GeneralDisorder

As I said - all of them. You can't tune those ECU's so for it to work correctly you will have to hookup everything. As said - get a complete harness and strip it. You can't build one because you can't buy the connectors to do so. GD

Don't go to a tranny shop (ever, with any vehicle) That's just a shop that knows less about Subaru transmissions than a Subaru specialty shop. You need a clutch. Give us a call at 503-880-4084 (we open at 9 AM). My shop is on McLoughlin in Milwaukie. We can get you fixed up proper next week. You may be able to drive it with a light foot or I have a tow guy that will deliver it to us for $100 or less. GD

Steven at Inferno can do a catted J-pipe for about $350 and he guarantees them also. His water jet cut flanges are 3/8" thick. GD

Centric is huge. Some of their stuff probably is garbage but..... They have multiple product lines. Their performance division is Stop-Tech and they have some quite excellent products. They rebrand some products and I'm sure some of those come from China. But a lot do not. Worldpac's house brand, WBR is one I'm quite impressed with. They have really nice coated rotors and drums. Also have seen some nice stuff in the Autozone Duralast Gold line. Akebono is very good, as are Bosch quiet-cast pads. Brembo has a line of pads and rotors as well for regular (non Brembo) brakes. GD

Not exactly. It's fine within reason. But more than 3" of lift, and more than about 150 HP really starts to break things at an excessive rate. My lifted hatch still only has 74 HP, but with the T-case 10" lift it breaks front diffs and axles with fair regularity. I broke an axle trying to pull a bush out of the ground in my parking lot with it in 4 Lo/Lo. I hitched my 2WD '69 GMC truck to the same chain and basically lifted my foot off the clutch at idle and the bush nearly landed in the bed of my truck. I didn't even notice it back there. These cars are not far from their limit in stock form (breaking axles in stock form isn't difficult) and you add some additional tire load and heavy foot wheeling (because no gearing) and the drivetrain will give up the juice. It's just the reality of it. They are good for quite a bit of fun - but if you expect to install 4-5" of lift, and 180 HP worth of 2.5.... you're going to TEAR through parts. GD

The high comp 2.5 is in the neighborhood of 180 HP. It shreds 5 speed D/R transmissions. And axles... etc. Most people are using old worn out 2.2's and they aren't even making the stock 135 HP. Much less likely but still capable of tearing up drivetrain. What Scott said about the EA's with power is completely true. They don't handle it well at all. The front end rise when you punch it on the freeway feels like you are tillering a boat, the torque steer is worse than a turbo Honda.... They just weren't setup for it. GD

It's all about power to weight ratio. And torque has more to do with breaking things than HP. EJ engines make a lot of it at lower RPM. Especially the 4" bore 2.5. They breathe a lot of air down low and if you run EJ22 heads the small intake port diameter will magnify the low end torque....It may seem slow in that pig of an outback but that's not an EA chassis geared for 85 HP. The gearing makes a huge difference. It creates lots of opportunity for shock loading and the low RPM torque capability of the 2.5 will put great strain on the drivetrain. Trust me - you will have a VERY hard time keeping the front wheels from spinning on take off and through second and third. You will come to the same conclusion we did - need AWD or it's just not controllable. Subaru moved to AWD primarily because of the massive increase in torque output of the EJ. It just made a terrible FWD engine. Anyone that has driven a first gen Legacy 2.2 FWD can tell you.... It was a really bad idea. Just a little throttle and the front wheels go nuts. It's not a Honda engine that makes no low end power.... It has tremendous grunt for such a little engine. It also has no top end compared to other Japanese 4's.... mostly due to really poor intake, exhaust, and head ports. They just don't flow up high well. GD

It does depend on how you drive it. But I have a friend that put a stock EJ22 in his lifted EA82 chassis and went through about 4 transmissions. It's a LOT more power than the EA82. Like virtually double if you go to the EJ25. Saying you won't use the power is like saying you won't eat more than one Dorito. Never. Happened. The high comp EJ25 that went into the rally brat had so much power it permanently distorted the unibody and the doors didn't close right anymore. Had to 8 point cage the whole thing. It wasnt even really driveable with the D/R. We put an AWD trans in it before the D/R gave out. It would chirp ALL 4 tires going into 3rd.... The EA bodies are very light and the torque of the EJ is a lot - they just aren't stiff. GD

The EJ engine has electronics too.... far more than the 4EAT. But really it's not "electronics" to do the circuit mod. You just cut the voltage to the lockup clutch duty solenoid so it applies full line pressure to the transfer clutch pack. It's literally cut one wire and put either end on a switch. That's all it is. Being as you haven't done it yet - I'll spoil the ending a bit for you. The EJ25 will be lots of fun for a disturbingly short time..... You will decide to rethink the entire EA chassis when you get to about D/R transmission number 3 or 4.... Then you will most likely buy a Forester 5 speed in total frustration of the D/R weakness, axle failures, and lack of chassis stiffness.... Only after you blow a few clutches and some transfer housings, center diffs, etc will you finally see the light and get a 4 speed auto with the EJ25 single cam.... Don't say you weren't foretold of the future. GD

You can easily lock the 4EAT into 4WD. It takes a little planning ahead by adding a circuit to control voltage to the duty-c solenoid. Then you have true 4WD. Trust me - a properly equipped lifted Forester automatic will do everything your D/R will do and then some. And probably more comfortably also. Neither will wheel like my t-case lifted EA81 hatch but honestly that's not a Subaru anymore. It's got 20 forward gears... GD

As mentioned - timing belts are rubber. Replace it at the specified interval. The alternative is 16 bent intake valves which is far more costly. Although - it's going to need head gaskets pretty soon. Might as well just do those now and get the timing belt job labor free. Cabin filters were optional in 2003. And the engine air filter is not filtering any cabin air. That's absurd and the idiot that told you this should lose his job over such absurdity. GD

Oil pump replacement only if it didn't have a 10mm pump already. Piston slap and rod knock are completely different things. The majority of Subaru turbo engines with forged pistons (including 207's from the factory) have piston slap just due to the skirtless piston design and clearance requirements with forged alloy slugs. GD

Maybe you should drive more than one. Yes the basic ones were quite uninspiring. But there are simple upgrades that can fix that easily. My 91 Legacy SS is quite fun to drive with Impreza suspension which is a bolt on. GD

Only till you get out-wheeled despite the low range by an Automatic. You see, the torque converter (it's right there in the name) IS a low range. And the 4EAT is far smarter and better at torque split. The dual range sounds like a great idea till you realize the gearing sucks for larger tires, and with the EJ power and automatic you don't need any low range. GD

If you love them for no good reason and are ok with it.... that's fine. But when you try to justify it by claiming they are somehow qualitatively better cars.... well that's just ignorant. Logic, science, and a large body of empirical evidence and experience proves that position false. My problem isn't with loving something for no good reason you can explain - my problem is the ridiculous attempts at logical justification. Don't abuse reality and science like that. It gives people with even less experience the wrong idea. GD

That simply isn't true. They both get about 30 give or take. Depending on quite a few factors not the least of which is how they are driven. Legacy have the HH and the Legacy is larger inside. Ridiculous, but ok. Legacy bearing typically last twice as long. They cost about $25 from any parts store, and can be installed with a screw press kit that's about $100 from the usual Chinese suspects. Learn to drive. I've never had a problem. Usually when people talk about blind spots, etc it's because they have no clue how to set their mirrors. Usually they all have the same issue - adjusting the side mirrors so they can see the side of their own car. If you adjust them instead for only slight overlap with the central rearview mirrow you will find that these claimed blind spots disappear. No it doesn't. Not any more than a Legacy. A set of outback struts and springs is a bolt on for the Legacy. +3". Then it REALLY doesn't match up. The forum software isn't letting me do more quotes.... what a crock. But yeah I have answers for all your points. GD

Search Google using the FCC ID code on the back. You can find generic compatible remotes for pretty cheap online. Anything that matches the FCC ID will work. Usually see deals for 2 remotes for $50-$60 or so. GD

Be prepared to use the warranty. I got a call from one of my aftermarket parts suppliers wondering why they always get Subaru cats returned by other shops and why we never buy them.... wanted to know what our secret was. Its such an issue they cold called me to try and figure it out. Unfortunately all I could tell them was they don't work. It's pretty telling that the cat recyclers pay us $100 - $200 for factory cats and only $10 for ANY aftermarket cat. There's a qualitative difference resulting in approx 10x the price going in and coming out. GD

P0136 is a failed rear O2 sensor or a wiring issue. Has nothing to do with the cat. Inferno does use aftermarket cats. There are many quality levels out there. The ones used by walker, etc are junk. His aren't. It's either that or get OEM. The Walker, etc products last about 9 months if you are lucky. GD

The aftermarket stuff is junk. Contact Steven @ Inferno Fabrications: http://www.infernofab.com/index.html He will need to know if the rear oxygen sensor is behind the first or second cat on your car. GD

If it does I'm sure it will get addressed in a future software update. That's just one of the insidious effects of new technology. It's easy to release badly written Indonesian software because you can just flash it later at basically no cost. Rigorous testing prior to product release is no longer important. Just part of the consumer product development cycle now. Gotta love it. Love that planned obsolescence and that poorly developed technology. And that right there is why all my cars are 20+ years old. My $4,000 fridge that is 5 years old is the same way. Our whole plastic world is built this way. But hey! Bluetooth is worth it right? GD

All of them. GD

They are readily available from the dealer. GD

Not on 96/97+ interferance engines. Terrible idea. GD

The dealer sells a bulb kit that includes all the illumination bulbs, and a selection of the indicator bulbs in case any of them need replaced. The parts department should be able to order either the kit or individual bulbs. GD