The RS Sedan Quest of 02 & +1 SD Shifter Impressions // Holland's 2.5RS
After reading about the 2.5RS back in 1997 on Tuning Concept (the issue with the red n' yellow cover featuring a 98 rally blue 2.5RS rockin' the factory gold 5-spoke wheels) and a small article about it on Sport Compact Car. Then watching the evil team of WRX's battle it out with the good guy in the Evo on a Chinese film called "Legend of Speed" starring Ekin Cheng and Cecilia Cheung. It was on my list of cars to have someday. Time to be the bad guy. =) This was put in the back of my mind for years.
Only 700 rally blue Imprezas made for the 1998 line of 2.5RS's. They only came in rally blue pearl, black diamond pearl, brilliant red, and acadia green (nick named "the unicorn" due to that color's rarity). They featured the base model bumper with the puny foglamps. The 99-01 2.5RS's featured the new bumper with the big fog lamps. Canadian ones always came with the base model front bumper even when the US got the Ver. 5 style front ends for their 99-01 2.5RS line.
After my frustrations with my old car, in late 2001, I decided it was time to research for the next car. It was a toss up between fullfilling my Initial D fanboy within by getting a 89-91 240SX fastback and doing the whole SR20DET deal with the S13 Silvia K's front end or get into Subarus. I didn't wanna deal with yet another early 10+ year old car, so Subaru it was. A couple of my friends already had WRX's and that's the hot car to get when they came out. However, they cost way too much for me. So I decided to research on getting the old school GC/GM body-style Impreza. Well, building up an L to my specs with a whole mess of stuff will look cool on paper and seem like a good idea, but I don't have the time nor the patience deal with another "project" car. I needed something that already has things I wanted on it. I wanted a 2.5RS. Sunroof (my old car didn't have one, I figured it would be cool to have one for once), 165HP, 162lb/ft of torque, big ass rally-style foglamps, the signature Subaru vented hood with the scoop, and looks amazingly sexy.
The words "Subaru Impreza" should strike a chord with people. A rally tradition. McRae, Burns, Makinen, Solberg. Countless aftermarket companies using the Impreza as their choice of vehicle to host their new performance product line. I knew if I chose an Impreza, it wouldn't be a mistake. So around 2002, I had joined the original I-Club (now NASIOC.com) looking for information. I met some really nice people at the Union City Krispy Kreme meets that the Suby Dude accidently/coincidently started during that spring. Even though I was driving my old car, the people were cool, and I felt the Subaru owners community was a great bunch of people. Fast forward to December of 02. I was searching around Craig's List for a 2.5RS. Specifically a sedan...in silverthorn metallic. Finding one of those was a long shot, even one of my friends told me, "Dude, if you find an RS, PERIOD, who cares if it's a coupe or what color it is, just BUY IT ANYWAY." I found one. A silverthorn metallic sedan, no less. I got a great price for it and it came with the compass gauge pack (very helpful), upgraded security system, upgraded stereo (with the underseat subwoofer, still blech), and a rear differential protector. Oh yea, this was my first manual car, so that was quite some fun learning how to drive this thing. I was told the clutch pedal is stiffer than most cars, since it's the only manual I've driven (aside from a 98 Ford Explorer Sport), I'll take their word for it.
Since that time, I've swapped out the sedan spoiler for the coupe spoiler because I felt it looked a bit empty back there with the little spoiler, so it needed a bigger one. The 22B and the STi spoiler were too tall for my tastes, so the coupe one was just right. The factory headunit was yanked out for a JVC KD-SH55 deck for a bit more audio clarity and an auxillary input for my iPod. Then I started to work at Suby Dude as an in house designer, so I was encouraged to do some things for my car. The 2.5RS didn't come with a trunk light, for some ungodly reason, so my friend and I rigged up a custom one using a neon tube and the factory trunk light striker kit. The stock shifter looked well...stock, so I changed it out for a Momo Air shift knob.
Then I needed new tires, so I might as well upgrade the wheels in one shot. Larry recommended a set of ES100's due to their cost effectiveness and all around performance. So I had a set of 17" bronze Rota Subzero wheels wrapped in 215/45 Yokohama ES100's. They're quite grippy for what I want the car to do. I don't drive super hard or anything, but they're good enough to get through sticky situations. The bronze on the wheels matches the champagne-silver looking silverthorn metallic color of my car. Plus I wanted something a bit wider than the factory 16x7's and the factory Bridgestone Potenza RE92's really sucked. I don't drive that fast and even "I" think they're insufficient.
Just recently, I installed the +1 Suby Dude short shifter with the help of Davon. With an installation of the short shifter, be sure to have a rubber mallet handy. That's VERY important. The shifter eliminated the sloppiness of the factory shifter and shifting is obviously much quicker with the shorter throws. I no longer punch passengers in the knee when I shift to 5th. Haha. The height was pretty close to factory, but slightly shorter, so it eliminated some of that ugly shift boot sag due to installing a universal shift knob (the OEM Momo knobs screw into the stock shifter threads, non-OEM ones don't). So I took photos in comparison between the factory throws and the shorter throws thanks to the +1 Suby Dude shifter. Sorry if the perspectives for the "after" photos are more zoomed in, but you get the idea. =)
Neutral:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
1st Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
2nd Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
3rd Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
4th Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
5th Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
To install, just pop off the center console. There's just a few screws and just pop it off. I wrapped the factory shifter with electrical tape to give that end some girth to hold the shift knob tight and give the allen screws something to bite on when I installed the knob. I also did the same thing for the SD shifter too.
(click here)
With a couple of 12mm wrenches, unbolt the old shifter. After unbolting, use a little force and pop it out. Then remove the metal cylinder in the middle of the factory shifter and the small bushing. You'll need to put those back into the new shifter.
(click here)
Then put the cylinder and bushing into slot in the middle of the new shifter, just like the factory one. Adjust the ball joint according to what you want. If the joint is all the way in, the shifter sits lower and the shift throws are factory length. Taller the shifter, shorter they are. You might wanna trim the edges of the center surround where the shifter goes into, so it'll prevent the bulky portion of the shifter from hitting the edges. Use some grease on the ball joint or just smudge a bit off the factory shifter if you don't have any. There should be plenty of grease on the socket anyway. Line up the shifter accordingly on the socket, just like where the factory shifter used to be, keep it steady, and wack it in with a rubber mallet. Bolt it back in, but don't bolt it in too tight, otherwise the shifter will feel too stiff. Voi'la! You're done. Just put everything back together.
(click here)
Wow, that was a long post. Sure, my list of mods is quite modest and not-so abundant. I'm an enthusiast by all means, but I just go with practical/minor things that make my day to day grind a bit more enjoyable. I don't have too much money to spend these days, so I try to make it count. I too have a wish list just like everyone else on this site, but I'll save that for another day. In the near future, a set of brake pads, and a brake fluid replacement is in order! Brakes are gettin' a bit too mushy for comfort. Thanks for reading!
- Holland
Only 700 rally blue Imprezas made for the 1998 line of 2.5RS's. They only came in rally blue pearl, black diamond pearl, brilliant red, and acadia green (nick named "the unicorn" due to that color's rarity). They featured the base model bumper with the puny foglamps. The 99-01 2.5RS's featured the new bumper with the big fog lamps. Canadian ones always came with the base model front bumper even when the US got the Ver. 5 style front ends for their 99-01 2.5RS line.
After my frustrations with my old car, in late 2001, I decided it was time to research for the next car. It was a toss up between fullfilling my Initial D fanboy within by getting a 89-91 240SX fastback and doing the whole SR20DET deal with the S13 Silvia K's front end or get into Subarus. I didn't wanna deal with yet another early 10+ year old car, so Subaru it was. A couple of my friends already had WRX's and that's the hot car to get when they came out. However, they cost way too much for me. So I decided to research on getting the old school GC/GM body-style Impreza. Well, building up an L to my specs with a whole mess of stuff will look cool on paper and seem like a good idea, but I don't have the time nor the patience deal with another "project" car. I needed something that already has things I wanted on it. I wanted a 2.5RS. Sunroof (my old car didn't have one, I figured it would be cool to have one for once), 165HP, 162lb/ft of torque, big ass rally-style foglamps, the signature Subaru vented hood with the scoop, and looks amazingly sexy.
The words "Subaru Impreza" should strike a chord with people. A rally tradition. McRae, Burns, Makinen, Solberg. Countless aftermarket companies using the Impreza as their choice of vehicle to host their new performance product line. I knew if I chose an Impreza, it wouldn't be a mistake. So around 2002, I had joined the original I-Club (now NASIOC.com) looking for information. I met some really nice people at the Union City Krispy Kreme meets that the Suby Dude accidently/coincidently started during that spring. Even though I was driving my old car, the people were cool, and I felt the Subaru owners community was a great bunch of people. Fast forward to December of 02. I was searching around Craig's List for a 2.5RS. Specifically a sedan...in silverthorn metallic. Finding one of those was a long shot, even one of my friends told me, "Dude, if you find an RS, PERIOD, who cares if it's a coupe or what color it is, just BUY IT ANYWAY." I found one. A silverthorn metallic sedan, no less. I got a great price for it and it came with the compass gauge pack (very helpful), upgraded security system, upgraded stereo (with the underseat subwoofer, still blech), and a rear differential protector. Oh yea, this was my first manual car, so that was quite some fun learning how to drive this thing. I was told the clutch pedal is stiffer than most cars, since it's the only manual I've driven (aside from a 98 Ford Explorer Sport), I'll take their word for it.
Since that time, I've swapped out the sedan spoiler for the coupe spoiler because I felt it looked a bit empty back there with the little spoiler, so it needed a bigger one. The 22B and the STi spoiler were too tall for my tastes, so the coupe one was just right. The factory headunit was yanked out for a JVC KD-SH55 deck for a bit more audio clarity and an auxillary input for my iPod. Then I started to work at Suby Dude as an in house designer, so I was encouraged to do some things for my car. The 2.5RS didn't come with a trunk light, for some ungodly reason, so my friend and I rigged up a custom one using a neon tube and the factory trunk light striker kit. The stock shifter looked well...stock, so I changed it out for a Momo Air shift knob.
Then I needed new tires, so I might as well upgrade the wheels in one shot. Larry recommended a set of ES100's due to their cost effectiveness and all around performance. So I had a set of 17" bronze Rota Subzero wheels wrapped in 215/45 Yokohama ES100's. They're quite grippy for what I want the car to do. I don't drive super hard or anything, but they're good enough to get through sticky situations. The bronze on the wheels matches the champagne-silver looking silverthorn metallic color of my car. Plus I wanted something a bit wider than the factory 16x7's and the factory Bridgestone Potenza RE92's really sucked. I don't drive that fast and even "I" think they're insufficient.
Just recently, I installed the +1 Suby Dude short shifter with the help of Davon. With an installation of the short shifter, be sure to have a rubber mallet handy. That's VERY important. The shifter eliminated the sloppiness of the factory shifter and shifting is obviously much quicker with the shorter throws. I no longer punch passengers in the knee when I shift to 5th. Haha. The height was pretty close to factory, but slightly shorter, so it eliminated some of that ugly shift boot sag due to installing a universal shift knob (the OEM Momo knobs screw into the stock shifter threads, non-OEM ones don't). So I took photos in comparison between the factory throws and the shorter throws thanks to the +1 Suby Dude shifter. Sorry if the perspectives for the "after" photos are more zoomed in, but you get the idea. =)
Neutral:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
1st Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
2nd Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
3rd Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
4th Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
5th Gear:
Factory (click here)
After (click here)
To install, just pop off the center console. There's just a few screws and just pop it off. I wrapped the factory shifter with electrical tape to give that end some girth to hold the shift knob tight and give the allen screws something to bite on when I installed the knob. I also did the same thing for the SD shifter too.
(click here)
With a couple of 12mm wrenches, unbolt the old shifter. After unbolting, use a little force and pop it out. Then remove the metal cylinder in the middle of the factory shifter and the small bushing. You'll need to put those back into the new shifter.
(click here)
Then put the cylinder and bushing into slot in the middle of the new shifter, just like the factory one. Adjust the ball joint according to what you want. If the joint is all the way in, the shifter sits lower and the shift throws are factory length. Taller the shifter, shorter they are. You might wanna trim the edges of the center surround where the shifter goes into, so it'll prevent the bulky portion of the shifter from hitting the edges. Use some grease on the ball joint or just smudge a bit off the factory shifter if you don't have any. There should be plenty of grease on the socket anyway. Line up the shifter accordingly on the socket, just like where the factory shifter used to be, keep it steady, and wack it in with a rubber mallet. Bolt it back in, but don't bolt it in too tight, otherwise the shifter will feel too stiff. Voi'la! You're done. Just put everything back together.
(click here)
Wow, that was a long post. Sure, my list of mods is quite modest and not-so abundant. I'm an enthusiast by all means, but I just go with practical/minor things that make my day to day grind a bit more enjoyable. I don't have too much money to spend these days, so I try to make it count. I too have a wish list just like everyone else on this site, but I'll save that for another day. In the near future, a set of brake pads, and a brake fluid replacement is in order! Brakes are gettin' a bit too mushy for comfort. Thanks for reading!
- Holland
