It's so hard to know who's right. Dealers have a tendincy to tell you something because it's the same thing they've been saying since they were selling cars in the 80's.

Which is why I depend on the owner's manual (written by the mfr rather than the dealer) to tell me how to handle things like the break-in and the oil change interval.

You don't listen to the 30-minute Oil Change place ?? What interest would they have in telling you to change your oil so often??

Are you gonna wait 'till the odometer clicks over to 1k and then boot it?

Heheh... i'll probably kick it in slowly after that... more worried about ME handling the cars power than the whole break in thing. =]

Which is why I depend on the owner's manual

Exactly... it's in the owners manual, so i'm doing it.

I've been sure to vary the rpms... even when i'm highway driving i'll shift all over the place just to keep it from being constant at 4k for long periods.

It is weird though... that the ECU will have been pretty punched into it's learning by the time you can push it over 4k. I'll be resetting it anyhow when i install the empeg (gotta disconnect that battery terminal =]).

You don't listen to the 30-minute Oil Change place ?? What interest would they have in telling you to change your oil so often??

Actually, i've heard arguments against the owners manual oil change periods as well... something to do with the manufacturer being able to advertise longer wear and cheaper cost per mile. At least it's not detrimental to anything but your wallet to change the oil more often than necessary. IIRC the WRX manual says change every 3500. It has a nice maintenence chart in the back i need to copy and post somewhere i'll see it.

I'm going to subscribe to techinfo.subaru.com tonight and download the entire service manual. If you want me to snag anything for ya let me know. =]

You don't listen to the 30-minute Oil Change place ?? What interest would they have in telling you to change your oil so often??

I suppose they'd have about the same amount of interest as, say, a car manufacturer might have in recommending longer oil change intervals..

Ouch, good point. HMMMMM....

Supposedly there are some good runs down in Santa Cruz... i gotta go do some research

I was just on "the 1" this last friday. I've driven a lot of crazy mountain roads but the section of the 1 between San Simeon and Monterey was UNREAL. That road has the tightest curves I've ever driven. I got to drive it in my gf's Integra, too - so that was fun!

- trs

Which is why I depend on the owner's manual (written by the mfr rather than the dealer) to tell me how to handle things like the break-in and the oil change interval.

My Saab's oil change interval in the manual is every 10,000 miles. Even the first change was recommended at 10,000 miles. I think that's nuts. I had the first oil change done at 1,000 miles and have been changing it every 4,000 since then.

That road has the tightest curves I've ever driven

The stretch of Hwy 1 going from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach is incredible as well.

But what i really want to do is some dirt track where i don't have to worry about flying off a cliff into the Pacific... where at worst i might go into a grassy field or something.

But what i really want to do is some dirt track where i don't have to worry about flying off a cliff into the Pacific...

Well, if you do rally racing, they choose the courses so that the cliffside is always on the co-driver's side of the car. So you don't need to worry about that as much.

cliffside is always on the co-driver's side of the car

SHH! I'm having enough trouble keeping Kelly calm when i drive in the city... if she hears that she'll never go on a track with me!

I suppose they'd have about the same amount of interest as, say, a car manufacturer might have in recommending longer oil change intervals

...a perfect example being the Mazda MX5/Miata/Eunos Roadster. The Mazda recommended oil change interval jumped from 6,000 miles to 9,000 without any change to the engine design.

I think on average mine only gets changed every 15,000 miles or so. Probably not a good idea, but it has survived 115,000 miles over 6 years so far, I haven't killed it yet (though it has been off the road for the last week getting all the hoses and timing belt replaced after some well hidden and old hose let go on me the other day).

Synthetic helps too - less break down of the oil. But that first one at 1000 miles is a good idea - you'll be shocked how many metal shavings are in that first batch of oil.

Mark - good point, I hadn't thought of that.

Yes I change the oil every 3000 miles in my Saturn and 1500 in my Civic Hatch because I dont drive it that much and when I do it spends most of that time above 6000 rpms.

It'd be cool if we knew someone experienced in computer animation so we could get a spinning "Subaru Stars" logo with some lighting effects....

That's very... uh.... subtle of you.

Haha... gimme a model, and i can make it spin, then i'll hand it off to the effects guy for the sparkles. =]

I need to find some good roads [....] There're lots of good ones up in the mountains, but that's hours away.

We're really lucky here with the mountains being pretty jammed up against the coast (I think it took us like 1:15 to get to our start Saturday AM). Oregon, Washington and British Columbia are also lucky to have a whole lot of "middle of nowhere" such as when you get over to the east side of the mountains in WA/OR or almost *anywhere* up in BC.

What have you done to modify your car for rallying? And what do you do about damage?

As it stands, we have neither the gobs of cash or reflexes needed for stage rallying, so what we do are TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) rallys, where things like roll bars are not required and you stand a good chance of getting the car home in one piece (it doesn't always work out that way).

TSDs are run on public roads at legal speeds (more or less) so that insurance coverage is still in force. And TSDs come in different flavors, from "trap" rallies on pavement where the trick is to interpret and follow instructions correctly, to pavement touring rallies where precision is more of a factor, to gravel TSDs where maintaining a seemingly reasonable speed through twists and turns becomes the issue. The latter is what we've gotten most interested in, so-called "brisk" gravel rallies (in BC, these are generally Brisk++)

So the only damage to the car so far are some minor scrapes on the front spoiler lip and a fair size ding on the bar that holds the right lower control arm (where last November at the Totem Rally in BC I managed to drop the car at about 45 MPH on a fairly big boulder that was hiding in a fairly large slushed-over water hazard).

For many pavement rallies you need no equipment. Some touring rallies conduct basic safety inspections to comply with their club's insurance requirements.

For the many gravel rallies that require them I added:
- 10BC fire extinguisher (they usually spec 5BC or better)
- first aid kit
- tow strap
- reflective triangles (flares typically prohibited)

I should actually keep better track of all this, but things I have added or modifications I have made so far include:

- 4-position AGU fuse block for stereo, ham radio, rally comuter and driving lights.
- Littlite map light
- Hella FF1000 lights on a one-off light bar (something like this pretty much required for gravel night events, and I may add a 3rd FF1000)
- Alfa Club rally clock/odo
- Goodridge stainless brake lines and Super Blue brake fluid
- Slightly upgraded fog light bulbs (85W Yellorstars) and a relay to cut out DRLs if just fogs are turned on
- Kenwood D700A dual-band ham radio
- entrenching tool
- avalanche shovel
- foam pads (for kneeling/crawling on)
- torque wrench with wheel lug socket
- permanent mount recharging Maglite
- full-size spare
- 5 studded Nokian Hakka 1s on OE wheels for winter
- louder horns (Hella Supertones)
- rear diff skid plate (factory option)
- Alfa magnetic sensor on rear axle
- VSS sensor tap (at tranny)
- Empeg

Before The Road Not Taken, I'm adding a front skid plate (from Primitive) and a better back-up light tied in with the driving lights. After our attempt to use a piece of laptop-based rally computer software on No Alibi, I may bite the bullet and finally get a Timewise 798A. I bought a second glovebox from a wreck so I could hack that up into a permanent mount (bonus points for the WRX's easily removable glovebox).

Loren: So are you doing the whole Pacific Coast Challenge?

Well, we were going to go up to Coast-to-Coast on Vancouver Island, but we decided that there were too many other things to attend to. After No Alibi, I don't think we have to worry about a trophy anyhow (but that's not why we do it anyhow). So we'll just do TRNT, Night on Bald Mountain, Totem, and then the Winter Alcan in February (with maybe some Friday nioghters thrown in).

Oh, links! For TSD things, these are pretty good: Left, Right, Online! and Rally Central . I have to say that the Carolinas don't appear to have many rally links. Cherokee Trails Pro Rally a popular event up the road in Tennessee, but a search on "rally TSD Raleigh Carolinas" hasn't shown much yet, and the SCCA links for their TSD division shows mostly events in Virginia. This outfit says they do rallies, but their calendar doesn't show any. More research!

May be a special case, but with TVRs it is critical to have the full run in period, the the engine is retuned, the grade of oil completely changed and various physical tweaks are made.

Heh - I sooo want one!

I always thought you didn't have to 'break in' a new car any more. Or is just with the Subaru's that you have to be carefull?

No, it's in all the VW/Audi/Porsche training manuals to go over the break in period with the customer as well.

Sucks the joy out of getting a new car every 3 or 4 weeks. I only get to enjoy them for a very short period of time.

In reply to:

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Haha... gimme a model, and i can make it spin, then i'll hand it off to the effects guy for the sparkles. =]

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Is the attached worth doing? (not the same file as the image below)

it doesn't always work out that way

Ouch. Is that you?

a search on "rally TSD Raleigh Carolinas" hasn't shown much

Dude, I'm in the middle of NASCAR country down here. (The first syllable is pronounced as ``mace'' with an `n' instead of an `m', BTW.) If they could figure out a way to drive 500 miles without any turns at all, they'd do it. (Only two of the thirty-two tracks listed on the NASCAR web site are road courses, and they, from what people tell me, are generally ignored. Many of the drivers apparently don't even try on them.) I think the chances of me finding a rally group are slim. I'd be happy to find a few roads that are curvy to have fun driving down by myself. Actually, I'd be more interested in road courses anyway, but, then again, you say that you do that. Maybe I'll look into it.

And, as far as damage, I figured you were generally careful enough not to destroy your car. I was more curious about aesthetic damage, especially from the gravel.

Ouch. Is that you?

No, thankfully. That was Car 10, we were "Car" 12 (with the tow strap...that had no hope). Would you believe the WRX was a total? That's what happens when you park on top of a stump at 35.

Dude, I'm in the middle of NASCAR country down here.

Don't I know it. And my sympathies! My sister used to live in Newbern and all I remember is straight roads. You might have to find an autocross for some curves. Looked like THCC had some of that.

Actually, I'd be more interested in road courses anyway

one link I found was the local Porsche club. If they have track days, it isn't uncommon for marque clubs to let other makes in to pay the bills, so I might hunt around for local BMW, Alfa, or other clubs.

And, as far as damage, I figured you were generally careful enough not to destroy your car. I was more curious about aesthetic damage, especially from the gravel.

Oh, yeah, some other mods I forgot:

- 3M headlight protectors
- home-made Lexan fog light covers
- OE Impreza mud flaps (had to hack the fronts for the WRX, but worked OK)

These last have worked really well so far. I have been monitoring for paint chips along the sides near the wheels, and was ready to install bigger, uglier flaps if needed, but it looks good so far (and we have thrown up a lot of gravel).

and have been changing it every 4,000 since then

A compromise I have been experimenting with is to change the oil filter at 2500 miles, and the oil and filter at 5000 miles. Even at 5000 miles my oil still looks pretty clean when I change it.

tanstaafl.

Anyone want a set of 17" Rota Subzeros in Steal Grey wrapped in Yokahamas? I just found I ordered the wrong wheels (want Silver SubZeros) but they are already paid for...

Okay, maybe I'll get more response at nasioc.com :P Wish me luck w. this. Feel like a doof agreeing to the wrong color thinking it was another.

Magically turn them into Steel Grey Battles and you have a deal! I was thinking about the Subzeroes... but i'm not a fan of the polished lip.

That sucks... I bet Rota would take them back and trade them out if you payed the shipping.

I've seriously gotta start figuring out what rims i want. i REALLY love the OZ Racing F1 Cups... but alas it doesn't look like they'll fit the WRX (unless anyone knows how to make a 35mm offset into a 48mm offset). I'd kill for those rims. Soooo nice. I'm definitely going for some anthracite / steel greys, whatever they end up being.

Feel like a doof agreeing to the wrong color thinking it was another.



Magic word: KRYLON

tanstaafl.

Well, you can get wheel paint. I don't know if the ones being looked at are painted or if they're colored some other way, but it should be feasible.

See this article on repairing a barked wheel. I can't see a reason you couldn't apply that to the whole wheel. You would have to be careful about all those drips, runs, and errors.

Don't forget the clearcoat, though.

The weirdest thing happened... a local guy on the Subby boards had nearly the exact opposite problem! He has the identicle wheels I want and I have what he wants. His have a few months of miles on them though. So we are going to meet in person and see if we can work something out.

I also want to see these things on the car. And Loren, that'd be my one advice to you - go to a Subby meet and see wheels in person. Some look great in photos and like junk in person (or more likely the opposite). Also, your new body style might work better with differant wheels than the body style I have (which also comprises 80% of the photos out there.)

On the subject of "Wheels, me want!", can everyone (whether you own a WRX or not!!) e-mail Rota and ask 'em to *pleeese* make a knock-off of the discontinued Raceline RL-7? In 15"? For Jim? Pleeeese???

And I'd get some silver Rota Attacks in 17" if I was feeling.....employed!

I just spent a few weeks dealing with getting replacements for the rims I had on my Jetta and I thought I'd point out a site I used to find the ones I ended up getting. I don't know what their selection is like for rims that fit the Subaru's, but they seem to have a fairly wide varity. Anyway, just thought I'd point it out.