[cody]

Got this email from a buddy. Feel free to chime in.

Code Blue-
I hope life is treating you well. I need to call you and catch up with you sometime soon.
A buddy of mine just bought a 2000 Legacy outback and was asking me about performance upgrades regarding suspension.
He whitewater kayaks and tends to put a lot of weight in the back of the car while driving rough backroads.
Do you know or have any Legacy enthusiast buddies who would have any suggestions about beefing up the rear suspension?
Is it just a matter of heavier duty struts? Would a sway bar have any impact?
His main concern is bottoming out the suspension and the mushy handling feeling he is having.

Also,
I am regrettably replacing our Impreza later this summer because we are about to outgrow it with a second baby on the way.
It's at 225,000 mi and running strong, but starting to show the effects of being well loved and well used.
In my dream world, I would never sell this car because it would be an ideal candidate for an STI rebuild but that just isn't in the cards.
I think we'll have no trouble selling it but I thought I'd mention it to you in case you or anyone you knew might have any interest in it.
It's probably worth $1500-2000 and has been well-maintained mechanically.

We are replacing it with a 99 Legacy outback that is pretty clean, with a 5 speed and a factory replacement 2.5 l engine with 35k miles on it.
This was one of those cars that had the recalled headgasket...it got a complete engine swap due to head warpage so it should be good to go for a while.
I was going to pick your brain about this car too in regards to sway bars and any other low-hanging fruit in terms of performance upgrades.

Hopefully talk to you soon,

-Whelan