Subaru Outback Forums banner

What did you do with your 4th Gen Outback today?

2M views 7K replies 1K participants last post by  denverandy 
#1 ·
I Rain-Xed the windshield (Actually, I got carried away and put Rain-X on all the windows)

I put ScotchGuard on all the seats and carpet.

I removed this warning sticker that proves the car is Japanese:


I discovered that the visors are too thick to clip my garage remote on, so I used Velcro to attach it next to the parking brake:


This afternoon, I'm going to stop by the window tint place to see if they can tint the driver and front passenger windows to match the rest of the windows.

If I have time, I'm going to remove the fog lights and paint the silver black.
 
See less See more
2
#3 ·
CheesyRider said:

I removed this warning sticker that proves the car is Japanese:

To me it looks like that warning sticker proves the car is American. I'll translate the legalese into plain english. "WARNING Some time in the past an idiot put something heavy on the roof of his car and damaged the sunroof and scratched the paint. He then sued us for his stupidity and won. We now put this warning sticker here to stop future lawsuits from American idiots."

Here are some more warning labels to which this one could be added.
 
#1,165 ·
To me it looks like that warning sticker proves the car is American. I'll translate the legalese into plain english. "WARNING Some time in the past an idiot put something heavy on the roof of his car and damaged the sunroof and scratched the paint. He then sued us for his stupidity and won. We now put this warning sticker here to stop future lawsuits from American idiots."

Here are some more warning labels to which this one could be added.
HAHA! Hilarious!
 
#5,107 ·
So I has the Conti Extreme Cont on my 05 Audi A6 and loved them. Best tire I've ever owned. Now I have a 08 2.5GT Turbo and bought it with some junk Kumo's. I can't believe the ride on this car. Does it even have shocks? Or are there welded pipes instead. My Lord worst stiffest ride I have ever encountered. 160k miles tires are 50%. The guy I bought it from replaced a lot of front end parts and shocks. Anyway. Do you think the Goodyears or Conti's will make a difference? What's the deal with this suspension? I thought I would get used to it,but I'm not! :(
 
#5 ·
Hi Peter, I too am planning to do the same and was wondering what kind of deal they gave you for performing the swap? Or are you keeping the Contis? I had a set of OEM Contis on my last car and couldn't get them off of there soon enough so I plan on doing it ASAP when my car arrives....

Thanks...Dean
 
#118 ·
I've had the Triple Treads on a different vehicle for about 60k miles. They started off like a tiger in all weather and have settled down to be more like a house cat with a bell around it's neck. I rotate my tires every 5k miles aso they are wearing well (50% worn at this point) and evenly (no cupping). In the first 30k miles the wet weather and snow taction was the best I have ever seen. I ran my '96 Legacy through 18" of unplowed snow the first winter and the car was unstoppable. In rain I couldn't get the tires to hydroplane and I really tried. In the last 30k miles the tires are no better in rain and snow than any other tire I've owned. I've since heard similar stories through my tire dealer who no longer recommends them to customers.
 
#7 ·
MtnBikr said:
what kind of deal they gave you for performing the swap?
They didn't want to do any kind of trade, because 225/60R17 is not a common size that they could easily sell in a week or two. Plus the usual worries about liability if a used tire fails and causes damage or injury.

I tried the dealer that sold me the car and they were equally unenthusiastic.

Right now, I am hoping to find a buyer for them on Craig's List.

If all else fails, I will just give them to our nearest Subaru dealer - it's senseless to have them go for scrap.
 
#1,014 ·
They didn't want to do any kind of trade, because 225/60R17 is not a common size that they could easily sell in a week or two. Plus the usual worries about liability if a used tire fails and causes damage or injury.

I tried the dealer that sold me the car and they were equally unenthusiastic.

Right now, I am hoping to find a buyer for them on Craig's List.

If all else fails, I will just give them to our nearest Subaru dealer - it's senseless to have them go for scrap.
If you don't find a buyer on CL and you want to give them away please PM me and I can pick them up and save you a trip to the dealer...
Paul
 
#8 ·
MtnBikr said:
Hi Peter, I too am planning to do the same and was wondering what kind of deal they gave you for performing the swap? Or are you keeping the Contis? I had a set of OEM Contis on my last car and couldn't get them off of there soon enough so I plan on doing it ASAP when my car arrives....

Thanks...Dean
Whats wrong the Contis that one could not wait to replace after they wear out?
 
#9 ·
pgh said:
Whats wrong the Contis that one could not wait to replace after they wear out?
They are mid-range (aka mediocre) tires that Subaru chose as much for cost as for performance. The Goodyears are a superior tire. Take a look on TireRack for comparisons, etc. The biggest ding against the Contis is snow & ice performance. We have the Goodyears on our minivan and they are excellent in all conditions.

Assuming the Contis last about 30,000 miles, we would be driving around on them for more than three years. That's a long time to live with mediocre tires.

The past two new vehicles we bought, we waited for the OEM tires to wear out and really regretted doing that when we finally got premium tires fitted.
 
#1,253 ·
My Contis are super!



I have a 2013 with the newer tires. These have an 80000 mile tread wear warranty and are 12/32 deep. They handle super in heavy rain so far and never break traction. And at speeds over 100 plus MPH handle like a dream! I WILL replace with the same ones in 5 or 6 years. And FYI the 2013 has tons of newer and better enhancements over previous models. Just wish they left the compass in the rear view mirror but an acceptable loss too have the nicer color rear camera :)
 
#10 ·
YMMV, I've rolled through two sets of ContiPro's on a Passat 4Motion and they're fine. The Passat handled great, wet and snow was no problem. Fine ride and quiet. On the test drive before buying the Outback the salesman was white knuckeled as I pushed the Conti's for all they could take. The side walls aren't that stiff, but make no mistake, the 3.6R is no sports car. I expect they will be as fine on the Outback as they were on the VW.
 
#11 ·
I second Peter's comments 100%. I've had both the Goodyear ComfortTreads and TripleTreads and the winter/mud performance was day and night plus road noise is significantly reduced with the Goodyear tire. Also, I have found the Goodyears to last a really long, long time; the treadwear rating is much higher and they last longer than the rating implies (that rating is a bit hokey from all I've read, but the Goodyears do not disappoint).

My current Goodyears have 60k miles on them and are still in very good shape while the Contis only gave me 35k and were very bald by that time. Swapping them out at a place like Discount also allows you to pick up the road hazard insurance which around here has paid for itself way too many times.

I will definitely do as Peter and bail on the Continentals as soon as my car comes in. Discount Tire told me that they will review on a case by case basis, but will give at least $20/tire for the Continental tires depending on condition. Not a whole lot, but the incremental cost of upgrading to the Goodyears is totally worth it for me. Even at a dead loss for the Continentals, $500 or so over 5 years is worth it for the performance improvement.
 
#12 ·
Triple treads were part of the deal buying my 2010 3.6ltd. I don't know if the dealer or Town Fair Tire wound up with the Conti's, but they were swapped out pre-delivery and I received a 75.00 credit per tire.
Now-for what I did today. Compounded and waxed the entire vehicle. Drove under a Highway bridge that was being repainted and the vehicle was covered with white overspray, and felt like a piece of 120 grit sandpaper. Pain in the a--, and no recourse. Looks great, but my back is killing me.
 
#14 ·
I have a race tomorrow (half marathon with the wife!) so I think my weekend work on the OB is done. Here is what I got done:

1) Installed Yakima Load Warrior basket - The install was simple but I think it would be nearly impossible to do alone. Here are the pictures:

Yakima Basket

2) Clear Bra Installed - No pics yet but I got the entire front end, headlights, A-pillars, mirrors, and leading edge of the roof done. The installer even did a custom piece for the chrome on the grille. I will get some pictures up soon.

3) Outback Detergent - While at the dealer, I scored some Outback Detergent!


4) Media Hub installed - This was a "We Owe" option that I had put in at the dealer today. Unfortunately, I got home to find that they scratched the ^&*^&( out of my dash. Not cool. Of course they were closed when I realized this.



-GT

Next up...getting the front windows tinted and getting the dealer to fix their goof up.
 
#16 ·
Winter is coming...predictions are that it will be difficult to get winter tires later on (at least here, in Ontario). Today I went to the tire shop (recommended on the Toronto Subaru Club forum) and had Hankook W409 installed on 16" black steel rims. Looks so macho...Anyway, to my suprize they seem quiet in comparison with OEM ContiPro. I was told in a shop that it's not my imagination - a significant number of theirs customers do not like ContiPro. What a shame that they come with such a nice car!
 
#17 ·
Detailed for the first time. Rain-X'd the windshield and rear glass. Got the front two windows tinted to match. Installed front bumper underguard. Remove emissions-exempt sticker. Still gotta clean the lugnut area on the wheels, has some sticky crap from shipping. Anyone get that stuff off? How??
 
#18 ·
creso said:
Detailed for the first time. Rain-X'd the windshield and rear glass. Got the front two windows tinted to match. Installed front bumper underguard. Remove emissions-exempt sticker. Still gotta clean the lugnut area on the wheels, has some sticky crap from shipping. Anyone get that stuff off? How??
I had the same issue with the stuff around the lugs. I found that Goo Remover (same general stuff as goof off) removed it in no time and did not damage the wheels at all.
 
#19 ·
JarekMW said:
Winter is coming...predictions are that it will be difficult to get winter tires later on (at least here, in Ontario). Today I went to the tire shop (recommended on the Toronto Subaru Club forum) and had Hankook W409 installed on 16" black steel rims. Looks so macho...Anyway, to my suprize they seem quiet in comparison with OEM ContiPro. I was told in a shop that it's not my imagination - a significant number of theirs customers do not like ContiPro. What a shame that they come with such a nice car!
How much & what tire shop? (I'm in Toronto)
 
#22 ·
I accepted the tire size as suggested by the shop (probably they have a stack of them - seems that's a popular one). My OB came with 225/60R17. Therefore, I'm assuming that any other tire size should be compared with the original one to be as close as possible in circumference and diameter. 215/65R16 is 2.25% smaller and 215/70R16 is 0.83% bigger in diameter. Up to 3% difference is acceptable (it's what I was told). It results in a speedometer (and odometer) error. Assuming that it was calibrated with 60R17 and shows 100 km/h, it will show 102 km/h with 65R16 and 99 km/h with 70R16. The point I'm trying to make is that there is some flexibility in selecting a tire size.
 
#23 ·
Another thing. I have a feeling that a cornering is not as good as it was with 225/60R17. I'm wondering if the tire sidewall height has anything to do with it. 215/65R16 is almost 0.2" "taller" than 225/60R17, while 215/70R16 would be almost 0.6" "taller". Would 215/70R16 make it more "wobbly"?
 
#26 ·
Installed back-up Camera

OK - second attempt to post (first time photo insertion!)

I installed a back-up camera into our 2010 OB. I installed ultrasonic back-up systems in our two previous cars, and was looking for something new to learn. FYI the back-up systems are "Back Tracker BT-4SX" units and they work superbly. If you paint them, the look near factory OEM quality.

The camera system that I bought was a BOYO VTC431R wireless unit. Cost was $183 via Amazon with free-shipping. It includes camera, monitor, hard wire cable (optional), and line filters to reduce interference. I selected this unit because it looks good, and it is dust proof and water proof to 1m immersion. (I had read about car washes killing other units).

The camera housing is heavy - aluminum with a nice chrome finish.

Installation was not trivial. I paid the $34 for the 72 hour shop manual download from mysubaru.com. Well worth it!

Camera mounts to license plate bracket, but major surgery was necessary for wiring. If anyone is interested, PM me and I can provide more details.

I mounted the monitor just above the rear view mirror. A great location, and it only turns on when the car is in reverse. The angle is adjusted so that when a cars bumper is flush with the bottom of the screen, it is about 16 inches away. Even at this tilt angle, I can see maybe 15 feet behind the vehicle due to wide field of view. (EDIT] I can actually see much farther than 15ft even with this angle. Probably more like 30 feet.

I have always had trouble with depth perception with cars, and this really adds to a feeling of security when backing up, especially when curbside parking in the city.

I dont see my photos on the preview, so I dont think they are going to post ...
Would be happy to post them if I can figure out the process :)
 
Top