Judd

Remember M&S actually means very little other than the precentage of open tread, ie not a slick. Winter rated tyres will have the 3 peak mountain and snowflake symbol embossed on the sidewall, this applies whether full winter rated or proper all season, they may or may not have M&S stamped on the side as well but it means nothing regarding winter grade rubber. I don't know if Germany requires winter specific tyres or if snowflake stamped all season rubber satisfies the requirements.

This site is one of the best around, the chap also has numerous videos on his own Youtube channel, he does extensive testing himself in these videos. https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/ All depends on what you want, tyres you can use all year round, all season tyres, or a winter set to be fitted (presumably) on a spare set of wheels for winter use only...this solution has benefits in that your better set of wheels never see any salt. We have two cars, the Forester has spare set of wheels with winter specific tyres fitted, winter tyres don't actually have that great grip on the warmer damper days of winter but they come into their own in snow and such conditions. If it wasn't for already having the second set (they also fitted our previous Outback), i wouldn't bother with winter tyres for typical UK weather again, i would instead go with all season tyres but stamped with the mountain and snowflake symbol, meaning they the rubber is rated for cold weather use, maybe they wouldn't be as good as a pure winter in deep snow, but they are a better compromise in my humble. Our other car, a 120 series Landcruiser is fitted with snowflake stamped Yokohama all season tyres, these are particularly good on wet roads, though its obviously a different beast entirely to a Subaru, just mentioning we have two cars with the different solutions possible, i prefer the all season tyre approach for British weather, especially as AS tyres have come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years. If you search the above TyreReviews youtube channel, he did a good involved test of all season tyres in a low profile size, last winter i believe, well worth looking up, here it is

Excellent A-Rod. When you go to get the exhaust done there's three or 4 decent cafe's within a very short walking distance, and behind the canal just down the road a sizeable park if you're taking the dog with you. Bear in mind it can be a long day depending on how busy they are, our first visit was about 6 or more hours to kill, this last time was about 2.5 hours, so take some reading materials etc. Will you put a few pics up of the new exhaust in place please, the pics i put up on the Forester forum weren't exactly David Bailey standard.

You're welcome A-Rod. Tim is booked to come and do the cambelt on my Forester, that's a big thanks to you. This is how forums should work, helping each other out, and giving good service providers some publicity.

Just had my 2nd stainless cat back system custom made and fitted at MIJ Walsall, pics on my thread on the Forester forum if you care to take a peek. They made one for our previous (single rear outlet) Outback H6 a few years ago too, same price, i don't know how they do it. Lifetime guarantee, £295 all inc the same as last time, single system at the rear though so doubtless the twin set up of Outback will cost more, give them a ring for a quote. https://www.mijexhaust.com/subaru.php I have no interest in or affiliation to the company other than as a satisfied customer, who now sees them as my first and only port of call when it comes to exhausts.

Before you get involved in any of that, you mention red coolant. Did you flush and flush and flush till you were blue in the face the whole system after fitting the new radiator, it's quite likely the red is OAT and what was in there before wasn't, the two coolants are not compatible as you probably know, so is it possible the coolant itself has gelled? The previous radiator being blocked makes me wonder if gelled coolant is the issue here now, can't think of any reason otherwise for a blocked radiator unless some clot previously ran it with plain tap water. Not sure what's involved in clearing the results of incompatible coolant mixing, but it might be worth following the methods recommended and flushing the system repeatedly to see if there's any improvement before taking more drastic action.

Gear oils bought in bulk packs are so cheap i can't understand anyone leaving them in past reasonable common sense intervals. So called lifetime auto gearbox oils a case in point (typically on makes that give minimal length vehicle warranties), i always give that suggestion a good ignoring and yet to change an auto box oil and not notice improvements in smoothness.

I've noted that Siluro, many thanks.

I wonder if extreme scoobies (never heard of them) are including a spark plug change and a proper strip clean lube up of the brakes plus all other filters in that price (i wonder exactly what the dealer includes in a full service), items which to me are part of a full service and what i used to do many years ago...Japanese cars really need the brakes servicing properly cos otherwise the calipers sliders and pistons can suffer terminally from the annual salt bath and start seizing up, have the same problems on my Landcruiser, having said that they are so reliable generally that i'll forgive the brakes needing more regular proper looking after. A main dealer's idea of a full service may not be what a decent indy knows actually needs doing, most main dealer's idea of brake servicing is peering at the things (hoping to upsell pads and discs all round) and squirting brake cleaner about, that is not servicing brakes and never will be as long as we each have a rear orifi. I'm a bit in the same boat as you A-Rod, i'm in Northants with a dearth of indy Subaru techs, or at least i don't know of any yet, and am now very interested in hearing about Paul JJ's mechanic, is he fully conversant with Subarus Paul? if so i have to make a visit to Woburn Sands soon to get the LPG system serviced so wouldn't mind getting your chap to give the Foz the once over whilst in the area with a view to changing cambelt if needed, i'm getting a bit long in the tooth now for involved jobs like this.

Thinking about it, that's the same price i paid MIJ for the single system on the 2002 H6 Outback over 5 years ago. As a bonus, filled up with LPG half a mile up the road from MIJ @ 45p per litre, yes a very good day all in. Again thanks MrB for the timely advice, wish you were closer, haven't found any Subaru specialists locally for Northants yet.

Well, the day went well, got there about 11.15 and the job was done by 1400, really pleased with the new exhaust, very good of them at MIJ to fit me in at such short notice, the last time we used MIJ it was a really long day, maybe they overbooked who knows, understandable though cos i bet they often get no shows but still got to pay their mechanics, certainly no complaints about today's rapid service. Sounds slightly louder than OE but nothing to worry about, it now sounds like a proper Scooby which the OE exhaust didn't, kinda like it. Cor flippen 'eck, me and phone cameras and PC's ain't happy bed fellows, if it wasn't for my endlessly understanding long suffering wifey there'd be no photos at all, my super duper Cat unbreakable phone takes brill pics but i can't seem to send them anywhere else in readable form, be back on box Brownie yet for pictures and pushing 4d in the red phone box and pushing button A to speak...i bet only a handful here knows what the hell i'm on about with button A. Anyway, many thanks MrB, you couldn't have timed that better, i'd have been gutted to find a 2.0 litre NA mild steel exhaust had been supplied and fitted, and at higher cost than the stainless now in pride of place. As you requested, price paid was £295 all inc (though i always leave a drink for the lads who actually do the job, old school see), lifetime warranty too. Hope the pics come out ok, David Bailey i ain't.

That was blinking good timing MrB, had you not posted i might not have thought to check bore, sure enough the one they'd had delivered was only 2" and the OE is 2.5", trust me half an inch means a lot to an old feller like me. MIJ building and fitting a new stainless system this afternoon, cheaper than the mild steel jobbie too. Much obliged to you, will update later for anyone interested.

Good point MrB, it's going in to our regular indy thismorning and i shall be checking bore of the new one before leaving the motor with them. If it's undersized then job cancelled and back to MIJ for a custom stainless system, was hoping to avoid a long wait but not going to ruin this excellent car for the sake of a day reading and lounging about.

Nokian winters wear well, but i found summer Nokians wore rapidly on the previous Outback, prone to punctures too, they did grip very well but i'd have had just as good grip from Uniroyals at probably 2/3rds or maybe even 1/2 the cost, Unis don't last long in my experience but are cheap enough not to worry about. Running a set of Falken 914 on the present Forester for summer, daughter put me onto them due to excellent grip and wearing well on her hard driven Civic, so far very pleased with them considering how cheap they were (at the time), removed a set of Fulda Sports which gripped like hell and showed no signs of wearing but the noise and harsh ride became unbearable. Tyre choices are always a set of trade offs, you can't get everything.

I recall asking them to quote the Outback, was over twice the price of MIJ. Thanks for the suggestion though. My normal indy will probably get the job with a standard aftermarket system which i'll then paint with Zinc to help it last.

Join beside the rear diff was leaking, so today i went to undo said joint to fit new gasket, sure enough impact gun wouldn't shift the bolts and when i tried to undo them the normal way it soon becane apparent that both exhaust pipes have just about had it as the welds at the joint started to break up. So team, where shall i get a new one fitted or made up, i had a good (and good value) stainless one custom made at MIJ Walsall on the previous Outback but its a good 75 mile run from east Northants and an all day hanging about job, not ideal at the moment. Any suggestions? not after anything sporty, want normal sound just don't want to be having another typicaL aftermarket mild steel jobbie fitted 24 months from now, the present one looks OE and has lasted well but have an idea a quote from the Subaru dealer for genuine part would see me fainting at the counter.

Not on a Subaru but i've had cars before where the pads sat very slightly over the edge of the disc, about the same as those in the pic, never caused any issues but made checking pad thickness slightly more difficult than usual. Agree with Rosscom i suspect seizing pistons, so check for free moving pistons through all of their travel, include the rears here to ensure they too are doing their job properly, make sure the calipers are firmly bolted in place and the pads are a nice snug sliding fit in those calipers, also check for disc run-out, we assume you cleaned up the hub faces really well before fitting the discs.

This is just one of those things we have to deal with when young, insuring fast cars, especially those with a reputation, is seriously exensive when you are young. We all know of youngters driving their brand new fast cars at age 18, they hail from wealthy homes and indulging parents who not only buy the car but insure fuel and service it too, for most of us our start in the world of motoring isn't like that. As above, to be honest here, even at 20 with 2 years experience you are going to pay through the nose for insurance on anything fast and desirable/nickable, many years ago probably late 80's i spotted a lovely Sierra Sapphire Cosworth for sale cheap, the reason it was cheap is because no one could insure them at the time, i was probably 30 years old then with 13 years driving and a clean record, the insurance quote i recall as being £5000 way over the price of the car itself, then hence why cars like that were stupidly cheap. There will come a time when insurance gets cheaper for you, but trust me you will considerably older than you are now. A life tip for you, try your best to avoid making any claims on insurance ever (even windscreens) and try to avoid getting nicked by the old bill for anything at all, this has been my policy for donkeys years and when you can fill those online forms in with no claims at all on record no other incidents and no points or convictions, i have a mental cut off point of between £1000 and £2000, below that i will not claim but fix any damage myself, and do not ever get involved with so called accident management sharks if you do have to make a claim even if you are not at fault, the cost of the claim will be many times more than it could have been and you will be punished in the long run with higher premiums for years, the quotes you attract by using your noddle make it all worth it...oh and you can still enjoy fast cars when you are much older but still young at heart, so build your no claims and driving record up on something else for a while.

Japanese cars though they arn't alone suffer from the annual UK salt bath affecting the brakes, causing seizing of sliders and pistons and/or pads sticking in place, it sounds like the calipers could do with a proper clean and lube service with the correct brake grease, sadly main dealers of all makes don't do this any more, relying increasingly on spraying brake cleaner around the items instead which only helps to dry out any present lube. Whether your existing brakes were worn down that much you won't ever know, my gut feeling is not but glad you didn't have to pay the full cost involved, if they do actually wear down rapidly again i have found Brembo friction materials superb in terms of feel, stopping power and wear rate. Don't forget the rear brakes need the same service attention, arguably more attention due to the less amount of work they do, if they arn't performing fully then the front brakes will be working overtime. Every now and again ( i do this in my cars and lorries) after travelling some distance i'll slow down and stop where possible, eg motorway service area or layby on uphill dual carriageway, without using the brakes except to bring the vehicle to a final rest, then walk round feeling the hubs and brakes for any excess heat, handy early warning that something isn't right with the brakes or wheel bearings, might be an interesting thing to try. Our Forester brakes were fine this year when i did the annual lube service, but the same one of the 4 pistons in each front caliper on my Landcruiser was seizing up, salt is the problem.

I know many car makers recommend renewing all 4 tyres together, though to be fair other makers, including German and Swedish as well as British and another Japanese maker, have or have in recent years had AWD drivetrains made of cheese in comparison to Subaru. If the rear tyres are slightly larger than the fronts, as in the OP's case by 2mm of tread, then something in the centre diff must be making corrections to counteract possible wind up, i was wondering if when the roads are slippery and with tyres down to 4mm starting to lose their best grip, exacerbated by that 60:40 front/rear drive split, that the tyres are instead the source of centre diff speed adjustment...maybe there's less friction at the tyres on a wet road than at the diff itself, that could account for the issue. As i said this is just a theory. If SebP10 is still reading, having similar unpleasant handling in the wet are your tyres at the same tread depth all round?

When you speak of diff winding up does that include the centre diff.

Isn't the general acceptance with AWD vehicles to try and keep the tyres at similar rolling circumference? by rotating tyres periodically to even wear out, this causes real issues for people who have a tyre scrapped on a part worn set and applies to many makes. Could this be exacerbating the problem here if the centre diff is constantly having to make adjustments, and maybe more of them at higher speeds on a straight road, even though i appreciate the difference in tread depths 'tween front and rear tyres is only 2mm. Just a thought here and i'm going off something in my memory that XV has a front biased torque split of 60:40? (could well be wrong knowing my memory), might be interesting to swap the fronts and rear wheels over and see if any difference.

Just keep in mind the roads are slippery as hell, i've been at work today (i drive an artic road tanker) and wheelspin/oversteer once empty on well worn wet surfaces leaving roundabouts was a serious issue. Are you running low enough pressures chaps, ie the standard pressure for lightly loaded cars? On the subject of all season tyres, yes i agree, if i didn't have the second set of winter tyres/wheels then i would buy good all seasons such as the Cross Climates mentioned, the good Yokos on my Landcruiser are snowflake stamped all seasons which are in use all year.

I too run winter and summer sets on a Forester XT, so like you have no need of all season tyres. Following excellent results with Falkens on my daughters Civic which she thrashes mercilessly and covers serious mileage, i bought a set of ZE914's for the Fos, very pleased with them in both wet and dry, and they were a bargain price to boot. I had a set of Yoko's on a Hilux which frightened the life out of me (OE PIrellis were nowt to shout about either come to that), but i have a different set of Yokos (GO15) on my Landcruiser which couldn't be more different, grip like hell in the wet but would be a bit agricultural for a Subaru, all makers drop a clanger now and again, Mich seem to be well regarded these days but back in the 70's the X and ZX whilst lasting forever but slide all over the shop in the wet. I'd try and find something with an A rating for wet grip, you only need standard summer tyres anyway and A rating is a lot easier to find in summers than all season, why not have a poke nose on Camskill and TyreLeader and see what bargains are kicking about with A rated wet grip, yours are at 4mm now so losing the best of their grip, i never let mine get below 3mm anyway, as said the only point of contact with the road.

Welcome, and that does look nice, clean as a whistle, phwoar! Should imagine.it's like new underneath so will you be intensively rustproofing this summer to ensure it stays like that? After umpteen not ''hewn from granite'' Merc W124's, we're back running Japanese cars only and that's likely to be the situation as long as i'm upright, should have learned the lesson back when i ran a Datsun Bluebird estate, still better lesson learned late than never.