Hello all! New Subaru guy here.

[The_momo]

Hi everyone! My name is Jake, and I drive a 1996 Subaru legacy Brighton wagon. It's green, auto, awd (obviously) power nothing. It's a 2.2 with 270k miles! I've been a lurker for a while and finally decided to join.

My ambitions are high, but realistic I think. I'm looking to do some static mpg improvements, that being those that will help no matter how I drive. I do try to employ those helpful driving techniques as well, but I'm pretty awful at keeping up at it.

As of now, I see an average of about 24mpg in mixed driving. I'm looking to get an end goal of 40 mpg or better. I currently have a scanguage, wideband o2 sensor, and vacuum/boost gauge (car was turboed at one time). I keep the tires at about 34 psi, but I'll likely try to go up from there.

I'm planning on doing a fair bit of aerodynamic mods, and testing along the way. I'll be doing a full grill block likely this week, shaved mirrors with inner convex replacements, and removing the rest of my roof rack (cross bars removed currently). Hopefully before winter hits I'll have done the following:
Full undertray with side skirts
Side exit exhaust (decent weight savings plus easier for rear belly pan)
Front and rear wheel skirts (I'm on the fence on wether I'll need wheel covers along with the skirts)
Partial kammback fairing.

Some time next year I'm going to be replacing my tires and possible wheels as they are pretty crummy with hopefully something in the low rolling resistance nature and lighter weight varieties. I'm also considering adding a trailer hitch, and making a modular boat tail, or mini boat tail to meet up with the soon to be kammback fairing.

The one thing that I am going to strive for with my endeavors, is to do all of the aforementioned mods, but make them look good. I'll be honest, not many Eco modded cars strike me as attractive, I aim to change that. My end goal is more range, rather than ultimate savings, so I feel ok spending a little here and there to make things look good as well as functional.

I have some other ideas up my sleeve that I'll share along the way, and we can see what works here and what doesn't.

Thanks for having me!

[UltArc]

Welcome aboard!

[Xist]

Zerohour had an Outback and did some mods--as far as I know, more than anyone else on a Subaru, but he ended up replacing it with a Mini Cooper. I read the thread a few times, but I honestly do not remember what mods he did, although he was obsessed with build quality, so I do not think he got as far as some on here, but what he did, he did very well:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-5l-14034.html

Welcome!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Take away as much weight as you can and still feel comfortable with, and remember, taking a few pounds from many spots is usually better than taking 100 pounds from a single spot.

[mikeyjd]

Welcome to a fellow Michigander

[The_momo]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! As far as weight is concerned, there isn't a whole lot to be lost without becoming uncivil, as my car is a Brighton, which is the lightest of all the available models. I don't think I'm going to become as obsessed as to completely strip the car, but hey, who knows. I do enjoy a comfy ride, and I would rather keep my ac to be honest.

I have kicked around the idea of cutting the roof off from mid way in the rear doors and making it a truck..that would be some substantial weight loss, plus very functional.... somehow I don't think my wife would approve of that though..

[Xist]

Originally Posted by The_momo

Thanks for the warm welcomes! As far as weight is concerned, there isn't a whole lot to be lost without becoming uncivil, as my car is a Brighton, which is the lightest of all the available models. I don't think I'm going to become as obsessed as to completely strip the car, but hey, who knows. I do enjoy a comfy ride, and I would rather keep my ac to be honest.

I have kicked around the idea of cutting the roof off from mid way in the rear doors and making it a truck..that would be some substantial weight loss, plus very functional.... somehow I don't think my wife would approve of that though..

Heh. I have used my Forester many times as a truck, although now that my father has his F-150 back, I stopped using Bacon as a truck while helping Dad.

I have a thread on here where I joked about making a boat-tail, but if it were a worthwhile idea, I need to focus more on school, not less.

However, I have toyed with the idea of extending it three feet, based on a steel plate that would mount to a trailer hitch that I would install behind where the bumper currently is, and then fabricate a new one out of foam and fiberglass. The idea was to taper the top, sides, and bottom, and then install a tailgate and a rear window, like on a camper shell.

I thought that it would look best if I could salvage the back of a Brat and fabricate around it, but that would undoubtedly make everything way too expensive, although I really would need some kind of a tailgate.

[jedi_sol]

welcome fellow subarurer!

Making your parts LOOK GOOD is possible, its going to take a lot of time ...mainly sanding...priming...sanding...priming...paint..dry ....paint....dry...paint.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by The_momo

As far as weight is concerned, there isn't a whole lot to be lost without becoming uncivil, as my car is a Brighton, which is the lightest of all the available models. I don't think I'm going to become as obsessed as to completely strip the car, but hey, who knows. I do enjoy a comfy ride, and I would rather keep my ac to be honest.

Instead of stripping it down and leaving it looking like a hennery, I was actually considering some custom lighter-weight trim. Could eventually claim that it was "race-inspired" instead of an iron-fist workaround

I have kicked around the idea of cutting the roof off from mid way in the rear doors and making it a truck..that would be some substantial weight loss, plus very functional.... somehow I don't think my wife would approve of that though..

You might remember the roof has some structural function, so eventually a few reinforcements may be required.

[UltArc]

This is the second North Easterner in a few days! I am thinking the Indiana meetup could work!