Setright

Best way to get a little more sound and be sure of perfect fit: Buy an standard Sube muffler, and cut off the two exit pipes and weld two 60mm pipes on instead. You could use stainless if you have the right welding tools. This will give a deeper tone, but very little increase in actual noise level. Paint the rest of the muffler with heat resistant black paint. This makes the mod less obvious and keeps future rust at bay. EJ22´s already have a very nice sound, and this detriorates as the muffler rusts. I think you would be surprised by how much sound quality you gain with a new stock muffler. Or even better a non-original replacement from Bosal or similar. Copies are rarely as quiet as genuine parts. As I wrote somewhere else on this board, the power gain is minimal with a free flow exhaust, 2-3 hp.

You can release the brake pedal in an auto, just flip the selector into Neutral - don't need to press the button for moving from D to N to D - pull the handbrake!

The pads could be suspect. I would recommend Mintex standard pads over Subaru pads. The lug nut torque is very important! First of all, they must be tightened in small increments in the right order. If you tighten one all the way, with the others "loose", the rotor and wheel will not be centered. Too high a torque value (I use 98Nm, check your owners manual) will squeeze too hard on the rotor and will not allow movement for expansion when it heats up, causing warping, but only at high temperature. Usually goes away when the brakes cool. However, uneven brake pad deposits can result from this and cause juddering - even though the rotors will measure up straight when cold.

Maybe the early EJ22 rev limiter was a bit weird. Mine was red at 6500 but the limiter kicked in at 6800. Just a smooth stop though. My Impreza, EJ20, is red at 6200 and limits a little bit more abruptly at: 6200!

The injectors aren't set for any back pressure! The camshaft lobes and timing thereof are what relate to back pressure. Back pressure isn't really a good thing in itself. High power peak engines tend to have a long valve overlap to allow intake gases to flush exhaust gases out of the combustion chamber, and any back pressure will work against this process. Long overlap isn't popular in cat equipped engines because it allows fuel to travel unburned though the engine...and into the fire-hot cat....BANG! Therefore, back pressure reductions will only yield marginal gains, and only above say 4000rpm. A free-flow silencer will probably add about 2-3hp to the EJ22 - but the sound will be unparalled! A good intake mod will add 8-10hp. Consider that exhaust gases are hot and expanding, they WILL make their way out. Intake air is standing still - so to speak- and the engine must pump it in by itself. Making this easier will help power dramatically. The elaborate intake systems on cars in last ten years is only there to quieten things down. Low end torque will not suffer from opening up the intake system. Just make sure you put the open filter inside the fender to allow it to ingest cool air. And don't neglect the PCV system, your engine's longevitity depends on it! Oh, open intakes only roar when you accelerate above half throttle, and are mute at cruise. This cannot be said of perfromance silencers, so consider if you can live with the noise on highways.....I CAN!

Agreed, Myles! (Although I don't understand why the Japanese filters my dealer is now getting has ADV???? What for?)

Rings "seat" within the first few hundred revolutions a newly honed engine turns. You don't need to run mineral oil for 10k. 600miles used to be the Sube norm. They have now ditched this first "oil service" like everyone else.

Yeah, what is that about? Why is the drain hose bent toward the lower suspension arm? Water runs along this, onto the hub, into the wheel and onto the ground!

You need to get the codes read. The Check Engine thing is general warning, and it tells that one or more fault codes are stored in the ECU memory.

As you wish captain, as you wish. :-) It set me back about $100, including tax. Redline would cost the same, since it's a rare product over here.

Yes, yes, I know about Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Even so, I have to sound like a broken record, because no matter what your CAFE rating, you still have to be able to sell your cars.

Mainly based on feel. SOund too. TAF-X allows quickish shifts without KERR-unch!

I cannot believe that anyone would doubt that cost plays a central role in car design.

The specs on TAF-X say GL4 / 5

May I quote Laurel and Hardy?? "What an ignorance!" If a company, especially a car company, can save even a nickel on a part, it will do so. Multiply it up by by the hundreds of thousands they produce, and that nickel will mean something - to them anyway. It's all about percieved quality. Car companies prefer to spend money on a fancy set of headlights, and some sort of new texture on the interior plastic, so that it all looks more expensive. An air filter hidden away under the bonnet won't impress in the showroom. Try taking apart the exhaust system on your car and examine it's construction. The flanges are only welded on the outside, to keep them gas-tight, but inside the raw cut of the pipe is restricting the flow. Why? No-one will see if you spend extra time and money welding and sanding the insides to give a smooth flow. There is power and fuel being lost here, yet car companies are choosing to cut costs instead. My 1990 Legacy intake had velocity stacks leading from each plenum into the next pipe. My 2000 Impreza has blunt edges. COST CUTTING!

Dang it! I hate this kind of problem! I would offer this general advice: If it's a mechanical problem, like bad compression, it should show up all the time. Most mechical faults don't change their mind and go away for a bit. Before you replace any sensors, check all the connectors. Spray them with a switch cleaner, let dry and reconnect. Before doing this, disconnect the battery, so your ECU will forget it's troubled past. (At least one hour) Let us know if this helps :-)

I use K&N, and have done so in a number of cars. Don't believe the "extra 5hp" stuff, the flow of a K&N is not that far superior to a paper element. However, that is a NEW paper element, and the flow rate will fall steadily, the K&N offers far less resistance as it gets dirty. So you get better consistency. Also, in the long run it's gonna be cheaper.

Okay, okay! So, I really like Castrol TAF-X :-) Statside, it's called "Syntorq". Just to refresh, I have tried RedlineNS, and it's not the worst for actual quality, but it breaks down way too fast. Castrol TAF/Syntorq has improved with age.

One common fault I have heard of is a tendency to use too much glue. This creeps into the ventilation holes in the "A" pillars and then they can't loose moisture and they start to rust....car is a write-off.

Someone on the board recently suggested that Subaru should left the capacity at 2.4 litres after increasing the stroke only. The 2.5 bore is just too big to fit inside the EJ block. I expect they wanted distance the 2.0 and 2.5, so customers won't mind coughing up the extra money. The previous generation BMW 5-series had a 2.5 litre in the "523i", in order to keep a sizeable gap up to the more expensive 2.8 litre "528i".

Normal driving, I would go for about 3000rpm from 1st to 2nd. From then on, 3500rpm seems good. Cruising at the city limit of 33mph is usually done in 3rd gear, unless there is long flat stretch, maybe slightly downhill, in which case I would select 4th. 5th is for 55 and above only. Don't attempt any increase in speed with less than 2000rpm in gears higher than 1st or 2nd. If you must accelerate from such a low engine speed in 3rd, don't floor the gas pedal, press it slowly and smoothly downward. Don't feel guity about wringing the needle up to 6000rpm, these engines thrive on it ;-) Just make sure your oil and coolant are good !

Dang it! I can only hear the report, no picture...what's that about??

I think maybe the light is trying to flash an error code? Don't have an auto myself, so my experience is limited.

Yep, that's Danish taxes for you...Our registration fees are so high that the importers have the cheapest raw price for cars. Meaning that smart people outside buy their cars here and then tax them at home. Basic reg. fee is 180% of the value of the car. On top of that, we have Value Added Tax (or GST), at 25%. So, buying a car here means you are actually paying for three :-( Last - socialist - government had even more "environmental" tariffs added, which has hiked up the prices even further. Congratulations on the new car, by the way! :-)

I don't know, but I think that it would very difficult to cure this problem. Essentially, the bore of the 2.5 is just to big for the block. The only way to cure this problem is a new block, and that costs.