carfreak85

The radius rod plates are found on EA81s. You need the manual transmission version to replace your auto-specific ones.

Russ, keep me updated on those wheels!

Palm to forehead. Cars are equipped with parking brakes for a reason, specifically, the scenario you brought up. Use it and never again worry about your car wandering off.

There is a lot of good information in this thread so far, but not all of it is accurate. I have done this swap before and its pretty easy. First, find the 5 speed swap guide. Second, you don't need to do any grinding on the bell housing (EA81Ts got larger housings to clear torque converters), but you might want to on the rear of the transmission case, in some cases, it will tap on the transmission tunnel and become quite obnoxious. Like Turbone said, you will need parts from a 4 speed car. Heck, find that how-to and you'll be set. If you have any questions, PM me and I'll answer them as best I can.

Very, very, very good looking GSR. That is the car I want!

Suggestion: The angle that the rear exhaust port meets the front is hideous. Modify to meet at a more flow friendly angle?

If you've never used a clay bar before, prepare to be converted. Your paint will feel brand new to the touch (depending on the condition of your paint). I do it as often as possible, which turns out to be not very often! I find that a good clay barring and rain X will make most cars look pretty respectable. If your serious about concourse type stuff, take a look at Griot's Garage. They are a one-stop shop for car detailing, although everyone has a favorite top shelf brand. I forget the product offhand, but IPD sells a rubber dye that is superior to Back-to-Black and silicon-based exterior rubber restorer. If you remove the clearcoat, be prepared to wax the car often (if you want it looking good). That wax coating is the last barrier of protection your paint has...

Time to change your custom title? "EG JUST KICKED OUT YO!!"

Kumho! The tires we used 20 years ago are still being produced and sold, just not in the US anymore... Therefore not DOT legal. But their manufacturers also sell us tires, and there is still a tiny market they are willing to cater to. About a year, year and a half ago I needed daily, streetable all-season tires. I chose the factory EA81T size, 185/70/13, out of stubborness. Kumho was the only real contender, of the handfull of tires I found in the size. I would wager that for commuter tires, Kumho will have a useable size. They make pretty good tires to boot.

105 MPH on a closed course. Flat, dry and at sea level. Was too busy driving to pay attention to the gear/RPMS, but a little math and you guys could figure it out...

Sorry for the hijack, but I must disagree about the 5 speed WRX transmissions being fragile. I think that reputation comes more from the way people were/are driving the car vs. any real flaw in design. Our bone stock 2002 sedan has been autox'ed since new by dual drivers at dozons of events, has had two 16 year-olds learn to drive with three pedals and shows no signs of advanced aging or weakness. Roughly 90k miles to date. (OEM SPT short-shift kit from factory) My friend's 2002 wagon on the otherhand (second owner) has led a much harder life. The car is pretty heavily modded (260ish AWHP/280lb/ft ish) lightweight flywheel/ACT clutch, full drivtrain bushings. He drives the car to its full potential on a daily basis, races, snow/dirt shenanagins, etc, and the original transmission has somehow stayed intact. 120K and feels like new. (Stock trans minus bushings, clutch/flywheel) Folks have been flaming this trans for years, but from my personal exerence, a properly operated WRX 5 speed can not only live a long life, it can withstand racing and support STI power levels. Just my .02 cents

Just watched it live on my buddy's ESPN3 Xbox connection. Pretty wild AWD final! Dave Mirra lost a rear wheel on his STI and A. Eriksson lost a tire with 1.5 laps left, allowing Tanner Foust to take the win. Wish I could have seen it in person, but a very cool race none the less.

Unquestionably! I was just pointing out a possible reason for his quick induction into WRC.

+1. Be glad that neither you nor your friend were squashed... This time. $12 for a closed casket, or jack stands. I know you can find them cheaper, Craigslist, garage sales, estate sales.

Because hes filthy stinking rich like all the other pro drivers out there. Well, maybe not all, but most of them were independently wealthy before becoming racecar drivers and could afford to pay for a seat in a car. That's how you have three or more drivers in a single Le Mans entry and the secondary OEM-WRC teams, they (drivers) cover a large percentage of the costs themselves. As for Block, he is REALLY good, but Zap is right, best driver award has to go to Seb, Schui, or Sainz. If you've never heard of the ROC (Race of Champions), check it out. Top drivers competing in a triathlon of motor sports... SSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool.

A while back our neighbors were debating a new car purchase, asked me for an opinion and received the inevitable Subaru sales pitch. They took a test drive of the Forester and Outback (2010s) and I had suggested the Forester because it has a regular 4EAT, next year would be the first year of the FB engine and the Outback came with a CVT... They went for the Outback... Forwarded.

Hatchsub is running a setup that I cooked up after doing a lot of research on what was out there. The idea was to basically use off-the-shelf parts to make incremental improvements in handling. I think the mods he listed will make 80% of gen 2 owners happy with the way their car handles. If you want to go even further, you have two routes. First, pony up the cash and have a company custom manufacture coilovers front and rear with camber plates. Big money, but if anything breaks, you can revert to stock components. The second route is to convert to 5-lug impreza/legacy parts and use off-the-shelf parts for those cars. In the end, anything besides my "Handling Recipe" is going to require custom fabrication or big money.

Stick with it. These cars are a lot of fun and once they are running right, they tend to stay that way. Also, keep me in mind if the project gets old and you want to get out, I'd love to have an EA81T coupe again.

I dare you to try finding a NOS set of those, not a re-pro'ed set.

That's because your BRAT didn't have the the weather resistant covers shown in the picture.

On my last trip to the Pick-N-Pull (ugh) I scored a Draw-Tite trailer hitch for my EA81.