Mother Theresa

Distinctive car that one. I got mine back in 16 hours when it was pinched (thank-you Tracker), I hope yours will come back soon.

It must be an M11 thing, I had something similar back on my TR7 twenty something years ago. A copper in Camberwell had stopped me about an hour before and told me my exhaust hadn't long for the world - and he was right.

Get the STI. The gearbox alone is worth £2k more than the WRX one. I went for a WRX because I wanted the wagon - but it has cost me dear to make any mods ever since. I repeat, get an STI if you are in any doubt at all.

Drop links and ARBs are easy to do, I can send instructions if you wish. ALK a bit more of a faff as you have to take off the undertray which is quite tricky without ramps. Dust caps and mats defo a dealer job - I know my limits.

Best value for money thing I have done on my car is alloy drop links at £60ish. Next is thicker 22mm rear anti-roll bar at £115. Next probably the anti-lift kit - about £150 I think. Theses 3 will transform the way your car handles and won't need replacing - ever. The next thing I would suggest is some professional track tuition which might cost you £75 for 30mins but it is a mod you can take with you to any vehicle and will transform the way you drive quickly. Much more fun than an intercooler too.

You will be able to buy one with 350bhp already built in for the same price as a standard 210bhp one so don't worry about that bit. Boost pressures are anything up to 1.8 (can be more but not many do), you need trick kit above about 1.3 - i.e forged or at least better pistons than standard. Rare to find uprated headgaskets on any but the most powerful cars. FMIC would be important on a classic running 350, not so a new age. Rather than look at the car I would look at the driver to see how much it has been ragged. They withstand a lot but abused enough and they will fall apart like any car.

They said that for mine too but as usual I didn't believe them - it sounded like a scam. 4 years later it is still going strong.

I have the K-sports too, excellent bits of kit. I strongly suspect having delved into this a bit in the past that they are one and same, just rebadged. Apex are very good though so I chose to deal with them.

When my sensor went it just put it into limp home mode. I got a second hand one for £40 and it is fine now (once I have put it on the right way round). They don't do much except improve fuel economy and emissions when cool and slow everything down when hot.

On a 2006 car I wouldn't go for the PPP as you can do better performance wise for much less and still afford a louder back-box if that is what you want. The are plenty of second hand PPP back boxes out there if that is the noise you like (and I do too - it is what is on mine). I wouldn't bother with an induction kit until you are hitting 400bhp, I only have one as I can't fit in a front mount intercooler any other way. Agree with above on the idling. I just drive the last mile in slowly and not had a problem.

K-sport do serious rear brake conversion 330mm IIRC, Granby has just has his done. STI rear discs are different to WRX. Godspeed may offer this sort of conversion, it's the sort of thing they do.

The later rally scoobs do have a front mount but it is not in the usual place. It is set at an angle at the very front of the bonnet, just underneath it so you don't see it.

It loks like your airbag just went off as well.

I thought it was 221bhp, I've got my original brochure somewhere. They are known as wagons rather than estates (no idea why other than maybe they were 1st known as sportswagons). The best looking of the genre to date I would say but I am biased as I have an 03 one myself.

Ian is quite difficult to get in contact with but it is worth persisting. I always found e-mail to be the most effective. Do ask him if there is a group buy on somewhere which he will probably add you to for better rates.

That is my advice - but track days are such fun.... I did do a couple of track sessions with the Godspeeds and they were fine (though the car was no where near as fast then). Ian also warrants his discs for the track and most other manufacturers don't. A nickel's worth piece of advice for free would be to consider Mintex 1144s as pads with the Godspeed kit. These are the best fast road pads I have had and are equally good hot or cold. They won't go as well at track temps but won't scare you at -5 degrees like the DS2500s do me from time to time.

Ummm, 356 mm (but I have 18's) 8 pot with the DS2500 pads. I have done several tarck days with these and they have never let me down and I would recommend them to anyone. Whther you need to spend the best part of £1k on brakes is something that only you can decide but all I know is I don't need to spend £1500+ on APs as I can't break the K-sports.

Closer to you is Jolly Green monster in Kent who is excellent.

I've had std 4 pots then Godspeed 335mm conversion kit then Std Brembos and now K-sport big kit. The K sports are unburstable and I can't see that I will ever change them but the Godspeed set up wasn't far behind and is much cheaper. I ruined the brembos with half a track day. If not tracking it I would go for the Godspeed kit and save yourself a packet.

1 bar = 14.7 psi.

I'd get old and boring and have a V6 diesel Discovery, mainly as the British car industry needs a shot in the arm and also I tend to swing from fast to big and back to fast again and I feel the call of big once more. [Lotus elan > jeep Cherokee > Rover 820ti > Legacy > Impreza]. Not that I'm going to change anytime soon I hasten to add.

The lawn needs doing now, we will be checking....

Greenlight insurance for me. Worth a call, they do understand scoobs.

I have given up on main dealer servicing. I think residuals are so low that if you are planning to keep the car any length of time you will gain in the long run. I can't comment on the price; 72k is my next one...

Camskill are pretty good. Personally (having used them before now) I would say you can do better than red stuff. If you aren't doing track days then I would suggest Mintex 1144s which have a lovely bite and work well from cold - a hard track day will stuff them though - or Ferrodo DS2500 if you are planning to track it hard. Just my tuppence worth but in 6 years I've had quite a few pads...