mfnick

Haha, have to say I quite like the Cayman. The Boxster and 911 don't really do anything for me though. I'd have a GT3 in a heartbeat though. I also absolutely !Removed! love that Singer 911 they had on Top Gear. Would definitely buy that with my lottery winnings. Back OT - at the weekend I finally managed to get around to cleaning my new alloys ready for fitting that I've been threatening to do for ages. Didn't go as well as planned :(. I bought them in the dark days of winter and under the garage lights and in the sale pics they looked great. In the sunshine - they look ****! Whoever painted them black did a proper **** job! No amount of t-cut, polish and wax would sort them. Anyway, today I decided to have a go at touching them up myself. Couldn't make them much worse I gathered. Few layers of paint later, looking LOADS better!!!! Now they obviously aren't fully dry yet so holding back my enthusiasm for now, but I'm really happy with how they've turned out to say I've never done anything like this before. Since I was only touching up I didn't sand back and put primer on so may flake off and look just as bad after a few miles, who knows. I did get some good quality Hammerite paint though which supposedly doesn't need primer so we'll see. Cars booked in to get them fitted and fully set up next Wednesday :) I'll be applying a couple more coats and lacquer this weekend to finish them off.

Won't be making it after all :( got to work tonight.

Ha great idea! Cheers mate, I'll see how it goes. If anyone knows about the STi logo give me a shout though please :). Since it's smudged I'd like to replace it anyway.

Cheers will give the needle a go. Do you know if the STi logo is just a sticker? If it is might be easier to remove by sounds of it if I decide to start sanding and applying lacquer. It feels a bit more substantial that normal stickers though.

If only it was a black smudge. Checked though and it's definitely taken the paint off :(

I'll be there as usual :)

Assessed the damage some doughnut did when trying to park! Luckily it isn't too bad, rubbed some of his bumper on the fog cover which left a couple of black marks (taken paint off so can't just remove and polish up unfortunately) and smudged the STi logo! Damn fool!!! 2nd time someone's hit it trying to park since I got it. Last time they just nudged the front and cracked the licence plate - admitted to it and gave me the money to buy another + some for the trouble. Why can't people parallel park!? There was enough room in front of my car to park my !Removed! van in too. How the hell they managed to rub it with a !Removed! hatchback with that much space I'll never know. Can't be too angry as I was already planning a front respray in the future since it already has quite a few stone chips and scrapes at the bottom from extreme hill to flat road changes. Still !Removed! though! Anyway, thinking I might get some Halfords touch up paint just to take the edge off. Anyone used it before (blue)? Or know where I can get some good quality touch up stuff? I'm not expecting it to be brilliant, like I say just want to take some of the edge off so it's not quite as noticeable. Might cover a few stonechips while I'm at it until I'm in a position to respray too.

Lovely car mate! I'm after one of these eventually but I can't afford insurance on one yet with it being an import. One day... Good luck with the sale!

Pistonheads review - http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=29776

Do a lot of research on the 2.5l engine in the hatch before you buy though. It does seem to be a matter of when it'll go bang not if. And when it does you're looking at £2.5k+ I believe. If you are serious about it, search for one that's had a forged engine rebuild. It'll allow you to fully enjoy the motor without being worried about it failing on you. And from what I see they don't fetch much of a premium over the non-forged ones? Certainly not as much as what it'd cost you to do. Worth paying extra for the peace of mind IMO. They aren't cheap to run and look after though in my experience so far. I had a heavily modified EP3 CTR for about 2 years which cost less in that entire ownership than my Impreza has cost me in the last 6 months-ish. I have been unlucky with a gearbox issue and ridiculously overpriced cambelt replacement though lol.

Drove it like I'd stole it :D Went for a great 50 mile drive. Mmmm the smell of burnt clutch haha! Quick rant though - other drivers really **** me off! They are quite happy to do 40+ in a built up 30 area but for some reason seem incapable of going above 50 on a NSL single carriageway! And then have the nerve to flash me when I overtake them at 60 as though I'm the idiot. Then when I reach another 30 they'll be right on my !Removed! again. The !Removed! is wrong with people? Pricks! Seems to be getting worse lately.

Pete - Had me worried there. I've got Parada's on at the minute and I'm finding them really bad in the wet as I said even when they had loads of tread, that's one of the reasons I'm changing to the Vredesteins. But the reviews on that site you posted do seem to rate the Vredesteins a lot higher in the wet. We shall see :) I'm glad you told me about the tread looking wrong too. I would have worried about that after getting them fitted lol. Ash - they're 225/40 18".

They're Vedestein Sessanta's. Came very highly recommended by boozy Dave and one of his mates, plus they were reasonably priced so got a set. Got Yokohomas on at the moment, same size and have quite a bit of tread left but not a fan of them, they are awful in the wet so decided to get a whole new set.

Finally got some new tyres! Put in loft ready for this weekend or the next when I can get them fitted to my new alloys and the car :)

I love KFC!

I'd say the more the merrier. It's about 2hours away for me too. Last time I went for a drive along Buttertubs and the surrounding area we started off in Carlisle which is about 3 hours from me. Was out driving for around 12 hours straight lol. It was well worth it then so an hour shorter journey to the start suits me fine. :)

Just ordered some blue wheel nuts - http://www.scoobyparts.com/acatalog/LIGHTWEIGHT_ALLOY_TUNER_NUT_SET.html Will be ordering a set of new tyres tomorrow. Got some new wheel cleaner and seal too. Finally reaching a position where I can get my new alloys on. I'll be giving them a damn good clean and polish over weekend and the hopefully get the tyres on and fitted the weekend after. Can't wait :D

Haha I do the exact same thing Dave! I also rev my car randomly at traffic lights - not to start races or anything like that. But just because I like the noise :)

Another decent turnout and another good meet :) And I've got my car back!!!! :D Good lord I've missed her. Really enjoyed the drive back home! The gear change is even more joyous now too.

Definitely!! Especially if you've got the new STi then too, be good to have a nosey ;) I've had a driving day around those areas in a group once before and it was one of best days out I've had. Some awesome roads, little to no speed cameras or traffic and great scenery. Count me in.

No worries buddy. Lots going on! Yea, see how you get on after a good run, hopefully it's nothing and dies down.

Scratch that, had a call off them not long ago. My car is ready so will be heading down between 6:30-7 :)

Doesn't sound too bad to me compared to some I've heard. Maybe take it for a good drive and let it get properly warm before worrying about it? Are you at the meet tonight? Might be able to get Martin or Dave to have a quick listen for you and ease your fears. The journey will get it properly warmed up too.

I won't be making this one, currently without my car. In fact it's in Martins garage, you'll be able to spot it as the one with its gearbox out lol. Will hopefully make it next month.

I always use V-Power mainly due to the extra cleaning properties they (claim) to put in compared to Tesco.