Show Your Subaru Love This Valentines Day (not like that)

 

Love comes in many different forms. Some of us are lucky enough to spend Valentine’s Day with a significant other while for the rest it may just be another day. And for others that means it’s a day for self-care. Perhaps you might do something nice for others, your pets, and your hobbies. If you’re here and reading this, that just means that you’re an enthusiast, and always looking for the latest and greatest parts to drool over. But since this article is themed, you also know that you love your Subaru. However, loving your Subaru does not mean that you skipped out on buying your ex an engagement ring because you bought a set of Volks. Loving your Subaru doesn’t mean spending a ton of money on custom seats or a bigger turbocharger. Let’s take this at a different approach. Loving your Subaru means properly maintaining it so that it stays on the road. This simply means by staying on top of maintenance. Properly maintaining your Subaru with basic maintenance prolongs the life of your engine, drivetrain, and aesthetics, but it also helps keep your Subaru in its best overall condition.

 

OIL CHANGES, AND WHY TUROBCHARGED VEHICLES NEED THEM THE MOST

 

Arguably, one of the biggest fables in the automobile industry are oils that advertise that you can go up to 10,000 and even 20,000 miles without an oil change. “Formulated to last 20,000 miles!” And there are instances where dealerships offer “oil changes for life” because apparently engines are made now to where you don’t have to get oil changes until 10k. Okay but how? Where is the science in that? The fact of the matter is that internally you have aluminum, steel, iron, and plastic components that are submerged in oil. Your crankshaft, bearings, connecting rods, and camshafts all have metal-to-metal moving components rely on oil to provide them with lubrication. The fact of the matter is that because you have metal objects moving in your motor with non-stop heat, friction, and speed. So naturally, you are going to have metallic elements floating in your oil, and your oil filter’s job is to trap these elements. But what happens when you go without an oil change after 3k miles? You oil begins to get dirtier as you can tell on your dipstick with the darker color. Also oil because thicker when it gets cold. The longer you go without an oil change, all those dirty metallic elements turn into sludge. Sludge buildup will occur in your heads, it can settle on the bottom of your oil pan, and it will certainly build underneath your valve covers. Thicker oil due to it being dirty makes your engine work harder, like trying to run in mud as a bad analogy, but you get it.

This is the reason why your engine feels like it has more power once you get an oil change because you have fresh synthetic oil that internally allows your engine components to move much easier with less resistance when compared to thick dirty oil. Why do turbocharged vehicles need oil changes the most in terms of when it should be done? Because your turbocharger relys on oil to lube the bearings whether they be a standard journal or a ball-bearing setup. More importantly, you need that hot oil to go back into the oil drain line when you are done driving. Like your engine, dirty oil if not changed on a regular basis will lead to premature wear. Oil should be changed every 3k miles at minimum using fully synthetic oil our turbocharged Subarus at minimum. Every 2500 miles for the best performance and longevity, and sooner than that if you are running E85.

 

 

SUCKS TO INSTALL THESE, BUT NEW SUSPENSION BUSHINGS MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

If you have an older model or high-mileaged WRX, STI, or any of the BRZ variants, new suspension bushings renew that nice luxurious ride that you have completely forgotten about. Mainly your control arm bushings because not only do the control arms pivot up and down, but they must endure heavy chassis loads, as well as road bumps. When your control arm bushings wear enough, they create enough movement and play to cause unbearable suspension knocking and your car will handle much worse, and your car can be pretty undriveable. Older Subaru models or high-mileage examples will wear over time, and you just sort of get used to it.

Now the wrong way about it with many enthusiasts, is that they think making the ride quality better is to get a new set of coilovers or struts which won’t fix the problem. If you want to improve the ride quality in terms of comfort, have your suspension bushings looked at. Control arm bushings are not the easiest to replace as you must go through the process of removing them, then you can buy a hydraulic press or pay a mechanic to remove them with their special tools. Once everything is installed and re-assembled, it almost feels like you have a new car again. Now the examples that we carry also come in polyurethane construction which can make the ride quality a little extra stiff, but urethane bushings will last much longer when compared to OEM bushings and improve the handling by tightening the suspension up a little more.

 

 

NEW BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS ARE SO NICE TO HAVE

  

As far as making your Subaru feel new again, this is another great upgrade. Having fresh rotors, pads, and FLUID will not only renew the braking performance in your Subaru, but it also improves the safety of your vehicle while really improving the braking feedback. Worn brake pads are incredibly dangerous obviously if you’ve worn them down to the point to where you hear metal-to-metal noises. Honestly that’s when your average person notices worn brake pads. But to continue driving like that risks you welding your metal pad backing onto the rotor itself, then you would have a whole can of other problems.

Worn rotors will vibrate during braking because there is a wear imbalance. So while braking, you could have an uneven spot on the surface of the rotor that your brake pad cannot fully contact. And that same imbalance can also cause vibration at highway speeds as well. Fresh rotors and pads renew that ‘bite’ while braking, and it’s just one of those maintenance items that isn’t the most attractive to spend money on because if you’re an irrational enthusiast which we all get a hall pass for, we think about what mods we could buy instead. But realistically, keeping your Subaru on the road with proper maintenance is better than having a clapped-out car with fancy wheels, or fancy go-fast parts.

 

 

THE TIMING BELT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, OR YOU CAN WAIT UNTIL IT SNAPS AND YOU’LL NEED A NEW MOTOR

 

Yeah, because Subaru engines are interference engines. Interference engines in Layman’s terms is where your piston can smack your valves if the timing of your camshafts and your crankshaft aren’t aligned properly. Aka at top dead center. So if your timing belt snaps while driving, alignment will obviously be off between your crank and cams, and your pistons are going to bend valves at minimum, or those valves could punch a hole in the pistons. Now according to the internet, a 2005 Subaru STI’s timing belt service is at 105k miles. There is two ways of looking at this. Because that’s a ton of miles for a single timing belt to go, as most cars that employ timing belts recommends timing belt services done at 80k miles. On the other hand, a 2005 STI is 20 years old, and if you have a garage queen under 20k miles and it never gets driven, this is also a bad thing. Sort of like older Ferraris and Lamborghinis that have 10k miles, but discerning buyers will not spend the half million or more dollars on these cars unless it has recent timing belts done because the engines on these cars are astronomical. Point being, when a car sits without being driven, the belts will dry and crack. Oil has detergents and will lose their viscosity, and brake fluid will develop air in the system. The point is that lower mileaged belts are just as risky as high-mileaged belts.

So, if you have over 100k miles, or if you have an older Subaru that is a garage creampuff, replace that timing belt unless you want to replace your engine, and have a peace of mind while driving.

 

 

PAINT CORRECTION

Whether if you pay a professional, or a rando on FB marketplace that has done it a few times, paint correction is never a bad investment on your paint. Just. Make. Sure, that they know what they’re doing. Especially if they are using a rotary buffer. Now there are tons and tons of videos on YouTube that show you how to paint correct, what tools are used, what compounds and waxes are used, and how to apply ceramic coat:

 

 

It really depends on your patience, and unwilling curiosity on how to learn because in reality, you can do it yourself it’s not that bad.

Pictured above for example is Chemical Guys TORQX Random Orbital polisher. Now emphasizing on random orbital, because they are oscillating polishers. This means that they move back and forth very quickly during contact, but you don’t have a risk of burning through the paint when compared to a rotary buffer. The point of paint correction is that the process removes any oxidation, micro scratches, and embedded outdoor elements to the surface of your paint. Leaving it feeling slick so that it repels water or dirt quicker, while making your shiny finish last. Now ceramic coating locks your freshly paint corrected surface in, taking your paint’s shine to a finer depth. Ceramic coatings in many cases, is liquid silica that cures to a finite layer of glass. So, if you keep the applicator of ceramic coat, as well as the microfiber used to wipe it off the next day, it will be hardened. Ceramic coating is also worth the investment for your paint as it protects your paint from the sun’s UV rays, while shielding the paint from smaller rock chips and pebbles.

 

 

SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS CHANGING YOUR WINDSHIELD WIPERS

Now this is something you can do at your local auto parts store. Why does the average person never thing about changing the wiper blades? Well for one, it seems like windshield wipers have increased by a million dollars over the last 5 years. There was a time where you could walk in your local parts store and get the cheapest wipers to get you through the season for twenny bucks. Now wiper blades are $25 or more for each side. It’s madness. The problem with wiper blades is when summer comes, the sun just bakes the rubber blade on your windshield. The rubber does the lasagna effect, and those ripples will make your vision much worse especially in the winter when you’ve got a salt rainbow on your windshield and of course you didn’t refill your wiper fluid. Yes, it sucks to spend $50 every winter on a pair of wiper blades, but if you have performed everything else above to make your Subaru a well-oiled and maintained machine, new wiper blades are a nice final touch.

 

 

So, this is how you show your Subaru some real love. This is a great way to renew your older Subaru so that it stays healthy on the road, and in good running condition. Do we want to spend the money and labor getting these procedures done? Hell naw. But sometimes we must take the high road of responsibility and do what’s best for our cars. So the next time you think about getting a large turbo that will blow up your motor anyway, think about your suspension bushings, your timing belt, when the oil change was done last, and how well your suspension bushings are. Because a good running, good driving Subaru is better than an over modified and under maintained unit.