Pimp my Wagon

[Drew888]

Good job...

 

My son is 11 (also very mature, responsible, and nerdy for his age. So for this year I haven't had to verify his homework at all, and he got all A's) and I just realized that my stg2 Spec-B (soon to go VF52) may be his first car

 

What did you compare the A5 with when you were shopping? I think it's gorgeous! but torn between the 335i. The extra fun to be had modding the BMW is making it difficult. Then again the more I do to my Shrek the more I love this thing.

[akm3]

My son is responsible beyond his years. When he drives the subie he is shooting for optimal mpg and is always updating me on his best results.(I'm happy he's a nerd) He lectures me on my speed and impatience behind the wheel! That being said, not really interested in making it much faster.

 

I truly am glad your son will stay safe, but as someone who deeply desires a Legacy GT Wagon, your post makes me cry - he's *wasting it!!!*

[Hefyforme]

"What did you compare the A5 with when you were shopping? I think it's gorgeous! but torn between the 335i. The extra fun to be had modding the BMW is making it difficult. Then again the more I do to my Shrek the more I love this thing."

 

Congrats on your maintenance free son. I have to get after mine as he excels at classes he likes but well... Anyway he needs a B to drive and so thats about what he gets. Think now I can raise the stakes to a 3.2 average. That still won't get him where he wants to go but I'm hoping he does some growing up in the Maldives.

 

I looked at the 335ix(need awd) but didn't like the interior or exterior as well. Driving dynamics are probably better in the bimmer.

[Hefyforme]

I truly am glad your son will stay safe, but as someone who deeply desires a Legacy GT Wagon, your post makes me cry - he's *wasting it!!!*

 

Not exactly wasting it as he takes it skiing, drives himself and his sister to school, and pics my wife and I up after partying!

 

Your from Spokane as well. Where about.

[Raven714]

Nearly done. Some pics with ceramic tint, wheels, and HKS. He's hooked up with nav and sirius radio as well. My son is going freak when he sees it!

The Wagon looks good, how many inches did you drop it?

[05GTWAGONLIMITED]

Do you live near Meadowwood golf course? I'm in Spokane a lot and it look like it would be off of #10. Either way, your son is going to filp and the Audi's look amazing. My older brother just picked up an 08 S4.

[Hefyforme]

The Wagon looks good, how many inches did you drop it?

 

Thanks. No drop-just stock. Kinda kneeling down for the shots so maybe optical illusion?

[Hefyforme]

Do you live near Meadowwood golf course? I'm in Spokane a lot and it look like it would be off of #10. Either way, your son is going to filp and the Audi's look amazing. My older brother just picked up an 08 S4.

 

Thanks. I really like Audi but not as dependable or easy to mod as a subie. I'm north of wandemere golf course near lookout mt.

[NSFW]

Excellent choice of wheels.

 

I'm kinda biased...

 

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t265/Spoonwacker/MtStHelens%202008/NSFWnUber.jpg

[05LGTLtd]

Kinda late to the party, but a couple of ideas came to mind...

 

Boost gauge, if he is in to mileage that could be a 'cool' mod that helps him.

 

Horn replacements, and custom grill. Someone has hellas on a GRP wagon and a mesh grill on this forum and it looks good. Marginal safety gain factor.

 

Rear sway bar. Wagons need em,stock links are fine.

 

Pink's

 

Mileage log and calculator in the glove box. Extra cheap, and nice little reminder for oil changes. In dash computer can be off quite a bit. He can run a statistacal analyisis and present a report if he is a real geek.

 

Tint has big wow factor on wagons. You have already done the hawks/slottted rotors which I would have suggested. Rotors are mostly looks, but if you have some miles might be time to replace originals, so might as well get some bling, everyone will think it looks tricked at his school...

 

LCA bushings. Really makes a ton of difference in the steering response/feel.

 

Kartboy shifter and bushings.

 

Headlight and fog upgrade. I personally like the yellow fogs, bulbs are cheap, but kinda a pain to get to.

 

Things to keep in mind for the future, I guess. Looks like you made good choices.

[Hefyforme]

Kinda late to the party, but a couple of ideas came to mind...

 

Boost gauge, if he is in to mileage that could be a 'cool' mod that helps him.

 

Horn replacements, and custom grill. Someone has hellas on a GRP wagon and a mesh grill on this forum and it looks good. Marginal safety gain factor.

 

Rear sway bar. Wagons need em,stock links are fine.

 

Pink's

 

Mileage log and calculator in the glove box. Extra cheap, and nice little reminder for oil changes. In dash computer can be off quite a bit. He can run a statistacal analyisis and present a report if he is a real geek.

 

Tint has big wow factor on wagons. You have already done the hawks/slottted rotors which I would have suggested. Rotors are mostly looks, but if you have some miles might be time to replace originals, so might as well get some bling, everyone will think it looks tricked at his school...

 

LCA bushings. Really makes a ton of difference in the steering response/feel.

 

Kartboy shifter and bushings.

 

Headlight and fog upgrade. I personally like the yellow fogs, bulbs are cheap, but kinda a pain to get to.

 

Things to keep in mind for the future, I guess. Looks like you made good choices.[/quot

 

Thought of the boost gauge but want him looking at the road. These newish drivers can get distracted. The new rotors took care of the steering wheel shudder under braking. Already over budget on this thing so will call it quits after Tokico install and alignment. Thanks for the input.

[KartRacerBoy]

My son is responsible beyond his years. When he drives the subie he is shooting for optimal mpg and is always updating me on his best results.(I'm happy he's a nerd) He lectures me on my speed and impatience behind the wheel! That being said, not really interested in making it much faster.

 

Put aside half the money for a performance driving school. Or even just send him to Tire Rack's Street Survival School. Check their site at http://www.tirerack.com. The school is held across the country.

 

Great stuff. I sent my nephew to the Street Survival school. Well worth it.

[Max Capacity]

Put aside half the money for a performance driving school. Or even just send him to Tire Rack's Street Survival School. Check their site at http://www.tirerack.com. The school is held across the country.

 

Great stuff. I sent my nephew to the Street Survival school. Well worth it.

 

Wow $60.00 this is the first I've heard of that. Why don't they advertise that?

[D_J]

Surviving the streets of L.A. and brutal 405 - both the most heavily travelled in the U.S. - are a good intro to survival driving and how to drive defensive to avoid idiots.

[wai_pang2]

trade it in for a Prius. he'll be like "my subaru sucks on MPG."

[hutru01]

Rear sway bar. Wagons need em,stock links are fine.

Stock endlinks are not advisable on a stiffer rear sway bar. Ask me how I found that out the hard way. (Lets just say it involved some "custom" welding around the rear brackets where the sway bar attached to the car.

 

Do yourself a favor and get aftermarket endlinks if you plan on upgrading your RSB.

 

Rotors are mostly looks

Slotted rotors are not mostly for looks as they don't get quite as hot as OEM and they are generally stronger than OEM (assuming you go with a reputable brand). A combination of slotted rotors, upgraded pads, and synthetic brake fluid would be the ideal upgrade unless you want to spring and get a big brake kit which is hella expensive. Drilled rotors one could say might be more for looks as they are intended for better stopping during wet conditions mainly.

[05LGTLtd]

Stock endlinks are not advisable on a stiffer rear sway bar. Ask me how I found that out the hard way. (Lets just say it involved some "custom" welding around the rear brackets where the sway bar attached to the car.

 

Do yourself a favor and get aftermarket endlinks if you plan on upgrading your RSB.

 

Slotted rotors are not mostly for looks as they don't get quite as hot as OEM and they are generally stronger than OEM (assuming you go with a reputable brand). A combination of slotted rotors, upgraded pads, and synthetic brake fluid would be the ideal upgrade unless you want to spring and get a big brake kit which is hella expensive. Drilled rotors one could say might be more for looks as they are intended for better stopping during wet conditions mainly.

 

First point: You are confusing the mounting bracket upgrade with the endlinks. These are two different parts. Yes you should upgrade the mounting points when going to a bigger bar. There are plenty of people running aftermarket bars with stock endlinks. I have a 22mm bar front and rear and have had stock endlinks in for 25k miles.

 

Second point: Correctly speaking, they will get as hot as the OEM rotors, they are supposed to disapate the heat faster. Also since there is not a history of OEM rotors failing, I'm not sure that being stronger is that important. (They may be lighter, which can have some benefits) If you are tracking the car or driving it extremely hard, you might see a performance difference under repeated heavy braking. Given two set ups the same except for the rotors I doubt the average daily drive would notice a difference, except the shortened pad life and more dusting with the slotted rotors. The OP has stated numerous times the driver does not drive the car very hard.

[hutru01]

First point: You are confusing the mounting bracket upgrade with the endlinks. These are two different parts. Yes you should upgrade the mounting points when going to a bigger bar. There are plenty of people running aftermarket bars with stock endlinks. I have a 22mm bar front and rear and have had stock endlinks in for 25k miles.

 

No, I am not confusing anything. Do you really think I would confuse endlinks to a rear swaybar bracket?

 

My stock endlinks failed and the bracket eventually broke. I had reinforcement brackets (Perrin) also. I had to have the bracket welded back on in order to even run a sway bar.

 

It all depends on how you drive it as well. Whats the point of having a stiffer sway bar if you aren't going to fully utilize it? All I am saying is that the endlinks are prone to failure and if they do fail, it can cause bigger problems like it did in my case. Thats the reason I said its better to be safe than sorry and replace them. I know plenty of people run stock endlinks with aftermarket sway bars, I am just one of those people who found out the hard way that it wasn't the "best" alternative. It costed me more money in the long run to have the bracket welded back on when I could have just spent the extra 125-150 bucks on endlinks and prevented any further damage to either of the brackets.

 

Second point: Correctly speaking, they will get as hot as the OEM rotors, they are supposed to disapate the heat faster. Also since there is not a history of OEM rotors failing, I'm not sure that being stronger is that important. (They may be lighter, which can have some benefits) If you are tracking the car or driving it extremely hard, you might see a performance difference under repeated heavy braking. Given two set ups the same except for the rotors I doubt the average daily drive would notice a difference, except the shortened pad life and more dusting with the slotted rotors. The OP has stated numerous times the driver does not drive the car very hard.

Bottom line is that slotted rotors wont have the same temperature overall, otherwise why would anyone upgrade to slotted rotors? Its not just for looks. Go ask any brake guru.

[05LGTLtd]

No, I am not confusing anything. Do you really think I would confuse endlinks to a rear swaybar bracket?

 

Yes from your original post, that is what it sounded like you were saying.

 

My stock endlinks failed and the bracket eventually broke. I had reinforcement brackets (Perrin) also. I had to have the bracket welded back on in order to even run a sway bar.

Ok, your endlinks failed. Then your bracket failed. I don't see how your endlinks caused your brackets to fail. the Bar is the spring, the endlinks and brackets are the fulcrum points. The stiffness of the spring increses the force on teh fulcrum. If anything an aftermarket endlink would be stiffer than stock, increasing the force on the chassis mount for the sway bar. If you can provide a direct relationship for your failure of the bracket to the stock endlink, then I'll believe you as per the cause and effect.

 

It all depends on how you drive it as well. Whats the point of having a stiffer sway bar if you aren't going to fully utilize it? All I am saying is that the endlinks are prone to failure and if they do fail, it can cause bigger problems like it did in my case. Thats the reason I said its better to be safe than sorry and replace them. I know plenty of people run stock endlinks with aftermarket sway bars, I am just one of those people who found out the hard way that it wasn't the "best" alternative. It costed me more money in the long run to have the bracket welded back on when I could have just spent the extra 125-150 bucks on endlinks and prevented any further damage to either of the brackets.

If the endlink fails, it removes stress on the bar, therefore the stress on the chassis mounts.

 

Bottom line is that slotted rotors wont have the same temperature overall, otherwise why would anyone upgrade to slotted rotors? Its not just for looks. Go ask any brake guru.

In the context of the thread, I stand by my "mostly for looks" comment as originally stated. If you don't think your slotted rotors are getting as hot as the stock ones, then you might want to stop to consider why they are not providing as much friction as stock. The difference is they are supposed to handle the heat better, and disapte it faster.

[hutru01]

Yes from your original post, that is what it sounded like you were saying.

 

That was your assumption and you assumed wrong.

 

Ok, your endlinks failed. Then your bracket failed. I don't see how your endlinks caused your brackets to fail. the Bar is the spring, the endlinks and brackets are the fulcrum points. The stiffness of the spring increses the force on teh fulcrum. If anything an aftermarket endlink would be stiffer than stock, increasing the force on the chassis mount for the sway bar. If you can provide a direct relationship for your failure of the bracket to the stock endlink, then I'll believe you as per the cause and effect.

 

The bracket broke, I removed the swaybar and both endlinks were toast. If endlinks are failing, it would cause more than just a side to side movement as they were originally intended. In other words if your endlinks are freely moving without any resistance, the bar is going to freely move up and down, side to side, front to back and however which way its going to move depending on how you are driving. That could easily result in placing too much stress on the bar's other point of contact (the bracket), which it obviously did, thus breaking the bracket.

 

Obviously, neither of us can "prove" anything here. It's how I see it and I share my experience. Aftermarket endlinks are a lot more sturdy and increase the rigidity of your swaybar in addition to the fact they are less likely to fail due to increased stress from that stiffer sway bar.

 

In the context of the thread, I stand by my "mostly for looks" comment as originally stated. If you don't think your slotted rotors are getting as hot as the stock ones, then you might want to stop to consider why they are not providing as much friction as stock. The difference is they are supposed to handle the heat better, and disapte it faster.

 

I know they get as hot at some points during braking, but since they don't "stay as hot" your braking is thus improved. Its pretty simple really. We can agree to disagree here.