mystery machine

What was fouling on the track rod arm, Dave? Cheers.

Cheers Mark. I had RE070s fitted a few weeks back and I am loving them in the dry. Like you I've found them to be a bit slitherty on damp roads when they're cold, so I've bought a spare set of wheels for winter (no rubber yet). During winter I don't take the car out on snow or slush, only on damp or dry roads. Therefore, I'm trying to decide between a full winter tyre and a more wet-oriented summer tyre for winter use... What were you previously running during winter? How did you find that those tyres compared with the full winters on cold dry or cold damp roads? Thanks

"Fouling on the track control arm" does sound likely, Kenny. Hard to ignore that this has appeared after having the links changed. Curiously, I couldn't repeat it in another car park after work... I'll ask Dunc to take a look. Cheers mate.

You like the RE070s, Mark?

Hi, This morning while manoeuvring in the work's car park, I had a strange metallic 'groaning' from the steering, accompanied by a bit of resistance in the steering wheel. Would happen during the last few inches of either left or right lock, and only when the car was moving above about 5mph (but not when crawling). This wasn't the sort of sound I'd normally associate with a slipping power steering belt or low power steering fluid (checked the fluid level and it's fine). At first I thought it might be something to do with the new drop links I had fitted the other day, but now I'm not so sure Anyone any ideas what might be causing it? Last time I heard anything like this was when my old Skoda Octavia VRS's brakes would make a loud groan/shriek while reversing (common problem with that car, fixed by 'rubbing down' the discs/pads, or so the Skoda dealer told me). Could it be brake related? Thanks

wrxcook – you don't work at the Falkirk Wheelhouse Restaurant by any chance? Just asking because I think one of the chefs there drives a WR Blue Newage WRX (Blob, I think).

Totally! If you go for the springs, you'll have to have this done afterwards because your geo will likely be all-to-cock. If you decide not to fit the springs at the moment then you might want to think about having a 'fast road' geo setup done anyway all helps contribute to a sharper-handling Scoob. (Usually about £65, BTW)

Regarding handling – if the car doesn't already have one, I'd highly recommend an uprated rear ARB. I've made a few handling mods to my Hawk STI, and this without doubt offered the best bang-for-buck improvement. Car is more composed, corners flatter and steers more sharply for it. Hypertech in Bonnybridge will supply and fit a Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear bar for around £150. If budget will stretch, it'd be well-worth having solid ARB drop links fitted at the same time (good idea with an uprated bar anyway, standard links can fail), if not at both ends then at least on the rear bar. The links will set you back about £100 per bar (inc fitting). If you still have cash to spare then I'd suggest that lowered springs (or even coilovers) should be the next step. Good to have the uprated rear bar on from the start because it goes a long way to giving the standard car the balance that it lacks. In hindsight it'd have been the first thing that I'd have done with mine.

Fuel prices have gone up by roughly 20p per litre in the last year (40p since Jan 2009) – including a 2.5% VAT increase – and this joker thinks that he can appease the British motorist with a 1p per litre duty cut?!

All said and done, I think it comes down to experimenting and finding out what you like. Obviously 'too soft' could cause an issue with tread edge wear and will make the car a little slower and thirstier, and of course at the other end of the scale 'too hard' could cause an issue with excess tread centre wear (seems rare on Scoobs, mind). Although I tend to think that if the tyres are wearing badly at only one edge then it's maybe more an issue of the geometry not matching the driving style...

Here's mine (apologies for the dire picture quality – forgot to enable 'macro' on the camera): 225/45 R17 = column B Unladen front = 2.3 bar = 33.5 psi Unladen rear = 1.9 bar = 27.5 psi OK, so I was 1 psi out on the front Funnily enough, checked my pressures today and I have 36F/32R. 10dC warmer today than when I last checked them, which would account for the 2 psi increase. Not going to let any air out though, prefer a little more in there when it's warmer and the car feels softer.

They look good in the first pic Paul when the light's catching them

I never even knew there was a Scooby garage in Bollocksburn!

Aye, that's where I got the 32.5F 27.5R for the Hawk. Totally, you can't ignore what your tyre wear is telling you! Have you had your geo looked at recently?

Depends on so many things as well as tyres though... suspension setup, driving style, etc. For my car, that's still higher than the Subaru-recommended 1.9 bar/27.5 PSI (unladen). Although I do wonder if the Subaru-recommended rear pressure is deliberately low as a 'safety measure' to help prevent people from oversteering off the road (H&S, eh? ).

That doesn't sound too low really... I suppose the T1R sidewall really must be soft! I used to use 35F 33R in my Avons before the suspension mods, but with the suspension mods and the RE070s I've settled on... ^^^ ...exactly the same as this guy! I used the Subaru-recommended 32.5F 27.5R as a starting point and settled for a baw hair more at the front and a bit more than a baw hair more at the back. I don't like too much in the front because you loose steering feel – too much in the back I find can make the car a little twitchy.

What air pressure were you running them, WJ?

Aye, that's the biggest difference. And the car will change direction much more quickly now, without becoming unsettled or losing composure. More stable too, I find – less bouncing around. And more steering/seat feedback. Just much more involving to drive – all good! Wait until you get that geo done and get a chance to push it a bit on a nice dry day...

Cool! Your Blob must feel like a different car now! Piece by piece, I've had broadly the same suspension mods made to my Hawkeye STI and – I know this is a car forum cliché – they've transformed the car. Drives like a sports car now and less like a shopping car. Loving it! Nice thing about the ALK is you don't have to dial-in silly amounts of static negative camber at the front to achieve increased front-end grip (c.f. the Prodrive 'tyre killer' settings). Instead you can have a sensible amount of static negative camber for straight line stability and reasonable tyre wear, then benefit from the additional dynamic negative camber when you wind some lock on (i.e. when you need it!). Best to get that geo done as soon as poss after the suspension mods, but you probably know that anyway.

Dipsy, Paul – thanks for the feedback about the Toyo T1R Interesting point about the softer sidewalls – that would probably put me off them, TBH – I love the stiffer sidewall of the RE070! Yes, I've read that's a great wet & dry tyre – I might look at those for winter instead...

And there's me just after mentioning his glorious 'column'...

Again?! Did they give him own column? Put the kettle on, sit down, relax, and absorb some curious-but-cosy tales of strife with Bobby C, Total Impreza's foremost agony uncle...

Ah! Hope you don't mind me asking did you use the Toyo T1Rs during the winter? How are they when pushing on in dry cold and greasy cold conditions? I recently bought Bridgestone RE070s for non-winter use, but I'd like something a little less slick for next winter. Thought about going for a set of proper winters, but since read a few reviews where summer tyres still seemed to outperform winter tyres in dry winter conditions (my main concern as I don't take take the Scooby out in the snow and don't tend to push it in the wet)... Your T1Rs actually look quite similar to the Avon ZZ3s I used to have on the car, which were OK in the cold (better than the RE070s anyway). Cheers

Had Whiteline front & rear alloy ARB droplinks fitted yesterday – lovely!

Dunno, but Camskill are still selling them... http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m54b103s16p1697&rs=gb I was thinking of buying some as my (pseudo-)winter tyres