ven

Cheers guys for the welcome and kind words :) Yes ,well i had a 2.0S capri(loved that) at 18,soon traded it for a Fiesta xr2 ,that thing flew..........(well you know what i mean). 6 months on boredom and Fiesta Turbo time,loved the bucket seats,fat steering wheel and modded by turbo systems iirc. Had the boost gauge and also a switch,rolling roaded at 133hp at the wheels without the boost switch flicked. Had a straight through 3" system.......loud was not the word! I am now 20yrs old,after few issues i started looking at other motors. Test drove some silly 360hp stage 3 ,3 door cosworths which were simply unbelievable in comparison to what i had known. Not wanting to risk any extreme modded stuff again after melting a piston on the Fiesta(all repaired under warranty as sold modded) I then i looked at an Astra gsi and clocked the sapphire cosworth in the corner in gunmetal,39k on the clock ,full leather and 8k (back in 1995 on a G 89 plate) .Had the standard ford radio and amp ,everything mint! love at 1st drive !Test drive and remember the guy telling me not to drop it down a gear,just leave it in 3rd or 4th and floor it...........i was use to the small(crap) 1.6 turbo of the fiesta and having to drop a cog. It did not feel as quick with the size over the fiesta,but it soon clocked 120 with ease. Unfortunately i only owned it for 9 months,rolled it on the a6 due to hitting a load of mud on the road. At the time they were building an equestrian centre and lets just say i was not the only one to have an accident. I approached a left hand bend and started to turn right,hitting a lamp post,rolling down an embankment,through some concrete posts(upside down) and rolled up the other side. 7 weeks off work,broken collar bone and whip lash in abundance........ When i viewed the car at the salvage place all smashed up,boot squashed in,rear seats pushed into fronts,both front seats looked like / \ facing in..........i was lucky compared to the poor guy in a Cerbera parked next to it. All blood over the drivers seat,same road,hit a lamp post,crushed the fibre glass car and severed a main artery............passenger walked away! Then i went 4x4 with a cavalier gsi4x4............that was a money pit !!! From transfer box,wish bones,head gasket........i will never buy a vauxhall again.......ever! I digress a lot but this wrx although admittedly not that quick compared to the sti version or modded ones,its brought back those cosworth memories of past. Hard to explain,but back in the day the cosworth rwd standard was around 200hp(the 4x4 was 220 ish) and 1200kg/1250kg,so not much in it 0-60 ish today. I do like the sure footedness of 4wd,the ability to give it some in the bends in the wet over rwd (lets be honest its wet more than its dry in the UK) But the cosworth was a more luxurious drive,maybe the leather seats etc and the extra bit of room. Certainly did not sound as nice as the flat 4 B) So just mods now without falling into the ever spending trap of not being happy Without going too far(might as well get an sti) i will be sensible and aim for 260-280hp overall . My concerns are pushing it and turbo gaskets failing(happened on my s14a) and of course brakes requiring updating. Guess time will change things as always ;) If i can have a 2 or 3yrs cheap running of a WRX then i would be tempted for a newer sti (pre 06). Already had an offer to buy from my MOT guy,took it out,looked around and said he will buy it come time. He worked on Subarus for about 8yrs before coming to my local garage,so must be worth a pass next MOT 2 keys,2fobs,has the standard thatcham cat 1 alarm and imob,and also another thatcham cat 1 imob Took me a while to find the keypad but i am a newb :P

Thanks Jay :)

Hi ,thank you for the welcome,yes that would be great,probably be around end of Jan at earliest for me,maybe Feb. Not sure if i will be getting rims 1st or map...........decisions decisions I just dont want to risk any reliability if makes sense as i need it daily. The headlights were already on it when bought,i still have the original ones stored. I guess they are a Marmite mod,some love/hate........... I quite like them so will be staying for now but have found a few VW owners in work love the bugeye as it is(reminds them of the beetle). I will be leaving the suspension as is too,more so due to the roads around here and compared to the 4x4 it handles like a dream anyway I find the 215/45/17 soak up the bumps fine so not sure about going larger and lower profile(have done on previous cars and end up pot hole dodging...........cba with all that again) must be old age

Hi there,i am ven,had a subaru now for a few months and enjoying it . Long story short,before kids i had a few performance cars from Fiesta Turbos to Saphire Cosworths and 200sx s14a etc etc etc . Then i needed something a little bigger due to little ones........... No people carrier for me so bought a shogun v6. Had this for around 8yrs,bought it with just 57k on the clock and sold with 120k all FSH and every MOT. Spent a heck of a lot in mods,winches to rock slider,body lifts,suspension lifts etc etc ........pretty much the opposite to performance cars. Was great for family stuff and green laning/pay and play sites(lots of youtube vids). Also for towing the caravan...... So a part of the family as some of you guys will know having a motor for years. I got fed up of the 12mpg at best,also started to be a little relentless on repairs too so i wanted something a bit newer and more reliable with age. Had to be Jap or German,ideally 4wd (or AWD) and ideally 4 doors for ease with a young family. Looked at evos but cost/repairs and all the electrickary would prove a potential major expense in the price range i was looking not to mention part costs. So we are down to the only other brand imho and of course Subaru. I am a newb to the brand so i did not look to into the Sti options nor the PPP etc . I just wanted a standard car and thats what i found,1 owner from new and FSH from SUbaru. Call to the garage its lived at,MOT checks on line and all come back good. As i got it Swapped the orange reflectors for more discrete ones I also swapped the orange repeaters for clear at 1st Better imo than orange but still too pronounced,so smoked now Swapped the standard head unit(will be changing again for a full screen one) Swapped the pretty new Subaru air filter for a K&N Was not too happy about the quiet flat 4 burble,wanted it a little louder but not too intrusive,so off with the standard back box Got the nice burble sound now so happy,may replace centre section and one of the two cats at some point ...............dont know yet. http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/venn105/car/D52E23E4-35AB-493F-88B2-AD24080D4D6C_zpsz8olu23y.jpg Thats pretty much it for now,not sure and undecided on what to do next. Thought about changing the down pipe and removing a cat,re-map to a sensible 260-280hp ............maybe. I guess i dont want to risk any reliability issues long term and it is pretty nippy compared to a 2.5t truck Not only that,speed restrictions till 2017 at least on the m60 and i guess no where to open it up much, does not make me rush into anything right now. Been looking at either re-furbing the standard wheels or just buying some more. As the boots are pretty good on it (pilot sport 3) i may just get 4 x 17" rims and stick with that size over 18" rims. Maybe 35 off set to bring a little more out to the arch as look too narrow as it is,do prefer a wider track. Must say 27mpg ish is great compared to 12mpg :D oh and i can overtake now too..........now and then ;) :) Tips ideas welcome for sensible and safe improvements and anyone around the Manchester area for a potential re-map is greatly appreciated. Comment good / bad welcome Cheers all ven :)