oldgit

I have an 04 fsti, I read some where about putting a splitter in the bonnet scoop to ensure air flow to intercooler is more even , I took the engine part of the bonnet scoop off got a sheet of aluminium riveted it so the lip of it was in the middle of the air flow at the front then curved it round so the other end split the airflow to the ic but did not touch it, the car runs smoother , on a hot day the boost level is not reduced as much, and it definitely runs better as if u are driving the car on a cold day And not in summer hot air, I have a Water spray onto ic fitted I did not notice any change with it, the splitter fitted I did , the bit of metal was about 15£ at b and q but I know u can get it cheaper ,mod took about 1.5 hrs to do , well worth it , and much cheaper than buying one chris

hi andy old shape wagons always had thinner arb s then the saloons , I may have an old one in my shed but u need to measure yours so I can find out if it is thicker , I am in herts , the drop White line drop links don't flex as much , both make a difference less roll , not that difficult to fit either , chris send me a pm with your mob and we can talk

The paint issue , subaru trying to save money , I had 56 plate wrx with PPP a great car paint finish was very thin and was coming off at the front , and any contact seemed to damage paint, I was told by dealer it was worse on the 270, have an O4 fsti it is a mutch better finish, the paint was one of the reasons I sold the car Chris

Subaru baldock are quiet good they now what they are doing and are not a long way from you Chris

Go for the sti if you don't you will probably kick yourself later when you want to tune it , also the 270 had paint issues it was very thin Chris

Hi hannah good on you owning one , my misses has already been round silverstone, I always encourage her to track day , the only prob she only has an auto licence so can not drive my Sti , if she did have a full licence I would be more than happy to let her fill her boots she is a good driver Chris

Hi places that cut keys should be able to cut you a key , as above nissan key is the same, I found a company in north London they charge 160£ to chip including the key , so not a lot different from the dealer , and at least it will be a subaru key Chris

Hi nick take the mac sensor out I think on your car you need to cut the screwheads with a hack saw so u can use a flat head screwdriver , gentle take it out and try some carberettor cleaner on it , if it makes a bit of a difference then that may be your prob my new one uk 2000 turbo on a 99 plate was only 90£ Chris

I went to Wales and back 440 miles on just under one tank , stuck in traffic for about an hour , did between 70 and 80 mph as worried about speed traps , stayed off boost , average just over 35 mpg , to work is normally 24 to 26, fos sti stage 1 Chris

Hi can any one advise please I have a forester Sti 04 plate 50000 miles, I do not get any noise when its cold but when it is warmed up get a small tapping noise it appears to be more obvious under neath , I put a screw driver on the engine to listen to it nothing strange , appears to go away with engine revs or is it simply drowned out , do exhaust gaskets go ? Any advice Thanks Chris

Hi ben it is probably your starter motor, as it gets hot in expands and if there are any bad connections they show themselves, i had it on my senator, what i did and it is up to you if you do it, i turned the ignition on when it would not start then by passed the solenoid with a bit of metal and touched it on the solenoid connection and the starter motor [difficult to explain] when i did this it would start , hope that helps Chris

Hi Neil, yes it has a cat 1 so the security is not a problem, i have heard mention of securing the key to the steering column , but some bloke advised not to do so, but no one seems to be able to get the code to get a key cut and coded, have you any other suggestions ? , i am just worried about looseing my key Thanks Chris

Hi Richard thanks for that i will give them a go Chris

Hi Can any one please tell me where i can get some keys programed for a a 2004 Sti Jdm Forester, apart from the engine size it is the same as the Impreza. i have not been able to find out what he key code is a Subaru Uk could not tell me that Thanks Chris

Hi the prodrive one looks nice , i had both the prodrive and magnex systems, the centre section makes it a bit louder, but the noise of the magenex back box and centre section as far as i was concerned was louder but also better, but is was not too loud, hope that helps chris

Go Onto the Litchfield import site there is a company there who do a lot of import insuring , or adrian flux Chris

I was tempted but i am not sure how the vlaves would take it , the average cost of a good conversion by a company is about £2000 , they say you loose no power but if your engine is highly tuned is it a good idea to mess with it ???? if i could answer the valve question i would probaly do it, i know they do some sort of valve treatment but is that a long term fix Chris

I think the brakes on the car are good, on your model you dont get problems on track days as long as you have a good pad and disc combination, to be honest ebc or standard discs are fine, i have had smoke coming off the front with redstuff on and no decrease in braking, one possible problem is if they have not been bled properly before , or have you a master cylinder problem which i though would be rare , i drive an astra 1.7 tdi at work the brakes on that a sharper than the wrx but if it was a question of a lot of heavy hard breaking which i do any way then i would always opt for the wrx set up even as standard as they still work even when hot, ebc and so on pads work better when they are hot and after they have had abuse as the pad surface has been cleaned off, the best combi i have had so far was yellowstuff all round and ebc discs front, the rear dics hardly wear, there are other brands out there but that is peoples choice , if you want ebc give me a shout and i will see what i can do as i know a bloke who is cheap Chris

Hi Lee thanks for that , that was what i was hoping and expecting Chris

Hi i got some brake fluid at about £30 from Larkspeed i used it on a track day and had no issues , and it is supposed to be a one off change, you need a litre , also if you are bleeding the brakes they must be done in order, someone has posted which order, yellow stuff pads are very good and better than reds but reds are fine, the brakes are not always very sharp on subarus but they keep working were others would not , i always use EBC but there are others out there Mintex etc , does that help you , by the time you have run the fluid through the system normally using two people the system would be flushed out by then Chris

Hi can anyone advise please, i have a jap import STI 2.5 Forester 2004 plate ,i have changed the centre section on the exhaust system for a straight through pipe, by doing this i have got rid of the second cat and a resonator , do i therefore need to remap or is it ok as it is , the ECU is standard as far as i know, any bad experiences from jap imports Thanks Chris

Hi I have a Magnex system i am selling it replaces the second cat and is a 6 inch oval exit, it was origonally on my 04 wrx 2 litre , then on my hawkeye 2.5 wrx does that help you , it sounds realy good but is not so loud it is bad on long journeys Chris

Based on the DVLA website it should be either £ 120 or £ 185 for larger cc engines , the cost of your tax is the same as the band that is after 2001 ?? even more confused now Chris

Thanks for the above, but i think the DVLA may have a different version, the car is on a 2004 plate JAP import it is just under 300 co, the current tax class is 115 for 6 months or 210 pa, i hope evo is right if they are then the DVLA are taking the michael as that is what they are currently charging tax wise , if evo are correct i will see what happens in april next year and will be in contact with the dvla Chris