SpeedyRob

Glad to hear your felloe enthusiasts had a top time. Obviously the Reliant is a British car so would not have been welcome at the JAE but here's a picture from a similar Reliant gathering just to prove that us 3 wheel fans do it in just as much style! RELIANT RALLY

I think what somebody kindly said is spot on. Thee are enthusiasts for all types of cars. Yes Scoobys are hot but they are also costly vehicles to run and maintain. I've always had a love of the cars with less street credibility. Back in my youth it was cars like the Wartburg Knight, Moskvich 1500 and the SKoda S100/110 range and later the Skoda Estelle that set my pulse racing. Then I really fell in love with the Reliant Regal and later Robin and Rialto models. In fact Ive got quite a collection of original brochures on the cars I've mentioned. Some of them must be hetting on for 30 years old now and are pristine. I bet they must be worth a bit now. Now attached is a picture of a real beauty. A mildly customised Skoda Estelle 130LSE looking absolutely superb. In fact though you may hate to admit it, it doesn't look that dissimilar to an Impreza. The same classic 4 door saloon look with various sporting accessories and more than ample poke from its 1300cc rear mounted engine! I get as much satisfaction from staring at pictures like this as I do from staring at a fine woman. And Skoda Estelle's can't give you a slap!A REAL BEAUTY!

I'm researching the scene for some steers on my next car. I love the Robins which are so much fun and I will certainly be holding on to mine. Previously I have always gone for the cheaper cars and then customised them with accessories. I was the proud of a beautiful Skoda S110R Coupe in my youth which was a wonderful rear engined beauty and a head turner. How I miss the rear engined cars - they had style and image in bucketloads. Quirky but fun and built to last with that robust, dependable and oh so simple Eastern European technology. But that aside I concede that the Impreza is a swift little mover and I've been reading up on the various variants to try and identify what would best suit my needs. I have read numerous owner reviews of Imprezas (I am a discerning and careful car purchaser who does his homework) and the cars appear to be generally reliable. However, the 2 most common problems reported seem to be 1. Clutch Judder and 2. Stone Chipping of the paintwork. Any of my fellow enthusiasts suffered these problems I wonder?

Not bad work there Deckard. She looks a bit of a beauty. I think I would have gone for body colour door mirrors though. And you are right, The raised Intercooler air intake looks the business but I wonder how much impact it would have on visibility.

I'm not trying to make you guys jealous but my standard Robin will do 60 miles to the gallon! And thats when I drive with a light right foot! If I don't race away from the lights and burn people up, she'll do nearer 70! Its all very well having a Scooby but every time you have to fill them up your bank account gets hammered and the insurance is a killer! It's at times like that when I can afford to feel smug about my little Robin! She drives like an angel and costs pennies to run! And when it comes to spare parts you can pick them up for old buttons! You guys must spend a lot of money on your Imprezas but I've had a few Reliants now and I can't rate them highly enough. If you think a Scooby is fun to drive then you haven't lived. The throaty sound of the standard exhaust is like Beethoven crossed with Mozart! Only more satisfying! And the engine is a real corker. Plenty of torque at low revs and she really kicks in above 4000rpm and just begs you to redline her! (although no rev counter on my standard model). My friend is fitting a 2 litre Ford engine into a 1988 Robin and then he's going to turbo it. I tell you this flame red beauty will fly away from the blocks when she's up and running! He's also fitting new wider wheels to boost the traction. So if you're man enough, I'll be challenging you guys to a burn-out real soon! And I'll make sure I polish the back of the car cos that's all you'll be seeing of it!!

Here's the ultimate driving machine. This little beauty of a Reliant has been fitted with a V8 3500cc Rover engine and boy does she fly! 0-100mph in 10 seconds. And she'd fly even faster if you could stop the wheel spin! What a beauty! Impreza owners - view and weep! LINK TO PICTURE AT BOTTOM OF MY PROFILE

No intention to cause offence. Don't know any of the history here and post removed as suggested by my fellow members.

Red on white - bit obvious. But if you are looking for head turning then go for it. If you want the more restrained and quality look then body colour silver flaps would look the part.

Suggs, you are not perchance the man out of Madness are you??? if you are i saw you live at finsbury park a few years ago. cheers

I took Test 1 for cars and I FAILED! I got 29 answers correct. Pretty close though. But anyway, driving isn't all about knowing what obscure road signs mean. It's all about common sense, keeping your eyes open and remaining alert.

Amazing. An Impreza that weighs the same as a Robin! And with bucketloads more power she must go like a rocket!! If you go guys wore wigs they wouldn't stay on for long! The thrust would rip those toupees from your heads!! Even if they were stuck on with superglue! Awesome.

Thanks very much! RA = Rally Altered. I'll remember that.

I prefer a firm hard ride with lots of grip. You'd be amazed at the roadholding simply on my Mark3 Robin. I can corner it hard at 50mph and it just leans into the bend and all 3 wheels grip the tarmac. It does roll a bit more than I would like though so I am looking at some suspension modification myself. Im just going to go for stiffer springs I think. But even so I can't lift a rear wheel off the ground unless I'm steering hard into a bend at 55mph +. The front wheel is totally stable because of the weight of the enginegiving it ballast. And even when I do lift a rear wheel she still feels solid and safe as a rock. I can only imagine how well the Imprezas handle but don't underestimate my humble Reliant and she'll turn on a sixpence so what I lack in power I can usually make up for in manoevrability. But rev the Reliant engine hard and it responds beautifully.

I ALWAYS lock the doors whennI'm driving. You hear a lot about people hijacking cars and stealing phones at traffic lights. This is more common in inner city areas. My mates car the doors automatically lock after about 10 seconds but I dn't have that feature but I simply push the button down to lock the doors so I feel safer. I'm not sure if Imprezas have that self locking mechanism or not. One thing that worries me is in event of a smash you would be locked in?? Could be a safety concern there???

Sorry to be ignorant, I'm only just getting into cars but what are RAs??? Cheers Rob