I never realised until this weekend that my bug seemed to be the only one with a really cr*p pillar mounted external aerial - shown below:


Anyone know what the score is with this - is it because mine's an early 2001 model, and maybe Subaru decided it looked cr*p after a few months?

If so - where does the aerial live on later models and is this something I can rectify easily? I have a nasty suspicion I'm going to have to get some holes filled in and resprayed....

 

I believe 02 onward had them fitted internally.

 

Mine is an 01 model and has the same aerial. I mostly have it down as I listen to MP3's in car mainly

 

Same here - although it's also partly because I'm ashamed to have it up

 

Mines a 02 bugeye & i have the same s**t looking aerial on mine!

 

mines an 02 and ive no aerial on mine...thank god!!!!

 

mines a 52 plate and i definately don't have that, feel sorry for you guys

not sure without looking but i'm guessing my aerial is in the rear window - seems to be a favourite for a few car makers.....

 

and me, looks rubbish i have to say

 

The revised MY02 bugeye has the aerial in with the rear screen de-mister... apart from that I'm not sure what the differences are !

 

lol - tell me about it - nice bugeye btw - I do like em in white.
This one is a favourite

 

Mines an 2002 02 and its built in the rear window.

 

That's really strange, mine is a MY01 built 2000 and no aerial. And my friend's 51 plate doesn't have one either. First I've heard of one. Hope you get it sorted as you want

 

We have a 51 plate and the aerial is in the same place as you bugeye_scoob

 

Wondering if it's because yours is a JDM?
By the posts here it's starting to look like the 51 plate was when they changed things, but evidently not immediately - a couple of the guys at Surrey Scoobies had '51 plates with no aerials. Wulsey - surprised to hear an 02 has one.

Maybe someone at the factory was trying to save money when they built ours - the bast*rds!

 

cheers mate, i like the look of that one in the link. i think whites best but i would say that

nice scoob also mate

 

i've an 02 and my aerial is on the door pillar...

 

Hmmmm, from doing a bit of research (I'm sad I know), it would seem that the general consensus is that the MY02+ should have had the aerial in the rear window.

Australian Subaru dealers apparently said so according to this post on NASIOC.

Maybe those of you who have 02 plates were just unlucky enough to get the last of the MY01 models that came into the country but weren't registered immediately??

Seems possible as nobody's reported having one on a '52 plate have they (didn't think I saw a post for an A-pillar mounted aerial on a 52...).

Those of you who didn't have the aerial on your cars with pre-02 plates, I guess you must just have been lucky!?? Can't find any other notes on this anywhere!

 

Whats the fix?

Is it possible to take out this ariel & replace with a better looking smaller bee-sting or even smaller, similar ariel. (small fixed rubber type, rather than metal retracting one). This way you could use existing hole & wiring & if there are any rivet holes showing, they could have a small black or colour coded mounting plate on top before attaching new small fixed ariel?

Any thoughts as I have same crap on my Sepc C

 

I guess the "ultimate" fix would be to re-route and extend the aerial cable to the back and get a later model windscreen that would accept that connection! Bit of graft required though! If you wanted to replace it with a different item I'm sure you could do without a problem - you'd just need an appropriately sized mounting plate.

 

They definitely changed the configuration for the '02 model - moving the aerial to a back window print. Those of you with 02 cars with the pillar aerial do surprise me - I distinctly remember seeing '02 Release Subaru literature that pointed this out as one of the few differences between the cars.

The '02 cars were also supposed to get the circular green light around the ignition key slot.

The printed aerial is pretty rubbish anyway IMO. Certainly for me, it couldn't pick up the FM frequency of an I-Trip device situated in the front, and it also easily drops mainstream commercial FM frequencies.

 

Mate - those iTrip things (and variants of them) I've found to be cack anyway - you spend half the time changing the frequency - there are just too many stations in the UK! I spent the money on a proper adapter in the end as it just did my head in.

Funnily enough though the iTrip devices are great in places like Spain for a hire car

 

actually I like my pull out aerial - a bit of a retro touch and reminds me of my trusty old Triumph Acclaim HLS........

 

I have the pillar mounted ariel and I never give it a thought untill I saw this thread because I really dont care, it's an ariel, maybe you have OCD

 

Mate - it's an aerial - it's not washing powder
Not sure about OCD - but maybe OBD - obsessive bugeye disorder lol
Sad I know but I have an image of how the car should look when I finish it's true!

 

lol found this thread as my 02 does not have a pillar mounted ariel either, seems strange why the later models have them and the earlyier ones dont! subaru most of thought they look ****!

 

Subaru introduced a revision 2 bodyshell with minor changes from the revision 1 including moving the radio mast into the rear screen heater when they introduced the STi which was launched later than the WRX. No Bug STi has an a pillar mast as they were all revision 2. They kept aside some revision 1 shells for the RA which lingered along for a while until killed by subaru.

Shaun

 

Just found this thread as my 02 has the crappy A-pillar aerial and it's doing my head in!
Has anyone found a solution for this? Bee sting or the like in the same position? Or is it a case of an internal or cutting holes in the roof?!