DR Motosport

Gus, your better trying both, and see what feels right. I went the Canon route because I prefered how it felt in my hands, and how the menu and settings systems operated. It just felt more natural. But my mate went the Nikon route, for more or less the exact same reasons. So everyone is different to what they want or like. He did admit last year when we were down at Silverstone for the Time Attack, that he thought my 40d gave slightly better photos than his D90.

That car was up for auction at the Autosport Show last year. I'll maybe even buy the mag for a read now.

Yes fail. It's within 30cm of seatbelt anchorage and also the seat mounting point.

That's a standard 1999-2000 bumper. It's the later of the 2 bumpers that the classics had.

Strip it and get it on track.

Your right Gus, it the MG. I think it's the bumper that's too fussy. Too many bits and shapes to it. All it needs is smoothed off a bit.

Now that looks better. Still not perfect, but certainly better. Looks wise, it gives the car a better overall balance. The long low bonnet line, rammed up the rear end look of the hatch is gone. And so have the Lexus back lights. Just looked at an old picture of my EVO6, and can't see anything similar. Now Subaru UK.....................bring it here too.

Yes, got mine. Came in just after midnight. Looks good. Didn't see a clicky to save it to a file though, just incase it disappears. Might just print off the pages I want read.

I wasn't planning on trading in or selling anyway. I sold the track car to Grant at AWD last Summer, since then I've been changing the STi to the new track car. But also been thinking about what to get as a road car now. Would seriously have considered a new STi saloon if it was available here or even as a JDM Import. So far looking at something with better build quality, plenty of power, nice to drive on a long journey, and plenty of space. Audi S6 5.2 V10 is top of the list so far. EVO X lacks the build quality, but is nice to drive. Davy

I would just like the choice. Hatch or Saloon. They make both already so why not have them both available. Japanese import restrictions went out about 10 years ago, so no excuses. Adding the wide body to the saloon in the US means the next step will be the STi saloon. For me the hatch just doesn't work, the boot is far too small and I don't always want to fold down the seats, and yes I have actually been out with a measuring tape. It is a lot smaller. But we've seen all this before with facelifts. The bug-eye was only out 2 years before the first facelift, then we got the blob-eye and finally they kept the best looking to last with the hawk-eye. Same with the classics with it's various changes over the years, and the hatch will be no different. Subaru have never built a standard model that doesn't need some modifications to improve it's driving. Be it springs, anti-roll bars, bigger alloys, bushes or geometry set-up. I've driven more Impreza's in the last 15 years than I could probably count, and the only one that came close to being perfect was the Hawkeye Spec-C Type ra, but that's not exactly a standard model. I'll be keeping the classic I have now, and the new-age JDM STI I've had since new. But I worry that I'll add to them another marque before Subaru UK can offer me something I want to buy. Davy

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows/new_y..._wrx/index.html Looks like a new grill, headlamps and bumper for the hatchback. Not sure if it improves it any though Still looks to have Lexus rear lights too. The 2011 car also gets stiffer bushes to improve the soft suspension and overlight steering. The US which has always had a Saloon WRX, has now got the wide arch STi body, and it looks like red lens tail lights. Now if they brought that to the UK as an STi, maybe just maybe I'd be interested............................along with a few others. So, c'mon Subaru UK, get your act together before you go the same way as Lancia, and disappear from the UK.

That's my local too, but I never ever go into it. The lizzie brice is only 3 miles or so further so always go there (just remember to use cash and never a card though ) I filled up at the Lizzie yesterday morning too.

I went on Saturday morning, thinking Saturday would be quieter than Sunday, and the morning quieter than the afternoon. Still had to queue for about 10 minutes to get it, and it was pretty busy even then. For new bikes it was pretty poor, more trade stands selling clothing than anything else. Which suited us perfectly. Nick was looking for a new helmet, boots and gloves for his quad bike. And with times still supposed to be tough, they were all up for a bit of haggling.. So he spent a fortune, but saved plenty too.

Adam's got one up and running again over on the Track Scotland site. I won the Track Scotland league last year, and ended up about 70th in the overall league of about 8000. http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1782 Why not register with Track Scotland and join in. More the merrier, and a few of us are on the SIDC too.

It's George Orr that works for Extreme. Before that he had his own garage in Bathgate. Back to the brakes I remember speaking to one of AP Racings top tech guys at the Autosport Show a few years back. They only recommended using their 330mm 4pot rear conversion, if you used their 365mm 6 pot fronts. Simply to keep the brake balance in proportion.

Hi Glyn, Could you drop me a p m when Jon's ok for accepting orders. There's a few items I'd like to order for myself and Nick (my son) No rush, I know you've got some outstanding orders your helping out with first. Thanks David

I just had a look back through the paypal payments, and it was last June. Not exactly the right season to be buying a heavyweight jacket, so that maybe helped. It's the right season to be wearing it now though.

Good price. I paid £36.55 for a new heavyweight jacket last year on ebay.

Hi Peter, It's been a couple of months now since the turbo was fitted, and apart from the initial wastegate problem, I'm very happy with it. As an instant hit and planting the accelerator in say 5th gear, it hits full boost at 3600 RPM. From a standing start through the gears, it's about 3800 RPM for full boost. I was actually speaking to Graeme from Whiteline last month, and he had the same/similar AET turbo on his car, but he was really disappointed with it. He wasn't hitting full boost until over 5500 RPM. But i think there's maybe been other factors involved in that. Certainly when Andy was at AWD, he told me this was one of AET's latest versions of that turbo, so maybe it's that too. But hoping to get the time soon, to get back to Andy Forrest with the bigger injectors for the final mapping. Davy

Hi Paul, No it was Kevin at KRTuning. I don't know him, but my mate stays close by. Colin Dickson??? Not seen him for a couple of years since he left XS, but I now have a number for his new business. Need to pop in some time. Do you have an address? Battery came from last years Autosport Show. It was about £80. It was in the white track car, and sometimes that was only started once a week with no problems. I did buy one of those Sealey solar trickle chargers, but haven't used it yet. Been good over the cold weather too, starting first time. Davy

Before the white car was sold a few bits and pieces were removed. One item was the Knocklink. But trying to fit it somewhere suitable on the WRX wasn’t easy. It’s an ugly big plastic box, and it ended up replacing an air vent. I was looking for a better place for this car, and after a great idea from the SIDC forum, it’s now fitted inside the instrument binnacle. I cut the box down by about 5mm in height so the led lights would protrude more, then drilled 5 tiny holes in the instrument surround, just enough for the led’s to pop through, with the box hidden away behind it. Perfect and a lot neater. Another item from the WRX was the smaller lightweight battery. Just now it’s still in the original battery position, but it may be moved to the rear at a later date. The main benefit of this battery is the weight saving. It’s 10kg lighter than the normal battery, and that weight is removed from the very front of the car.

I’d known for a while that my radiator was on it’s last legs. The ends had bowed out by over an inch, and it was only a matter of time before it blew apart. I had been on the lookout for a larger capacity alloy radiator, but trying to get one for a bug-eye (and at a reasonable price) wasn’t easy. Getting one for a classic or a blob-eye was no problem, but for some reason the bug-eyes were different and few companies make them. Then just after New Year, I was driving the car a few miles from home, when suddenly it blew. Steam everywhere. Got it back to the garage and removed the radiator, replacing it with a new standard one. At the same time I replaced the top and bottom hoses with Samco’s. Job done………….or so I thought. Next day a few miles down the road, again steam everywhere. At first I thought it was just the coolant that had been sprayed everywhere, but back up on the ramps and I noticed coolant running down the back of the block. Then looking between the intake manifold I could see coolant all over the top of it on the drivers side. Nothing else for it, the manifold had to come off. So it wasn't the radiator after all, but it still needed changed. A couple of hours later, and half the engine bay removed it was off. I then removed the cross over water pipes and found the cause. The “O” ring seal was perished and had been spraying coolant over the top of the block. Two new O-rings later – I changed the passenger side at the same time, then a couple of hours to put it all back together, and the water leak was fixed. All that work for 2 seals costing less than £1.

A wee bit more of an update to the last couple of months. Starting to use the car again after doing this work, I’d started to notice a long brake pedal. But press it once and it was back to normal until you came to press it again and it would go ¾ down. I knew the pads and discs were reasonably new, but the normal cause of pad knock-off is a wheel bearing. I wasn’t getting any strange noises, but when I took the drivers wheel off, there was a bit of play. So a new wheel bearing from Subaru, (I didn’t want to use a cheap copy for a track car), and off with the hub. Luckily I’ve got access to a hydraulic press and used it to remove the old bearing. The bearing itself wasn’t that bad, but the hub flange was really badly worn and 0.5mm under size. So with the new bearing pressed back into the hub, then the replacement hub flange into the bearing, and I was back up and running, and with no brake pedal issues either. I did at this point get a bit of good fortune though. While I was waiting on the replacement hub arriving, I got a call from my mate who was at a Subaru breakers in Motherwell that was breaking a low mileage new-age STi. Did I want a complete front corner from the STi? No brakes; but complete hub, driveshaft, strut, spring, top mount, and ABS sensor. All for £35. TAKE IT, and does he have the other side too. YES………. Well I’ll take that as well. Worn hub - still with half the old bearing on it.

Great thread this, but just catching up on it tonight. It starts off about the Impreza Cosworth, then moves totally off topic and onto a UK V's JDM thread. So it'll stay that way. I bought my first Impreza Turbo new from Anderson Cars in Perth back in 1997. I'm sure Gav had his earlier, but I bought mine at the same time as Grant (AWD) bought his Catalunya. But in 1997 there just wasn't a choice. I can't remember anyone having an Import Impreza then. It was really into 1998 that the STi4's started to arrive, then after that the early secondhand WRX's started to appear. Come 2002 when the Bug-eye STi arrived in the UK, I had all but placed an order for one with Stan Palmer in Carlisle. £26k for the 265bhp STi or £28k for the 265bhp STi with Prodrive styling. £2000 added the PPP for 305bhp to each. Palmers had a 10 week delivery wait. But I then went to McKays in Edinburgh and drove a secondhand silver JDM STi they had for sale. The difference in power was night and day, and I just loved the closer JDM 6 speed gearbox. I then decided to Import a new WR Blue STi direct from Japan myself (well with a little help). Total cost including the SVA and Thatcham alarm was just a tad under £21000 with a 12 week delivery. But what suprised me most, was what was removed from the UK spec cars. NO HID's, rear wiper, folding mirrors, titanium strut brace, tints, stronger fully forged engine (compared to the hypereutectic UK one), etc. And not forgetting a missing 50bhp. But it was probably the £7000 saving that clinched it. Nowadays it's not so clear cut for UK or JDM on a New car. The exchange rate isn't anything like as good. You could argue forever on the revvy 2.0 JDM engine or the Torquey 2.5. But for me, the Cosworth will have to be really something very special to get me past the "Hatch" idea. I just don't like it. But what really pi55es me off is that I went to the Geneva Motor Show last year, and the Subaru stand was crap. This year I don't go, and they launch the Cosworth. Davy

I remember being at the track day. Probably closer to 8-10 years ago.