legacycentral bbs

anybody know where I could find a front bumper like the STi or WRX to put on my legacy? and would teh bottom lights work?

also, could I just buy stock WRX rims and fit them on? and what tires would I get?

Also, would getting a hood scoop + intercooler help performance (HP/MPG/torque) at all?

and is tinting the windows a good idea, because right now the windows are all clear, which i find looks a little weird
thanks

92 legacy LS

Gravija wrote:anybody know where I could find a front bumper like the STi or WRX to put on my legacy? and would teh bottom lights work?

also, could I just buy stock WRX rims and fit them on? and what tires would I get?

Also, would getting a hood scoop + intercooler help performance (HP/MPG/torque) at all?

and is tinting the windows a good idea, because right now the windows are all clear, which i find looks a little weird
thanks

92 legacy LS

I don't think there are any bumpers that bolt right up.

WRX wheels will fit, but the tires might rub.

I don't think it'd help anything though if it did it would be marginal. Seems like it would be a restriction to the air flow.

Tinting is fun stuff, keeps some of the heat out in summer.

An intercooler on a n/a engine would not be a good idea, tinting, however, is a great idea and should be done

MK

Gravija wrote: Also, would getting a hood scoop + intercooler help performance (HP/MPG/torque) at all?

92 legacy LS

your hilarious.

After my rebuild I'll post some pics. Dark Black tint looks awesome on these cars.

uh... naturally aspirated engines with intercoolers would be a waste of money. only intercool a turboed engine.

www.howstuffworks.com

no turbo = no intercooler

no turbo = NA engine?

so what kind of tires would i get for WRX rims (the 15" ones i think)
and could I just like ask my local subaru dealer?

and if I tried to lower it, I would need different springs right?

heh, im a noob to this stuff

your equation is false, you can also have supercharged engines in there somwhere.

There's a thread on this in the wheel, tire, brakes forum.

yes you would need different springs.

what is the difference between turbocharge and supercharge?
would it be that a turbocharge kicks in only at a certain RPM while a supercharge just has the engine up all the time?

and if NA means no turbo, how do NA cars compete with turbo'ed cars? (what kind of mods?)
can superchargers compete with turbos?
thanks

"what is the difference between turbocharge and supercharge?"
Both are forced induction, one uses exhaust gas to power it while the other is driven by the crank

"would it be that a turbocharge kicks in only at a certain RPM while a supercharge just has the engine up all the time? "
Nope, a turbo is always spinning. With the right size turbo you can have boost at very low RPMS. On the other hand a centrifugal supercharger only really works at high rpms, compared to a fixed displacement type

"and if NA means no turbo, how do NA cars compete with turbo'ed cars?"
"can superchargers compete with turbos?"
The age old questions. Im personally a turbo fan because I feel there is no need to have a 500 pound engine when a 250 pound engine with a turbo can produce the same power to start with.

For a street car nothing is better than a fixed displacement supercharger. You get power any time you need. Newer designs create little drag when the throttle is low. Problem is the gas milage. Some superchargers have a bypass but for the most part your fuel consumption is always higher.

With a properly built turbo car you can still get great gas mileage, as long as you keep under 50% throttle!

I think you should forget about the asthetic mods. First get the car running well, second get it driving well and last increase the power.

Best case all these apearance mods will make the car slower anyways! Besides, if you are driving a subaru and want it to look cool to your friends then you probably got the wrong car.

wow ciper, that last post was so... cipery.

Time to catch Gravija up on the world of cars and subes... Read cipers post after this, it will make more sense.

Tires- any tire with 205 55 r 16 will fit on wrx wheels and your car. If you make the middle number smaller (55 in this case) you will reduce the sidewall, making it ride firmer, handle more responsively, make your speedo off, and slightly adversely affect your mileage. Different tires have different attributes, the numbers are the sizes.

Engine- the simple answer is the more air the engine can swallow, the more power it will make. an engine with a small displacement (our cars have 2.2 litres of displacement) will generally produce less power than a car with more. Turboes and superchargers are basically fans that make there be denser air going into the engine. so when the 2.2L turbo has 16psi (~1 atmosphere), +1 atmo of the air that is constantly surrounding it, it is getting 2x as much air, so it effectively has 4.4L of displacement. But when the car isn't using its turbo/supercharger, it acts like a 2.2L and gets good economy. There's a lot more to it than that (combustion chamber design, ignition, camshafts, intake/exhaust flow, parastitic loss...) but you get the idea.

To make the N/A (naturally aspirated) engine produce more power, reduce the restrictions that make the air entering the engine less than 1 atmo, and make it less work for the engine to push the old air out.

Turbos and superchargers have intercoolers because compressing the air makes it hot, and hot air is less dense and might ignite the gas too soon. (pinging)

aesthetic mods- You will grow past them. WRX and other assorted crap usually doesnt fit, or it will be obvious that it was tacked on by a new driver. This is usually not an impression you want to give to fellow motorists or cops.

suspension- you have a spring that sits on top of a shock (strut) making the spring shorter will reduce the amount the strut is open, and lowers the car. The strut is attached to the place the wheel connects to the car, and to the chassis. The spring is keeping it from collapsing. So, the car rides on the struts, but the spring determines ride height.

A hood scoop on many subarus is used to cool the intercooler. But on some subarus, like the outback family, it is just there to look cool.

fire off some more questions!

Let's really confuse him and discuss pulse tuning, cam profiles, and combustion chamber design.

We all have to start somewhere. If you really want to learn a lot about this stuff, howstuffworks.com is a good resource I wish I had when I started learning about engines. I had to read over my head for years.

Steve

Small correction:

scottzg wrote:any tire with 205 55 r 16 will fit on wrx wheels and your car.

205/50-16 is the correct 16" size for our cars. The 205/55-16 tires mostly fit, but they are taller than stock, so they'll increase top speed, hurt acceleration, improve fuel economy, and hurt handling. All only a little, though.

The reason many of us have 205/55-16 tires on our cars is that later Subaru models came with them.

would lowering the car and getting new wheels help the stability/cornering of the car?
what size WRX rims can i get on my 92 legacy w/o any problems? (15", 16")

and will any WRX rims work on the legacy?
where can i get WRX rims? (local subaru dealer, do they sell them?)

and so i should get either 205/50-16 or 205/55-16 for the wheels?

and how much are mid-high quality reliable springs to lower my car?

thanks

DOOOD!!!!!!!!


I said www.howstuffworks.com first!


If you have ANY questions at all, or just want to chat cars or whatever, send me an IM, i have about 50 different methods listed below my posts. screenname is "Laurelthequeen" in ALL messengers.

You shouldn't be having any (serious) negative stability issues as it is. A nice set of GR2 struts would help out if your struts are worn. Check the alignment and bushings too, if you're having a problem. These cars are well balanced and the only real instability you should be getting is the good kind. My wagon doesn't even start to float until over 115 so they'e decent aero-wise also. I have 195/60H15s like the stock turbos have and they're fine. A good set of tires does make a big difference, but I wouldn't recommend going too big. If you live where the pavement's bad I'd recommend nothing bigger than 16". Keep in mind if you want to hang in a skid pad a Subaru's likely a poor choice, but if you want real-life handling that's good for all conditions then you've picked the right car - you just have to know and like it's strengths and limitations.

Steve

heh, i didn't really pick the car, my dad did about 10 years ago
don't know when it was last checked, so when i get to start driving it then i might see if i can get the mods in with the checking?

they just repaved our street a few months ago, all around this city they've repaved in the last few months (dark black road still)

we had an alignment issue or something where the car would drift left but i think my dad's got that fixed out.

thanks guys and gals

Gravija wrote:would lowering the car and getting new wheels help the stability/cornering of the car?
what size WRX rims can i get on my 92 legacy w/o any problems? (15", 16")

and will any WRX rims work on the legacy?
where can i get WRX rims? (local subaru dealer, do they sell them?)

and so i should get either 205/50-16 or 205/55-16 for the wheels?

and how much are mid-high quality reliable springs to lower my car?

thanks

1) yes. lowering reduces the center of gravity, so it doesnt sway as much, lifting the inside wheel and making it lose traction. strut replacement will help too, especially if you change the springs.

2) www.nasioc.com ~200-300 bucks used. they are all 16" tall and 6.5" wide

3)get 205/50r16 because this wont change your rolling diameter. but the other size is what will come on the rims and you can use those tires too.

4) a bit over 200 bucks. I got used 2.5rs ones for 50 though. nasioc of course

evolutionmovement- hey! i thought i was pretty easy to read! course i knew what i was talking about...

something to consider- wider tires will make the car lose traction more abruptly when they do, making it harder to recover when it skids. I have a set of wrx stuff, but i will not put it on my car with my suspension the way it is (14 year old soft), I dont consider it safe. Oh, and more tire on the road makes you more likely to hydroplane. It's winter now, why not wait until summer, get some miles under you, experiment with some nutty driving, then step into some phatty rims.

I got KYB AGX shocks, because I plan to autocross the car, and want to be able to tinker with my dampening rates, they ran me $389 shipped from www.P-S-T.com (performance suspension technologies), I'm sure the GR-2's will work fine for you if you want a comfortable and sporty ride.

The 2 main spring brands that I've heard about are the Whitelines, and the H&R's. I got whiteline control springs, and love them, but it took me 17 weeks to get them from the order date til the time they landed on my doorstep, because they had to be made, then shipped from australia. They were $200+shipping(~$30) from www.pdm-racing.com

You also should probably check and make sure your sway bar and bushings are in good shape if you have one.

A good thing to look into is a lifetime alignment from firestone. costs $138, and for the life of the car, you can take it in and get it realigned for free. If you're going to be lowering the car, and tinkering with the suspension more than 2 times, it will pay for itself.

http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/subaru_corner.html

are the whiteline lowering springs about 1/3-1/2 way down the page the ones you're talking about Laurel?

and will those OZ superleggera rims that are 17x7.0 fit on my legacy?
and will i need to get new tires with those?
rims don't come with tires rigth?

what else will i need to buy if i am buying rims?

could i get rims that are 17"?
\
thanks

try www.tires.com or www.lesschwab.com or www.firestone.com to check fitament. You need a 38 mm offset, but if you drop the subby 2", you're gonna have to get tires that are more or less rubber bands to keep from rubbing. Wheels do not come with tires, unless you get them as a package. If you buys wheels, i'd recommend locking lug nuts as well. Do not go to a regular tire store to get them, because then everyone will have the key to yours. spend the extra dough and get locking lugs with a pattern thats relatively unique. it'll make it that much harder to steal your wheels.

Forget 17, heavy and not worth the money.
Grab the used WRX wheels from a WRX owner in your area and most likely you'll get tires along with them. So far I have purchased 3 sets of WRX wheels, between 200-350 with tires and lug nuts. Heck I even know of some with SIX MILES and the person is asking 450$

Lets say a set of 17 cost 550. Then add 85 for lugs. 575 more for tires. Thats a conservative 1200$ just to become slower with a sloppy ride? If you got the superleggera that would be more like 1800 for wheels


Compare that to WRX wheels with tires and lugs for 300. You have 800$ left over for other items, like the suspension to match the new tires.

if you autox the car, lower profile tires are better. less sidewall flex. it's also possible to get super light weight wheels. If that's what he wants, then dont criticize his descision. Perhaps he's not going for speed, and just wants the car to handle well, and look pretty. (it gets the ladies. )

I dont agree that the 17's are better for autocross.
Why is the 16x7 slipstream so popular with WRX owners especailly when they have 16x6.5 to start?

Super light weight wheels are going to cost alot. Why spend so much when the suspension doesnt match?
I doubt he is going to get any ladies with an old legacy, unless they are lesbian or hippy.

I will criticize becuase I have prior experience. I have the reputation as a car guy so I often get asked. Im telling him that the smile per dollar would be FAR greater if he didnt get bling. Would it surprise you to know that I have decided which car to purchase for 7 of my co-workers in the last couple months and they weren't all subarus? I even got some commission and yes my head is big

edit: I guess a full set of 20 lugs with lock can be had for 85 shipped now