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Dave, If the suspension checks out OK and you are running standard tire pressures in those Graspics, try upping it 5-8 psi all the way around. Snow tires have notoriously soft side walls to work well in snow and the extra pressure helps out a great deal with handling, while affecting the snow performance minimally. Jack

Yes, I'm comparing a GT to a SUV. I stated that. I can't compare what I don't know. What I do know though is that no stock Outback has 11 inches of ground clearance - ELEVEN inches of freeboard below the suspension. Sorry, but no way. Maybe 7 or 8 inches FYI - I stated very clearly in my post both of the following statements: "Bottom line is that I am comparing apples and oranges with these two vehicles. Bang for the buck, the Subie is far superior. It's nearly as good as the Volvo at almost half the cost. " And "Again, I am comparing apples and oranges with these two vehicles. The comparison may be different with two similar sized vehicles, but don't discount the Volvo AWD based on the you tube video. There is a lot of fine engineering behind both of these vehicles." I love my Subie and I love the Volvo. Two very different vehicles, each with strong points. My point was that I wouldn't judge the Volvo by the youtube video. Volvo's AWD system is exemplary, but expensive to buy and repair. The Subie does great with a much less expensive product. FYI - We bought the Volvo for my Realtor wife. It was one of the few vehicles I felt justified the absurd price. She sells homes in the high dollar range, so the investment in her professional appearance made sense, but bang for the buck, nothing out there beats the Subie for overall performance and value. BTW - 2 hours after they opened the Mt. pass which was closed most of the week, we cruised up in the Subie, not the Volvo. 3pin - Yeah, I think Volvo has slid somewhat under Ford, but mostly quality, not engineering. BTW - I'm a pinhead too; well more of a "cable" head these days. Jack

The water does not get down to the bottom of the oil pan level. Cold oil is a real issue and the reason why many folk who live in cold areas use synthetic. It's a lot thinner at cold tems. Also, keep the revs down until everything warms up. Jack, now living in temperate Seattle, but coming from Maine, Vermont and Quebec.

Lone dissenting voice: In really nasty (life threatening) winter conditions, I do prefer our 05 Volvo XC90 over my 02 Legacy GT, but: 1. The Volvo cost twice what the Subie cost 2. The Volvo has twice the ground clearance of the Subie on the other side of the equasion, 3. Volvo parts are 50% more expensive than Subie parts. 4. Volvo is more likely to need service than the Subie. They both have Nokian Hakka snow tires on all four corners and it is my personal belief the you tube video is a piece of BS. Volvo's Haldex AWD is known to be one of the best on the planet, and it's pretty awesome, but in 95% of conditions, the traction will be the same or very close. Where the Volvo excels is in the specific drive train electronic controls. Bottom line is that I am comparing apples and oranges with these two vehicles. Bang for the buck, the Subie is far superior. It's nearly as good as the Volvo at almost half the cost. 99% of the time, we take the Subie up the nasty winter roads. I can be a very aggressive winter driver; aggressive in terms of doing what it takes to get where I am going. I'm more comfortable throwing the Subie around and wailing it up snow covered roads, possibly because it's so low and stable, but with the Washington State I-90 pass closed due to depth of snow and avalanches for most of the past week, if they open it up tonight, we'll be in the Volvo. 9 inches of ground clearance and huge tires will get us where we want to go better than the Subie. Again, I am comparing apples and oranges with these two vehicles. The comparison may be different with two similar sized vehicles, but don't discount the Volvo AWD based on the you tube video. There is a lot of fine engineering behind both of these vehicles. Jack

OK, so it seems like the old battery may have contributed to the issue. I did have two, maybe three, non-starts with the bad battery; once when I first discovered it was dead, and one, possibly two non-starts, as it was being charged. I was late for a meeting and tried to start it before the battery had sufficient charged to fully crank it. FYI - The charger is a old Schauer 10 AMP. I'm going to find the connectors for the solenoid circuitry and open/close the connector a few times to insure there is no corrosion there. I own two Triumphs and old habits die hard. Then I'm just going to pretend that code did not get set and not worry about it, unless it pops up again. Also, it appears that it's finally time for me to log onto the Subie OEM site and download my FSM. Thanks for all of the help guys. I'll report back if the CEL is thrown again. Jack

I love the needle fitting for my grease gun. It works wonders. Jack

Ferrett, I did just replace a weak battery, so there may have also been a low voltage situation during starting. I'll take a good look at, then dissassemble, clean and re-assemble the starter solenoid wiring and check everything out for corrosion and impedance. I don't believe the starter is in an overrunning situation, it's just not that type of noise. Given the old battery situation, once I've gone through the wiring, I'll reset the code and run it for a while. If that does not do it, I'll pick up a solenoid, then remove and test the old one and yes, I'll disconnect the battery prior to playing with any of the starter electrics. I'm not fond of big sparks in my engine bay. Thanks a lot. I appreciate your help. Jack

The subject says it all. I've thrown CEL P1518 Starter switch circuit low input on my 02 Legacy GT, 5 speed Wagon, but don't quite understand what this CEL is trying to tell me. Can anyone provide some help on trying to figure this one out. The starter may be starting to sound just a tad different; I'm not sure, it's hard to tell with the change in outside temperature, and the car has 99.3K miles. Thanks in advance, Jack

Dave, Not the answer you are looking for, but additional information. I bought a Primative http://www.get-primitive.com/ skid plate for my 02 Legacy GT because I like the design better than the typical Rallitek design. It has large (strong) creases running front to back, along the sides, so it should be stronger than the flatter Rallitek. The downside is that it does not have access holes for oil changes, so I have to pull the four bolts and drop the pan, which is a very minor issue. The upside is that it does not have access holes for oil changes to get hung up on something, like a rock, when the plate should slide over it. Also, dirt and junk cannot come up though a hole that is not there. It's all about tradeoffs, Jack

I jacked our 1200 Evo up on some small rectangles of cutting board, which matched the rectangles on the Thule brackets. I used two 1/2 inch thicknesses at each attachment point, so I raised the box up one inch. The stock bolts still fit (barely), which is good, because they are specialized, big head, metric carriage bolts. Now I can open the hatch without the box hitting it and I can also open the front tilting sunroof on my 02 Legacy GT. Note - If you have the box or attachments block the sunroof from opening/tilting, you can strip the mechanism -> big $$$'s. Jack EDIT: Lego99 hit the nail on the head. While I had shimmed the box up last year, as I didn't want to drill the box, I finallly broke down and drilled it. I put another set of holes to the rear of the existing set, effectively moving the box foward on the crossbars. Ths allowed the bars to move far enough back that the Thule bar attachment system cleared the pop up front skylight, yet the back of the box still cleared the hatch when it was opened.

Here in the PWN (I live in Seattle) all season should be fine, unless you head up to the passes regularly. If this is the case, and you don't want a dedicated set of tires/wheels with snow tires, check out the Nokain WR. It's an all season tire that is better in snow than many snow tires, but is fine for year round driving. Get them in a stock size, as going wide is not good in slush/snow conditions. If you go with a dedicated tire for the winter, by all means feel free to go wider on your summer tires. The Tire Factory has the WR all over the greater Seattle area. Jack Covington, WA

We run four snows on our two drivers, but a fellow ski patroller was looking for a good all season tire. I told her the only tire to consider was the Nokian WR. It's not inexpensive, but she was very happy with the dry/wet performance and just flat out blown away by the snow performance. I recommend the WR for anyone who does not want to invest in dedicated snow tires and a second set of rims. jack

I hope everyone is well, but in addition to the horn, how about the brakes or acceleration pedal? It sounds like there was time to take some evasive action, but maybe not. Glad the damage was car only. Jack

Nice! While a smaller filter should be fine, larger is better in my book. If your engine is clogging up, even the smaller filter, and causing oil to bypass the filter, you have some serious issues. Jack

The clutch was redesigned somewhere around 2003 to eliminate the judder, so a stock clutch system will be better. Mine was replaced under warantee and while the judder was gone, that nasty smell was evident if the clutch needed to be slipped. While I have done any conclusive research yet (I have about 70k miles on the warantee replaced clutch), there are some good OEM type aftermarket clutch packages that might work for you. Jack Jack