lincsnick

Protest all you like as long as you don't inconvenience the rest of us who want to get about as usual.

I use Tesco 99 and Vpower and I can't really notice any difference. There's some interesting reading here: http://www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk/tuning/...ts_Update.shtml though done on a non-turbo engine.

'' Its distilled to be 99RON rather than Tesco's which has additives to achieve the same'' No fuel is a pure distillate, they are all very complex mixes of various hydrocarbons. It is true that Vpower is only made at one refinery, where the brewing is done including the 'additives'. Tesco 99 is made by Greenergy for them. http://www.greenergy.co.uk/tesco_99_octane/index.html

This has been covered before on here a while back. I use either in both a turbo Forester and an RB320. I can't tell any difference. Have a read here: http://www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk/tuning/...t_Results.shtml Not much between them.

You generally get what you pay for.

I still maintain that if God forbid you are involved in an accident where someone is killed or injured and your car is examined by the police it may go against you in court if you have removed what is generally regarded as a safety device which was orginally fitted by the manufacturer. It won't cut much ice with a jury when you explain you took it off because it cut in too early when cornering at 10/10ths on gravel.

The 2005 STi brochure says 'an advanced 4-sensor/4-channel Super Sports ABS with EBD', that's all.

An ABS disable may be a mod too far for the insurance company!

Yep. If you use it reguarly join the V Power Club, get points when you buy and get a few quid back.

You don't know insurance companies! If the car isn't to spec, you're not covered unless it's declared beforehand. They'll use whatever they can to wriggle out of paying. Try asking yours to be sure. I think ABS is now a legal requirement for all new cars and electronic brake distribution and emergency brake assist and esp won't be far behind. Manufacturers spend millions on research and insurance companies know all about risk. A good article here: http://www.drivingfast.net/technology/ABS.htm The Fifth Gear video at the end is enlightening. Just trying to help, not taking a pop at you! Trust me on this one.

Regardless of however much of the above is accurate, abs does enable you to steer and brake heavily at the same time. And also regardless of what any of us may think about it, it's what the law and insurance companies think that matter come accident time. Email the above to your insurance company when you make a claim on your abs-disabled car and see how far it gets you.

If you ever have an accident serious enough for an assessor to inspect your car be prepared to pay for the damage yourself if you disable the abs even if it didn't contribute to the accident. And God help you if anyone is killed/injured and it ends up in court. That aside, I think you're crazy to consider it. ABS enables you to steer when emergency braking. A life saver.

I wouldn't be happy with him doing the work at all. Do you really think he'll do the job carefully and well? Good luck anyway, hopefully you won't need it.

I saw this on a Forester forum, presumably it's the same or similar for an Impreza. ''The undertray serves two purposes. It keeps water, mud, slush and salt off the thin metal exhaust shields, which prolongs their life. And it creates a negative pressure in the engine compartment, which has positive pressure without it. This air management function is not important for the NA engines, but allows the intercooler hood scoop to function on the XT engines at less than highway speeds. At highway speeds, air ramming into the hood scoop overcomes the positive underhood pressure.'' Seems to make sense.

Plenty! Though others will say 'not enough'!

Is the Extra Gloss worth the effort? I was thinking of trying it on my RB.

I'd do it and then rotate them front to back on the same side regularly. Subaru warn in the handbook to use four tyres of the same make and level of wear. It's only money! You can maybe sell the part-worns and get a few quid back.

You can get a low mileage RB320 for around £20k now.

I've started a thread here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.a...or%20road%20use. General consensus so far seems to be they'll be fine.

Everything you'll ever need to know is here: http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_610.htm I think the indicators will be fine as long as they show orange when flashing. The brakes, I'm not sure. My place does them first, so if you're not hanging around too long, get them good and hot before you get there. My gut feeling is they would possibly fail if tested cold. Thinking about it, you could be on a sticky wicket if you ever had an injury accident with cold brakes and plod tested them. There is a minimum standard with no allowance for warming them up. I'll ask around if this is the case.

What grade/make of oil did they put in the car mate ? Just curious as to what the dealers are using these days.... No idea, I'll ask next time. I had to specify fully synthetic. The car came from the factory with Shell Helix 5/40, at least that's what the top-up bottle that came with the car was. The oil they used last time I had a service on another car was Castrol Magnatec 10/40, that was in a Legacy Spec B.

I've just had a main dealer service on my RB320. The filter was £12.66 inc vat and the fully synthetic oil was £30.22 inc. Not too bad for a main dealer I thought.

I run a 53 plate XT auto as an everyday car keeping the Impreza as a weekend car. I get around 26-27mpg which is mainly open roads, no urban crawling, but I do like to use the revs. A manual would probably do more unless you like keeping it on boost. It's pretty quick for the type of car it is, especially if it has PPP or other tuning (mine doesn't) but then it'll start costing more to run. The turbo makes for easy overtaking, better than the 0-60 times suggest. Very comfortable, mine has all the toys you get with the All Weather pack - sunroof, spots, leather etc. It's obviously not as good round corners, plenty of body roll but hangs on, those fat tyres give a nice ride but are a bit squishy compared to the average Impreza. Remember it's a Impreza on stilts so no bigger inside but with lots of useful cubby holes and storage. I highly recommend them as a practical and comfortable car but it'll cost lots more than a tddi Focus to run. If you have any specific question feel free to ask.

To be honest, with 10 owners and no history I'd run away. But then again it may be ok. If nothing else, invest in an HPI check. New clutch and gearbox suggest it's been spanked recently.

Obviously the coolant isn't circulating correctly so either a blockage of some kind, air lock or water pump. I'd drain down, give the rad and block a good flush both ways with a hose. Refill making sure you do it correctly and don't get airlocks then try again. Also check that the fins are blocked with crap and that airflow to the rad isn't impeded.