Fonzey

Thanks Gents, will look out for you at Cadwell. Running TD0520G with a billet compressor wheel.

Next up is a purchase I made back in October(?) DAMD flat bottomed wheel. Smaller but chunkier: Then it was Oulton time, finally! :D Day was very wet, cold, windy and we even had hail and snow!! Morning running was very slow and nervous, with lots of red flags. Got some good mixed/dry running in the afternoon though despite traffic. Car felt great, loved it. Cadwell now booked for the 29th.

Been slacking on updates, got a couple though. Car has been running fine for a few weeks now, no repeat evidence of it bogging down or misfiring. After seizing up one of my Brembo's at Blyton last time out, I decided to buy a seal kit and some paint and go for a refurb. Everything went great with the seals and paintjob: Bolted them back up to the car, fitted all the lines and then came to tighten up the bleed nipples. Got all the way around the car to the last nipple on the last caliper, and it stripped the thread out... This was all about 5 days before Oulton Park :( I responded by sending Ian@Godspeed some money... :D Got the AP's bolted up, and did a few bedding in miles. Also gave the car a post-winter wash, went full on with: Snow Foam 2bm wash with CarLack shampoo Iron-X Sonus Clay DA Polished with 3M pads and Sonus Restore Hand polish with Carlack protection and sealant The observant amongst you may also notice I moved house, so now have a double garage for my tinkering :)

Anybody regularly attend these? First tuesday of every month IIRC, at http://www.squires-cafe.co.uk/ Bit quiet in the winter, but I've been before in summer with over 100 cars there - from clapped out civics to GTRs and everything inbetween. I've not been since my return to the UK, but really don't have an excuse with me being 20mins away - so will be restarting the habit from March, be good to see some other people there too!

I'm there, date depending ofc! Can probably span this to a few other clubs too, providing they're happy to mix up FWD and RWD cars too.

Had a mixed couple of weeks with the car, but as of today - we're on a high! 1) Booked Oulton Park for 31st March, did I say that already? 2) Car started bogging down in second. Fiance's brother came round to see the car, went out for a ride in it and it was holding back in second gear - and a bit in third. It annoyed me, but I had to go away for a couple of days so left the car parked up at work. Got back, and on the drive home - floored it on the bypass and it violently cut power on boost. Got it home and quickly found a tear in the vac hose feeding the FPR reference: Chopped the end of the vac hose, refitted and went for a drive. No more violent cut-outs, but still hesitating in 2nd and 3rd. Hmmmm.. 3) Ordered a new fuel pump. SWRD 340lph in the car was new, but still an "easy" thing to swap out and rule out. Thanks to Alyn @ AS, my Deatschwerks replacement arrived in less than 12 hours - !Removed! brilliant service. Swapped it out on the drive: Took the car out, pulling like a boss in all gears - excellent :) 4) Fitted a CDF Brake stopper... no pics. 5) Had the car booked to go see Andrew Carr again, this time on a rolling road. Went down today, Andrew was aware of my fuel pump/vac hose adventure - so we were expecting a troubleshooting session, but as I got on top of things at home - it was to become a power run! First run on the rollers, car made 378bhp. Andrew explained it was running quite rich, presumably because it was previously mapped on a failing or inadequate fuel pump. He leaned it out a bit, and the next run fetched 391bhp. Two more tweaks led to 395 and then finally 398.6bhp with 362ft/lbs of torque, oh and a massive grin from me! Happy boy, that additional 20bhp I gained today is most definitely noticable - car is an absolute hoot.

The two "go-to" choices are: Revolution 3" System: http://www.revolution247.com/catalogue/shop-by-category-exhausts-revolution-exhausts Or The Cobra Sports Trackday system: http://www.cobrasport.com/index.php/cobra-sport-exhaust-products/subaru/impreza/subaru-impreza-wrx-sti-17/subaru-impreza-turbo-track-day-turbo-back-system-with-de-cat.html I've been taking my prodrive backbox in the boot, so if I get flagged - it's two bolts to swap out to that (its very quiet). Thinking of bumping up to the Revolution system though later in the year.

Cheers folks, definitely worth publicising them here - or maybe even arranging our own? They're a great day out normally. Did one at Scoobyclinic, is a good excuse to see their premises if nothing else.

Anyone aware of any RR days in the north? Wouldn't mind seeing the effect of my winter modifications and a health check before the first trackday of the year :)

Events Thread, got it!

Aye the undulations are excellent. Also, I signed up to run at the JGM memorial event at Elvington. Anyone else attending?

Really wanna do more Cadwell this year, did plenty of Blyton last year whenever I flew home which is a great track, especially for learning - but Cadwell has character!

Cheers Chaps. Gambit I've just checked out the thread, looks like one to watch :) As my car has been sat for best part of a year, it seems my battery has taken a turn for the worst. Alarm chirp on startup every morning this week, but failed completely this morning and needed jumping. Checked voltage with the car running and getting 14.7v so the alternator is fine. Got myself an AA trickle charger which is on the case now, see if it's recoverable or if the battery needs swapping.

Collected the car last week, here's the story! Left home at 0730 and walked to the train station, the walk turned into a sprint - as I misread the train times. No worries, got on the train. Got into Bradford at about 0845 and started the walk over to Richard Henry's. It's about a mile, and it was kinda snowing. 50yards into the hike, and I hear a familiar burble. Look up the road to see my car on its final shakedown, but the fuckers drove straight past me despite my frantic waving Arrived at the shop puffing and panting, and bollocked them all for driving past me. They showed me round the engine bay, braided hoses everywhere! The Mapper was due to arrive at 09:30 - so had a coffee and just talked **** for a while, checking out their other projects and bits and pieces. Andrew Carr arrived bang on time, and got to work on one of my FMIC pipes. It needed drilling and tapping for an intake air temp sensor which would complete the measurements which used to be dealt with by the MAF. After a the FMIC was all plumbed back together - he started on all his other sensors and bits and pieces before doing some basic setup on idle. We paused for breakfast butties, then he was on his way for a road run. I stayed at the shop and talked some more crap. Half an hour or so later, Andrew pulls back in - with what looked to be a frown. The other Andy (from RH) went over for a chat, which i tried to listen in on. I was sure in my head the turbo was a duff - and that it was causing issues. As it happened though, he wasn't getting enough fuel - and the car was leaning out bigtime on boost. I bought a 340lph fuel pump for this install, but RH had struggled to get it fit in with my Spec-C anti surge tank thingy. As a result, the 255lph had gone back in. We decided to change out for the 340 and run without the Spec-C tank - to see what happened. All hands on deck, and fuel pump was swapped in minutes and Andrew was off again. He was probably away for close to an hour, and came back with what looked to be a smile - then a thumbs up :) Car was breathing really well, and still needed more fuel than he expected - but was healthy. He warned me what I already knew, which was that it would feel a bit damp under 3k RPM - but described it as "quite quick" over 4k. One last check under the bonnet, and he was off and I went to thaw out whilst the lads put my rear bench back in. Drive home was annoying at first, went the wrong way and ended up in 30mph/stop/start for 20mins Finally got to the motorway and hit boost for the first time. It's such an event now, wooshes and swooshes from all over the place - and when it really comes on it's ballistic. Had to tweak the peak warning on my boost gauge a bit, as it seems I'm making 25psi now (23 previously) and temperatures/pressures all looked great. The lack of dumpvalve/recirc valve sounds hilarious - flutter at low boost and a full on swoosh when going for it. Drives really, really smooth at both low speed and at pace, new clutch/flywheel feels excellent with no strange noises or smells. Got it back to Selby, and went a back way to find a quiet B road. Pulled over and gave launch control a try. I had no instructions, so just pulled up and floored it. RPMs held at just over 5k and boost was building, just dropped the clutch and then I'm pretty sure the world went backwards a little bit Lost traction on all four wheels for about half a second then it gripped up and I was off! No smell of clutch, just a bit of wheel hop on the fronts. Can't wait to try it with warm R888s. Pictures! Engine bay needs a cleanup now, the loss of TMIC and AirCon has exposed a lot of grubby - so steam cleaner and wire brush will be out soon enough I reckon. Really happy with the combo of the silver FMIC and the black grille. Keeps it a bit subtle, but still looks menacing. Snorkle thingy modified and refitted for the cone filter. Will get some closeups on a better day, there are some great details in there with the fuel system. Hope to get on a Dyno soon, probably when we revisit the fuel pump - to see what's going on

Blasphemy!

Sneak peak of my new wheels: The story of these is that somebody bought them new, had tyres fitted, then found they were the wrong fitment for their car - so tyres were removed and the wheels sent to moi. Other than a few grubby marks, they're perfect - so seems a shame to paint them, though white has never been on my list of wheel colours to try. I'll do some mockups when I get my car back, see what I think - then maybe get the photoshop brigade out on the job. I want gold, at least one of my sets of wheels needs to be gold so the track-day ones should be a safe choice.

Yes its hard enough finding 99ron fuel at some trackdays, never mind a barrel of meth!

Oh a meth map would be another good way to be sure of breaking 400bhp, but not sure I can be bothered with that hassle.

Realistically my new turbo will actually be my choke-point. The Injectors, clutch, headers, etc are all good for 450+ but the turbo is usually 380+ There have been some 20g's that smash 400, particularly billet converted ones like this one - but 400+ is on the optimistic end of my expectations tbh. The good news is, if/when I get bored of the new power - all I need to do is drop in another turbo such as an SC42 to be sure of passing 400 as the car will be a solid base. The next limitation will be the engine itself, I hear Newage STI lumps will do 450 all day long - but that would be an investment for another year perhaps!

Well she's now sat in Bradford with the lads at Richard Henry Autos, with this little lot being fitted: GTSpec Headers, Harvey Smith up pipe and Harvey Smith TD05 20G (With Billet Compressor wheel) Mishimoto Oil Cooler and Thermostatic plate: OBP 3 Port Catch Can, SWRD 340lph fuel pump, ID1000 Injectors: CDF Racing Billet Timing Guide and Cosworth reinforced timing belt: AEM Fuel Pressure Regulator: Exedy Racing Clutch and Lightened Flywheel: Crapspeed FMIC: RCM/K&N Induction Cone and Mafless trumpet: Exciting times!

:D Thanks for the welcome, trip was a real experience but I'm glad to be home. Fire wasn't bad at all, garage left trickle charger on - it failed and went up in flames, melting the jump leads and dripping melted rubber down my headlight and bumper. They of course covered that portion of the costs, but whilst it was in the bodyshop I had the windscreen out and had a full front end respray :)

So I left this thread early in 2014 as I was sent off to the US with work for 6 months. I'm home now, and I have since done the following: Fitted KW V3 Coilovers, alignment and corner balancing Brand new R888's on my track wheels and done 2x Blyton Park trackdays: Fitted JDM HID Headlights* Front end respray on the car* * - as a result of a small fire which damaged the car due to a faulty battery charger at the garage whilst getting MOT'd :( I have also bought the following: GT Spec Headers ID1000 Injectors Uprated Clutch and Lightened Flywheel RCM K&N Induction Kit with MAF-Less trumpet AEM Fuel Pressure Regulator Japspeed FMIC kit Mishimoto Oil Cooler and Thermostatic plate OBP 3Port Catch Can ZunSport Lower Grille in Black This little lot will go with my Harvey Smith TD0520G which has had a Billet compressor wheel upgrade and Harvey Smith Up-Pipe that I've had for a while. It's going to Richard Henry in Bradford on Monday to start getting it setup :)

I've got JDM HIDs in my UK car, but the seller of the lights also sold the custom loom for it... I'm no sparky but if we're ever in the same area for a show/meet/trackday/whatever you're welcome to take a look and reverse engineer :P

Rears are dead easy to get off Dave, just make sure you release the handbrake before trying!! I could not be more angry/disappointed if I tried atm Got home yesterday to a UPS delivery card - checked the online tracking and it was a 23kg package from Germany - Yay! Coilover time at last. Arrangements have also been ramping up for my trip to the US with work, so work have been granting me half days here and there to get stuff sorted out - so I took a half day today to get the redelivery and make a start on fitting the coilovers - I could use some ghetto iPhone app alignment efforts again and enjoy the new suspension over the BH weekend - perfect. I'm due to fly out to the US a week on wednesday, so would have been nice to get the coilovers on and the old BCs packaged ready for sale (a friend offered to store/ship them on my behalf)... it was all coming together. Got home this aft, still no UPS redelivery (missus had been home all day) so I got the car in position: Started undoing the rears (literally just undid the hub bolts) and then UPS man arrived :D Bounded upstairs in glee (the best I could with a 23kg package) and got opening: As I started unpackaging, my heart fell through the floor... spot the problem: From left to right: New Front = Good New Rear = Not for an Impreza.... New Rear = Not for an Impreza.... Old Knackered Rear for reference. Absolutely fuming, got on the phone with KW UK and explained what's happened - after relaying product ID's and stuff back and forth - they were adamant these are for an Impreza, so I sent them the above photo and a picture of my hub They're now "looking into it". I've explained that I'm in the country for only 10 more days, four of which are a !Removed! bank holiday and these took FIVE WEEKS to build and ship from Germany, so looks like I've got no chance of having coilovers before I go, which means getting somebody to arrange returns/deliveries/collections etc on my behalf - just a load of !Removed! hassle. Everything I read about KW suspension is top notch, I've been so excited to get this suspension fitted but in the THREE MONTHS I've been dealing with KW, they're honestly one of the worst companies I've had to deal with from a customer service perspective. !Removed! ANGRY Oh well, Cat loves them

Started getting some bits trickling through (at last!) for my suspension change: Went for the Whiteline Max-C adjustable front mounts, and Group N rubber rears. Compared the GroupN mounts with some OEM ones I have knocking around - the rubber is MUCH stiffer, so hopefully a good compromise. Washed the car today (nothing new there...), but as I was wiping down the inside of the boot lid - I noticed a perpetual dribble of mucky water coming out from the back. I started peeling back the boot seal, and before I knew it I'd pulled it all off - and was horrified to find: Needless to say, got a nice stiff APC mix and got to work on that lot all the way around, then took the seal inside to clean that out too. LOVE jobs like this :o Hoping to get the KW's next week, would love to have them to give me the easter weekend to fit and test etc... but based on their pace so far, I'll probably see the rebirth of Christ with my own eyes before getting the coilovers.