ccrien

just to stir things up a bit - apart from Don in Harpenden, looks like nearly all the southern members are busy dealing with the few inches of snow theyre up against (not that their scoobs cant handle it but probably stuck in jams going home since last week) and no time for posting. just joking. Nearly all recent posts from Scotland or North ?????

Just one of those little events that will stick in the mind. Empty road last night, 4 to 6 inches of fresh falling snow on top of hard ice, Nokian winter tyres, Chinese curry takeaway on passenger seat going to its rightful home, 0 to 50 possible in about 12 seconds - fantastic fun. Took the long way home and warmed the curry up later.

thanks for the info. Pity we cant rig something to get a massive viewing figure and make a point to the Beeb (that they should have shown it first time round because of the interest ! )

You might find there isnt a massive amount of choice - I tried to get a "Bosch Silver" at Costcos last year for the foorester to replace the 8+ year old original since the Bosch silver are said to be a good modern battery and Costcos do this range at good prices, but apparently Bosch dont make one to fit Subarus. Went with a Numax in the end from my local parts factors. Partly 'cos Ive got a Numax in the Impreza, its getting on a few years now but still fine. Old article but Halfords batteries came out OK here: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/36011/car-batteries

Cheers Don, sounds like youve possibly cracked the problem for this guy. I stand happily corrected, LOL !

This may or may not help since Ive no first hand experience of this or of auto boxes either, but since youve no other suggestions, here goes: sounds more like centre diff than rear diff, the fact it is worse / only in first gear may suggest this. Also, is it worse when pulling away with steering turned, as if going round a corner? Car Mechanics magazine did a brief article on maintaining the Subaru Forester a couple of months ago and I think it stated that the centre diffs can go, especially on automatics (similar gearbox to yours)and it starts with a noise / shuddering when pulling away, or especially reversing. You definitely need 2nd or 3rd professional opinion though.

Damn pity that, the world is changing now because of all this pc

Cheers, lets hope its resolved and on TV soon, and whoever spots first when its on, posts the date/time up here.

Does anyone know yet when this Colin Mcrae, 3rd in series programme, is scheduled? First 2 were on over Xmas but cant see a slot booked for no. 3 yet.

Bought a Launch C Reader V a year or 2 ago for about 35 quid- Old one I am, not into apps etc, but its fine for code reading and also live data displays (basic graphs) of temp sensors, throttle position sensors etc. Showed the car mats were restricting last 10-15% of throttle !

I paid extra for the platinum plugs for the Forester and GX last time round- should save the little hassle of removing so often to check or change, meant to last 60K miles- has anyone used/ tried them that long ? Is it worth paying the extra for platinum plugs in a WRX?

Returning from Cheviot Rally Otterburn yesterday, near Dyke Neuk pub, Blue Blob WRX (STI spoiler) acknowledged my humble blue blob GX,

Bit surprised today few miles west of Annan, 2PCs about 30 feet up a side road behind tall hedge with 1 holding speed gun on roof of the Volvo estste (so he could see over hedge)- sneaky or what? so much for the deterrent and high visibility theory- not. may be ne should have joined M15 or 6 or whatever. Good job there was a long line of traffic so just following that steadily at that point!

about 2-3mpg more, and feels more responsive/smoother. 2-3 mpg doesnt sound a lot but its nearly 10% better mileage for only 8- 10p or so a litre more (6% higher cost) so is easily worth it, pays for itself. You might need a couple of tankfuls through to get the ECU fully adjusted?

Forester for the bumpy track every time. good workhorse. not as nimple as the GX sport but think its a better everyday drive when not in a hurry. In 8 yrs and 116K miles apart from routine servicing (very regular oil changes) replacements have been an exhaust, battery, 1 rear brake cylinder, front discs, 2 sets front pads. (and 2 sets tyres, so averaging over 40K per tyre set . The only actual "faults" over this time have been 1 front sidelight bulb and a patch/splice of a couple of inches rear light wiring and front droplinks replaced. And sticky front caliper pistons. Forester is about 1-2 mpg better than the impreza GX at average about (only) 30mpg, but tax still 260 or somethin, and insurance about 700 per year for the Forester, GX and wifes astra convertible (Admiral multicar) so insurance not particularly cheap but not massive (think it was about230 for the forester part)

Got round to changing the belt and tensioner/idler on the impreza, chuffed with myself it was straightforward. Im only a (decent) amateur DIYer/ home mechanic/ but heres a few bits of experience, may help anyone doing the same job and saving a few pounds on dealer prices: Note there probably more room in the front of a GX engine bay than a turbo model. Thanks to : Import car parts- just over 200pds for Gates cambelt, tensioner, and set of idler wheels. (some had same manfr/part no. as originals taken off the car.) Tool stall at Amble market ha ha - sold me a 2ft breaker bar for 15 quid old ramps from car boot sale for 5 quid. US Haynes manual for forester/legacy,from Amazon a few years ago, for torque settings and basic sequence of the job. Big Breaker bar with 22mm socket, car in 5th with dear wife pressing brake pedal for 20 seconds got the pulley bolt loosened no problem front up on ramps and undertray off (5 bolts, 4 plastic pins) - loads of access to lower bolts and parts no need to remove rad, just alt/power steering belt guards, loosen/remove tensioners and belts, then cambelt covers and main pulley off (after reinserting bolt and turning to line up timing marks on pulley and (only 2 on the GX) cams. Design of these cars is great to allow DIY cambelt change. all idlers and tensioner came off no prob, new ones on easy, just a bit of a chore reinserting all bolts for covers etc, and repainting pulleys. Took about an hour and a half in all, and that was dawdling. Time for same jobthe forester by about Sept when it gets to 120K miles- guess an hour for the job now I know whats what, if in a hurry. Last tip- dont laugh: been buying a few spanner sets at Aldi over the past year: the ratchet heads are great tight fit, the stubby spanners helped for some tight spaces as did the cranked neck closed spanner set, used these in stead of sockets for the auxilliary belt tensioners. (Torque wrench for critical things though!) Old tensioner can be recompressed in a vice and the hand grenade pin inserted - no signs of grease leakage so keep as a spare. hope it helps someone- professional mechanics please dont take the P--- ! !

I think the few comments on the other thread where you posted shows theres a bit of interest. I might seem a bit crazy saying this but thinking ahead a few years, isnt it worthwhile thinking we are doing our bit keeping these great machines going on and on. Would be great to think in 10-20 yrs time it can still be going strong andused daily, not just a weekend toy. They are so iconic, its worth it. Personally a few articles on high mileage cars and any experiences that helped keep them going, will be interesting and maybe useful prompt some useful ideas, for example things I picked up off the site like rusty sumps (so sand and hammerite even if it looks OK) and front cross members behind the bumper on classics rusting through- so keep an eye on my newage and again, strip back and hammerite- but your experiences on things like only a 2nd clutch at 240K gives inspiration - honest! No more to say I am goin mad!

Any chance of "Vimmy" doing an article on his high mileage scooby? : This sort of achievement - and a few examples of how to make them last, would be interesting to more than a few SIDC members Im sure. Just as interesting as all the polish and bling.

17 inch, 48 offset (100pcd) with 215/45 tyres are a astraight swap / direct fit. Got Rota GRAs on my 2005 blue GX, wheels are in steel grey and look good (my biased opinion) Ride quality a bit harder but depends most on the tyres (GX suspn is quite soft anyway so changing to lower-sidewall tyres doesnt make loads of difference)

would recommend Comma SX75W/90 (synthetic). I use an old (re-used many times) litre gearbox oil bottle with the flexible tube/spout for filling but a long funnel as above prob. best (and cheaper than buying a litre of oil just to get the bottle!)if you havent got such a bottle handy

That would look good pretty on a subaru as well ha ha, especially up here or over the border on your side.

was just playing around on the DVLA plates site the other week (daydreaming) and if I had a new car liked the look of: SU11BRU, forgot the price but would look good.

The GX will be great if you drive a lot of A- B roads - fantastic feel, balance and grip and will still leave a load of "faster" cars for dead especially on bends or roundabouts or off lights, in the wet. ruise at high speeds also but dont expect massive acceleration. Like I say, best on a good bendy road where speed can be maintained when pushing it (limited by the corner speed) at between 50-70mph and few cars will match it. Fuel consumption will be a lot more than a polo. have a look here also: http://www.carkeys.co.uk/road-test-review/subaru-impreza-wrx-2005

Great job, and a great article for future reference, a real scraped and split knuckle job not text book theory. thanks for sharing this. Strongly advise anyone with a Subaru even a new one, to paint sump with hammerite to delay any long term deep rusting and avoid need for sump removal (rub down any surface rust as soon as it appears and get the hammerite on)

co-incidence or what, There was a BBC4 programme on last night at 1.50 am about the Group B rally days- interesting programme, fantastic cars but a few bad accidents.