johns

Don't go for redstuff. I tried them. Pedal feel wasn't good, performance not great from cold, and they wore out in just over 6k miles of normal road use, when I was getting 15 - 18k miles from DS2500s including track use. I would just go for the DS2500s, but if you are on a really tight budget, then you can get some cheaper pads from Ebay (Nippon Spares) which were about £30 a set, or £50 for the carbon performance ones.

Shocking news [] Will keep my eyes and ears open if they come up for sale. I'd make sure that the garage is secured again, in case they decide to come back for the power tools. John

Cal, picked up a new Spec-D on Saturday. The offers on these were just too good an opportunity to pass up! John

Whilst at S&S in Ayr picking up my new car at the weekend, I asked if there were any other special deals on at the moment that other members could benefit from. It appears there's a new deal starting today or tomorrow which runs for 12 days, whereby you get 2 years free servicing, 1 years European roadside recovery and even a 30 day/1,000 mile exchange deal on any used Subaru []. Could make for very cheap running for someone looking to upgrade or even buy their first Subaru. I believe this offer will be available at most Subaru dealerships. Also, if you give John Spicer at S&S a call on 01292 88080 or email him on s_sservices@btinternet.com and tell him I sent you his way, he's promised to sort out an exceptional deal on any new or 2nd hand cars purchased by SIDC members (or potential members!). There were some very good deals on some WRX SLs that I thought some of you might be interested in, I can't remember the exact prices involved. Like the Spec-D offers on recently, they won't be around for long, so take advantage whilst you can. It won't be long before it's hard to get a new or nearly new Impreza of the current shape before the new 5 door style comes in (no WRX model!). John

I'm in Kintore also! Quite a local gathering of cars indeed! John

Well done! I've just done exactly the same thing, and picked mine up from S&S in Ayr yesterday afternoon. At the prices the Spec D's were selling at, it was just too good an offer to refuse. John at S&S had one left in stock (it was already PDI'd and just waiting to go), and we managed to sort out a deal on Friday afternoon with me emailling photos of my car down and agreeing a price. Quick call to the insurance (Gary @ Keith Michaels) saw a cover note faxed direct to S&S and enabled John to register the car in my name and get it taxed and ready for collection yesterday. Sorted out the finance by phone/fax/email so that was all in place. All I needed to do was to roll up with my old car, sign a few bits of paper and drive off in my new toy. After having my old one for over 5 years now since new, the new one will take a little getting used to, and running in was a long a distant memory! John PS If anyone wants a good MY02 STi, then contact John @ S&S. Mine had not long had the 60k service done (major service including all fluids replaced, so no big servicing bills for a few years). I had just replaced all the brakes with the top spec DBA stuff (front discs on alloy bells, rear grooved discs), with DS2500s and new brake fluid all round just a month ago and were nicely bedded in and giving fantastic performance (I noticed a big difference in feel and response going back to the standard set-up on the new car, despite it being brand new!). My old car also has the Prodrive springs fitted, and is de-tangoed. True there are some stone chips which you would expect on a car that has done 68k miles, but it's never been involved in an accident and has had all servicing & oil changes done using Motul 300V. It will be a cracking car for someone who wants a fast reliable car without too many big bills for a few years.

Welcome! Hope to see you at some future events. John

I don't believe there is a saloon version to come. I understand the new car will only come in a 5 door hatch model. The main reason for this is that in percentage of voerall sales, almost all the cars that the Impreza is competing with in the same "class", are all hatchbacks. Eg Audi A3, Golf, Astra etc. The hatchback design is just more flexible and acceptable for most people these days. If the basic models can compete on price, especially with the new diesel engine coming, then there could be a potentially massive increase in sales, both in the private sector and also companies, hire car companies etc which wouldn't normally look at the Impreza. A big increase in overall sales and market share is what Subaru are looking for, and if a subdued 5 door hatch helps them achieve that, then this can only be a good thing. Of course, better performance in the WRC would also help by a slightly more compact car as well. If Subaru produce a performance diesel version of the Impreza (say 170bhp with oodles of torque, low CO2 emissions, and 40+mpg), with 4WD and good handling, then I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be the best seller in the range. On public roads it should be able to keep up with most cars. It would lose out of course on track and overseas autobahns compared to the petrol STi models, but for most people that's only 1% or less of their driving. I'm not keen on the looks based on the current "photos", but I'll reserve my judgement until I see a real car in the flesh. John

Cal, as a quick test, you could try swapping your wheels/tyres for mine for 10 minutes to see if different tyres transform the feeling for you ? John

It could well be the tyres. I had a set of T1Ss fitted a few years ago, and had exactly the same symptoms. I swapped the tyres front to rear (all 4 new), and there was a difference (after adjusting the tyre pressure to suit). On detailed examination, two of the tyres had exceptionally soft sidewalls which you could press with your finger. This was after I had the suspension all checked etc. What you may find (which we did with the original Bridgestone S02s), is that after a few hundred miles, you adjust to the softer sidewalls, and learn to trust the car. The grip is there, it's just that you need to trust that it is! Scrubbing in the tyres does also help, but can limit any refund you get if the tyres are faulty. If you have gone from almost worn Pirellis with stiffer sidewalls, then you will notice a big difference going to tyres with softer sidewalls and lots of tread. You'll probably be getting a very spongy feel to the steering and the back end will feel floaty. You can get used to this, but it does take time to adapt (normally about 500 - 1,000 miles). On my current car, I noticed a big difference going to F1s from RE050s, though the difference in wet handling, especially on bumpy/rougher roads far outweighed any slight loss on dry smooth roads. I now run winter tyres from Dec - Mar, and it's amazing how quickly you adapt to the softer widewalls and very flexible tread blocks. Now having swapped back again, I'm revelling in super sharp steering response, and seemlingly endless grip on dry roadds from normal tyres. It just takes me a while to adjust to them, which something like a track session achieves in a very short space of time [] John

I'd recommend popping over to www.scottishelises.com and having a chat with the owners over there. Plenty of free good advice. Many of the guys take part in our KH track days, so if you wanted some pax laps, or perhaps even a test drive, I'm sure there would be a few who will gladly help out []. You can even get supercharged ones using the Honda engine conversion, so getting 300+bhp from something that weighs about 850kg! John

It will be fine. I've had to fill my car up with £10 of normal fuel a few times now. Just take it relatively easy until you empty the tank (about 20 - 30 miles past the wanring light coming on), then fill up with V-Power/Super. I always carry a bottle of Octane booster with me these days, especially if I'm heading somewhere remote just in case. John

V-Power

Tough decision: Minus points for me would be: a) Leather. The SL seats are slippery when cornering hard. Sunroof. Reduces headroom, increases noise and I've never had one that didn't leak or drip when opened. Plus points would be the 2.5 engine which is nice and smooth, and torquier, newer car, warranty. As long as there wasn't anything wrong with your existing car (and it looked superb that last time I saw it at Alford), I would probably err on the side of keeping the existing one. John

Think I got one: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/4190247...587d3f89a_o.jpg John

I've uploaded all the photos I took (good, bad and awful!) at: http://www.photobox.co.uk/shared/browse.html?c_album=5145177 These are small thumbnail photos only, as there wasn't enough space available to upload the full size images so please don't click "buy" on any of them. I'll see if I can find a better free host for these images somewhere! Now also got them on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7302862@N02/s...57594584536389/ (though there's a download limit there, so might not last very long before they go offline!) John

I'm very happy with the DBA discs I just got fitted on my car. Supplied by Wallace Performance. The Performance Friction discs (supplied by Zen Performance) are also supposed to be very good performers and good value for money as well. John

Ronnie runs Wheels Around. His phone number is 07711 577148 Cheers John PS Weather looking promising for slicks! http://ukie.accuweather.com/ukie/forecast-...2&hbhhour=6

Best bet is to give Ronnie a call on his mobile (see info pack email). he may be able to sort you out with a replacement tyre, or give you advice on how bad things are. John

You get a replacement (remapped) ECU, new exhaust, fitting and it's covered by Subaru warranty and accepted by insurance companies. If you are an SIDC member, then you can get all this fully fitted at a Subaru dealer for only £995 inc VAT for a limited period only (there are limited stocks at this price!). John

Sorry about the delay in getting the info out guys. I was waiting for the last entries to come through from the club shop, and then had problems with corrput files (bad sectors on HD), which meant Word/Excel wouldn't work. Will get it all sent out tonight from work, after an all day meeting! Basic summary: Arrive 8:00 - 8:15 for sign-on. Drivers briefing at 08:40, Pit lane opens 08:55, three warm up groups fro 09:00 - 09:20, then an open pit lane until 13:00 [] Instructor will be availble to use free of charge. Wheels Around will be there offering their excellent wheel/tyre changing service, as well as selling new tyres at very good prices, hire of slicks, wheels etc. John

Might be worth your while looking in the announcements section of these forums if you haven't already spotted it [] Phil has negotiated a cracking deal on the PPP package with Subaru UK, so members get the package fully fitted (and warrantied!) for just £999!! A saving of £600 off the list price. This is only whilst stocks last, so I'd contact your local dealer quickly if you were interested. This is for MY01 - MY05 2.0 WRXs only this time (excludes the STi's and 2.5 models). John

Speak to Russ nicely and mention this thread and he might give you a nice SIDC discount []

Some of you will know that I tried a set of EBC Red Stuff Ceramic pads in my MY02 STi last year, having previously used DS2500s. I was getting an average of 15 - 18k miles out of a set of DS2500s, which included track use as well. Very good overall performance and wear. Initial thoughts were that the EBCs felt a bit wooden (ie not the same initial bite) as the Ferodos, and they did need a firmer push of the pedal to get the same levels of retardation. I thought they would improve as they bedded in, but ultimately they didn't. As you had to push the pedal quite hard, you tended to get more of an all-or-nothing effect when braking, and it was difficult to brake progressively when moving in slower traffic, or just needing a small dab of brakes before entering a corner. The EBCs were about 45% cheaper than the DS2500s, so I persevered with them. When I had the car serviced about 6k miles later, I was informed that my front pads were worn and needed replaced []. The rears (DS2500s) were also low and starting to crumble, which wasn't bad as I did get over 40k miles from them! The rear discs, having covered 64k miles from new were also reaching their wear limit and I was advised to replace them also if I was changing the pads. So a few weeks ago, I shopped around to find out what was available in terms of discs, pads etc, who had what in stock, how much they were (including VAT and P&P), and whether there were any SIDC discounts available. In the end, the best deal overall was for DBA discs from Wallace Performance in Aberdeen, complete with DS2500 pads all round. As a bonus, the rear discs came grooved to match my existing fronts. They had everything in stock, and as I could collect (they are only 5 mins from my work) I also saved a bit on postage and didn't have to wait for them to get delivered. Being out most days, getting stuff delivered usually means me picking them up from the Post Office depot, or arranging a courier to re-direct to my work. I was planning to fit everything myself, having done the front pads myself a few times now, and even changed the discs twice. I went round to speak to Russ at Wallace Performance and collect the parts, and discussed the option of getting everything fitted. Although I was confident I could do everything myself, the thought of lying on my driveway in sub-zero weather conditions at this time of the year just didn't appeal. They were quite busy and booked out a few weeks in advance, but we found a suitable date and I agreed to have them do the work.I dropped the car off first thing in the morning and went into work as normal. I am very glad that I did! Firstly, there was a problem with one of the rear brake calipers. Being alloy calipers that had done 65k miles service without being removed, one of the mounting bolts had seized, and despite ooddles of WD40 and persuasion, the bolt was seized completely and eventually gave way. Luckily Wallace Performance have an engineering shop just a few doors along, and they took the caliper along, had the offending part drilled out, re-tapped and a new high tensile steel bolt fitted. Secondly, there are clips inside the rear handbrake assembly to keep the shoes in place. One of these had worked loose and was mis-shapen, so wouldn't go back. Again a quick call to T&C in Aberdeen got some replacements delivered quickly. Having removed the caliper completely, meant that the brakes had to be bled again, a task that I wouldn't have been able to do own my own without some tools that I didn't have. Despite these issues, the work was still done on time, and I was kept fully informed of progress and issues by phone, and asked before any extra work commenced. When I went to collect the car, I was shocked to look at the EBC pads that came out. Despite only doing about 7.5k road miles, they were worn down completely, with less than 1mm of pad material left. Another week and they would have been metal to metal [] Immediately, the brakes were a massive improvement over what they were before. Although still a little spongy, I knew this would disappear as the pads and discs all bedded in. Nice and progressive, there was an instant response to touching the pedal. This was all two weeks ago now, and I'm pleased to say that I've got the new pads and discs all bedded in nicely now with a few hundred miles of commuting on A and B roads. Response from pressing the brake pedal is fantastic at any speed, and gives you much more confidence than before. Pushing on a bit harder than I normally would on the road, I've found no evidence of fade or even the pedal going softer, which I used to get with the red stuff pads fitted. Overall, I am very happy indeed, and can't praise Wallace Performance highly enough for their excellent work in fitting everything and coping with the issues my car threw at them , and of course the DBA discs and DS2500 pads fitted. Roll on Knockhill on the 10th March [] John

Have sent you details of a former owner by PM, who is willing to tell you anything you need to know about the car. John