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Engine Although STis have uprated engine internals they still need to be cared after in the same manner as the WRX motors. Oil changes should be carried out every 5,000 miles for Classics or 7,000 miles for newage, although more regular changes are not a bad thing, new spark plugs, brake fluid, transmission and diff oil should be changed every couple of years or 24,000 miles and the cambelt should be changed every 45,000 miles. Listen for knocking coming from the engine as this could indicate piston slap or bottom end damage and the turbo should run quite quietly if the cat is still in place. And last but not least, smoke free. Turbos must also be allowed to cool down after hard driving - ask the seller what he does for the shutdown procedure. Watch for a fluctuating idle which could be a symptom of a blown mass air flow sensor or sticking wastegate solenoids. If a boost gauge has been fitted, check that the boost pressure is not exceeding 17–18psi. Exhaust The standard exhausts are fairly long lasting but most owners will have probably have replaced the original exhaust with a stainless steel aftermarket performance exhaust system, due to their performance and their very reasonable prices. Hayward and Scott to name just one. If the cat is removed on the Impreza you are looking at buying make sure to get the old cat from the seller, if it’s not available budget this into the price, as you will need one come MOT time. Transmission A powerful car with 4wd is always going to punish the gearbox especially so if it has been modified. It’s not uncommon for a clutch to last as little as 40,000 miles. Clutch judder is common on Classic’s when the car is cold. The Subaru gearbox is extremely tough but when the gearbox is warm do the usual checks to ensure that all gears engage easily with no crunching, listen out for any whining at all whether it be from the gearbox itself or from the diffs. Popping out of gear is almost unheard of, but accelerate hard from low revs in each of the gears to make absolutely sure. Brakes The OE brakes and pads are not amazing and most owners uprate the pads, discs, lines and fluid to uprated items. DOT 5.1 fluid is common, especially if your going to take the car on track. As with any car brake hard from speed to ensure the car pulls up straight and smooth with no judder. Rear brakes can seize if a car is left standing. Bodywork Accident damage is a real possibility on these cars, vulnerable areas include the front end, front and rear wings. Check the underbody thoroughly for rust as a lot of car will not have been under sealed. The bonnet is also vulnerable to stone chips, budget the repair of this into the purchase price. Interior The electrics are general sound although the cheap interior plastics can look tatty over time. The newage cars have better interiors however the seats become less ‘buckety’. Suspension Worn anti roll bar bushes can be diagnosed by knocking coming front the front suspension. It has been said that the best suspension available for the STi is it the original STi set up. So replacing does necessarily mean having to go down the performance suspension route although this may work out to be the cheapest option. If buying the older Classic shapes check the rear strut's more so if it's a UK car as they seem to rot/rust at the top around the bolts. Feel free to add anything that might have been missed I will updated the post :)

Gave it a dam good spanking while rinsing a 16 plate 7 series [emoji41] he was not a happy bunny after failing for the 3rd time trying to undertake my old shed spec scooby, he was punching his steering wheel and directing air traffic with his hands [emoji23] He probably had the last laugh though .... As it took me a good 10 mins to pick my 150pc socket set up from all over the boot floor [emoji30]

Bought a copy of Japanese performance magazine. With this and the foreign beggars music video shoot, the old girls had a busy year [emoji41] Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

I used to get a strange irritating whining noise coming from the passenger side front when I hit full boost after I had my first remap . .... but I soon realised that the noise disappeared when the wife wasn't in the car 😂 If it's not broke .....upgrade it 😊

Started my 2003 WRX this morning to be greeted with flashing CEL light (which according to the net is a major fault), sluggish no boost and obviously sluggish performance stuck in limp home mode. After spending the day at work stressing I got home in the dark and plugged in my fault code reader that threw up the following (12 faults in total but some of the codes were replicated) P0502 P0503 P0851 P1152 P1153 P1518 After having a heart attack at the list (which didn't change even after deletion) I set to work on Google. I found on NASIOC that this can be caused by the green test connectors being connected under the dash. Despite not having touched them they had manage to align themselves well enough to come into contact causing the massive list of faults, limp home mode and a major CEL fault. Moved apart, reset codes again and back to perfection. After feeling like a complete pleb, but glad that it had not cost me a penny I have a happy car and happy wallet. I hope this helps someone who may find themselves in a blind panic one day like I did! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Little drive out with our Scoobys

was making way back home just taking my time &this 200 sx behind me was egar to get past, so he overtakes but gives me this sarky grin, so I speeded up he looked in the mirror & waved bye ,oh yeah I dont think so, I droped the auto power switch on & was on his tail he chickind out comeing uo to a bend slowed down far to early, I tuck him well befor the bend speeded away, & waved bye to him he banged his steering wheel with shame, ha,ha just thought he was taking on an old subaru est

Hi my name is Martin and i am here to admit my problem. It started 8 or so years ago, drooling over the offbeat warble of imprezas driving past. I vowed to myself-one day i would have one. Several years passed and i kept putting off buying one, saying I'd wait til i earn more etc... this year i thought sod it, I'm having one. So now I've got a 2003 wrx, i spend all my spare time and cash cleaning, fettling, looking or buying new parts, hiding them in the boot til they get fitted. My missus thinks i love Suzy (the car) more than her. I do. It gives me less grief and I'm more likely to get lucky with it. And we love getting dirty together before washing all of her curves and caressing her intimate parts, covering her in thick gloopy liquid before massaging it in. My name is Martin, I'm an addict in love with my Impreza, what's your story? Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Well seeing as I booked in a dyno session for the v1sti and wont be using it until the turbos rebuilt and re fitted, I decided to take the v7sti for a dyno health check at last . Glad I did, as first run showed low boost , afr out and low standard 'ish power at 280hp 226flbs 🤔 I use Clive Attowe as he knows his engine's and diagnostics, not just a good mapper . Although both power and boost were down ,he started by cleaning the maf to try and stable the afr's first (better) Then set about finding out why it wasn't making mapped boost targets and found that a pin hadn't been crimped in properly on the boost solenoid plug (got more boost back) I need a new maf and will probably fit a new fuel filter , then go back to see if numbers improve but the end result was 311hp /278flbs . At least I now know it's running safe and the extra 31hp and 52flbs , has made a world of difference to how it drives 😎

Gave it a wash and took a quick pic with my dad's new (to him) Forester. Not a bad looking driveway tbh .

She’s here 🙂

Wash it. Hand polish and wax. Used a clay mitt for first time. You can feel the rough paint with the mitt.

Gotta wait for the producer to edit it but once I get a copy I'll post it up . Ebo (the UK grime artist) seemed impressed with my old school scooby . Don't think his mate in the fmic audi was too happy .... I told him mine was standard and he wanted to do a proppa 1/4 run with his 290 hp a3 . "I'll win cos my audi is lighter blud" Should've seen the look on his face when i rinsed him good n proppa 😁

Day8 progress: Absolutely chuffed, bar a few seized bolts on the old turbo and exhaust that I needed a hand getting off it's all my own work and it's now ready to go to Andy Forest for mapping! Over the moon it's all running ok. It's been a busy weeks work. Picture below of it stripped out last week and the end result!

Just a few pictures of japfest silverstone 2017

Btcc at brands on Sunday... gotta love a meet at the racing 😊😊

Just received my owner club stickers thought I'd share a pic :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I finally got it, 2004 Forester Sti and I LOVE IT! Really happy with it and she sure shifts, got a few bits planned for it to tidy it up and looking the part and get the timing done, service and few other bit. Currently has few nice parts fitted including Tein coilovers, stage 1 remap , stage 1 clutch, some samco hoses and some others. Will get it in my workshop this week o have a good look under it and go from there.

Finally found a low mileage (58000) standard WRX STI Wide Track, will add more pic's soon.

Decided to go blue today da ba dee da ba die, next up is to replace the clock with a nice triple set of blue gauges in a pod but not very confident with doing that by myself

Had a little wipe over under the bonnet if no where else Caution, gratifying engine bay picture....

Subaru convoy over to the M-SOC meet

Parked next to another scooby - thems the rules - whilst attending comic con at NEC :)

Arrived this morning

It's alive!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Couldn't hear the audio on this vid so don't know what's being said but if you fast forward to 2 mins I'm sure gambit makes a appearance [emoji23] https://youtu.be/uH7yK4KmGCU

Done a cuple of mods to day fitted my diffuser and a cuple of wing stiffis think they finish the back off tbh Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Finally got my GT1's fitted think it's transformed the car. -- I make Films and Website for people

New wheels on :)

Had a bit of rain this morning, naturally I didn't miss an opportunity for water beading pics! :D

Here's my lady, hope these upload OK.

Postie has been , guess I'd better hurry up and get everything run through pats hot wash 1 evening this week [emoji848] Mind you i could always start rebuilding the heads after dinner done tonight [emoji4] Not the best pic but there's pretty much every subaru gasket and seal needed to rebuild a ej207 , new headstuds ,new nitraded crank ,new rings , king racing bearings and cossie stopper headgaskets [emoji6]

Last time the mrs drove the scoob i ended up with the dash out to fix a electrical fault [emoji852] This time I've ended up with a bad misfire ffs [emoji23] So today i be mostly fitting new spark plugs instead of prepping the scoob for japshow finale next sunday [emoji57] Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Have her a good clean, inside & out. Fitted new reg. 😁

Half way through the film he gets ringland failure....

43 and wanted one since I was 20 but for some reason stuff just got in the way.... I looked around for 18 months for a little gem and this is what I found 2000 turbo classic.... love it and wish I'd taken the plunge to get one a long time ago... it makes me smile every time I drive it 😛

Perfect day for working on the car and with a few hours free until our grandson is dropped off for the afternoon, time to get cracking with some much needed upgrades..... Safety first. After placing securely on a pair of stands, the wheels come off... The 2 x 19mm bolts securing the caliper to the hub and loosened off... Next step is to remove the pain retaining pins. These have two small spring clips keeping them in place. Simply pull out with some needle nose pliers and slide out the pins. A small G clamp is used to squeeze the pads to push the pistons back into the calipers... The pads are then simply slid out from the caliper with their backing plates (take note of how the plates are positioned for refitting)... With the pads out, the calipers can now be removed. I used a small bunjee cord to hang the caliper from the coil spring to prevent damage to the brake hose... The rotor is then removed from the hub. If it's stuck on due to corrosion, etc, use a small bolt as in the below pic to help 'push' the rotor off the hub. I simply used the bolt which holds the brake hose bracket to tyhe strut as it's the same thread... First part complete... Protective film applied in the factory is removed from the new rotor using brake cleaner. Just be careful not to get any on the paint! The replacement rotor slides straight onto the hub and the caliper is bolted back into place. I'm using Dixcel ES pads from Japan. I have no experience with them, but have read good reviews so happy to give them a try. They are essebntially a fast street pad - perfect for me as I'm not intending on any track use. Only thing of note at this stage is the lack of a pad wear indicator. The Brembo pads have a mechanical indicator which squeals when the pads gets below a certain thickness. Will need to keep a close eye on these when they start to wear down. Instructions say 300+ km bedding in period of 'normal' road driving. So will need to drive like a nanna for a couple of weeks Fitment of the pads is the reverse of removal essentially. I used some copper grease on the backing plates to help prevent any squealing... dba paint 3 strips on their rotors. These are temperature indicators and change to when a certain temp is reached - Red - changes to white above 610°C Orange - changes to yellow above 560°C Green - changes to white above 430°C And completed... I also did the rears, but was pushed for time so didn't take some many pics. 17mm caliper bolts at the rear - pads use the same retaining pin set up. As my car is relatively new, I had no issues removing the rotors but you may need to adjust the handbrake shoes on higher mileage cars probably? Will be a couple of weeks at least before I can report back on how they are going. By then, I should also have some braided lines fitted and some Motul 660 fluid to replace the stock stuff.

Lots more shiny bits and red bits waiting to fit in spring/early summer :)

Import Litchfield forester STI. 330HP i have had lots of cars over the years and some with over 300hp but honestly nothing feels as brutal as these things. Yesterday i was on my way home when a guy asked what the hell it was while in his E36 M3 he asked if i could keep up, So after jumping off the line and leaving him for dead he said at the next set of lights. I cant believe you just dusted me with a F***king Christmas tree in the back :P hahaha awesome machine. more pics t follow

I haven't done anything to mine... But found this amazing bit of kit 2 minutes from my house! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Probably... think he was trying to impress the girl in the passenger seat. I'm sure she was turned on by watching me go off into the distance :D

Mot passed, no advisories :)

Today I have been busy [emoji5] Just gotta do the front drop links and give it a whirl

Today I've been stripping and painting my rarb ready for fitting tomorrow. Sprayed it with 792 silver as that's what I have here. Just gotta clear coat it and it's all protected.

Not all today, but fitted Japspeed rearbox and very happy with it, looks and sounds great. Sti front grille badge and a recent coat of MER polish and quick simoniz wax. The exhaust also had a polish over with Brasso before fitting, (was clean but thought may aswell as it was off and easy enough). Took it for an approx 200 mile round trip to center parcs (Sherwood), very enjoyable drive.

Today I just smiled to myself when walking back to my car from the chippy [emoji41] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Small update today, look whats back from machine shop :D followed by a normal block vs closed deck converted

Yes mate and pre oiled the filter, not sure why but the black filters seem harder to get off ? Got her washed then cut polished and waxed Comes up good for nearly 20

How do you keep an idiot in suspense lol