MarkJHarris

My 06 Sti Spec D had rust around the boot lid when I got it. Subaru said no...outside in they said. It is around the boot seal and even though some patches were inside the seal they didn't want to know. All fixed now, for about £200 and my painter finished the job off Subaru couldn't be bothered with, like putting paint inside the damn shall. The whole interior is just primer and overspray- Ford wouldn't dare do that even back in the '70s!! I'm not impressed.

I can confirm the strength of the New age in a side impact. I bounced off a lamp post at about 40mph and although the impact was to the left rear door just behind the piller, it took it well enough to drive out of the hedge and off to the bodyshop for an estimate (write off due twist in shell and distortion to roof, floor and whole left side). I was surprised really, my seat was not bent at all, and I felt fine. it even drove OK. Black ice by the way- AWD won't save you if you hit that!

Does sound like they're lifting your leg!

Do you run the car at low revs/ My STi always vibrates badly between 1500 and 2000rpm for some reason. Fine above that though. And after 2500rpm I'm too busy hanging onfor dear life to notice...

Possibly idle gossip, but the chap behind the counter at the Milestone told me Manx Petroleum are thinknig of stopping importing Vpower. They may be planning to brew the stuff up locally from normal unleaded instead. Anyone know anyone from MP to talk to to get assurances if this happens the stuff will be at least as good as what we have now? My baby doesn't like to drink crap!

There's naff all camber on as standard on newage Stis at the front. This is enough to cause this as mine did it too with both outer edges worn on the fronts. Swap the worn ones to the back and it should be back to perfect. There's loads of negative camber on the back, so the outer edge hardle touches the road. I drove through a puddle the other day as I parked and noticed how the wet tyre marks were about an inch short of the outer edge!! It's good to swap them about to even wear and get the most life from, your tyres anyway.

Only tip I can help with is get your V power at the Milestone on Peel Road like the rest of us....Welcome by the way.

When was it last serviced? Have you checked the oils recently. My STi engine is noticably noisier if the oil gets low. The gear oil is also important for noise. the Scooby does need to have the right oil in both the diffs and gearbox as well as the engine and these are the main reasons to stick to specialists. If in doubt, get the fluids all changed and topped up. The DCCD cars have three helical mechanical LSDs fitted and especially when reversing or turning tights corners can judder and make very agricultural noises. I find setting it to manual and full aft minimises things as it removes electronic locking , but I drive it usually in auto.

Prodrive "own" the source code for the Impreza mapping- EcuTek licence the code from them. Hence if you have a PPP ECU, it's a remapped one that should be compatible with EcuTek software. Might be wrong mind. I was told by someone at EcuTek though...

Also 41 and can't agree more. I LUV MY SCOOBY

www.imprezabreakers.co.uk They're in Norwich.

Weird, no idea why they'd not use the standard brackets as any other just doesn't make sense. Mine had a single DIN stereo and a cubby hole but still had the double DIN bracket installed. I can't work out how to install a radio without it?

Even in auto- I find mine clunks and judders when manouevering, if I switch it to manual and wind it fully back it's far smoother. My 03 Blob was much nicer- but that's with a suretrac rear (still clunked when going backwards as the dogs jumped across) and viscous centre and open front- but my Hawkeye is really very agricultural- Helical locker up front, middle and suretrac rear- that's three mechanical LSDs grinding about down there. As you get to the locks, the speed differential is largest and all three will be clunking away, especially as torque is minimal. As said, they all do that sir. Bloody fun driving on smooth grass fields by the way!

Yep, mine's green too. The heater dials have a green hue to them as well, so it's only the insdtrument pod that's orange. I've got some gauges to put in in place of my clock as well, but only when I've saved up enough for my stereo upgrade. (that's got a clock in it.) Having said that, if the bloody Ash could dowesn't bugger off soon, I'll have no job and will have to sell the Scoob, as well as my bikes and everything. Can't think of another job suitable for an airline pilot right now. It might be back to Mcdonalds for me...... Note, if this ash cloud stops aviation in northern europe for another two weeks, there will be no airline industry to bring anyone back home. Heathrow will be a prime housing area and no need for any of the runways then. Note that. Two weeks.

It is automatic! It will spray when it detects over temp intake temperature but the button is a manual overide so you can pre-empt it in obvious conditions where temp is likely to rise, such as the examples above.

Leave him alone! the pics on the link are good enough- it's a blue Blobeye and we all know what they look like by now! Enjoy your new toy. You should just be ready to visit the great Tax Taker by now. Make sure it's Shell V Power when you do! I find putting on either an ipod or ear plugs and shouting La La La! to drown out the amount helps. Just type your number in the pin machine and don't look....it's safest way. You'll soon get used to it,. happens most days if you use it regularly.......

I love the way the bonnet tries to peel itself back at speed as well. I was about to buy a set of those nice flush bonnet pins for my Blob when the black ice intervened. Quite eerie the noise as you go faster. I am definitely not a fan of aluminium bonnets now. My Hawkeye is better but you can still see it lifts at the corners as well. They have an aluminium boot as well and no way should the rear wing be bolted to an alloy boot lid to be honest. I mean, the race cars have carbon bonnets and boots which clearly are a necessity not for bling! I don't think i'll take my Spec D on the track if that's the oversteer you get at speed!

Drop links are by far the more likely culprit. Quite handy as they are a lot cheaper! You could try undoing them and going over a few bumps to see if the noise is still there. only need to undo the side that makes the noise. Do it in a controlled way, i.e. only for a short test not to drive about as the balance and understeer will be noticably changed. Don't forget, any kind of roll or single wheel bump movement will be transmitted through the drop link bushes and they get a seriously hard time on our roads.

Good Stuff. There are two spec D cars on the Isle of Man, mine and another who just bought his from the subaru Dealer. That one has PPP, mine has an Ecutek remap and decat downpipe. with a full 3" exhaust it makes 362/395 and without the exhaust (standard cat-back) it still pulls Warp 5 and sounds far more discreet doing it! 20-25 if driven like a Vicar- but our roads are scooby heaven, no duel bits of straights to speak of (except for a couple of speed limit free ones that don't encourage steady driving) I wonder if we should start a register for Spec D, as there were only 300 made. How many are left? I took the Pioneer and Smart Nav out of mine- be warned, the tracker is part of the smartnav fit and they were all done the same so a knowledgable thief could have the tracker unplugged in under five minutes! I've moved the kit about on mine so they won't find it easily! I'd post a picture- but they all look the same don't they?

Following a Lamborghini Gallardo the other day in 3rd, not too fast with standard exhaust, window down and radio off. Couldn't hear my scooby at all! Lovely sound though, for an Audi!

For peace of mind, if you've gone far enough to get your engine out and got the heads off, stripping the block isn't too much more. The cover is there because the cylinders are offset by a crank throw. If you've got the head off an alloy engine, you'll need the heads skimmed, and cleaning the block and getting the deck tops checked and lightly skimmed may be useful. Of course you may wish to get it all wire ringed so the gaskets will take mega boost if needed. Good work so far. Remember, now you've gone this far- do it right, best way. Mark.

Hi, Is anyone here who has had fitted Whiteline Anti Lift Kit and/or Anti roll bars/ links to their cars can tell me how different it makes it feel to drive. I've been recommended having it done by my local motorsport garage, but the car feels OK in terms of straightline stability and turn in, and other than a high speed bend slight looseness at the back, due to having a low rear wing on, it doesn't understeer in the dry at all. Not driven in wet recently, but it's on RE070 and feels like on rails. My last one understeered for fun in the wet on crap tyres but was fine on good rubber, but I was after personal impressions of how the change "feels" to you. Any posts gratefully accepted. Mark.

You could ask your insurance company what they think/ Seriously, how long do you want it to last? All performance engines can take a good wallop- the life is more or less proportional to power- lots of power lasts a very short time, even with later engines. The general rules work for Fiesta 1.1 and Ferrari F1 engines. Proper answers to follow- my 2.5 runs 1.5bar and gives 362bhp but it does fall to 1.0bar at peak revs. your 2.0 lump is different as the standard map gives constant boost not falling as on the later engines.

You try finding a clean totally standard scooby out there! I tried to for my Insurance valuation dispute and only found three in the entire UK for sale... Decats, back boxes, you name it. Having done the leg work, if you want a blue blobeye sti, Ace's was the ONLY perfect one I could find. Go take a look!

Not sure where you are but thegoing forecourt sticker price seems to be between £11,495 and £11,995 depending on condition spec, etc. Obviously the dealer would have to get the chips done, service thecar and buy a warranty, not cheap with awd and turbo bolt ons. As is you would have to expect about £1,000 less to sell private, unless it's under a warranty still and has a lot of life on consumables like brakes, etc. Red isn't a top colour, sorry, best sellers are always wr blue or silver. Try it at £10,950 and get the stone chips sorted and a valet done and you should stand a chance of a sniff. Best of luck!