My plan for suspension is either 2013/14 upgrade (front springs and seats from dealership, all other parts from rock auto), or the JDM Bilsteins. I don't want to lower it and I don't want it overdamped like my 4th gen was. I did/do have Konis with King springs for 4th gen and they road much nicer than the Bilsteins but there was an issue with the insert pushing through the bottom of the strut tube so I'm not too happy about that, nor am I happy about the lower spring perch on the WRX koni full body strut. I've had Konis on two platforms and found that I set the damping and then never touched them again. One on platform, full soft was still very harsh, and on the 4th gen full soft is about the same as brand new stock KYBs.

Softest to hardest, where do 5th gen JDM bilsteins sit? (I know there aren't 5th gen USDM bilsteins). This is my frame of reference, unless somebody has shock dynos for the 5th gen JDM bilsteins. If they are anywhere in the top half of the list they should be fine for me.

Softest

4th gen Konis (soft)

4th gen USDM bilsteins

4th gen JDM bilsteins (rev C/D)

4th gen JDM bilsteins (rev B)

4th gen JDM bilsteins (rev A)

4th gen konis (hard)???

4th gen B6/B8 bilsteins

4th gen konis (hard)???

Hardest

Sorry for nerding out hard on this, lol, and thank you to everybody for your comments!

 

[ToolTime]

16 hours ago, Humble Rumble said:

People totally under estimate just how much even brand new OEM engine mounts will improve this platforms response and feel since the rear mounts are literally ON the transmission itself and function as trans mounts too. Especially considering that the youngest 5th gens are now 11 years old, even if the car has literally no miles on it, the rubber in the mounts will be suffering from age fatigue and not performing their best.

I have the Kein hardened mounts on mine and the immediate acceleration feedback difference compared to before is insane, feels like it just pulls forever now. It also completely eliminated the hesitation and shift shock when shifting down into 1st, which is something 99% of 3.6R drivers complain about. Smoother than butter now, totally worthwhile maintenance item or upgrade for anyone.

Do you feel the Kein mounts are too stiff or anything? I had the hardrace ones put in but I have a feeling they'll eventually have the same problems the OEM ones have (especially under lots torque). Did you notice a large amount of NVH inside the cabin? Are they street-able?