ccrien

16 hours ago, jakeireland said:

It’s already on Ohlins suspension and has a few other choice mods, so really I’m after some poking to work out where to go with it. So, anyone got an opinion?!

Best wishes for the refurb and rebuild.

   Sounds lke you have ideas in mind and just need moral support to do it, so, poke, poke, go and do it!

Weve got better Tonka toys in the garden!

Just watching the mbike racing at Scarborough on TV, ch 24, Olivers Mount circuit, hills, hairpins, lots of rain and greasy road, and a car graphic type advert pops up, footnote states " compatible with selected smart phones".  Then realise when the video roles, its an advert for some new "little" BMW,   And its system of some type or another.          F me,. Folks expectedf ( encouraged)  to buy  a car cos its compatible with their selected smartphone?????      Sorry for the language.

Nice car Adrian,.  Welcome to SIDC.      Will be a nice car to drive down the A714 to Newton Stewart and into the Machars in  DandG.    Maybe see you at one of the rallies in Galloway next year? 

For winter wheels that might only be on 4-5 months max,, when its dark more hours than its daylight, ( so no- one sees them much) and roads are mucky and salty so the wheels arent often clean,  a second hand set from gumtree or breakers might be adequate for you??   

Sorry cant advise on size.

Mark Harris summed it up nicely a while ago on the forum when different winter tyre brands were suggested by different people, I think i can paraphrase the jist of it as something like: "once youve driven on snow or ice on proper winter tyres, theres no comparison to summer tyres", message being that any decent full winter tyre is totally different to summer tyres on snow, and the particular brand isnt that important?      

Havng said that, I would personally recommend a block type pattern rather than the chevron type tread pattern, I found Nokian WRA3 ( now superceded by WRA4) excellent, Bridgestone Blizzak's also have a good reputation.   Avoid Micheln Alpin's.

Good choice and prices at mytyres.co.uk but are typically delivered in a week or so from Germany.

21 hours ago, LeftaSALTYtaste said:

Cheers pal. 

Good to hear your my03 is still being kept on the "salty roads" and if you live in Scotland then I think you should add yourself. I've been meaning to give mine another waxoil before the winter approaches but with work and sh1te weather it's not looking promising. 

When you say rusty front pipe to cat; is that the second pipe from down pipe to middle cat? There's a few different options on exhausts ay? 

I'm all in favour of old skool bud so you've got my vote on known reliability other than gimmicky technologies that are just another thing to go wrong. 

I've found it fairly easy to either find replacements from UK cars to match up with my import or to modify them to fit. There's always Don to point us in the right direction ?

Thanks for the warm welcome and all the best to you too sir! 

Andy. 

Cheers Andy, 

the Forester is an N/A, as is our Impreza GX, so a crossports would be first venture into turbo ownership.

the front pipe to cat flange joints are known to rot on N/As but hoping the tester was just being cautious and it will last a few years

Just live  in Scotland a few days a month plus a few weeks a year really, just a part timer.

cheers, Colin.

23 hours ago, LeftaSALTYtaste said:

Good luck if you've not already done something about it. 

Cheers,  good to know alloy arms from a breakers will fit the forester if it needs them.  

Would have been a cheaper option for the Impreza though.

Impreza sorted a few weeks back: Got the new steel arms from Rock Auto in the US. Ordered on a  Monday morning and arrived less than 48 hours later on the Weds morning by Fedex from Denver, via Indianapolis and  Stanstead!

fully waxed inside and out before fitting. The new arms have a big round drain hole on the bottom of the "side arm" compared  to the originals.

And trusted local garage fitted them (without needing to remove the U cradle ), Ithought it very reasonable two and a half hours labour including 4 wheel laser alignment for 186pound.  New arm bolts etc from Subaru dealer was another 40 odd quid but I still got the SIDC discount.?

26 minutes ago, Lockheed said:

But I do however feel the car is capable of 170mph and where did the alpine pluck 217mph from?

127.5% error in max speed is a bit more than eu regs allow!    But 900 feet is still deeper than the North Sea unless you go bit more then 25 mile plus out, East of the Farne Deeps up ( a bit north  of ) here and you would have needed  a funny gas for you and the scooby to breath.   

Nice day will be along soon, dont risk it in the rain

Maybe you mean 34 mph driving speed isnt possible?      Sorry Im not that quick, hence a few attempts? 

Cheers and welcome

Maybe youre calbrated for the southern hemisphere ( Argentina is great).  Or japanese satellites only? . 

And where you been to get - 900 feet below sea level?       Amsterdam isnt even that low!

My little boat zodiac gps a few weeks ago said  56 knots ( about 61mph) but then Iforgot to switch it off comng home?    Speed on water  about 25 knots but towing home a bit faster

Doesnt explain 200+ though, so go with Tony.

Bloody hell, youve dug deep there highland forry/ leftasaltytaste!    

If a ( very) northern englishman who has a little old remote cottage in SW Scotland  (thats 30 miles more south than my NE English  home and an exhillarating 164 mile drive away especially in winter) counts, maybe i can add myself  to the list???  

p. s. The 2003 (uk salty roads) forester passed its MOT today with whatever the word for advisories is these days, for undertray and sill covers fitted, and a rusty front pipe to cat flange joint.   So another year to go, at least,  and the impreza  not due inspection till next year. 

P.s.2 .  Welcome, if you ever need advice, this forums the one.

p.s3: Im still hovering whether to buy a crossports or other jap  import?  Old school reliability and relative simplicity versus modern un-needed "technology"  but so much complexity with cross matching parts with uk cars/sources when needed.

best wishs no. 160 on the list.

CCRIEN

Nice one ( or two) Tony,. Wonder what your tyres looked like after that?

Cheers lockheed, but one is grandson.  Im getting old.  

Yes DB deserves a bit of recognition for being so approachable and friendly.  

It made their day prior to the 3 hour drive home.

Great atmosphere at the rally and we went to the finish of the Scottish rally  rather than wait to see the BRC cars going through. 

Best of all there was a bit of a delay on a later stage ( like 2 hours) so the kids kept themselves amused running around the hill like haggis's ( you know those little rabbit like creatures with right legs longer than the left legs to make it easy on the slopes) and unsuccessfully trying to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together for half an hour, to keep warm like Bear Grills.  

Great day out on Saturday,

good old fashioned forest rally feel to the Galloway Hills Rally, with open access to the service area, free access to a couple of the stages and a nice souvenir for the boys courtesy of a real gent, Davd Bogie, who came up for a photo at the finishing ceremony and "presented" them with his ( empty) winners champagne bottle.   

Jock Armstrong' s Impreza came second in the SRC part of the rally.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-49714396n

http://gallowayhillsrally.co.uk/news/

Nice one ryn004,  

I would import that rust free forester in a flash, if possible! 

On 10 September 2019 at 18:06, Jeffers said:

Yes you’re right ccrien, it’s showing as North Shields, Alexandra Cars. 

Cheers Jeffers,yy   Sure you will enjoy your new car: 

they used to do a fair amount of business/ turnover  of WRX and Sti's  but unfortunately Alexandra closed down a few years ago.  Their mantle seemed to be then picked up by Subaru Newcastle (based in Wingrove Citroen) at the time, but they didnt last long. Was just wondering.

We still have a dealer in Northumberland, but what was a small independent and rather specialist outfit where for example you walked straight in to talk part numbers and details  to the parts guys in their den, has now moved after being absorbed into what's primarily a big vauxhall chain with typical glassy showroom and a little front parts desk with a bell to ring!    Sign of the times.

Looks good from the front!    Hope it works out well for you.    

NA = newcastle / north east / northmberland registration?   What dealer was it from originally?

Good luck to you both.    Hope it turns into a great LONG weekend ?

1 hour ago, boosted38 said:

Guess i was lucky they replaced mine.

I count myself lucky I caught it befote it broke!     Shouldnt be like this though, your point is a good one, they should have done a proper replacement job at the original recall.

.

Passed the recall inspection back in 2012, a long time ago!      They were also looking fine just a few months ago when i had a good look underneath, but have rotted from the inside since. Only spotted when I had the wheel off the other day, and part of the arm looked dodgy, soon opened up when tapped with a toffee hammer and poked with a screwdriver!   

Replacement arms on order from Rock Auto as suggested by Don, u cradle bolt set ordered from ICP, and trying to get through to the nearest dealer for last few bolt/ nuts.   Trusted local garage will fit once Ive got all the bits.  

take your point about talking to Subaru, but honestly cant be chewed arguing with them or dealers, rather make my own arrangements.   Guess I should inform them though.

(p.s.  Luke from ICP reckons the alloy wrx arms would fit but may need washers on the front bush delending on subframe.)

This one suggests the steel GX arm isnt suitable for the WRX -  -.  "Without wrx," in the description

But doesnt necessarily  mean the alloy WRX arm isnt suitable for the GX?

p.s.  The pic shows the bracket for the plastic bushed bolted droplink, not the balljoint type, so doubtful.

looking like  either ICP alloy arms or more probably the correct part no. Reference from Don's RockAuto steel arms from US, decision and place order tomorrow before the US wake up.

New Steel arms would outlive the rest of the car.