grantr

Sounds like the same issue I had. Nobles swapped out the front struts for me when I had it. I'd just take it up to Grieves and get them to check it out, Nobles changed mine while I waited on it too.

Picked up my car from Nobles today with the prodrive grill fitted, most impressed. And yes, I did forget to take of the prodrive decal behind it. Not sure wether to leave it or attempt to remove it now!

£200+vat for the kit. A F Nobles in Penicuik are supplying and fitting next week when they have the car for some paint work.

Thats the one thanks! I'll be fitting both parts too, really like that.

I've ordered one of these for the STi, but not sure wether to fit the top and bottom grill now, anyone else got them fitted that can post of pic of how they look on the car?

Nobles are top notch. They done that for me as well twice with warranty suspension changes. Wouldn't go anywhere else with the car.

I waved at a Rover 400 with a Scooby bonnet scoop last night. Ouch.. Nearly always do it and always to other blue blobeye STi's . Classics seem to rarely do it round Edinburgh for some reason. Wife finds it amusing too but I don't care! It's part of the fun of owning a Scooby.

I've got an 04 plate STi with the PPP fitted and you certainly wouldn't describe them as the last word in comfort! They feel very raw compared to a WRX, less refined. It took a while to get used to all the little noises, the diffs whining away, the noise the brakes make etc. Feels very much like a rally car with a few creature comforts thrown in. And I mean a few, very basic inside. No toys to speak off to play with and the Subaru stereo is crap too. Suspension is hard but not too hard, you can cover long distances in it quite easily. I find it better then the v6 Mondeo I used to have for that. All this said. when you jump in and turn that key you'll soon forget any shortcomings. The burble is addictive and the surge when you press that pedal is mental the first time you feel it. Try and get a PPP car (Prodrive Performance Pack), it does make a difference, however as many on here will tell you there are other ways of getting the extra power so find out what if any mods the car has. Certainly a fair bit quicker than your RX8 too. I bought mine from a main dealer, A F Nobles as I had little experience of the cars and the only others I had sat in were a Grp A 555 and a WRC car, not really comparable to the road versions! Paid a bit more but I did get full MOT, great warranty (which you'll need if its got the standard suspension on it) and the peace of mind of little or no bills for the first year at least. I did pay a fair bit more than your £9k though. If you do find a good one though go for it, you certainly wont regret it. Mine puts a smile on my face even driving to work in the morning and I cant see me getting rid of it for a long while to come. Pity I'm in Edinburgh as I'd have let you see what they are all about quite happily.

Cheers for the comments guys. I'd love to put a splitter on the car but I doubt I have the clearance on my drive to add one. Steep up and over onto the road, its tight on the front end as it is. Might leave the idea of the graphics for now. Any recommendations on where to get decent window tinting done near Edinburgh?

While the car was reasonably clean I decided to dust off the DSLR and try and finally get a few half decent shots of it, hope you like. Hoping to go back and try and get the shots with the castle in the back in the dark at some point. Need to get the rear windows tinted and want to get the Prodrive grille on at some point. Toying with the idea of putting full graphics on it put not sold totally on that one yet! Need to get a polarising filter for photographing it as well, bit too much glare on the pics.

Nice to see another blue blobeye STi in Edinburgh!

Nobles are top notch, every dealing with them is a pleasure. Mine is back in a couple of weeks to get the front struts done again as well. Backs, fronts and now fronts again all in just over 6 months.

Can anyone recommend anywhere in the Edinburgh area to get a set of decent plates made up? Tried Halfords tonight but they only do one standard size which is ok for the front but the rear plate on my blobeye STi is slightly bigger top to bottom than the front. Don't want anything too fancy just something that'll fit in the same space as the old one at the same size.

I know that corner well, been there on many Galloway Hills and Scottish Rallys. Is the road still as rough driving in? Forgot the rally was on today or I'd have been there too.

Deliberated over L555 BAF or L555 BOT for the last week, finally bought L555 and my initials. Now I'm thinking about having to change every document with the car reg on it and wondering why I bothered...

I'd be very interested in what equipment/settings you used to get shots like that, very impressive.

I had the backs changed then 3 weeks later one front changed at Nobles under the warranty on my 04 Sti, had to take it back yesterday to get the other front done as well, it went pretty quickly after the driver side front was changed. I have to say I was surprised that they only changed one last time, I would have thought they would have done them in pairs. It'll be interesting to see how long they last.

What's the informed opionion on dump vales? The car already had one fitted when I bought it and I opted to keep it in but now I'm not sure wether to keep it or remove it. Any potential issues in removing it? I dont mind the noise but it can draw undue attention sometimes. Don't feel I can get a decent smooth gear change either with the foot planted.

Undoubtably the right choice Davie, you seem to meet a better class of person on these forums than on that "other place" too!

Probably far too much to be honest. Got if from Nobles in Penicuik so have got full MOT, full history, Subaru warranty (which has already been handy in getting the rear suspension replaced). Didn't really know enough about the probable issues with them so decided to go main dealer for a bit piece of mind to start with. Paid 14k for the car which seemed about 1.5k more than similar private/non main dealer sales at the time. Plus the car had the PPP fitted so was happy enough to go with it. I know the mods will come, already had the crap standard head unit pulled out and nice new JVC DVD unit put in but I'm now looking at other cars and getting the itch to make some changes. Probably nothing too drastic since I've got the warranty but I'm sure they'll start eventually!

That sounds like a plan, could cut off at Carlisle and have a jaunt back up the A7 to Edinburgh, that would certainly be more fun than taking the M74 back up.

Cheers guys. I do fancy the McRae gathering having been into rallying for years and having met the man himself on a couple of occasions. Just need to make sure I'm not going to be working that weekend. Can't do the full run to Banbury but could go part of the way.

Hi Guys, New to the forum so just introducing myself. New scooby owner from Edinburgh, finally took the plunge after years of drolling over them! Started looking for a WRX then decided an STi would be nice, finally bought an STi with PPP which was even better. Really can't imagine driving anything else now (except perhaps another Scooby!).