Jay762

I had no issues with mine other than the wheels suffered corrosion - had them refurbed, front top suspension mounts clunking - need replacing. Other than that no issues. I did find the STI brembo brakes a bit wooden - they worked great but there was very little feel - never got to the bottom of that one - I think it is the relationship between calipers and the master cylinder as the RX I have now has loads of feel, which is more like I expected

There is a thread somewhere on here where we discussed the different settings, dial and DCCD but I remember the best (most fun) setting being switching the c diff to manual then minimum setting, turning the TCS off (hold the button for 3 seconds) and selecting s# Do this when you have got used to it a bit though

ha ha - not telling, its a surprise

I used a tape measure / ruler to choose mine - 20mm each side got them close

Awesome motor - good times ahead

I had it on mine - some of the feedback I received referred to possibly looking for an coolant leak but mine is a lot older than yours - cleaned most of it off using jizer and then snow foam

turned out well

nice one

power not something he needs to worry about at this stage

Wotcha and welcome - smart

Would be interested in how you get on with the 1.5 hatch as looking at one of those as a possibility for my lad

Wotcha and welcome - obviously we are ever so slightly biased on here but the petrol Fozzy is a great motor - the STI version even better Given your location have you considered an Outback? More estate than SUV?

never heard of 'bedding tyres in' - had something similar before but it was an unbalanced tyre / wheel combination through a new but faulty tyre. That was some time ago and not had anything similar since, assumed modern tyres were no prone to the issue oh and welcome

Sounds like a plan

Get antilag mapped in

there is quite a bit - has been covered in a thread a while back but off top of head... larger wheel bearings, larger and different / lightweight hubs (alloy), larger ARB's, possibly different internals (not sure) larger brake discs, different calipers, possibly different injectors (again not sure). More power. The mods on the silver one are pretty good from what you can see - there could do with being more detail on the actual engine components used but Bob Rawle has a very good reputation for his work, all of the external stuff can be reversed to standard no problem. Thrashing a scoob is no issue if you warm the car up properly and cool down after, it is the poorly maintained examples you need to look at with a view to corrective maintenance. If you are willing to take the time you can get the right car for you - a lot of the newer cars tend to be owned by the 'ahem, cough' more mature owner that takes a bit more pride in ownership as insurance can put many potential younger owners off + the £500 tax isn't as attractive to those with a tighter budget. But the ultimate standard low mileage non thrashed examples are brand new in showrooms - that is the only way you can be absolutely certain - otherwise it is service history and former owner.

Have you considered these? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201608317310270?search-target=usedcars&make=subaru&model=impreza&price-from=12000&price-to=13000&sort=default&radius=1500&postcode=dh15jq&page=1&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=9 http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201609097608393?search-target=usedcars&make=subaru&model=impreza&price-from=12000&price-to=13000&sort=default&postcode=dh15jq&radius=1500&searchcontext=default&page=2&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=1

That is a big wedge of cash for a WRX - I would look for an STI for the same money and benefit from functional changes like larger alloy hubs etc instead

@salsa-king - yours is still on standard internals is it not?

Look for a full history - cam belt change at at least 35 - 40K and budget for a ecutek type map - if not done already - this would not be for power but to have it fuelling properly through the rev range

Did you drop the tyre pressures at all?

Looking good - that BMW had some grunt

I spoke to Subaru about this and the ECU 'flash' they offered which changed the parameters of fuelling and if the Prodrive version I had included those changes. The said they were included and from 2009 it was all sorted with the 330s model coming out. Unfortunately that is not true as seen by quite a few failures (mine never had an issue - and it did get driven ). If what Subaru told you was true why is it predominantly No. 4 cylinder? The Pistons themselves are not forged which deals with the ringland failure issue but a bespoke map for your motor is a strong recommendation, get the ECU setup exactly for your engine. Petes mate had one fail through oil starvation so whilst Subaru state the failure due to high revs etc that does not explain the failure itself. Lack of oil for some reason would be a cause and it has been discussed a few times on the forum about how the oil will not return to the sump under continued hard cornering - Track use for instance) - so a baffle plate and uprated oil pump would be in order if that is how you plan to use the motor. I really like the STI hatch I had and will have another, no doubt about it but I will be tweaking it to compensate for the Subaru manufacturing compromises

doh! - That is skim reading the header

Hi - any chance of a few more shots - there was a member looking for an RB5 a while back - might still be interested