Fonzey

Did the tickets get posted yet?

I reckon it's hard to judge on the video, it was pretty loud compared to others - particularly the popping and banging as I blipped the throttle on downshifts (which the video doesn't pickout very well). I did Cadwell with the same exhaust system but a Prodrive backbox instead of the TSL one and I made something like 96db on the static and never once got asked to shortshift etc by the drivebys.

Got my pictures through... Foggy!

I'm either going to keep the Prodrive box as you say for trackday swapouts (if I get flagged) or pickup a resonated centre. I don't really have space for a backbox in storage, but can always store it at a friends/family I guess.

I know man, it sounds epic - so gutted I'll have to change it!

Good old Hammerite to tidy up: Road pads back in, staggered yo' I guess the aftermarket discs I got just don't quite have the same tolerances as factory, as the "groove" on the hub doesn't seem deformed or anything.

Got to work yesterday returning the car back to "road mode", and also trying to figure out what's scuffing on the rear when it gets hot. Bit of surface rust bubbling up, but also a polished streak at the 2-3o'clock position in a groove right next to the handbrake shoes. Seems like a lip on the disc is supposed to sit in that groove, and is catching when getting warm. You can see the lip is slightly polished vs the totally crusty "other side". vs I dremelled the lip down a mm or so, so hopefully that gives me enough clearance next time I'm on track. I at least know it's nothing "dangerous" so hopefully I can sweet talk the marshals if/when it happens again. Dremelled down: Ground down the backing plates and covered in my anti-rust gunk: ...and the other side:

Blyton was an ace day, and without any real drama. Gutted it's over to be honest, might have to rush another day in before I depart if I can :D Arrived at the track in thick fog, wasn't looking good but I was confident it would clear - as we had a nice day forecast. Got there about an hour before the brief, made friends with our paddock neighbour in an Octavia then went to perv at some cars - mainly a 996 GT3 and some kitcars. Fog! They explained during the brief that we'd do the sighting laps in the fog ( ) and then wait for it to clear before green lighting the day. The fog ended up lifting about 10:30, so were delayed by about 45mins. I was about 6th or 7th in the queue to get out first, but it got red flagged before I got to go because the GT3 broke down on his outlap :( Once towed away, it was party time. Track still very damp in the opening session but got a good feel for the car and other than a few scary moments under braking (need to fit the pads earlier next time, and do more bedding in) it went without drama. Got back to the paddock for Santa to tell me I was VERY close to the noise limit and I need to start short shifting :( There was no static noise test at Blyton, just drivebys. Next session I went out and miserably short shifted around. The car sounded epic, but was a tad loud - mainly the pops and bangs when I blipped the throttle on downshift and quite an intense roar at the upper end of the range I think. Got about 5 laps in, and could hear a rotational scuff scuff scuff coming from the rear. I'd experienced that before on the road with my "normal" pads - I think it might be the dust shield but it doesn't seem to affect braking and so kept driving. On lap 6, I got black flagged :( I was almost sure that was my day over, too noisy - but after a quick chat with Santa, my sound was actually OK - it was the rotational scuffing that they could hear. That basically restricted me to 5lap sessions for the rest of the day, as that prevented heat from getting too high and causing the scuff to be too loud. Turned into a beautiful day: After an epic 40mile trip at lunch to find fuel :o it was party time again, really picked up the pace in the afternoon and played with my centre differential adjustments to try and assist me with a bit of understeer. My car would understeer a touch on entry to the higher speed turns, but I was then able to get on the power and almost rotate the car through the turn, I could feel the rear of the car grip up and push me round - it was an excellent feeling and the car felt so balanced, encouraged me to push harder and harder. Had a few flicks of the tail on exit a couple of times but nothing that required panic or "catching". It felt flamboyant at the time, but it's not really noticeable from any in-car footage As usual, the in-car footage just looks slow and undramatic, but I felt I was pushing the car a million times harder than at Cadwell, and I only had to let one car past all day... which in hindsight I shouldn't have done, as he held me up afterwards! (S1 Elise). Had an app running on my phone all day which was supposedly recording lap times, but GPS signal seemed to be non-existent all day. It says my fastest lap was 1.16 though, can't really find any YouTube reference points but I think low 1.teens is possible if I went back tomorrow. I ran out of ****** on "Port Froid" which should be a flat-out chicane, car is probably capable of 100mph through there but I was lifting. "Bunga Bunga" is my favourite corner by far, take it wide with a touch of understeer then get on the power early to hit the second apex right at the end - feels and looks like you're going to run out of track but the car just rotates through at about 70mph - pretty awesome. With about half an hour to go, I fell asleep on the grass and was woken by someguy shouting "15mins, last chance!" so I went back out for a few more laps. All went fine until the penultimate lap, came out of a slower chicane in 3rd, shifted up to 4th at 6200rpm then got to about 6k rpm in fourth and power cut really quickly, then immediately came back in. Coasted round for a lap, then did exactly the same in the same place. After tidying up and setting off home, I tried to replicate on a slip road and the car just boosted right through the range fine... so must have got something too hot. Need to speak with some people in the know to see if I can find out what that was. Talked to a few people since and it looks likely to be fuel surge/slosh in the tank. Blyton is an excellent track, if only because there is nothing to hit and encourages a bit more exploration of the car. Some vids. Onboard: External: Brakes:

The rate my visa application is going for US immigration... I might yet make Japfest. I hate reading this thread knowing I'm probably gonna miss out though :(

I need to invest in a decent trolley jack so I can get my car up on the axle stands at their highest setting, that way I can fit myself under the car on a skateboard. Currently I can only manage enough clearance for the depth of my head + 5mm, so it's really claustrophobic and hard work on the back when wrenching anything. It's so close infact, I've still got scratches on my nose from the lockwire used to hold my heatwrap onto my downpipe! Car dropped off at Richard Henry's tonight, so should be all done with their usual quality service by tuesday. Don't think I mentioned it yet, but Blyton Park booked for the 1st of April, my first and last track day of 2014 as work are shipping me to the USA for six months soon :(

A few weeks/months ago I bought an RCM baffle plate - well I sold that on, and decided to go for a baffled sump instead! Got the baffled sump home today, and a load of oil to stick in it! Thought I'd try Fuchs, as they had a "Buy 5l and get 1l free" offer on. The seller of the sump recommended I take the baffle out, and make sure no packing material got inside - and give it all a rinse out. So I did! It all looks so simple :| Don't believe these things can go for 6-700quid new, when an OEM sump is £90 Inside there seems to be a "false floor" type arrangement, possibly part of the OEM sump design(?) which is subtly funneled down to point oil into the base. This particular sump has got a bung welded in for a return to sump catch-can setup. I've bought a cap which will be screwed onto here with PTFE tape until I've got a catch can sorted out. Decided to NOT fit this myself, my back still hurts from a month ago when I was scrabbling around under the car sorting my gear linkage - so will have Richard Henry's do this and flush my green gunky brake fluid over the weekend.

Sounds good, As far as I'm aware no tickets have been posted yet. Either I can wait till mine arrives, then post it onto j4meswrx, or can it be posted directly to him?

All, since paying up for this - I had a bit of a bombshell dropped on me at work, and it looks like I'm getting sent off to the US to live and work for six months this year. The timing is looking pretty likely to prevent my attendance at Japfest, so not sure if my ticket can be transferred to another person who missed the deadline(?)

I don't mind the drive to Bradford, always like an excuse to go see Andy and the team at Richard Henry anyway. Nice meeting you all, stuff like this works much better in summer as we're all inclined to stand around in a carpark somewhere and perve at cars :)

Landed myself on a conference call at 16:00... should be done before 5, but might mean it's 6 before I get to RH. What's the cut-off for when you leave RH and go elsewhere? I'll then make a judgement call whether or not I can make RH or go straight to alternate location... whatever that is :D

Ditto!

Anybody have any ideas how the Impreza topmounts have changed over the years? Looking on import car parts for Group N top mounts, it seems like I need the following: Rear: http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/parts_info.asp?id=9489&cat=0⊂=0&sec=0&var=0&dc=&gen=&searchKey=Group%20N Front: http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/parts_info.asp?id=4855&cat=0⊂=0&sec=0&var=0&dc=&gen=&searchKey=Group%20N The description in the links suggests that all newages share rear top mounts (even after the widetrack change in 2005), and that ALL imprezas' ever share front mounts. Is that right?

Yep certainly considered it for the downpipe, turbo hot side and headers/up. It adds up to a fair amount of money though - so might have to stay wrapped :P

Got my uppipe today, perfect partner for my turbo :)

I got a bit of a non-update from KW today. Basically they've taken almost two weeks to decide that they don't have the gear to service them in the UK so they're off to Germany. Should hear more next week. I have done a bit of cleaning up on the two bits I had left behind though, the springs and the upper spring seats for the rears. First up the springs, nice and easy. Take to powdercoaters! Before: After: No idea how long a powdercoat finish will last on springs which have so much flex/movement. I tried though. I bought a couple of products too, one to protect these coilovers once ready for the car, and another to clear off any nasty surface rust that spoils certain corners of my car. (underneath...) Went to clean up the rear spring seats and they were actually a bit rusty. YAY I could try my new goop... Spunked it on, left it overnight: Voila :D All got a nice coat of my rust-proof waxy stuff: Then a wee eBay find came up. Bit tatty round the edges but by FAR the cleanest I've seen since I bought this car, except a NEW set which went for £160

Are they 17's Pete? I'm really preferring the look of 17's and slightly chunkier tyres on mine - considering a swap from my PFF7's in summer.

Cheers Gents :) Sending out a few feelers now with regards to getting my car together with my 20G turbo. So many options for mods and stuff so need to evaluate carefully.

Good stuff, we're in a really active region for Subaru lovin' from what I have seen over the past year. Just needs someone to tie it all together :)

My thoughts are, if I go the full works with FMIC, 3" Exhaust, Injectors, etc - I'll be limited by the 20G at ~400bhp. Within 6 months of doing whatever I do, I'll be itching to change things up again - which will get EXPENSIVE beyond 400. If I settle for an interim 370-380 with TMIC and 2.5" system on OEM injectors, I've always got "somewhere else" to go with the setup to give me more to tinker with. I've changed my mind about a dozen times in the past 12 hours - so who knows which way I'll go. I think I'll see what the bill is like from KW with my coilovers, then decide from there :P

Im considering a slight change of plan. My intention was to stock parts until I had the following, then fit/map it all at once aiming for circa 400bhp: Turbo Headers/UP 3" exhaust FMIC Injectors/FPR I may now instead just get some headers and fit those with my HS Uppipe and Turbo, leaving the TMIC, 2.5" system and OEM injectors. Will mean less power, but TMIC should keep lag down and I can enjoy the interim power gain for a few months with the option to add the other stuff later :) Means cost of an extra map, but drags out my progress (and spending!) a bit longer.