MarkJHarris

Should be able to pick up a set of four standard 17x8s easily enough on Ebay. Loads of 08 on cars had them and sold them online once the tyres were done to get 18" upgrades. Probably silver in colour but if you get them for a reasonable proice they'd need sorting anyway. I'd recommend the place in Leeds that did mine . Perfect finish.

GK1. Had mine done and this matches perfectly with a Widetrack STi in unmolested perfect mint condition I offered them up against.

I reckon I know the reason the Boxers are so bad. Having driven from Turkey at 130mph on th autobahns I got spectacular fuel economy. Weird. Better at 130mph than at 70? Yes.

The real reason our cars are so thirsty is pumping losses. We spend almost all our time on virtually closed throttles, with big pistons trying to suck a cylinder full past the closed throttle and inlet tract and turbo, etc. 

Comparison. Nissan Micra. 

Micra to drive at steady 50mph. about 13bhp.

Impreza STi to do the same.       20bhp.  Bigger tyres and a bit more drag.

Micra to generate 13bhp in top gear needs probably half to 3/4 throttle. Hence if you drive at 50mph and floor it nothing happens.

Scooby is virtually on closed throttle, in either 5th or 6th. Touch the pedal and the horizon comes at you rapidly.  

Micra has a dinky manual box and narrow tyres. to put 13bhp down it needs to make 18-20bhp at the crank. Thus the fuel economy is 50-60mpg.

Impreza has AWD, big tyres and three differentials. To make that 20bhp at the road it probably puts out 35bhp at the crank. Hence Drive like a nun and you'll still not get 30mpg. 

Thus manufacturers are getting into little engines and selective cylinder operation.

Can't really do that with a Boxer.

We're fooked.

I must check the change pot more regularly then. Let you know if i find one.

Ah. That's a better idea. I replaced the seal round the base of the spoiler with silicone. ~I ran a nice bead round, then let it fully dry before fitting. Comes off undamaged every time.  the slots for drainage mean I still need to seal the holes but silicone isn't much use here. I was going to buy new gaskets from Subaru but your Neoprene sheet idea sounds pretty good. Thanks for the tip!

Indeed. Looks new now. I'm just sorting the ride height in this weather as the new struts are 20mm shorter than the last ones.  My mistake. On full length they sit lower than O.E. and I'd forgot that as I'd ordered the last ones +60mm on standard. The helper springs are now fully compressed and i will probably just run without them from now on.

Just bought a 6.7litre vacuum pump to do oil changes and stuff. Works a treat to vacuum bleed brakes.

Final bill was just shy of 2K!  However, that includes painting the boot and roof including all pillars and into the rear quarters. Looks like new though. 

Check under your radiators folks, and try to catch it before it rusts too badly!

Unfortunately, the price of fuel is only going one way long term and our guzzling Boxers just can't adapt. Pumping losses and the AWD system are the unbreachable walls.

IMHO, the only way to overcome this is getting rid of the gearbox, the true heart of a Subaru. A Squirrel cage AC direct drive at each corner, gives you fully torque bias independent AWD, with a range extending generator to provide power and fast recharging en route.

The tech is there now to produce an Impreza sized car with the power of the STi and actually be lighter than the recently deceased version. It's been compact enough to run in MPV type cars for the last 2-3 years already. 

You take DC and invert it with a frequency proportional to the speed you want. The frequency varies as you press the pedal. The Difference between frequency and speed gives slip which produces torque and current flow. If any tyre slips, the slip and torque to it reduces. Simples. I've been a fan of this kind of drive for ages.

I love engines and fast cars and bikes, but I'm not afraid of the future...

Any update?Were you able to get some?

£245 for me. If my car was newer than April 2010 it would be £549. They're just having a laugh really. Covered less than 1,000 miles last year...

OK to be fair. I should pop it off and powder coat it to be honest while I've got the chance. Edit: looked this morning and it's fine. Just light surface rust, but for £14 I'll replace it anyway. Ordered a genuine Subaru middle gauge pod too. More money I don't have right now....

He's going at the remaining rust with a miniature sand blasting set before welding all the new panels back on this afternoon. Should be ready to paint tomorrow. Then the fun starts working out which bolt goes where... It'll rest over the weekend and get a full underseal and wax oiling before re-assembly.

To be honest, the metal around the front is painfully thin. I know modern cars are designed to implode if a pedestrian is anywhere near, but even this surprised me.

As you say, it's in the right place to be sorted. 

Right then. Here's the offending worm's dinner plate. I was right to get it done it seems....

Hate to think what this is going to cost me though...

Had a good look today and really should have ordered a full front panel. Ho Hum. Front edge of roof is showing rust too. Why Subaru have to skimp painting the bloody shells so badly is beyond me.. It's quite dark as a lot of ACF-50 had been applied to the rusty areas when I first saw them to stop it getting any worse.

Anyway. In the body shop now so I'll get a few pics of it with the front cut out tomorrow. Can't wait to get it back on the road to be honest. Not driven it for 5 months now.

ICP is always a bit cheaper, granted, but not a lot in it. I got the top and mid stay panels too to be sure. Bumper cross frame and subframe is being powder coated, and the new lower loom brackets are also being powder coated to add more protection.... they're VERY rusty. 

So, I changed my cam belt and took the opportunity to de-gas and change out the leaking condenser too. On inspection, the lower radiator panel, mounting brackets top and bottom and front of the subframe and also inner bumper are all rotten. Nice.

Rest of the car is nice and cleaned, undersealed and waxoiled. 

So, now ordered new upper and lower rad panels, front stay and new brackets too. Bumper will go to be blasted and powder coated in primer and subframe likewise in black.

I'd check your cars out under the front, it's not pleasant. The metal is cheap and plentiful in stock at Subaru...I suspect mine isn't the first to need attention. 

Welcome Pablo. 06 2.5 STi owner myself. Enjoy!

L

I take my front lip off, raise the car with the coilovers and put winter tyres on every November and drop it back in April, after the kids go back from Easter. Rarely get snow... but live in hope most years!!

Hi, just to add, be careful about lowering, it does not add stability or anything to the handling of the car! Your Impreza has McPherson strut suspension. Have a look on the basics on Google if you want. To keep it very simple, the McPherson Strut has a serious roll center change with ride height. Dropping 25mm will lower Roll Center by up to 100mm. The Car's roll behaviour is based on Roll Center, Center of Gravity and with lateral force you get a roll torque which is what makes the car lean. By lowering the ca, the distance between Roll Center and CoG increases, so roll torque goes up, and the car rolls more, unless resisted by stiffer springs. This in turn makes the rider harsher.

The GC8 and GD models share the trait in that they tend to roll into the rear corner, so a few degrees more rake, i.e. lowering the front, can remove this trait, though usually only 5-10mm is required. Some folk go for a stiffer rear ARB to reduce the lean into the back corner but again, single bumps are harsher.

There is so much to suspension, but a drop usually ruins a cars ability to soak up roads and can ruin agility too. Once you lower, then you go down the route of changing the front outer balljoints to restore roll center with the Whiteline or RCM Roll Center Correction Kit  parts.

Do you want tol throw money at it or just make it look a little nicer? If the latter, then I'd recommend looking at replacing the shocks with decent KYB ones and springs to lower the car only 25mm or so maybe 30mm at the front.

Either way, the O.E. stuff will be very tired by now...

One thing rarely mentioned, (except by me) is that BC Coils as standard cannot adjust to lift the car back to O.E. ride. You can specify them as +60mm length if you want and springs as low as 4kg/3kg too. Plusher high speed compression damping is available, all within the standard cost. You can play with ride height and geo to your heart's content then.

Lordy, memories. I had a replica Sapphire Cossie in Flint with dark grey stripes on it too! It was a Ghia model, a 4P Pre-production car E565APU. Proper Dagenham staff car. Had been Mettalic Blue and the Brochure car in 1987, then Silver for the pictures in 1988 and at the NEC both years before being sold to a Manager and run for the next few years.

I sold it after it had been nicked by local scum for a joyride. They abandoned it after 2 miles after it never came on boost.... The SOHC Pinto looking back at them from the engine bay was all it took to run away. Shame they hadn't looked in the garage behind it. There was a rebuilt Cossie engine and Borg Warner gearbox sat waiting to go in....

Never bothered after that. Twas the last Ford I had too.

It's not necessary. You just clean them up, remove the tyre, valve and any balance weights then holding them up, tap with a spanner. If the ring is long and clean, then they are uncracked. If it's dull and short- they are. (This from having Dymag motorcycle Mags tested this way).

All you would get from an STI engine is the steel crank in terms of benefit. The gaskets go on those just as often, if not more.  Unless you can source an STI engine that has been fully forged and studded that is. I'm not sure if the cases are much different  between the engines, or the AVCS is or isn't fitted to the WRX motors.

My forged lump is rock steady on temps, at 1.5BAR and will go a lot higher if I swapped the turbo and intercooler out. One of Alan Jeffery's builds. Can't fault it in any way. I'm about to drop the coolant to do the timing belt this week so 5 happy and reliable years, of granted, sporadic use.

All advice above is good. Just the nature of these cars that the engine has to come out- but remember, it's just the bit hanging off the front of the core of the car- which is the gearbox. despite the size, getting Subaru engines out is not a problem. One side effect of being designed to be a pukka rally car from the start...

Plus, Subaru doesn't help us by fitting wheels that are too wide! 225/45/17s on 8" rims is just asking for damage in the real world. You really want 245s on there for that width. Why they went wider on the later STIs I just don't fathom.

I wish we'd adopt the 24/7 lights on rule to be honest. The number of wallies driving about at 5am with no lights is unreal. They clearly forget it's see AND be seen....