Plug

Happy birthday Ed. Try as you might, you'll never be as old as me..

Cheers,

Plug

The up/down pushbuttons are modular. You can replace just the operator and leave the contact blocks as they are. These people might be able to help:

Pushbuttons

The other unit isn't an e-stop, it's an isolator:

Isolator

You should be able to get one from RS (this is just an example), but you'll need to check the rating -

RS isolator

As it's 3 phase, it will need to be fitted by a qualified sparky.

Wise move getting it fixed, "elf and safety" would throw all the toys out of the pram if they found there was no isolator on it...

HTH

Plug

I'm with Ed on the valuation front. £3.8-4K is over the odds.

I recently bought a 2000/W wagon, completely standard, 61K with full service history from a dealer (second hand car trader, not a main dealer - but still some comeback in the event it turned out to be a duffer). I paid 3 and a half. Mine's in excellent condition, but you have to expect the odd blemish on a 10 year old car. This is my third Impreza.

They are getting hard to find in good condition at this kind of mileage, but they are out there. I'd be a little concerned that about the fact that it had only had 3 services in 5 years - I get the oil changed every 6 months. Oil is cheaper than turbos!

Buy with your head, not your heart. If you think the guy is genuine and has looked after the car well, then by all means have a punt. Buy a good one and it'll put a massive grin on your face every time you drive it, buy a bad one and it'll put you in the poor house.

Cheers,

Plug

Howdy..

Any alarm queries, you want to talk to Sigma Sam.. see the thread here.

I'm insured with Admiral and the car doesn't have a tracker fitted. I live in a "safe" postcode though.. might vary according to where you live.

Cheers,

Plug

Nothing to do with the remap issue really, but if you want to reduce your Admiral quote (for whatever reason), make it multicar and add another car. Sounds silly but worked for me. Turned out to be cheaper to insure a Golf GTi (daily driver) and my Scoob (weekend/track day warrior) than it was to insure the Scoob alone. Presumably they figure that if I'm driving the Golf then I can't be throwing the Scooby at the scenery all the time. So...buy a £50 banger, park it off road, declare it SORN and insure them both. Get a quote from their website first obviously, but I think that it should make a serious dent in any quote. £3500? Ouch.

Another one to watch out for.. a car will not normally be insured unless it is taxed. I have a car laid up over the winter (my summer toy), I told the insurance company it was SORNed and they then informed me is wasn't insured! It's locked up in an alarmed industrial unit so fairly safe but if someone breaks in and nicks it, no claim. Don't know if this is true for multicar policies, but worth checking. One untaxed car may invalidate the cover for every car on the policy. That'd be a bitch.. read the small print.

Cheers,

Plug

I'm looking at the 'stage 1' remap (+40BHP) to my blobeye but I'm stumped at figuring out how to go about telling the insurers.

Bearing in mind I'm not with a specialist insurer (Admiral!), when I get an online quote there's a tickbox for mods. I've already got the exhaust but the nearest thing to the remap is "Engine chip +11-20%BHP". Problem is, checking this box takes my premium from £1,000 to £3,500. Eep!

Hypothetically- if someone got a remap, didn't declare it and wrote off their car- the insurer could say the insurance is not validated and not pay up, right?

Thoughts or advice?

Cheers.

My car's bog standard so no experience myself, but I've read that insurance companies are getting increasingly clued up about this and are checking more cars that are "likely" to have been modified. I'm guessing they're probably not going to check out Mr. and Mrs. Old's Ford Ka, but an Impreza is likely to raise an eyebrow - particularly one that already has mods declared.

I would imagine it's not hard to check, either. I work in the electronics industry and we can check the firmware status of our units in seconds by plugging a box in and doing a CRC (cyclic redundancy check). The checksum tells us what version of firmware it has installed.. a non-recognised checksum would clearly indicate tinkering.

If you're going to tinker, definitely declare it. Insurance companies love nothing more than declining a claim - don't give 'em the opportunity. You'll also get reported for no insurance with all the grief that brings. I agree another £2500 on the premium is ridiculous, but it ain't worth the risk.

Cheers,

Plug

Oooohh!

I'm really gonna buy a £60K Aston Martin from someone with graffiti'd brickwork and an ISO container in their yard. Obviously a class outfit..

Cheers,

Plug

Power and weight both play a factor. Dependent on which road test you read the numbers change, but it all boils down to the fact that the Forester is heavier and less powerful.

Typical numbers for MY2000 models (all figures "ish")

Impreza turbo estate 215BHP/1270KG/140MPH/0-60 6 secs

Forester S-turbo 168BHP/1435KG/125MPH/0-60 8 secs

Cheers,

Plug

G'day to you too. Nice looking scoob you have there

Cheers,

Plug

Haven't started the Scooby for nearly a week now, it is sleeping under its white blanket. I used it once over the Christmas holiday but apart from that it hasn't done much for 3 weeks.., however, I have complete confidence it'll burst into life as soon as I need it, with no ill effects.

For the last few days, I've been sliding about in my 17 year old Fiat Panda, which is utterly brilliant in this weather.. skinny tyres, weighs nothing, minimal horsepower. A hoot to drive in these conditions - I've been going round with a big grin on my face!

Cheers,

Plug

I wouldd not be too surprised if it did finish soon as the current format has run its course All the gags appear contrived now so it needs a change. I would like them to start reviewing lower value cars again as I find that more interesting than yet another hyper car at over £150k!

A good point wsa made above about Fifth Gear, its a shame they have started to follow the Top Gear format as it just doesnt work.

On the subject of car shows I quite like 'Used Car Roadshow' although I am not sure if that is still on

It didn't do 5th gear a lot of good, either - it was canned by Five back in October. Not returning to our screens again..

5th gear cancelled

Cheers,

Plug

As above, Merry Christmas everyone!

Garry and Paula

To make it a little more confusing the engines all rotate the same way its only the props that counter rotate

Cheers Iain

It looks as though the props turn "LRLR" which strikes me as odd. My first instinct would have been to have the props turn "LLRR", but then it occurred to me that maybe the purpose of the arrangement was to cancel out the vortices caused by the props on either side of the aircraft. In which case, I would have gone for "LRRL"?

I have absolutely no knowledge of aerodynamics, but if you could throw any light on why they are set up as they are, I'd appreciate it..

Cheers,

Plug

I'm a "mature owner" and the Spec. D certainly appeals to me. Big wings and stickers are fine for the "yoofs", but I learnt many years ago that the constabulary will pay far less attention to a subtle car..

At the end of the day it's your money - but I'd say go for it!!

Cheers,

Plug

Congratulations!

I got married a couple of months back, a fantastic day! Hope yours goes as well as ours did.

Cheers,

Plug

hi guys, i have recently aquired an rb5 wr sport and have a couple of minor issues to sort.

the air con works fine but the green light on the button is out, as is the light for the heated rear screen and the fog lights. the lights work when i press the buttons involved but at night i cant find the buttons so it is the bulb that backlights them.

does anyone know how i can sort this and where i can get the bits from?

thanks guys.

Hello and welcome to the world of cost-cutting!

When Subaru designed the Impreza they blew the budget on the engine and drivetrain.. and a damn fine job they did too..

This didn't leave a lot of money for niceties like backlighting on the switches in the cabin, and hence - there isn't that much. Aircon - nope. Rear screen - nope. Fog lights - nope.

Just learn to feel where the switches are by touch - certainly the rear screen and foglight switches have indicators when they're on. I don't think the aircon has an indicator, but you can feel if the switch is in or out.

Cheers,

Plug

It couldn't be something as simple as this, could it?

Linky

It's funny how you get used to driving a certain way..

Cheers,

Plug

MHR.. have a good night out!

Cheers,

Plug

Hello to the bloke in the white classic! I'd forgotten what a friendly bunch Scooby owners are

Cheers,

Plug

Bit of a problem, which I've never experienced in a Scoob before.

The brakes on the new Scoob are fine - plenty powerful enough etc. and they are completely silent when moving forwards. However, they squeal like a piggy if you even touch the pedal when reversing.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't spend a lot of time going backwards so this isn't a show-stopper; but it is a bit annoying. Any idea what the cause could be? As far as I know, the brakes are standard..

Cheers,

Plug

Greetings, Citizens.

As it's been a while since I left the fold, I've forgotten how to drive a Scooby, it seems. Dare I say, I'd even thought had I done the right thing by buying the latest one.. although it's a quick car, it didn't really feel as quick as I remembered. Had I bought a dud, or had I been seduced by German horsepower to the extent that a Scooby wouldn't cut it any more?

No and no seems to be the answer, thankfully. I've just forgotten how to press the throttle pedal, apparently! The Merc and the VW are both automatic and only the top quarter of the pedal travel actually changes the forward progress by any significant amount.. or in desperation, burying it into the carpet will force a kickdown.

Driving in a German throttle stylie, the Scooby flattens out at around 4500-5000 rpm, so I have been short-shifting to compensate. Something just clicked today when I was overtaking a lorry uphill and I thought "hang on, there's a whole load of fresh air between my foot and the floor". Third gear, depress loud pedal, hold on a sec - there's more power. A bit more throttle - ooh, still more power. Oh sh*t, rev limiter

And I'd also forgotten how much grip these little buggers have.. until I came off the bypass today onto one of my favourite corners. Forget Loews Hairpin or Eau Rouge, this has a constantly changing radius, about 3 changes of surface and fluctuating camber to throw into the mix.. and the Scooby tucked in and drove round it like there was no corner at all. Bloody brilliant.

It's not all ham and plaques - I've re-discovered over the last couple of days that the interior of the Scooby is distinctly plasticky - but it has put a smile on my face that has been missing for a while..

Cheers,

Plug

Hello and welcome!

Good luck in your Scooby hunt. No one will look down their nose at you for owning a GX - we all have to start somewhere

Cheers,

Plug

Well, a vote for Goodyear Eagles (GSD3) here. I had Bridgestones on my last wagon and they were rubbish - it tramlined like crazy and didn't corner that well either. I splashed out for a set of Goodyears and they transformed the car. The one I've just bought has Goodyears on too - bonus!

Toyo Proxes (T1R?) were also getting good reviews IIRC.

HTH,

Cheers,

Plug

Picked it up at lunchtime, I'm a happy bunny

Here's a quick piccy, I'll do a proper post when I get some time..

Cheers,

Plug

Commiserations.. that's not going to polish out.

Let's hope the old Bill catch the culprit.

Cheers,

Plug