under cover subie

[MetalNeverDies]

hi every one! im tyler and new to the forum. i recently got a saab 92x which for thoughs of you that dont know is a subaru impreza wagon with the 2.5 rs engine and softer suspension and noise suppressing stuff in the doors. a new front bumper and a new hatch on the back. every thing else is the same though. i really wanted a subie but this is what i got an amazing deal on. anyways i want to take it off road and not worry about it. what is a good front skid plate or anything else i need under it to protect it. i am going to get the new rally armor mud flaps. also what is a good place to get cheap rally tires/rally wheels for my car? and what kind of springs and shocks should i get for it? i heard that used forester springs would be good. i deffinatly dont want to lower it any. but maybe a little bit of a lift wouldnt be that bad either. as long as it handles well and doesnt change my center of gravity. i dont want to go like hard core rally with it just a fun weekend thing but a good daily driver. thank you :)

[409industries]

Whats up Metal!!! \m/

Nice dood, were all family here with the saabaru's, its all good. Thats really cool that you are still down to try out some of the rough stuff out in the dirt. The basics you would want to get to start are:

Mudflaps
Front Skidplate
Rear Differential Plate

You can get some pretty good deals on used Rally tires on http://www.teamilluminata.com/ in addition to buying Team Dynamics rally wheels for a good price. If you dont want to take the plunge into rally tires, there are lots of people running all kinds of M+S tires or Winter tires for fun in the dirt.

Enjoy the forums and welcome to our home!

[sebhockey]

Welcome, and being the pic whores that we are we wanna see the car dirty.

Rally Armor makes a front skid. Wheels n tires wise, I can't tell you as I'm still hunting down a good place to hook me up on some Team Dymanics rims. Most of us run Mudd n Snow tires until we're ready to step up to rally class, but as long as you're not on summer tires they're fine for the weekends. Springs n shocks wise you're fine stock unless you want a stiffer/softer/lower/higher ride.

[Blix666]

+1 for the Rallyarmor

[MetalNeverDies]

thanks alot guys. :) i got some pics just need to load them up. no mud though just dirt :( will winter tires hold up to the az heat on the highways? and do they make mud tires that will fit on a 16x like 6 or 6.5 rim? i would want like vr or zr rated tires. as well as would 15 inch rims fit over my brakes with out getting really close or rubbing or anything?


**added 15 inch wheel ?***

[BlueRu]

Ok Aaron get of me abou tnew members! This is one of my newish friends met from school. We have already gone over the basic stuff ie skid plates and tyres. Maybe you guys can help me out and tell him the stuff I dont know. BTW the winter tyres will be ok in the heat its just not good for em in the traffic during summer.

[Not All There]

Welcome to DI!

[Anakin_jackson02STI]

Hey welcome to DI, good luck with your rally quest!

[Blix666]

and do they make mud tires that will fit on a 16x like 6 or 6.5 rim? i would want like vr or zr rated tires. as well as would 15 inch rims fit over my brakes with out getting really close or rubbing or anything?


**added 15 inch wheel ?***

you're prolly better off going with 15's (if they'll clear your brakes ofcourse) because 15" rally/gravel tires are much easier to come by.

in terms of protecting the car, aside from all the aformentioned parts (skidplates, mudflaps and such) there isn't much more for products. however, there are things you could do to protect the car on race days such as lining your fenders/nose with blue painters tape to keep rock chipping at a minimum, racing with the side-view mirrors folded in (being that you don't need'em in rally) to avoid them being hit by all the crap you're about to send skyward, make sure you have suffecient tire pressure to keep them from poppin' off the bead, and just pay attention to your car. if there's somethin' goin' on with your suspension, maybe a clunk that occurs here and there, or anything outside of running well. i was skiddish about racing in the last event here cuz' i was getting a clunk sound outta my suspension somewhere. i though maybe i had a blown strut but it turned out to be just a loose sway bar bolt. small problems can turn into big problems fast in the course because you're beating the ever-loving snot outta your car (i hope :mrgreen: )

you'll prolly pick up all kinds of tips and interesting tricks along the way, the best way to learn is to just go out there and rally!

[409industries]

if there's somethin' goin' on with your suspension, maybe a clunk that occurs here and there, or anything outside of running well. i was skiddish about racing in the last event here cuz' i was getting a clunk sound outta my suspension somewhere.!

I dunno about saabaru's but i thought clunks / rattles were standard issue with subies

[Anakin_jackson02STI]

I dunno about saabaru's but i thought clunks / rattles were standard issue with subies[/quote]

If you read the fine print(as long as the dissapearing ink they use to write it hasnt already dissapeared...) it shiould say something like " ...and after the first 40,000 miles there will be some sort of strange clunk or noise coming from your Subaru, pay no mind to this as it is standard issue on all Subaru makes and models..." :mrgreen:

[409industries]

Yeah, i think my STi has had some sort of weird annoying rattle or clunk coming from one point or another with it since day one. The RS has its fair share too. but i love em.

[MetalNeverDies]

some where in my dash there is an annoying rattle over certain times of bumps and stuff. it drives me insane! but i just try to drown it out and think of all the other amazing things my car does and can do

[Sub-T]

Ahhh, a fellow Saabaru owner. Damn it's about time!

The rattle you get in the dash is very common in Imprezas as well as the 9-2x. I gave up on fixing my rattle. Just crank up the radio.

As far as wheels go, find some used 15's from any impreza or a pre-2000 legacy/outback or forester. These will have the same offset as stock and clear your brakes if you have a Linear. I currently run a set of 15" '91 turbo legacy alloys for rally'x wrapped in Winterforce M+S. Unless you are planning on doing stage rally, your stock suspension will be sufficient.

Check out my pics:
I was running stockers with street tires.
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=747