scouk

Basically yeah... When the officers had a chat with me about it they explained that the car they had (that i was sitting in the back of) was just slightly inside the legal limit and it was factory glass Vauxhall Omega IIRC, looked like plain glass to me. So yeah easy to get caught out.. e..g my tints could have been sold as begin legal.. But the tints + factory tints were enough to put them just over the limit.. I try and recommend to people now, to remove front tints if they have them.. I wasn't one of the "I'll never get caught" folk.. I genuinely didn't realise the extent of the fine that would be put on me.. So for anyone thinking "I'll get away with it" Your just lucky... IMHO....

That shouldn't be allowed! They are crash tested but still allowed to be sold despite them being labelled a "dangerous vehicle" that's what it says on the points section of my licence anyway CU20 - Driving a dangerous or defective vehicle.. ^^ (Actual wording may be slightly different but that's close)

Cheaper film can leave horrible marks but proper film designed for cars shouldn't.. If in doubt get a window film place to remove it for you.. But really nothing a hair dryer and some meths or other cleaning solution cant fix.. Had mine whipped off in 15-20 mins.. Basically no company is allowed to install illegal tinting of ay sorts.. And as far as I know ignorance isn't an excuse.. It's their line of business so it's their duty to know about it.. If they install tints which are illegal since th 2004 date they face prosecution which will probably lead to their business beign shut down.. IMHO - it's not worth the risk for the businesses.. and as someone who's been affected by the laws it's just not worth having them fitted not any kind of tints on teh front half of the car.. I admit my car looked smart with the front and rear side windows all tinted up but to be honest it doesn't look bad without the front tints! The only problem I noticed is that for a week or so after I removed them it was a bit disorientating looking in the rear view mirror as it appeared darker than before and felt my eyes had to adjust more to the darker glass in the back.. Whereas before looking at any of the mirrors there was a slight tint so less asdustment of the eyes required.. Now there's a big wing on the back so cant see much anyway LOL! (No officer I can see perfectly through the big hole ) Also I don't know what type of tints was on the front as they were on the car when I bought it, but it possibly was the polarising type that adjusts to different light. Sometimes you could see right through the car and others the front tints would look darker than the rears! really was weird stuff.. When everyone foudn out about my "incident" their first comment was "they didn't look dark" and "haven't you taken the tints off yet" joe bloggs never noticed the difference.. But after being at the a*** end of it I adhere to the laws. had I known the penalty I wouldn't of had the tints on the car. But I would have learnt my lesson from a warning... Education is the key! LOL!

Nope they stopped giving the warnings ever since they got those "tintman" devices for on the spot testing... It's on the spot now.. no questions asked! I did try and appeal mine but got nowhere...

I got done for this back in June.. Apart from the fine and points it was a real pain in the a***! Car was off the road and wasn't allowed to be driven again unless it was taken straight to a MOT station for testing then directly from test station to police station.. Any other diversion and I'd be prosecuted.. If the police still werent happy for whatever reason the car get impounded! It's a really horrible situation to be in for such a trivial thing. For the record I purchased the car a few months earlier knowing it had tinted windows obviously but never realised I was changing 3 points and a fine. Coudl see clearly at night but seemed darker from the outside during the day.. Had I known what the penalty wasI would have ripped the film off before I was caught... Speaking to the officers in teh back of their car, they pretty much said any sort of film is considered illegal as most modern cars have a certain amount of manufacturers tint on their glass anyway for UV protection.. So basically: £60 fine + £30 (or whatever for MOT test even though it wasn't due for months. ) +3 points on my licence & a hell of an inconvenience being without the car for most of the week while it got tested (we had another car booked in for MOT so the scooby got it's place but could have been weeks to get it MOT'd) .. Live and learn as they say...

I voted no.. Mainly because I keep considering it myself but decided if I was to do it it would be temporary for a couple of weeks just to "show off" a little at rally events (Granite City, Snowman, Speyside e.t.c) but even then I've not done it yet.. In saying that, it can make the car look unique on the road! There's a couple cars in the area vinyld up and it looks good having the odd car like that.. May have imagined it but I'm sure I saw a silver classic over the weekend with light blue swooshes on the side.. that was odd.. In my view it has to properly suit the car.. If it looks like it's just slapped on for the sake of it, it looks trash. but if it works with the rest of the styling it's sweet! (Eye of the beholder type stuff I think)

Same here mate! 12 months and 15 days of scooby ownership.. And nearly a year of SIDC membership.. It's been fun, nice to see so many folk who are as daft as the impreza as I am (Some even more ) Been one hell of a ride so far.. Car has gone from standard (I said back in Feb that I'd never modify the car from standard) and 10 months later it's had loads of "good taste" modifications to all of which self installed and tweaked, and love where it's at just now.!! Looking forward to next year! Especially the Alford event in ABZshire, hopefully better weather next time.. Could have done without the McRae accident though.. Didn't need that.... Here's to the SIDC!! A great bunch of guys n' gals! Keep it safe during these winter months!

Not sure I'd trust that.. Looks about the same level as mine were .. Police pulled me on the spot, check light level just below threthold by 2%. Wasn't nice... But I've had my say... Just speaking from expereince.. I stand by what I say in that it's looking really smart though! :icon_rendeer:

Looks well smart! But to burst the bubble a bit... I'd rip off the tints on the front driver/passenger doors asap!! They are illegal and the police crack down on it heavilly!! Fine, Points, Car taken off the road, forced to have new MOT before legal again! Not worth the risk mate... No matter how good it looks..

:icon_rendeer:

Like this But without the altitude

i've always kinda liked the US SUbaru Rally team swoosh: http://rally.subaru.com/ (top left) Failing that what about a swoosh in teh style of a scottish flag along th side.. That'd be really different and smart if done properly.. There's a link kicking around on the site somewhere of a place that does good graphics.. Think it appears on one of the ad benners at the top from time to time... Definately worth getting a good company to do it if the whoel car is getting done! If it's not done proerply, it can look really tacky!

Hi Imy, Dont think this will be his car.. This one is defiantely WRBLue.. Sure I waw it advertised for sale earlier in the year pretty distinctive looking. The #plate is the owners own one, he's had it for years (his initials) I've got a photo somewhere but it's poor quality... ol'skeool camera phone quality...

Yeah sounds about right.. He was my ol dentist when I lived in Mintlaw Works at D.Shaw's in Fraserburgh.. He used to be a SIDC member when he had his classic and was wondering if he was still kicking around or possibly a member on here.. Nice guy!

Just wondering if anyone on here knows of a WRBlue Bugeye STi with K?? DEL in the plate kicking around north aberdeenshire (Mintlaw/Fraserburgh) Tidy looking machine with Prodrive sticker on the front splitter and largeish lettering on the sunstrip (both white) Used to live right across the road from the guy when he had a classic years ago Recently heard he's got the above STi.. I got fond memories of drooling evertime I walked out the front door as a teenager seeing the scoob parked across the road thinking... "one day...."

Just out of interest... Does anyone know what the "Fast Road" settings are? I remember them being mentioned many times in the past but I dont remember anyone posting what the settings are. The answer that was often given was "Just ask the alignment folk they'll know" Didn't help when I asked about them.. They just looked at me with a blank look *sigh* Thanks,

Yeah as the rest of the replies have said.. It's a trade off between cornering grip and tyre wear as the tyres are tilted in the way a little so you'll get extra wear on the tyres. But means in the corners when th tyres lean over more of the rubber is in contact with the road.. I got the same sort of thing done on my Bug WRX, Prodrive springs and got the geometry set-up.. But when i got the geometry done I had a discussion with the guy and I ended up deciding for a setting in between the standard and prodrive settings.. Mainly for tyre wear resons and because I dont push the car that hard.. But I do suffer a little bit on grip on the front at times in corners compared to other impreza's.. Can't have both I'm afraid.. Would be nice to have a switch of some sort for two settings depending on how you want to drive but sadly that's not possible.. (Unless you get the geometry set-up every weekend )