charles_edward

Nightmare! Someone almost got my 03 plat WRX back in February. Strangely, it was also at exactly 4.30am! They broke through my patio doors with large rocks, making a hell of a noise, but scarpered when the alarm went off and I started shouting and turning on lights. Police reckoned that they thought the house was empty because no curtains were closed. Fortunately they caught them later that night still trying to steal cars, but about about 5 miles away! Did you contact Tracker about getting it activated? I thought a Tracker was always "ready" and they just had to activate it on their computer system when you paid the subscription? Hope you get it back. If not, you have the hassle of dealing with Ins Co. and finding a replacement. []

Just seen this thread for the first time. Shocking! It's a hassle, but the car, the subs, the amps etc can all be replaced... the important thing is that you're recovering ok. I'm a great believer that Karma will catch up with the scum and they'll get what they deserve. Hope you have a speedy recovery and you're back behind a Scooby steering wheel soon! Charlie

I'd love to see some pics of my Blue WRX (small rear spoiler, gunmetal grey wheels and reg starts PL03) I had a great day and my upgraded suspension and brakes were a huge improvement, but the road tyres (which melted!) and 230hp standard engine meant that I was seriously outgunned by pretty much everyone else on track! And the gray Lateral Performance Time Attack Scooby was going past me as if I was in reverse. [:$] First time I've been on a dry track at Knockhill. Will definitely rent slicks if it's dry next time as it would be a lot cheaper that 4 new road tyres! Charlie

Thanks John for a great day out! The time attack cars were incredible, albeit a little scary when we were sharing the track. I lost count of the number of times I was outbraked. Off to get some new tyres now. 2 had only done 600 miles, but they were pretty much destroyed by Saturday's warm, dry weather. Summer weather at Knockhill in July? Who would have predicted that? Awrabest! Charlie

1 - If your sidelights won't switch off look for the parking light switch on top of the steering column . 2 - Use the search function on the forum before asking the same old question . 3 - The best first mod for an impreza is the exhaust (backbox at least) 4 - Buy a newage 5 - Make sure you get regular quality oil / filter changes every 3 - 4000 miles 6 - Always run the car on good quality fuel - V Power/BP Ultimate/Tesco 99 and add octane booster for safety in an unremapped import 7 - Avoid "chip"ing an impreza - get it remapped by an expert like Andy Forrest (Apexi for classics, ECUtek for newage) 8 - Sell the Newage and buy a Classic 9 - Always wait till the engine is nice and warm before giving it full pelt and let it cool down befrore switching it off 10 - Upgrade your brakes before modding the engine 11 - A VTA dumpvalve isnt really a good idea unless your car is getting remapped to compensate for it. It will momentarily make your car run rich as the ecu gives fuel for air which has been dumped and not recirculated. All you are missing is the gay noise. 12 - Solid rear droplinks and a decent suspension geometry set-up are probably one of the best sub-£100 modifications you can do to a standard car. 13. new ages will undertseer when at the limit 14. If you have a classic get Strutt Braces. The improvement is outstanding! If you have a new age...no luck! loL! 15. Clean out the boost solenoid once in a while and dont fill engine oil right up to max. 16.Go to the SIDC track days at knockhill, you get free tuition from an instructor if you want (plus ensure you wear Cat boots far better that way!!!!) 17. Love every minute of driving and owning it (it will make handing over the credit card much easier 18. Goto meets/Knockhill/Crail and tell us who you are?We don't bite sometimes 20.Join the SIDC and you'll get discounts on insurance and dealer supplied parts in addition to track days. 19. For some obscure reason there is a lot of mention of goats & homosexuals in here. Do NOT let this put you off our forums. 99% of our members are "normal" but we are all fans of The Hoff. 20. Always prefill the oil filter when doing an oil change 21. Dont believe everything you read on the forums. 22. Send off for a Shell card 23. What ever BHP you get, you will never be happy 24. BLUE is the best colour. 25. Is your car standard? - leave it that way. 26. Watch out for the Impreza's "lift-off" oversteer. It's wicked, particularly on a wet Knockhill!

Apparently the professional thieves won't ever confront someone. They just want to get the car and get away. They know that they get a slap on the wrist for breaking and entering. They get a slap on the other wrist for stealing a car. If they threaten someone or cause any harm then the penalties are supposed to be much higher. (Not sure what they are - perhaps 2 slapped wrists and a Chinese burn?) [8-)] Living in a flat and parking your car in the street reduces the chances of it being stolen as they don't know where to break in to to find the keys!

I live on the South Side of Glasgow and my house was broken in to at 4am Monday Morning a few weeks ago. The police caught 2 people several break-ins later. They were well known professional car thieves and have been active in a number of areas for a while. The Police were very chuffed that they caught them! A piece of advice - always put your alarm on when you go to bed at night as most professional thieves will not wake you up when they come in to get your car keys. You'll wake up in the morning to find your keys and car gone! I pointed out that most Imprezas have Trackers fitted. The police said that the thieves know this so they steal the car and park it in a public place for a week to see if it's recovered. If it's still there a week later they assume that it's not got a Tracker and simply hop in and drive it away! The other option is to steal it during the night and by the time the owner notices it's gone they have stripped the car, found the Tracker and disabled it! I was glad they didn't manage to nick my baby as the Knochill track day was the follwing weekend. I'd have looked stupid turning up in my mother's Punto! []

Hi Been having a spot of bother logging in, but I'm up and running now. Thoroughly enjoying my Impreza. Kind of miss the luxury of my Legacy estate, but the Impreza's driving experience more than makes up for it! I'll post a wee pic of me at Knockhill in November once I figure out this forum's software. (So far it's telling me that I don't have permission to upload files so any help would be welcome!) You might notice a bit of black tape at the back... oops! Took the Seat corner at the end of the main straight a bit fast in the rather wet conditions, spun a bit and ended up going in to a tyre wall backwards! Neve mind, she's fixed now and I'm now more aware of her limits! Charlie Unmodded 03 WRX (apart from a slightly modded rear!) []

Hi Saturday was my first time on track at Knockhill. It was also the first time that I had driven my WRX at speed. What an introduction! The weather was treacherous, but I was glad to be in an Impreza as some of the 2wd drivers looked like they were really struggling for grip. Unfortunately I overcooked the Seat Corner at about 10.30am and my Blue WRX ended up spinning through the mud and then in to a tyre wall backwards. The boot was dented, but popped straight out with a gentle prod from the inside. The rear of the bumper appears to be fine, but both sides have "popped out" from the corner of the car to the rear wheel arch. The rivets and tabs are all pretty knackered. What's the solution? It looks like it's fixable with some plastic welding and some new clips. Is this the case or are we talking a whole new bumper and fixing kit? All help gratefully received. Cheers! Charlie