Ratbag's 2006 Fox XS - Roo2

Gidday Folks

Guess I should start a journal. Seems a goodly system of keeping this stuff organised ... :lol:.

Anyway, I have fitted the OEM roof bars and Rola basket to Roo2 in the last couple of days.

Took it for a spin into town today on the Nepean Highway.

From about 70 km/h, it started to purr.

By about 80 km/h, the purr had become a more of a roar ... .

This will drive me NUTS, in short order ... Fortunately, it is my intention to fit the basket to the lid on my rebuilt trailer, where it should be out of the wind, and the noise should be well behind me ....

Will keep you posted about all this ... :iconwink:

 

[Ratbag]

^ https://www.offroadsubarus.com/showpost.php?p=78411&postcount=167 - sump guard fitting.

Well Folks, today I was going to do something else, but instead did the "something else" that I maybe had planned for some other time.

Checked all the fluids and battery levels on both cars. Topped up the washer bottles.

Decided to fix the temporary spacing washers that I put in between my sump guard and the body/cross member mounting points mentioned in the post above and check out what was causing my throaty growl from the engine bay.

Firstly, checked out the guard clearance to the D/S exhaust header. The heat shielding was touching the sump guard on the D/S - just.

OK. Sump guard.

Loosened the four bolts holding the sump guard on. The back bolts had three packing washers each, but loose (i.e. not glued or welded together); the front ones had no packing washers (the packing washers are ~2mm thick, with a 1/2" centre, galvanised).

Tried two washers under the front edge of the guard, and this looked to give just enough clearance for the exhaust shield, without causing the leading edge of the guard to pout too much. This really needs a bit of alloy plate running up from the guard front overlapping the top of the rear edge of the front bumper, IMO. Bit like the OEM engine bay shield does, but more so.

Welded 2 washers together for each side of the front; 4 for each side at the back. Being welded together means that one can take the guard off without having spacer washers going for their lives in all directions ... . Welding galvanised washers together with my current level of welding skill was a bit frustrating, but I got it done.

Put the new washer pack spacers in. Tightened up the bolts.

Got under the car with my trusty 'Holden Owner's Toolkit' (18", square shaft screwdriver ... ) and my 'burglar's friend' (70 y.o. 20" wrecking bar ... ) and "persuaded" the sump guard that it should have a tiny bit more clearance than it had previously on the D/S between it and the sub-frame chassis rails. Maybe 3/64"-9/64" is all. Just enough ...
The guard I have has some fairly substantial bends in it, here and there ...

No more throaty growl ... :iconwink: :ebiggrin:.

I have also discovered the easy way to get the gearbox dipstick back in. One needs to do it right-handed, then it's a doddle ... :biggrin:. No way could I persuade the bloody thing to go back in with my left hand!
Being ambidextrous can have its small advantages, I guess, but I naturally use my left hand for all sorts of things, and this dipstick seems to be begging to be put back in with one's left hand ... :iconwink:.

 

[Ratbag]

Just went down to the shops to get some milk ...

Now the bloody thing rattles! AND most of the time - starting; accelerating; decelerating; cornering ... ...

Off with its head .

Took it completely off (Geez this hurts my shoulders ... specially putting it back on).

The thing was bent like a pretzel.

I figure that if it will stand up to being bent out of shape as badly as that, it will also stand up to having the crap beaten out of it with my single jack sledge hammer - with a block of wood between it and the head, of course.

That didn't prove quite forceful enough, so swapped the sledge for my somewhat heavier single jack Canadian block splitter. That worked ... :biggrin:.

Closed up the split in the reinforcing ridge somewhat :iconwink: :lol: .

There is now about 1/4" between the edge of the guard and the D/S sub-frame, and ditto between the rear of the exhaust shield and also the front part of same. I can't see the front exhaust shields, but I can easily slip my fingers between it and the guard now. Before, I could see the witness marks on both where they had been in strong contact.

And Roo2 is quiet as a little lamb again ... :ebiggrin: :biggrin:

The other good news is that Jimi says he can " ... weld aluminium like I can weld steel - just have to borrow the guy next door's special welder ... " :ebiggrin:.

I plan to have him weld some aluminium bar across the angle where the guard sweeps up to the front mounting points, and in a rectangle around the outside of the base of the sump itself. Maybe reinforce the side 'wings' both side to side and along the edges too.

Suggestions welcome .

 

[Ratbag]

^ And crikey, am I paying for doing this today ... .

My shoulders hurt from my ears out, and half way down my upper arms, but at least the car is now quiet again, with no throaty rumble (sump guard acting as a sounding board for the exhaust) and no rattles (guard and exhaust shields lightly touching each other).

Now just need to arrange for Jimi to add a little bit of reinforcement :iconwink:.

 

[Ratbag]

After a week of grovelling in the guts of SWMBO's computer, and the odd other thing, I finally got a tape measure under the sump guard in Roo2. Ground clearance is 215 mm at its lowest point, as best I was able to grovel (not too well ... ).

Don't know how that compares with the clearance that others have, or "standard" - whatever that might be, but it sure beats the hell out of the clearance I had with Roo1! :biggrin:

 

[NachaLuva]

Glad you've got some nice clearance.

Mine is 240mm front and 300mm rear but the exhaust is a bit lower

 

[Ratbag]

^ Specially between the headers and the guard! :lol:

 

[Ratbag]

Went off driving around the back blocks of west Gippsland today.

It reminded me, yet again, of just how flexible this engine and transmission combination is in my car. With me driving and my mate as passenger, we could idle along at 800-1200 rpm in 4th or 5th low range up hills on the dirt with consummate ease.

Equally, when I did the "wiggle" test at speeds of around 80 kmh on a dirt road freshly topped with big marble sized gravel, the car showed no sign of any instability at all, with the rear snapping back into line with no sense that the tail wanted to wag at all.

On a long straight and fairly flat bit of this road, I took it up to 110 kmh and did the wiggle test again. Again, absolutely stable. Braking ditto (I wouldn't have wanted to do a panic stop on this surface, regardless of speed - or car ... !).

He mentioned that he reckoned that the car felt better with the new rear suspension - more settled and firm on the road in a subtle way. Seeing as how he has been a passenger with me on many photographic expeditions for some thousands of clicks, it was interesting that he remarked on this. He also mentioned how the exhaust sounded a bit different when I sank the slipper into it.

Did one excursion up what used to be a road to get a better view from another hundred or so feet higher. Just did it.

I'm not sure what the economy was for the day, as haven't re-filled it yet. Not really a good test of country fuel economy, as we wound around and about off the main roads for the most part. Went down the South Gippsland - Bass Highways to Cape Paterson and Inverloch (some lunch), then back through Kongwak along every bit of dirt I could find between Inverloch and Tooradin. Coffee at Tooradin, then back home.

Nice day in good company. I might even have taken the occasional decent photo ... :iconwink: :lol:.

 

[Ratbag]

^ Filled up last night on the way out.

{DELETE - 9.3L/100 kms.} Actually it was 27.9L over 307 kms = 9.1L/100kms

Not all that bad considering that about half the 307 kms was driving slowly along the Cape Paterson - Inverloch road, pulling in at all the coastal parking areas, or even slower and often in LR on dirt roads/tracks coming back from Inverloch to Tooradin.

That's about the same as I got in my Impreza on the trip to Brisbane and back a few years ago now. I got about 9.0L/100 kms on that trip, almost all of which was on the highway, at highway speeds in 5th.

It's amazing how much better engine efficiency has become over the last 20 years over the years (actual consumption; not the BS advertising and government "test" figures). The Forester was carrying at least as much weight as the Impreza, probably about 100 kgs more. It is about 300+ kgs heavier to start with. It has a 39% larger capacity motor. Hugely more torque and power. Yet it can better the earlier car for fuel economy in similar conditions - open road and steady cruising - by about 20% (~7.5L/100 kms vs 9.0L/100 kms).

 

[catchya]

That's not bad mileage there Ratbag. I have been averaging 9.6l/100k's with the XT.

 

[Ratbag]

Yeah, CY, I reckon it isn't too bad.

Overall since I bought it, I am averaging 11.43L/100 kms. That's overall over about 12,000 kms. This includes an awful lot of short shopping trips where the "economy" of this car leaves a lot to be desired!

If it were a turbo, I am sure of two things:

1) The economy would be even worse; and

2) I wouldn't have my licence ...

Even at my age, I have trouble keeping my right foot under adequate control at times ... . I suspect that this has a major impact on my fuel consumption figures.

Apart from being gross generalisations as to what one can expect from a given car, comparing fuel consumption is a waste of time IMHO.
Any two drivers could drive the same car (of any make/model) over an identical course and return very different fuel consumption figures. Literally hundreds of minor moment by moment decisions and throttle positioning go into the final result.

I used to get around 35-40 mpg out of my 850 cc 1965 Mini (8.1-7.1L/100 kms).
The fact that my Forester which weighs about 3 times as much, is much bigger, and far faster and more powerful, is capable of returning nearly the same fuel economy (under reasonably good conditions on the open road) is simply staggering when one thinks about it. The Forester will turn in around 7.5L/100 kms under those conditions (37.66 mpg).

It is very nearly as fast over a standing quarter mile as the SF 2.0L Turbo. Again, with different drivers in each, it may well be faster (or slower).

Of course, the Mini would get somewhere close to this figure around town as well. That's the price one pays for shifting 1.5 tonnes off the mark in traffic instead of 0.5 tonnes ...
We cannot get around the basic laws of physics :iconwink:.

Your average is terrific. Where are most of your kms done?

 

[catchya]

50/50 Mixture of freeway driving and short start/ stop city driving RB.

Kids want to go up to Cervantes this weekend and see the pinnacles so for the first time I can compare city/country Kms.

 

[Ratbag]

G'day again CY

50/50 Mixture of freeway driving and short start/ stop city driving RB.

That would make a huge difference to my overall figures, I think. I reckon that my usage would be about 85-90% short trips to date. Not through choice! Just the way life works out ...

Kids want to go up to Cervantes this weekend and see the pinnacles so for the first time I can compare city/country Kms.

Have a lovely, safe trip .

That's exactly why I post these figures periodically. When I have towed the trailer; gone on a country drive; etc.

I'm not very concerned about the fuel economy, mainly because I don't do 30K Kms p.a. these days. As long as it isn't outrageous, I don't care. A friend (guy I went sight-seeing with on Monday) has a Statesman. He reckons he's lucky to get 17-20L/100 kms around town. He does so few kms in it, it doesn't really matter. He also hates driving around town ... That's why we invariably take my car when we go out taking photos together. He buys the lunch, coffee, pays admission charges, etc. I pay for the petrol. It all comes out in the wash.

What the figures do tell me is if something may be wrong with my car/s. If Roo2 suddenly started returning 9L/100 kms when I have only used it for round town and short trips, I would know that something was wrong with the fuel mixture. Ditto if it suddenly started using 14.5L/100 kms. Of course, even with Roo1 (the '93 Impreza), the ECU would throw a CEL and codes in these circumstances. But old habits die hard ... :iconwink: :lol: :biggrin:.

I'd also be seriously upset if I were getting 11-12.5L/100 kms on the open road, even towing my trailer.

My good lady wife reckon it's hard enough to teach a young dog new tricks, and I think after 32 years together, she's even given up trying to reform me ... :rotfl: but .

 

[guzzla]

Overall since I bought it, I am averaging 11.43L/100 kms. That's overall over about 12,000 kms. This includes an awful lot of short shopping trips where the "economy" of this car leaves a lot to be desired!

If it were a turbo, I am sure of two things:

1) The economy would be even worse; and

2) I wouldn't have my licence ...

You are spot on there although the economy difference would be marginal from my experiences the turbo does require a lot more self control. I still look back at the 07 X manual that I test drove and almost bought and know that I would have been almost completely satisfied with it with more than adequate performance for 99% of my driving. Could have saved quite a few $ too. Experience with our new Golf really does make me believe that with power for some people too much is often still never enough. I read on Golf forums of many Golf R owners with 206kW of power desperate to upgrade to stage 2 or 3 with 50% or more power. They all need to go out and get a fast Japanese super bike instead and scare themselves silly.

 

[Ratbag]

Gidday Guzzla

You are spot on there although the economy difference would be marginal from my experiences the turbo does require a lot more self control.

Spot on. An engine is required to do a specific amount of work to move a given weight, gearing etc from one speed to another. All other things being equal (they never are ... ), this will consume a very similar amount of fuel. However, the turbo can go much faster than the N/A engined car, and so will use more fuel if driven to those higher limits. Having had to use self-control when driving an E-Type (and a whole swag of other very high performance cars), I know that I would never be able to exercise this as a matter of course in my daily driver ... Know thyself ... :iconwink: :lol:.

I still look back at the 07 X manual that I test drove and almost bought and know that I would have been almost completely satisfied with it with more than adequate performance for 99% of my driving. Could have saved quite a few $ too.

Like the Edith Piaf song - No Regrets.

You made your choice. You have obviously enjoyed owning this car, or you wouldn't have kept it. The car has given almost zero trouble. What's not to like?

One can go quite nuts if one starts down the "what if" path ... I take great care before I make any decision. As a result, I tend (mostly) to be very happy with the outcomes. Sure, one can make different decisions and be just as happy. We are all different ... .

As you say, if one is in the right place at the right time and it suits what one was going to do anyway, one of the optioned up base models Subaru sell off from time to time is a better bet than either the XS or the XT. The XS has a lot of little niceties that the base model never had, but they are still basically the same car. AND the XS cost a lot more than the base model for any particular year. Both of ours cost around $43,000 delivered to the original owners.

Experience with our new Golf really does make me believe that with power for some people too much is often still never enough. I read on Golf forums of many Golf R owners with 206kW of power desperate to upgrade to stage 2 or 3 with 50% or more power. They all need to go out and get a fast Japanese super bike instead and scare themselves silly.

Yeah. I have done that latter. It only took a Kawasaki 750 to do that to me! A not very big person on a fiendishly fast, powerful bike is certainly "entertaining", shall we say!!

If I even did the maximum speed that Roo2 will do in the presence of one of the boys in blue, chances are I would never get my licence back! And it will get to seriously fast territory very quickly, even in 5th/HR.

The fastest I have ever driven it is 165 kmh on a pretty rough bitumen road up in the Dandenongs. It was very stable, and got there rather quickly. I will probably never drive it as fast as this again (automatic 12 months licence suspension here for this speed in a 100 kmh zone, IIRC). It was merely to see how it sat the road in what would be an extreme, emergent situation if such a thing ever occurs. Best to know in advance. Like the wiggle tests I did last Monday. Best to find out what it will handle, and how well, under controlled conditions with no other cars around anywhere.

 

[ateday]

Crawled under my old 2002 MY03 faithful to look at clearances.
With a SubaXtreme 40 mm lift, 65 profile tyres and Kings on the rear I have 250 under the sump guard and 280 under the rear diff which seems to be adequate enough.
Exhaust is a bit lower in places but, at 308000 kms it must need replacing for a more streamlined, and efficient, model soon.
All unladen but I suspect the SubaXtreme front bar and rear bar with second spare tyre in situ probably adds a tad of sag.
Fuel consumption over the total 308000 kms has been, near as damn it, 8.9l/100kms over all sorts of roads and tracks. Doubt if I`ve ever achieved much under 8 though.
Being a bit anal I am religious about keeping track of petrol use as I reckon a sudden or large change in it (may) warn me of a fall off in the car`s performance.
What I don`t understand, but it certainly is not of concern, is that I am still on the original front brake pads and the discs are quite smooth to touch. Pads are getting very low and won`t go much longer I feel.

 

[Ratbag]

Gidday Ate

Crawled under my old 2002 MY03 faithful to look at clearances.
With a SubaXtreme 40 mm lift, 65 profile tyres and Kings on the rear I have 250 under the sump guard and 280 under the rear diff which seems to be adequate enough.
Exhaust is a bit lower in places but, at 308000 kms it must need replacing for a more streamlined, and efficient, model soon.
All unladen but I suspect the SubaXtreme front bar and rear bar with second spare tyre in situ probably adds a tad of sag.

That is certainly reasonable clearance. I think that Roo2 would probably benefit from having 1" PE blocks in the back at some stage. Maybe even a little at the front (1/2"?). The car is just a tad too low for my liking, and it wouldn't hurt either the handling or the approach, departure and hang angles. Not that I ever want to do anything extreme in it, just helps not to be rubbing its guts on things IMO.

Next time around, I will be getting 215/65 16" tyres instead of the 215/60 16" currently on it (my insurer is fine with this). May that be a long time in coming! When I put the current set on, it was almost impossible to buy anything much in 215/60 16", and no one seemed to make a 215/65 16". Now everyone makes them. Go figure ...

Fuel consumption over the total 308000 kms has been, near as damn it, 8.9l/100kms over all sorts of roads and tracks. Doubt if I`ve ever achieved much under 8 though.
Being a bit anal I am religious about keeping track of petrol use as I reckon a sudden or large change in it (may) warn me of a fall off in the car`s performance.

That's really excellent overall economy from what is really not a small or light car with a relatively large engine (it's roughly the same capacity as the Holden straight six from the mid to late 1960s).

Methinks you have a lighter, better controlled right foot than I have ... :iconwink: :biggrin:.

What I don`t understand, but it certainly is not of concern, is that I am still on the original front brake pads and the discs are quite smooth to touch. Pads are getting very low and won`t go much longer I feel.

That's quite amazing. My '93 Impreza went through front pads about every 90,000 kms. My wife's SH needed new pads all round at 80,000 kms. I don't know if Roo2 has ever had the pads done, but Ross hasn't mentioned them needing attention as at around 112,000 kms. Maybe they were done before I bought it. Who knows. I asked Wippells for a print out of the service history (among other things) and they never even bothered to reply.

 

[ateday]

Yeah I tend to be a bit light footed, possibly why the brakes are lasting too, rarely above 100/105 as speeding fines are not desirable and you never know where the boys in blue are lurking.
Most of my driving was long distance which contributed to the economy but since moving to Adelaide I now do many more short stop start journeys so I suspect it will suffer.
Heading up to QLD to volunteer at, and attend, the Woodford Folk Festival in November/December so that should be a good run. Probably add another 6000 kms to the total.
Think I shall change the pads prior though. I`ve been carrying the spare set around for about 12 months now along with a G clamp.
More weight and rubbish.......

 

[Ratbag]

^ You never know, but my plans are to be in Brisbane in early November.

With any luck our paths may cross ... .

 

[ateday]

Be late November for me.
But I do get to Melb occasionally to see a few of my remaining friends........

 

[Ratbag]

I'll be in Brissy for about 4 weeks ...

From my Batphone