mystery machine

I was getting creaking/knocking noises with lock on after my ALK was fitted, garage re-greased the wishbone bushes and I haven't heard anything untoward since.

Cheers Dave. Wasn't long ago I had new tyres fitted, so I'll check that too.

You're welcome, your car's handling will be much-improved after the mods you've listed! Regarding uprating the front bar – it's all about striking a balance. Like most cars, the standard Impreza rolls a little more at the back than at the front. Manufacturers set cars up like this because it contributes to giving the car an understeering attitude, which is considered safer for less able drivers because it reduces the chances of putting the car into a spin when the limits of grip are exceeded. However, this understeering setup is generally considered to be overkill and a lot of Impreza drivers seem to find that a rear bar that is around 10-15% thicker than the front bar goes a long way to making the handling more neutral, as well as improving the steering response when cornering hardish-to-hard, and making the car generally more pleasant to drive. This 'thicker bar at the rear' setup will reduce the 'anti-spin' safety margin a little, but you have to put this into perspective – if you have any sort of feel for car dynamics at all and you aren't prone to making crazy moves such as sharply lifting off throttle or braking hard while taking a bend/roundabout near the limits of grip (unless you're actually trying to make the back-end step out), then your car will still be plenty safe! Popular options are: 1) Keep the stock front bar (usually around 19mm-20mm on STIs, but you should find out what diameter yours is) and upgrade the rear bar only to around 22mm. 2) Upgrade both bars – 22mm front, 24mm rear. Notice how the 'both bars' upgrade specifies a thicker rear bar than the 'rear bar only' upgrade, to keep that balance. The advantage of option 2) is that the car will exhibit even less total roll, but you might notice ride quality suffering as you're reducing the independence between the two sides of your suspension – one wheel goes over a bump and, the thicker the bar, the more of that force is transferred to the wheel on the opposite side. Having said that, a few guys on here have uprated both bars and seem happy enough with the ride quality. Best to speak to someone who knows more about Bugeyes than me for tips on rear bar diameter if you decide to do the rear only I've used ProGrip and Hypertech in the past – both in Bonnybridge, coincidentally. Hypertech are handy because they can fit your mods and do the geo straight afterwards. John at ProGrip concentrates mostly on geo and is very good if that's all you need done. All the best

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).

Thanks for the replies folks – went for Millers CFS 5w40. Hopefully a step up from Castrol Magnatec 5w30. m&g – I don't do track days, but thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the replies, and the links m&g. The meaning of the cold/hot weight ratings is very clear to me, but I still haven't been able to ascertain why anyone would opt for 10w40 over 5w40 (although there may well be a good reason!). I was trying to decide which spec oil to use at the Scoob's next service. Ended up buying some Millers CFS 5w40 – hopefully a step up from Castrol Magnatec 5w30.

Funny, that's the first thing I think of when it gets near time to put the clocks forward... we're back into post-work car-cleaning territory

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)

Is that rhyming slang?

Cheers Imy Think I'll take Monday off work to recover from the lost hour at the weekend! F1 starts this weekend...

Cheers for the reply Kenny, but I'm 99% sure that the lower the first number the better in colder conditions... Question is, if 5W is better in colder conditions, and they're both equally rated at 40 for higher operating temperatures, why would you ever want the 10W? Is 5W simply too thin for some engines, even in the cold?

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?!

As I understand — or misunderstand, as the case may be — both of the above will offer the same performance at higher temperatures, but the 5w40 will perform better at lower temperatures... But if that's the case, then why would anyone ever opt for the 10w40...? I know I'm missing something here, and I'm intrigued to find out what Can anyone offer enlightenment? Cheers

Thanks again folks. The garage I'm using supplies Millers – had a look at the Millers web site and I might go for the CFS 5w40...

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

Great stuff, Paul – thanks for posting. 60/40 for the Hawk STI and 59/41 for the hatch? Hardly ideal I 'spose, but no worse than the EVO and better than the Focus RS's 63F/37R (I'm not saying that makes the Focus a bad car). Allow the "engine in boot" 911, eh? 40F/60R I suppose at least with the Porsche, the driver can provide ballast at the front (how much ballast would depend on the individual driver's diet/lifestyle!).