mystery machine

A7 to Gala and then A72 to Peebles, continuing along the A72 to Blythe Bridge - one of my all-time favourites! Been down a couple of times since New Year and there were no major potholes - in fact I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Borders' roads have held up... Get yourself down there early on a Sunday morn though - as you're probably aware, the A7 is a bit short of overtaking spots. Mind out for greasy/salty bits too

Any newage STI has some quite fundamental upgrades over any newage WRX, e.g. Stronger gearbox, with six close-ratio gears (c.f. the WRX's five). Stronger engine internals. 35F/65R torque spit (as opposed to the WRX's 50F/50R) - most of the benefits of RWD with most of the benefits of AWD! Front LSD (I think - certainly the later STIs all have one). IMO the above features makes the STI a better driver's car than the WRX. The STI has quite a few other driver-oriented pluses over the WRX, such as bigger brakes and stiffer suspension, which perhaps aren't as costly to retro-fit to a WRX as a gearbox or engine - but why bother with the expense/hassle when you can have them on the car from the outset? I believe that the Blob WRX did offer a few mechanical upgrades over the Bug WRX (stiffer bushes, etc. IIRC), but whether these apply to Blob WRX vs Bug STI, I'm not sure. Probably not much that couldn't be upgraded without spending too much cash - i.e. I don't think there's an awful lot mechanically between Bug STI and Blob STI (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Blob experts!). I say "Bug STI"!

Ach, ya wimp - and FOLDED! Actually, seeing as they've drapt the price, I'm thinking of signing up to the cult — I mean club — myself

Looks a lot better. You not going to pass-on the cost of fixing the paint too?

Very sorry to read about this - thoughts are with the families.

UK Hawkeyes have HID lamps and washers.

Deal!

Does your car have headlamp washers, scoobysp? They do the trick this time of year, so they do. Also if your reflectors are dulled you won't see as much light on the road.

I might do that, Cathy - seeing as they've brung the price down - and NOT because they've excluded non-members (even old faithful posters like masel) from using the Buy/Sell section!

Tsk tsk, Cathy - that from a paid-up SIDC member... one who drives a Classic or two her very self!! Och no, you've made me feel like less of a divvy, so fair play to you P.S. You know that Catalunya is a racing circuit, right?

Never mind - VAT at 20%, 99 RON fuel above £1.30 per litre, interest rates threating to go up again... good times eh? Just as well I'm the philosophical type, or I would have had the missus jump in the STI and run me over with it by now

Cheers for all the replies folks - sounds like it's not just me who's finding the road surfaces a bit kak just now. Jeez-oh - what with that, the potholes, the loose grit and all the litter - it's almost as if a bomb's hit the place this winter...

True that the stiffer rear ARB should give the car greater overall grip (on relatively even surfaces), but should also shift the balance more towards oversteer, Jock. I didn't think that would be a problem... until tonight Och well - hoping it was just a one-off on account of all the salty residue (oo-er!) and an off-camber road surface. My dampers are adjustable too, so all is not lost!

I suppose there's a chance I might've run over spilt diesel or similar - quite common on roundabouts. Also my tyres were fairly cold.

People tell me that I've always been a bit of a 'member'

Anyone else finding the roads a bit greasy/slippy at the moment? Back end of the STI stepped out tonight on a roundabout - I was going quick-ish, but I've driven faster around similar roundabouts in wetter conditions and never had that before It's a wee bit untimely too, because I've arranged to have an uprated rear ARB fitted this week... maybe time to let some air out of the back tyres!

Aye, I thought that. OK, didn't realise - that's me learnt summat new today

Excuse my ignorance about classic Imprezas, but was the original WRX a JDM-only model? If that's the case it might be worth asking the ins. why the WRX's premium is higher? Perhaps you can close the gap by fitting some additional security? Just a thought.

You struggle with almost any type of headlamp at this time of year - can't go half a mile without them being coated in wet salt.

RB320 being one such example

Cool - how do you find the handling now?

They certainly do look a lot more substantial, and I could see why they'd be a must with a really thick bar (i.e. the standard links would prob break!), although a lot of the chat I picked up suggested they didn't perform that differently to the standard Hawkeye STI droplinks with a moderate-sized bar... dunno how much truth there is to that. I'm going to stick with the standard DLs for just now, but I don't think I'm finished uprating suspension/steering bits here and there, so I might look at these WL items in future - can't do any harm Glad to hear that the bar sharpened the car up noticeably

I've looked at the WL droplinks before - they certainly look higher-quality, probably stronger, but are they really that much less flexible? Anyway, how do you find the new bar - better-balanced? Shaper turn-in? Any scary lift-off oversteer?

It's the Whiteline adjustable, Paul - I guess I meant "RB320-style" in the sense that it's thicker than the standard STI ARB The WL ARB comes with uprated bushes, and I'm having the front ARB bushes done at the same time to help keep things balanced. I'm not replacing the droplinks though as I understand that the Hawkeye items are solid anyway? Which ARB did you go for, Paul? Much of an improvement over standard?

Always wondered how it feels compared to the STI shift, which has a fairly short throw to start with (shorter wouldn't hurt, mind). Speaking of STIs/RB320s - I'm having an RB320-style 22mm rear ARB fitted next week