mfnick

Yea that would be great. Maybe we could have a "national meet" section for those kind of bigger meets where we try to get the whole club involved. I don't know how easy that would be to add though, if its possible at all...

You finally getting that damn clutch sorted? ;) Be easy to waste time there though. Meadowhell is just around the corner so you could go and waste even more money in there or just look at all the flange that gathers there. It's a fitty !Removed! magnet that building I tell ya. Or go to Centretainment and watch a film or 2 while waiting, only a 10 minute walk away. Mines booked in for next Tuesday for some new brake discs and pads all round. Plus I'm getting that heat shield sorted. :)

I was near the front of the queue to get on most of the afternoon, just opposite the signing on booth. I spotted them by the strip. That white one did look nice, had some lovely alloys I wanted to nick too. Cheers mate. I've calmed down now haha! Yea, at least i know for future now. Thinking we could even set up a meet there next summer :)

I wouldn't dare with a power polisher either. Heard too many horror stories of novices completely ruining some of the paintwork with them. That stuff does leave a great shine looking at those pics!

That was ace. I popped over to the drifting section while waiting for them to dry the strip but there wasn't anything running at the time :( Did spot a wagon going on just as I was leaving though, but was too fed up to stop and watch haha.

Brilliant thread mate! I love this type of stuff, really interesting. I doff my cap to you good man! People like you who do this type of thing at home just amaze me, I can't even begin to imagine how I'd do this kind of thing myself. But I sure would love to! Well done!

Over weekend I decided to fit my recently purchased iPod aux adaptor for the aftermarket stereo that's fitted. Was surprisingly easy :) Firstly removed the glovebox Then drilled a 32mm hole in the top of the surround. Had to be so big to fit the plug through. Due to the plastic being so thick a normal grommet wouldn't fit properly. Luckily had a 32mm locknut and bush with rubber insert which fitted perfectly. Only problem being it wasn't black, but when it's fitted in the car unless you lean down and look for it you can't see it anyway. Next I removed my radio, or at least pulled it out enough to access the rear of it. Plugged the lead in, screwed everything back and tested. Boom! Working perfectly! Not that I listen to it much when I've got that awesome burble and turbo noises, but its nice to have for longer motorway journeys to tracks & great driving roads. :)

Yea they closed it for hardly any rain at all! I was really !Removed! off to be honest. Cost me over £100 for entry, fuel there and back & the 1 run. It took them until past 10:30 to open the track up (meant to be 9:30) in the first place due to a little shower that had happened a while earlier too. Thing is I know a regular there and when he went a few months I'm sure he said he went on in the rain. I just don't get it. I can understand the dedicated, purpose but drag cars with slicks being turned away (i doubt theyd want to run in that anyway) but regular road cars on regular tyres - surely we should be allowed on it still. Anyway, I won't be going again unless its sunny I know that much.

Well it ended up being a right waste of time and money. Due to them closing the track for any speck of rain I only got one run and that one was rubbish thanks to to the guy on the line. He was pushing and motioning me to go even before the lights turned. So I did - didn't record a time and in my confusion of why I was being forced to go so completely messed up the launch. Not like it matters since it didnt record it but still... He organisation and the communication (not letting you know when they close the track, when its back open, why a handfulof us couldnt do proper runs etc.) was **** poor! Really disappointed. Definitely wont be going outside the summer months when it's dry again.

!Removed!!! Haha!! Better not get caught on a bad run mate ;) . Are you going to be running?

Ill do my best. I'm making sure my mate gets a few of mine on the strip that's for sure. Never got one of the Civic, won't be making that mistake again. May take a vid too, wont post if its embarrassing though haha!

Thanks Gambit ill give that a quick try over weekend. I didn't know they were doing drifting as well his Sunday! Ace! Ill definitely be watching some of that between my runs on the strip :)

Now then, I'm off to Santa Pod this Sunday. Thing is I've only done it in a FWD car before - specifically my Civic Type R. Now that was pretty simple, just had to balance it well enough to keep wheels pin to a minimum and change just before the limiter. But the Impreza, that's a different beast. First of all from a couple of practice launches ready for the weekend I've done I keep getting bogged down. Even when I tried to hold the revs quite high - between 3500-4000. Now I only did 3 test runs since i didn't want to destroy the clutch & didnt go mental haha! I'm guessing I just need to hold the clutch for longer? I did a little on my 3rd test but not a great deal to protect it as much as poss but even so it made little to no difference. I'm also thinking this just may be how it is with AWD? Any drag runs I've seen on TV with 4 wheel drive cars do all seem to have a split second at the start where they hardly move before shooting off. Am I right in thinking that? Also I take it its probably not the best idea taking it to the redline as I would in a N/A car and will actually be better short shifting - but making sure I'm at the correct revs for full boost in the next gear. Again, am I right in thinking that? Any other tips also welcome! Ill only be doing 2-3 runs by the way - only one of which will be a full on go. Want to keep the stress on the car to a minimum while still enjoying myself.

My last 2 cars were black before the Scoob. I say I'll never have another but I also said that after my first black car and still got one! Thing is, when its just been cleaned, polished and waxed no other colour looks that damn good!

Yea it's striking that happy balance with the exhaust. 2.5" bore seems to be ideal for most set-ups. Definitely wouldn't go higher on N/A. It got me around an extra 15bhp in my 2l Civic & yea you could get around 10% extra there. But for the price would you really say its worth it - especially if your insurer is a pain with mods thatll be extra too. I doubt you'd notice that extra 16bhp much on its own. It'll no doubt be more responsive but you'll be very surprised just how quickly you'd get used to it. I'd save up and upgrade it properly or for the amount it'd probably cost to do that buy a WRX.

Just want to add to this. Recently took my Blob STi here for the 60k major service and can't recommend them enough. Martin and his mate Dave are top blokes, gave me loads of great advice, more than happy to talk car crap with me, gave me a great price for the works and most importantly did a thorough and brilliant job. One of the hardest parts of owning performance cars is finding a mechanic/garage you can trust to look after it. Not only to do a good job but for a reasonable price too. I've only been once so far but I feel confident saying this is one of them. I'll be taking mine here throughout my ownership (and maybe future marques depending on his experience/confidence with them) for any and all works from now on.

Gutted. No worries bud.

A remap on small N/A engines will give little to no gains unless you upgrade breathing parts - exhaust, induction kit, manifolds mainly. Even then you may not make massive gains depending on the engine. Unless it left the factory in a low tune which that hasn't I don't think if it has 160 standard. Sorry for the bad news, but hey, isn't your insurance too high anyway ;)

Hopefully. Doesn't hurt having a back up like you say though. Especially at £15 :) Plus itll be useful if I decide I want it to be less chavy haha. Im pretty immature and like it though so doubt thatll happen.

Thanks for that! What're these ones from then please Ash?

Is the recirc dump valve same across all models, ages, types etc.? If so and it'll fit mine ill have one please. Got a aftermarket turbosmart one with mine which I hear can cause problems so want a standard for back up in case it decides to screw up on me.

Haha yep, loads cheaper! Also found I could have gotten the cambelt with all idlers - not just a couple - changed with him for almost half the price I paid at ScoobyClinic too. Damn it! Oh well, live and learn eh? Thanks again for your help Ash. Im sure Martin will be thanking you too. He'll be getting a lot of business and money from me from now on :)

Mines just over £1300 - all mods declared 7 years NCD, clean licence and im 27. Back when I was 19-20 though I had a !Removed! little 1.9 Diesel mk3 Golf. That cost me £2000 to insure - the car cost me £500 to buy so a grand for a Scoob - even a non turbo one when under 21 doesn't sound too bad to me But yea, id echo what others have said. I highly recommend Sky Insurance, been with them for 3 years now. Get a quote from places like Adrian Flux and Chris Knott too - they've always matched or beaten other quotes for me. Be sure to tell them youre a member of a online club like this or any others to get a discount too.

By searching for couples having s*x on Subaru bonnets I accidentally "came" (haha get it?!) across this place. ;) If only that was true. Alas, I was on Scoobynet but as I think I mentioned when joining I just found that forum to be too big with too many members and seemingly a 1000 new posts every minute. I cant keep up with that **** so did a google search for other Subaru forums, saw this, stalked for a bit, decided I liked it and joined. :)

Hey guys, thought id give you a little update on this. First of all - massive thanks to Ash for your help and advice mate! Ive taken it to Martin at 5heffield 5ubaru 5ervices today for the 2nd opinion and a major service. Cant recommend him enough. Absolutely top lad and a top job was carried out. Honestly Id highly recommend him to anyone. Also found out he's had his hands on my car before too. Back in 2005 he did a service on it when he worked for Montys Subaru in Sheff. Small world! Now onto the grind - no longer believe it to be a gearbox issue at all! :D He found the heat shield on the turbo downpipe is very loose, we believe that's all it is. He's moved it slightly (difficult access) and wedged it a bit and the grind/rattle has stopped! Its still loose and needs sorting ASAP due to it being near the steering rod which it could jam if it manages to spin itself round. Didn't have time today but itll be going back within the next couple of weeks to get done. But hopefully that's all it is. Oh and after this service, it feels awesome! Just smoother, brakes bite harder and just feels more responsive. All for a very reasonable price. Good day all round!