legacycentral bbs

First off thanks for the board, it is pretty sweet!

Now for the dirt on my "new" 1993 wagon:

Its a 5mt AWD wagon and it has 226k and I love it! However I have a few comments as an unbiased observer:

First off my other cars a 1998 Dodge Neon ACR, a 1971 Dodge Demon and a 1974 Chev 4x4, I rallycrossed for 3 years and maybe even beat mike wray (the guy with the ProRally wagon). That is just to get to know where i am coming from.

First I dont know if i could really improve the intake design on the N/A 2.2. It seems pretty efficient and all i did was add the K&N, that should be good enough for a DD.

The flat or pancake 4 produces good power and great torque given the design and long intake runners

You had better have small feet to enjoy this car, the foot well is cramped, but i understand it is a small car with awd.

Even with the blown rear struts the car handles pretty well

It seems pretty easy to work on

The rear springs could be upped by 20%

The ergonomics seem good and QUALITY components!

So they can make a wheel that goes up and down but not adjustable? Lame, my only real complaint.

They sound sweet with an performance exhaust!

I am sure there is much more but I welcome your comments and I hope I have some fresh ideas for you as well.

I am just dissapointed that i did not buy this car with less miles (but they are all hwy). I am just afraid to mod it given the typical wisconsin rust and high miles, Trust me my next car will be a newer one.

And i got 29mpg on my first tank

But thanks

Welcome to the board! I agree with your comments for the most part, except for two things:

-Not sure why one needs small feet to enjoy these cars. My size 12s give me no problems under the dash.

-Look under the steering wheel, and you'll find the actual tilt adjustment. The other lever makes it easy to get in/out.

-Greg

Don't know your car, of course, but the rust might not be as bad as you think. I'm restoring my 1990 now, tearing off the front and rear bumpers, and am utterly SHOCKED at how good the car is underneath everything. I expected to see rust hiding everywhere, but the only parts that are bad are the obvious parts—rear quarters and starting on the front fenders (which were replaced 10 years ago when I bought it). I'll be zinc coating, rust converting, and sealing everything I can get at and I expect it to be good for about another 20 years.

Age doesn't bother these cars much. The chassis loosens up a little, but mine, with 270k, is still more solid feeling than my '06 Mazda3, albeit with an extra creak or two. Engines are easily rebuilt, swapped, or upgraded to newer EJ series. Transmissions are a weak point. Mine went at 175k, though I think pulling J-turns at work didn't help.

evolutionmovement wrote:Transmissions are a weak point. Mine went at 175k, though I think pulling J-turns at work didn't help.

Were you a detective? You must be a loose cannon, you're off the case!

valiant - I wear size 11.5 and my feet fit the pedal box. Try wearing smaller shoes.

Welcome aboard, your enthusiasm is just.

Yup, take off the work boots and get some SpeedCats, my 12.5 feet have no problem. Also, maybe you are just used to American cars that have TOO much space. I like that I can 'heel toe' without my heel....

and +1 for doing a double take under the column. I also thought it didn't adjust for a while, but it's there


enjoy

Yay! for this board and the tip on the tilt, I did indeed find it, boy that little bastard was hard to find (and i need to buy an owners manual off e-bag) Its much better now!

A couple of other notes of interest for me:

While the visibility is awesome out of these cars, even better than some of the volvos I have driven I wish the rear view mirror was a bit wider.

The only thing that feels really cheap are the visors, hell my neon has better quality ones, no offense...

The cruise control is "mostly" accurate.

I am used to a close ratio box, that would be nice.

For those running taller tires, I really think you are sacraficing a lot of power down low and while the motor has surprisingly good torque, anything below 2200 on the highway would be lugging it, IMHO.

These cars are surprisingly quick! About as fast as a stock soch 5sp neon, dont laugh they can run a 16 flat or better in the quarter and a fast stock doch under 15s.

Still the foot well thing bothers me and i have size 9.5 feet, I just think i am used to trucks and front drive small cars.

That being said the dead pedal is perfectly placed.

And I am lucky I am only the third owner of this car, the first owner had it for 200k and everthing was dealer serviced (right down to a genuine subaru battery and filters) and the last owner was SAE.

Oh and I have modded it already, black rims,blacked out grill and I have some rust bullet on the way to stop the rust, and rereading the junk on 04+ wrx springs on gr2's and getting bad ideas;)

I know these cars are pretty tough but i dont know if it has more than 250k in it, and the body is not that bad just when you start doing bushings all over and synchros, it is just cheaper to by another one

But thanks for your support and dont worry this car will not die in my hands, and if it does i will just make it a rallycross slut.

So thanks guys and gals for listing to some objective opinions and hopefully you will see some mods soon.

Oh and there is really no good place to mount fogs on this car, and i can fab just about anything, maybe need more beer...

thanks

Be VERY careful with those sunvisors... try to work some lube into the pivot point, if it starts binding, it'll snap right off in your hand. Been there... Twice.

The visors also don't like to stay up. Small, too. They really suck. I'm replacing mine with dark-tint acrylic.

Welcome!

I sit with the seat pretty far forwards (so the wheel is more or less in my lap directly in front of my chest), and from that position I find that I have almost no blind spots at all -- the rear view mirror's coverage ends pretty much where the side mirrors' begin. I don't know if you're able to do that or not, but you might try it. I also stuck those fisheye mirrors on each side mirror for a little extra. They help a little but not all that much because they're so small.

There are two types of visors these cars were fitted with: the cheap-looking vinyl ones and the nicer-looking cloth ones. The cloth ones almost all start to droop and sag, while the vinyl ones stay up.

Smaller tires definitely do improve the driving experience. They improve acceleration and cornering, and will actually give you a little bit of that close-ratio feeling.

I think someone is selling some owners' manuals in the Parts Shed.

Yes, the sunvisor is one of the few things the designed messed up. The stupid plastic pivot arm.

As for owner's manual. This is for the 1990 Legacy, but should give you an idea. There's a full pdf at the bottom with all the pages together

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... ual_Scans/

honestly the visors in on L wagon feel cheap. The ones in my ss are alot nicer and have a light.