mystery machine

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...

Anyone know the F/R weight distribution of a Scooby WRX or STI? Particularly interested in the newage 2.5 models, but would welcome any info

Bump surprised not to hear more opinions on this...

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

Had whiteline solid alloy droplinks fitted today, front and rear: Another step improvement in the handling department – flatter, steering sharper, and the bars seem to work more 'linearly' now (felt a wee bit 'off/on' before). Also seems to have fixed a knock that appeared a week or so ago – apparently one of the original droplinks had a loose balljoint where the paint had flaked off (possibly accelerated by fitting the thicker rear ARB). Handling mods to date: – KW Variant 3 coilovers – Whiteline ALK – Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear ARB – Whiteline poly ARB bushes front & rear – Bridgestone RE070 rubber (OK – not really a proper 'mod', but an improvement on the previous tyres!) – Whiteline alloy drop links front and rear Handles beautifully now, very kart-like – never been more pleased with the car Have to admit that I've caught the modding bug now, lock up ma credit card, please! Thanks to Paul (Wee Jock) for recommending the droplinks

Saw the white classic again tonight at the same place (dual carriageway heading towards Bowtrees) I was giving my new droplinks a gentle workout on the roundabout and you joined the d/c behind me... It's getting to be a bit like that Spielberg film with the truck, "Duel". Every time I look in my rear view mirror a white classic appears out of nowhere

Thanks Mark, yes – I might have to start scouring the scrappies. Plenty of time to look before next winter... I hope!

Thanks, they look nice

Thanks for the replies folks. Think I'll go for a 10W/40 this time. Garage have recommended "Millers" or "ProLong". I've heard the former mentioned on these forums... the latter is a new one to me.

Grand – I love a happy ending!

GB270 at the BP Refinery Connect filling station, Grangemouth – exchanged waves Grey Hawk WRX on Inchyra Rd – noticed you too late to wave! White Classic – you were behind me heading down Bellsdyke road towards Bowtrees R/B All tidy looking Scoobs, a credit to the marque – well seen it's car-washing season again!

I'm the same – regularly gunning it off the mark is one way to make a car feel old before its time. Time of day seems to be crucial. I've seldom had bother back and forward to work, and like you I go for fun runs on a Sunday morn – which tend to be mercifully chav-free. Only rarely do I venture out in the Scoob on a Fri or Sat evening, but just about every time I have I've had someone act-up for my benefit... I agree. Mind you, I have noticed on the m/way that more people are more inclined to move over when they see the Impreza coming than seems to be the case when I'm driving the wife's car – and I don't push up behind people on the m/way. In fact, sometimes I feel almost obliged to speed up when someone unexpectedly moves over for me – just so's the poor sod doesn't end up stuck behind a car/lorry in the inside lane while I'm taking my time passing... Reckon sometimes people see an Impreza with the bonnet scoop, spoiler, etc and just assume it wants to be going everywhere at three figures!