Bimmerman's 1995 Legacy Wagon. 4/9/12- AST4100 Road Trip!

[Bimmerman]

I call it: Project MANWAGON, aka Badass Daily Driver.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/01/de_9b_edited-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/01/img_0057_edited-1.jpg

I don't seem to have any newer pictures, those are a few years old.....I'll get some new ones up after this current snow melts.

Mods/Details:

1995 Legacy L
-~152k mi
-Dual Port EJ22 (67awhp of FURY)
-5 speed
-Second owner, all records

Engine:
-de-snorked
-Green panel filter
-Ebay intake, (yea yea, Ebay, but it's dyno proven for +10 midrange hp)

Exterior:
-Smoked JDM Projector Headlights with Acura TSX HID Retrofits (done by HeresMyMind. Amazing quality!)

Suspension:
-Whiteline Front Sway, 22mm nonadjustable
-IPD Rear sway, 20mm iirc, three position adjustable.
-Whiteline Alloy endlinks front and rear
-AST 4100 GD fitment coilovers, 350/350 lb/in springs front/rear + rear tenders.
-Vorshlag High Caster GC front camber plates (add .75 degrees caster)
-Vorshlag GD rear camber plates
-more awesomeness on order, details when they arrive.

Wheels/Tires
-15x6 with Bridgestone RS-A tires. They're alright.
-14x5.5 with studded snows

Interior:
-Alpine head unit, Focal speakers

Plan is to eventually give it more power and better brakes, but after the suspension is done the car will be sitting until the M3 gets an S54 swap (350whp NA from a 3.2 I6. Wheeee!).

[Airgne]

sounds like some big plans

[Bimmerman]

Thanks!

[cusco-awd]

Cool car. Reminds me of mine. Are you running upgraded sways on the stock spring/struts?

[Bimmerman]

Cool car. Reminds me of mine. Are you running upgraded sways on the stock spring/struts?

yup. Stock springs and struts with beefy bars, probably why they've died.

[Navi271]

Sweet! Can't believe I missed this one back when you first posted it up!
The color is so nice, lookin good.

New pics please! It would be cool to see what it really looks like.

[TGX4776]

Sweet! Can't believe I missed this one back when you first posted it up!
The color is so nice, lookin good.

New pics please! It would be cool to see what it really looks like.


+1

[Airgne]

good thing i have been hoing threw the unanswerd threads

[TGX4776]

That bored eh?

[Airgne]

That bored eh?

no trying to clean up the forum. and not be like other forums and not answer when ppl need help.

[cusco-awd]

I am really curios about the Ebay intake, But when I search "ebay" or "intake" it says the words are too common. Lame.

[Bimmerman]

I am really curios about the Ebay intake, But when I search "ebay" or "intake" it says the words are too common. Lame.

Ebay intake thread: viewtopic.php?t=1479 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=1479)

It's been a very long time since I installed it. I like the sound, the extra power was noticeable at first but is probably the gloriously inaccurate butt-dyno.

I will take good pictures once I get the car detailed. Currently car washes aren't doing anything except moving the dirt around on the car....it needs clay bar and wax badly.

Plans have changed for the car, and are proceeding as soon as I start selling off the M3's race interior stuff. Being tall sucks, I can't fit in the car with a helmet with race seats without ruining the car in the process, so back to stock/DD duty it goes and begin moar Legacy mods. Plans are to get a proper coilover suspension by new year (GC, KW, TiC, RCE.....need to make a decision), fully refresh all the suspension bushings, install some chassis bracing, upgrade the brakes to a bigger and more effective setup, and swap an EZ30R into the car by next September. I've got some friends in local Subaru race shops, so I'm getting a better and stronger gearset (and LSDs if I can swing it) at the same time as the motor swap.

I've nothing if not ambition.....we'll see how badly life gets in the way. Regardless, pictures post-detail will be up in the next month or so.

[Bimmerman]

Sweet! Can't believe I missed this one back when you first posted it up!
The color is so nice, lookin good.

New pics please! It would be cool to see what it really looks like.

Thanks for the compliment! Pics will come when the car is properly cleaned, waxed, and has had a clay bar session or two. Sitting outside under a cottonwood tree suuuuuucks.

moar pictarrzzz!!!

[Bimmerman]

Oh Herro.....

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/06/small_ast_pic_teaser-1.jpg

AST4100 GD fitment, 350/350lb/in springs front and rear, with rear tenders. Looks like I need front tenders also. The ASTs combined with the Vorshlag GC front high caster camber plates and GD rear camber plates make for an amazing suspension. Yes, for those wondering, that's how you get functional camber plates on a BK-- GC front, GD rear. Lines up perfectly.

Installed them tonight. Drove around a bit, and oh my god the Manwagon is fun now! I'll post up more pictures tomorrow and before/after shots. Car still needs a detail, and I've more suspension goodies on the way....but this'll do for now.

[Huffer]

Nice!

[Bimmerman]

So, time for an update.

Over the past summer I've been working with AST and Vorshlag to solve a weird suspension related issue. The ASTs initially were great handling but rode horribly. This was due to the different rear strut geometry in a wagon compared to a sedan. This issue was caused by the rear struts internals having been designed to take autocross side loads generated by 285/30/18 Hoosier A6s, which for this car is overkill. The struts were rebuilt to reduce internal friction but to keep the same valving, and sent back to me. Holy crap did that make a difference!

The car rides and handles amazingly now. I'm two days out from moving to the Bay Area for grad school, and will give an update after the 1500miles of road trip.

Here are some pictures of how the car sits now. The front has been raised about two inches since these were taken in order to gain extra shock travel for the CO-CA move.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/09/small_threeequarters-2.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/09/resizedimg_5692-2.jpg

I'll be autocrossing and tracking the piss out of the car when I can, since I won't have my M3 out in kalifornistan.

[Bimmerman]

Updates! It's been a while, and stuff is brewing!

So I made it to California, car made it without any issue aside from front grill clips deciding Utah salt flats would be a perfect place to remind me I hadn't pushed them in all the way. Ugh.

I honestly forgot I had stiff coilovers, the car rides soooo well with the fixed ASTs. The spherical bearings in the camber plates transmits a LOT more information to the driver, but not a whole lot of vibrations or harshness. The car is incredibly well composed, rides incredibly well, and handles like a dream. You'll notice a weird stance in the photos, that is because I raised the front for the cross country trip in case I hit bad roads. I didn't, but oh well. Coilovers behaved like stock suspension for the 1600mi road trip, so I'll call that money well spent. No bounciness, no harshness, no downsides to these. NOTE: If anyone orders ASTs for a Legacy, it is essential to specify wagon or sedan. My issue was I had sedan coils on my wagon, and that caused issues. Fixing the internals to be wagon-spec solved my issues and has left me a happy customer.

Only change to the car since the ASTs has been the addition of a rear strut brace (ebay). WOW did that make a difference. I'm not happy with the design so I'll likely make a custom one, but the improvement was instantly noticeable.

Pictures from the AST install, the trip, and from some time here:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/241636_10100273154602883_1426604_o.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/sized_editedimg_5699-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/scaled_img_5705-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/scaled_img_5698-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

I'm still working on upgrading the car in preparation of built H6 swap. Currently designing a custom four wheel big brake kit, ironically enough for class credit. Yay CNC class. More details and photos as that happens.

[Bimmerman]

edit: couple pictures I forgot.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/resized_mclaren_dealership-1.jpg
McLaren Dealership here in CA

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/04/subaru_at_tahoe-2.jpg
Subaru at Lake Tahoe

[mike-tracy]

Very nice! Love watching your other vids as well. I wouldn't sell your ej22 so short in whp though. My buddie's ej18 did 61whp on a mustang dyno - that had a stock sti running 220whp.

[Bimmerman]

Very nice! Love watching your other vids as well. I wouldn't sell your ej22 so short in whp though. My buddie's ej18 did 61whp on a mustang dyno - that had a stock sti running 220whp.

Thanks! The ej22 isn't a bad motor, I just wish it made more power or was more fuel efficient, one of the two. As much as I want to swap it for something more powerful, I'm having fun with the car as it is now, so it's hard to justify the effort to swap vs just driving it. It's hilariously fun embarrassing cars on track/canyon with the Leggy though.