the squiggle

In my opinion it was Colin and Richard that made the Impeza Turbo successful, the big wigs at IM would have been brave to say no to Japan on that one with an iconic British driver behind the wheel

I forgot the mightest of the JDM offering, The Spec C

Gav, your job is to promote the cars you sell in the best possible light and cannot be seen to say anything bad about IM or the network or indeed the product. I on the other hand just say what i see and what i see is an inferior product being offered to the UK punters, this Cosworth variant should help improve the top end of the STI market but a case of too little too late. All the limited editions you mentioned were inferior products to the equivilent model from Japan Series McRae...210bhp..................................................STI RA V-Limited.....276bhp Bugeye Prodrive Style Type UK PPP...260bhp..................Prodrive Style.........300bhp RB320.............................................320bhp..................Type RA-R..............330bhp Est I would have been more impressed if IM had brought the RHD specials from Japan and sold them with full UK approval. STI RA, V-Limited, 555 Wagon, RA, Type SA, Toshi Arai Version, S201, S202, S203, S204, STI Carbon, Petter Solberg Edition, Limited, Type KL GL and ZL Blobeye, Prodrive Style All superior drivers car to the product IM offers the UK market. Oh yes there is one good thing IM has done and thats the Bright button located conveniently on the centre console, stroke of genius that one. JDM gets a DCCD set up and we get a Bright button x

Tad defensive there but hey i know nothing

The 2.5 UK engine is not as good as it could have been. The JDM market gets a far superior product. The IM/Subaru dealer network combination has been chasing the horsey horsey Surrey bankers market and forgot its roots/following/hardcore masses. The UK STI has always been an inferior produst to its JDM equivilent. All pretty much fact as far as i can see. I have never owned a UK classic and i have never had any desire to, only one i would consider is a P1 but even they have thier flaws being a rejigged and downgraded in some regards Type R. The JDM in my opinion offers far better scope for upgrades and a far better starting point. I good proportion of people i speak to at meets and shows say if they had done some research before buying the car then they would have went down the JDM route. Indeed the Litchfield has a Cosworth bottom end as well as some other choice goodies and for me this is where i would be heading as i know bugger all and just drive a van. Failing that a 2.0 Hatch from Japan and a AndyF remap would suffice. Doesn't a JDM car need a SVA test to ensure it complies to UK approval and standards prior to being issued a registration mark. The Escort and Sierra Cosworths were built in an era when Ford reckoned it could produce every car it made entirely in house and this period in time coincided with Fords severe drop in the reliabilty factor. I think, and keep in mind i know feck all about nothing, the directive has come from Japan that the way to sell cars in the UK is to give the hardcore following, the following that established the marque in the UK something they want instead of the almighty Turbo Diesel horsey mobiles. Hhhhmmm Prodrive still sell upgrade parts and have just released a N2010, so i am sure there is still a connection between Subaru and Prodrive As my good but slightly crazy friend Callum would say Thanks for the fish

I would rather the club had a better physical presence at shows/events than a quarterly magazine that has very little interest for me personally. Scottishscoobies is one of the biggest local/regional club in the UK and has a strong attendence record at events but the show that we put on is not as good as it could be and IMHO it should be looked at again how the region north of the border gets funded in order to present a better public face at these shows. We have a good thing going here but the thing is we can make it a whole lot better if we can work a few things out

The std STI UK is a poor STI variant in relation to its JDM brother, as has always been the case since the Type UK Bugeye was launched. Fitting cast pistons and building to super tight tolerances may be good for emmisions and cost constraints but for a performance car is poor when it starts destroying bottom ends, nicking piston rings and generally ****ting itself big style. Hopefully Cosworth are being brought in to sort the engine out first of all with some decent pistons and rods then Prodrive spend a decent amount of time getting the map right for our country. Drivetrain and chassis are fine for general public use, apart from a little too much roll when cornering. Styling wise i hope Cosworth go down the Whale tail route again with a psuedo WRC type spoiler. Type RA-R brakes should be std on the new car Prodrive were developing the 380s alongside the 330s but pulled the plug when they could not get a reliable map to perform consistantly on the Type UK fibreglass/chocolate 2.5 engine. With uprated componentry inside i believe a 400hp model is possible if they get the map spot on but with this i also believe that costs will be aligned with this component upgrade and expect the car to be 30k and then some. If Subaru Japan had a milligramme of sense they would ditch International Motors and give the UK market the same level of spec as the Japanese enjoy on all the mainstream models. Even after all the Cosworth shenanigans i would still prefer a Litchfield spec car over anything IM or the subaru dealer network can provide JDM all the way for me

Billet wheels were WRC level of tech only a couple of years back and it is crazy think that this form of manufacturing is for turbos speced for a road car. Gonna be a bit of a unique animal when you finish this round of specing the car Hats off to you, crazy loon

Ditto

What was the issue in the end

Craig what heads you going for on your next build?

DRMotosport on here should be able to assist

Some bike engined Mini or Reliant Robin for outright scare myself senseless fun. A Forester STI for practicality. Old VW Camper for some touring fun round Europe

Banana will be shod with suitable rubber in the next couple of days. Well up for another visit to the island in the summer. Instead of noising up the same locals how about same format but different area, still North of Scotland but not Skye, nothing against Skye just fany something different

Got to be Wilky prior to his YMCA phase. Nice knowing you Gmac as after this you may be seeing a few red dots nearby

Be thinking Dougie at work tomorrow and will stop no matter where i am at 12 noon Sorely missed and often remembered

Scottishscoobies lynch mob is called for I think. I am sure our SS will make the mob from 1939 - 1945 look like a bunch of Morris dancers on Valium visiting a garden centre. For this level of nastiness I will even pay for a ticket to get Wilky home and reunited with a phase 1 manifold. Hope you get it sorted Noel and you find the scroat responsible

oh yes. The Peltor will do it's thing as I have no intention of reducing the volume that is generated from the car so may as well strengthen the weak parts and have some confidence that the gearbox is not going to implode with some spirited driving. Lucky for me that my MOT tester is as deaf as a fencepost

Between the tyre roar and exhaust anything over about 50 is a struggle. With the lightened flywheel it really hates anything under 2000 rpm on even the slightest of incline. Sound deadening has been removed from the boot floor and passenger compartment floor so that does not help but even with these gripes I still love it for it's amazing ability to make me smile everytime I drive it.

First dibs if the PPG is for disposal

A heating system for sure. Possibles include a Peltor system so we can talk while we travel. Uprated gearbox to get some more boost. EGT fitted to the collector. Fantasy plans would be a WRC bottom end with turbo to match. Gearbox and diffs from a 97 Group A car. Driving lessons from Ari Vatenan. Drive over death rd in a S1 Quattro at full tilt after consuming a copious amounts of Caramalised Cocaine. That is all

Aye well the chap certainly qualifies for the race. Cracking vid

Unusual nickname fir the Vectra

Shocking behaviour. If I had another I would certainly be handing it over as a a replacement but as Imy says the last one went in the Finish ramp at Chester. What do you mean Gerard looks like a madman, we know for sure he is as mad as a box of frogs on crack

Well my secret Santa has just arrived in the form of Brian's annual posting. Thanks mate until next year when we here from you again unless you care to expand on your signature. Cracking tshirt Paul, simple but effective We don't do secret Santa in our work as the results are disciplinary material for certain