zyewdall

I've never driven the modern mercedes, but the modern cummins in the brand new dodge trucks are rediculous -- they don't even sound like a diesel any more at idle. Plus, quite a bit of power.... we blew a WRX off the line in a 3500 dodge dumptruck full of scrap steel (okay, the WRX wasn't exactly paying attention when the light turned... but he was still a little suprised)

Ah... so that's why they can get better gas mileage from the direct injection gasoline engines, because they can run it leaner, but it doesn't have the danger of compressing a fuel charge that's already ignited, because the fuel doesn't get introduced intil later, just like a diesel engine. Hmmmm.

yeah... if I leave them on all summer, I do not get a second winter on the Ipikes... I haven't found any snow tires that I can do that with though. Even switching them off in the summer, I only get two winters (I end up driving about 12,000 miles a year on my main commuter though). Soft rubber....

Ah... no fair

Thanks for the explanation. I don't really understand gas engines that well compared to diesels.... Like... why is running lean bad for gas engines, whereas diesel engines running lean is what you want, to avoid black smoke and melted pistons?

Where do you get 15 to 17" rims that fit our pattern that aren't 6 lugs or pugs?

Except that I can't stand temperatures over 70 degrees, and I love snow.... If they'd just leave the snow on the roads instead of de-icing it, and tell everyone to go get decent studded snow tires, it would be fine.

Oh. that's alot different than Seattle. I grew up north of Spokane, so we had lots of that in the summer. One time I was in Seattle when it was a hot dry 90 degree summer day -- normal, right? and everyone was freaking out

Does he need A/C up there for more than one week a year? The A/C is on it's own belt I think, so just leave it off and don't worry about it. Every time I've taken a car in with ANYTHING A/C related, I tend to get quotes in the $1200+ range, so I decide I can do without it.

Why do you suspect that it might be? Getting one cam 180 out is more common -- the timing belt marks are not both up at the same time... one is up when the other is down, and it's a common mistake by someone not familiar with the timing belts on these to put them both up instead. Runs like complete crap if you do this, if you can get it to run at all....

4wd with low range? If so, they're getting pretty rare -- used to be zillions of them around there, but the last few years it's getting hard to find them, so even beat up ones are fetching $400 to $500 if they run well. The 2wd ones you are better off trying to sell the engine than the car, because no one really wants them. Z

I've seen '98 outbacks from Boston that look worse than my '76 pickup truck from WA. Here in Colorado, the mag cloride is not only starting to rust out the cars, but it's killing all the trees along the roads too... they claim it doesn't, but all the trees on the downhill side of the road starting to die about two years after they start using it is kind of suspicious if you ask me.....

New mexico and arizona are going to be the last sources.....

My understanding is that most modern engines should automatically adjust the timing to avoid pinging, even if you use low grade gas -- loosing power due to doing this though. Older cars are more picky and it depends more on the compression ratio... but... not sure if that's true. Most of my older subarus I've noticed very slight pinging in the summertime on steep hills with the lowest grade (I'm assuming that you are referring to 87 as the lowest grade... here in colorado, 87 is mid grade, and 85 is the low grade). So I generally run the mid grade stuff. Not enough experience with the newer ones to decide on them yet. I have never run the high grade (89 or 91) in any of my cars... only in the chainsaw, which is very picky.

Yeah... the factory tires on the newer outbacks are AWFUL on ice.... Potenza RE's, or Pretendza's I've heard them called... I happen to like the Hankook Ipike tires pretty well -- either studded or not. I've run them on a bunch of my subaru's over the past few years. On my trucks I run the Hankook Zovac studded snows.... a little more trucklike tire -- not the fancy new directional snow tires like the Ipike. One thing I like about the Ipike is that they are not noisy on the highway (well, the non-studded ones at least), unlike alot of snow tires, but they still do quite well in the snow and ice. They seem to be cheaper than the fancy michelin X-ices and such, but still hold up well and perform well in my experience. You could also see if you can get something from Uniroyal... I've gotten some really cheap all season tires from Uniroyal, that are working very well on my legacy wagon, for $264 installed (185/75/R14's). I've never asked for a snow tires from them, but they may have a decent one. If glazed ice is your thing, I think I'd get a studded tire. At least you can put big white claw marks in it while sliding on the ice... However, then you probably have to remember to switch them in the spring on the right date. Colorado I believe is the only state that allows studded tires year round, except for maybe Alaska.

You said you removed the cotter pin... did you remove the giant nut that holds the whole thing on the axle? Usually, once you remove that, the whole hub/brake rotor slides right off easily.

:banana::banana: Actually, mine is the SPFI wagon, so it's a full 92HP Oh, but at 5,400 feet elevation, and 240,000 miles, it's probably back down to 70 to 80...

I just got a set of Khumo studded snow 165/R13's for the justy.... yeah.. no aspect ratio listed at all.. WTF? They are bigger diameter than the 175/70R13's that I had on there before -- seem like at least a 75, maybe an 85 aspect ratio... significant rubbing on the fenders for a few days till the studs wore the fenders away...

wow.

I completely toasted a brand new beamer in my '89 wagon ..... a few inches of slush on the road, and he was squirming all over if he touched the gas. RWD and wide tires. I floored it in 2nd low and just took off with the studded snows -- no squirming or anything. One day of the year.... the other 364, it's an old station wagon no one notices

Interesting... did you have equally good tires on both of them? I've never really driven a new one on ice, with good studded tires on it. I know that the old ones handle pretty well, and I've climbed a mile long driveway up to 20% driveway in sections, that was glazed ice, in the pouring rain, in my old GL wagon once -- nice new blizzaks on it. Surprised me that I could even do it. And, they handle pretty well even sliding sideways . as in, you can pull them out of the slide, or make it slide where you want alot of the time. Actually a fun way to turn the old wagon around on some roads in the snow -- back up pretty fast then crank the wheel and floor it in 4wd low, and half the time, you end up facing the other way. Other half the time, you end up only three quarters around, with a pile of snow over the hood and can't open the door from plowing it sideways during the spin

I've had the newer subarus (i.e. 90's and newer) throw a CEL when you get the exhaust system very wet -- like fording rivers, plowing snow (with the bottom of the car), or driving for extended periods in very heavy rain (30mph top speed rain...). When they dried out and got back up to temp, it went away. I figured it was something to do with taking the cat temp way down after the engine was warmed up and it though it should be running closed loop... or something like that. None of those involved the cruise control light also blinking though... We only ended up with maybe 8 inches of snow here, but we've had 50mph gusts for the past two days, and it's got some pretty deep drifts around. Got the Justy completely high centered coming DOWN my friend's driveway this morning... about 45 minutes of digging to get the wheels to touch the ground again

Really? I know that ward has a ridiculous number of subarus for a town of 200 people, but I still think there are more old V8 and straight 6 engines sitting around town than subaru engines...

Huh? Snow tires are made of a different rubber compound that stays grippier at low temperatures. Ice included, in my experience. All season tires SUCK on snow, ice, etc. In rain... not much different that I notice. Of course studded snow tires are loud, and don't handle as well on dry roads. But it sure is nice on the snow covered roads when you hit the brakes and just stop, instead of hitting the brakes and almost nothing happens (my other subaru which has brand new all season tires on it...). A subaru is a stable enough vehicle that I will drive one with all season tires in the snow, just keeping in mind I have to go slow. Pickup trucks and SUV's that spin more easily, I wouldn't drive without snow tires in the winter. If you're primarily driving on snow free roads, and only occasionally snow packed or icy roads, then the all season's are okay. I ran all season tires all year till I moved into the mountains -- Denver really doesn't get snow more than a few times a year and it melts right away... most the time, and if you can just avoid driving for the worst two or three hours of the storm, you don't really need them. But up here alot of the roads up here are 15mph all winter if you don't have snow tires because the snow builds up on them even though they are plowed, and turns into a layer of hard snow/ice that sticks around for a long time. Plus colorado's reluctance to put guard rails on most cliffs... Having said that, we have the tripletreads on our company cars ('07 outbacks) and they seem to be good for all season tires -- alot better than the factory ones at least.

Hmmm. We've only got about 6 inches of snow here, but it did to -3F last night (quite a bit colder than that down in town, I hear, but the inversion and the wind kept it "warmer" up here