My new ride

[MPtyza]

So ever since I sold my '96 Impreza back in April to some kid from Jersey who ended up turbocharging the 1.8, I've been without a car. My mom's ex-husband ended up getting a newer car ('00 Chrysler Sebring convertible), and decided to give me his old one, in exchange for a head unit install on his new one. It's nothing special really, just a 1998 Isuzu Trooper. He bought it new, and put 177,000 miles on it. Damn automatic, but with the Torque on Demand 4WD system (basically RWD biased AWD), and low range

It actually handles surprisingly well for what it is. Despite what Consumer Reports or whoever wants to claim, it is actually quite hard to get the thing to roll. Not that I've tried

After doing some research, I found that in Japan for a couple years, the Isuzu Bighorn (Trooper) was sold as a Subaru Bighorn. I do plan on taking the Subaru badge off, so don't worry.

I put on a set of Hella 500's that was destined for my Impreza, and I fully debadged the damn thing.

A few pics:






Finally, a JDM Subaru Bighorn:

[entirelyturbo]

Wow! Thank you Mike! I never knew that!

A quick search also showed that the Subaru Bighorn actually had Lotus suspension on it!

[MPtyza]

I thought I remembered seeing that bit about Lotus suspension. I really couldn't find all that much about the Subaru Bighorn though

[Bheinen74]

it's not just the roll factor, there were a BUNCH of recalls, mostly related to the engine/crash/fire scencario of gas lines, fittings etc. Better get it to a dealer to see if it was fixed under the recalls.

[MPtyza]

I'd have to do something really stupid to get this thing to roll. Like I said, it handles surprisingly well. I've already looked up the recall thing, and for '98 there is only a single recall, but there are 20 TSB's. Nothing related to what you posted though. This particular one has had very few problems in the past 180k. Yeah, sure it's had the intake manifold gaskets replaced 3 times (first time under warranty), and the O2 sensors need to be replaced again, but other than the crappy fuel mileage its not a bad car.

Right before he signed it over, he told me not to expect better than 13-15mpg, but I was got 16.6 on the first tank I ran through it, and after replacing the spark plugs (coil on plug ignition ) I've been getting closer to 19mpg.

A couple nice things I forgot to mention are the heated, power folding mirrors, variable torque display for when in 4WD auto - it shows the amount of torque being sent frontward, rear LSD, and finally the Pioneer head unit that only does Sirius and AUX in. The original tape deck had two antenna wires, and neither worked with the Pioneer. Dumbass spilled a quart of tea into the CD slot, so that don't work

[n2x4]

I've been reading the thread over on the impreza forums about the guy from jersey who turbo'ed the 1.8! Shoulda kept it.

[MPtyza]

Yeah, he's mxpunk over on RS25.com, and he's got that 15 or so page thread. I couldn't keep it at the time, too many financial and legal issues at the time, that selling the Impreza helped out greatly. It was a nice car though, and I do kinda regret selling it at times. It made me realize just how fun a manual transmission can be

[MPtyza]

Feels like I just got this thing, but I'm already selling it. Trying to get an XT6, but have very little cash, so the 15mpg beast must go.

Hopefully I can get enough for it to get the XT6 and pay off my two credit cards (totalling nearly a grand). Plus my insurance would be $45 cheaper per month.