mystery machine

Aye, £1100-ish sounds fairly believable for another year older (at your age) plus other year's NCB. Building up that NCB made a bigger difference than age, I found... pays to keep it intact Only thing to watch is that sometimes when you're getting online quotes from your current insurer, they give cheaper quotes when they think you're a 'new' customer to try and lure you in. Come renewal time you often find yourself being quoted more as an existing customer! Bams!

OK, what's the significance of open-mouth then? I believe they source their downpipes from elsewhere. FWIW, he tells me that Andy Forrest thought they were very good.

That's as maybe, but I'd skip the light fandango if I could find a cheap set of Subaru originals turn alloy wheels across the floor...

A pic speaks a thousand words

I'm talking about these bad boys... Note the oval Subaru badge. Sounds like reako is after the same in gold. TBH, if the ones you posted were the right size, colour and price, I'd probably go for them.

Welcome!

Sure you'd agree Kenny that it feels great to finally penetrate the intimate circle!

Welcome, John!

I had an airlock in my WRX's cooling system after Grieve's changed the coolant. Sound of water sloshing about when cold, etc. In fairness I took it back and they managed to remove it. Similarly, I still have a small airlock in my STI's cooling system after Noble's changed the coolant ages ago. Occasional slight sound of water sloshing about when cold. Mentioned it to them at a subsequent visit but the mechanic insisted it was very slight and nothing to be concerned about. Not totally happy about that, TBH... might ask Hypertech to take a wee squatch next time I'm in. Anyway, moral of the story seems to be... don't let a Subaru Main Dealer change your coolant Hope yours turns out to be just an airlock, mate.

Hi Paul, Kenny's link shows the caps you describe on eBay at £35 a set. Could be wrong, but I'd imagine the main dealer is charging at least that. Cheers.

True of course that 3" gives better gas flow, but the chat seems to be that 2.5" is good for about 350-400bhp... certainly the chap at Stainless Creations didn't foresee an issue with 2.5" for the kind of figures I'm after (about 340bhp max). Depends on your plans for the car I guess, but maybe worth mentioning that the 2.5" is supposed to be quieter inside the car... that may or may not be desirable, but I'm going for the quieter option

Fair enough Gaz, but I'll be surprised if it works out that way for reako... E.g. Another year's NCB at 24 should reduce his premium a bit from £1800, and then if it were to halve when he reaches 25, he should be paying less than about £800 by that time. In that case, I'll be asking him to let me know who he's with because that's not a huge amount more than I'm paying in my mid-thirties with 12 years NCB, zero points, zero at-fault claims and not staying in Glasgow! I don't go for big excesses (think mine's £250 in total), so perhaps that's one reason why mine isn't lower, but I do always shop around!

Greig and Bobby: Just wanted to thank you for putting me onto Stainless Creations – spoke to Graydon today. They seem very willing to accommodate and reasonably-priced too. Been quoted £640 for a 2.5" bore two-part system – sports cat pipe up-front and a dual-silencer pipe behind that. Almost certainly going to go for that. Thanks again!

Try holding it nearer the end, mate

At least there's some chance of sunshine where you are (assuming you can get up on deck from time to time!) I guess it depends what's meant by 'part decat'. Seems that, for quicker spool-up and maximum power gains, ideally you want to replace both cats with a sports cat pipe (or even a full decat pipe if you're happy dealing with that at MOT time). Don't know if it's of interest, but these guys are based in Falkirk making stainless-steel exhausts to order: http://www.stainless-creations.co.uk/ Spoke to one of the guys who runs the shop today about a turbo-back system for my Hawkeye – been quoted around £600 (that's including the sports cat, but not the optional centre silencer). Almost certainly going to go for it.

Oh ya jobby! Mind you, back in the mid '90s I used to pay the best part of £1K to insure a Vauxhall Calibra (8v non-turbo, wow!), so relatively speaking your premium doesn't seem too outrageous considering the performance of the WRX TBH, I don't think it really works that way... at least I never saw any significant reduction when I turned 25 or 30. Just gradually went down, save for a couple of blips caused by an at-fault claim and a hefty speeding fine (you live and learn, eh?). Maybe stating the obvious, but the best thing you can do is avoid crashing or having your license endorsed... Look on the bright side, that's a helluva nice high-performing car to be driving at 23!

Cheers Kenny. TBH I'll probably try to find some black items, as I think they'd go better with the silver wheels than would a lighter shade of silver (isn't that a song by Procol Harum?).

Fair question, and I wish I knew the answer! I bought the wheels as a second set to use next winter. They're 'very low mileage' and pretty much in mint condition, but they were sold to me without centre caps... perhaps the seller reckoned he could make more selling the caps separate from the wheels, I dunno...

I'm looking for a set of silver centre caps for the same type of wheel, so would be really interested in any replies Subaru want the best part of £80 for a set

Cheers for the info Bobby Do Stainless Creations not do sports cats then?

When do I get to meet the one they call "the leader"? Can't wait to receive my white gown in the post

I believe it's now a 330d Touring

...of paltry 'non member' status and joined the cult—I mean—club

Crickey, the more I see, the more I like! http://www.stainless-creations.co.uk/shows.htm

Hey, looks like they did this Scoob that I posted about in the 'was it you' forum (Mr 'Bigot'): I thought it was a Spec D when I passed it, but of course it's a WRX.