Adam

I'll have a look at that over the weekend. Thank you both for you replies.

I acquired these about a year ago under the impression that they are v3/4 STi heads. The plan was to use them to convirt a twin-turbo Legacy to single-turbo. Anyway the owner of the car had to pull out, the project was never started, and they have been sat in a corner ever since. I recently offered them for sale as v3/4 STi heads and sent some photos to the potential buyer only to be told they are not what I though they were. Neither myself or the garage that were looking to buy them know what they are, so the question is, does anyone know what they are from? Adam.

!Removed! typical... I put a pair in the skip about a month ago as I thought I would never find anyone who would want them :(

Well yes, plus I think I'm a better photographer than the magazine man!

I do think the photo of his car at the Nürburgring he uses in his signature is miles better than the one in the magazine... But then I would say that :)

UK spec Turbos has steel bonnets, except for the P1. The alloy ones are hard to find, easy to damage, hard to paint and cost quite a lot. If you are only interested in the looks I would suggest you save your money and go for a steel one.

Well he has offered to autograph a copy of the magazine for me, so maybe I was a littke harsh! :)

!Removed! show off!

That's good. Better you have it for your new business than some playboy racing driver :)

Same thing happened to me a few years ago but luckily I was less than 100 yards from home at the time. The standard wheel has some weight and thus acts like a second flywheel. Pros for going lightweight are quicker throttle responce and more eager to rev, Cons are it will be harder to drive smoothly in town and more likely to stall when pulling away from standstill.

Sniff test isn't always 100% accurate, but it's a good 95% And on that subject... Mr Tlag, did you have my sniff test kit? Not worried if you did but I don't remember where it went in the chaos of the move!

Brembo brakes are awesome but brakes are only as good as the weakest link. Disc, pads, lines and fluid also play a huge part. When was the last time you changed the brake fluid? The standard rubber lines go off over time and rubber is disolved into the fluid giving a spongy feel. Also, if the brakes have been cooked in the past the fluid will never fully recover. Get yourself a set of good quality aftermarket brake lines (HEL for example) and when you change them flush all the old fluid out and replace with new 5.1 DOT. Once you have done that, you will be able to get the best from whatever discs and pads you choose to fit. No an issue for you, but the New Age master cylinder is much better than the design fitted to the Classic, so for owners of the older cars this is also a great upgrade.

There were quite a lot of SVX sold in the UK, and quite a few Jap imports too, so they should be about if you look hard enough. A friend of mine was breaking one a few months ago (he has fitted the 3.3 engine in a Legacy) so I'll see if he still has the manifold, but I suspect that will now be also fitted to the Legacy.

If anyone is interested, I have an aftermarket bonnet blanket for an Impreza Classic Turbo which I could do with selling some time. It's never been used being an unwanted gift (note to well meaning friends... I drive a Legacy!) and even if it did fit my car, it's not really my style as it's made of some sort of aluminium foil, so is a bit too shiney for me. If anyone is interested I'll dig it out of the shed and post some photos. If not, it will go on eBay if I can ever be bothered.

Yes, Top Gear is just about having fun with cars. It works too as I, along with Bip, Tlag and few few other idiots, have spent thousands over the years copying their ideas. Miles better than a boring normal holiday, so as far as I'm concerned it's a travel show!

I'm told it was Pitlochry in Scotland.

What make of fuel pump have you fitted? Walbro are very popular (I have one in my GT-B ) but they had a dodgy batch a year or two ago and many are failing now so if it's had a bad knock that may be the problem. Also, when you changed from standard to upgraded did you get the ECU mapped for the change? If not, the fuelling may we way out.

Don't know anyone up that way, sorry. Have you checked the exhaust system itselt? The accident could have caused one or both of the cats to collapse, thus giving too much restriction. Sorry if this has already been suggested... I'm too lazy to read old posts!

Found one for sale, ready to import to the UK... HERE. It'll only cost you $48,000 plus taxes!

Subaru have made turbo versions of every generation of Legacy for their home market, normally called the RS in saloon shape and GT for the estate. The first generation RS from 1989 had the single turbo EJ20G that was so good it won Subaru their first WRC championship and later found its way into the Impreza from 1992. While the UK did get a turbo version of the generation 1, it was watered down compaired with the RS in Japan and nowhere near as good as the RS type-R and type-RA. After the generation 1 went out of production the UK never had another turbo Legacy (unless you count the diesel). In Japan the second and third generation both had twin-turbo engines that were never used in other Subaru cars, but from 2003 the Legacy got a twin-scroll turbo in the fourth generation that later found a home in some Impreza. Probably the best Legacy ever was the S402 which was a limited edition in 2009 and had a 2.5 twin scroll... Until then every Legacy turbo was based on the EJ20. The tS (named for 'tuned by STI') has been out for a while in Japan, but we will never see it officially here. You can always import your own though... I have a second generation twin-turbo on my drive! Edit... The Legact tS was a limited edition in 2010, so they are all gone by now! Details Here.

Oh God, now we're in trouble...

Hello! Now I love the Legacy... Until last week I owned four but I'm trying to cut back and now I only have the three! However, I am not a fan of the latest generation (Gen5). I think it's got too big and too soft, and what have they done with the styling? Maybe I'm just too 'old school' and maybe it will grow on me with time, but for now... No thanks! How does it compair with older Legacys you have had? Somehow I think it has lost the 'rally car with a boot' appeal that made them so special.

If the up-pipe is holed you will almost certainly hear it making a "blowing exhaust" sound and you will also be down on boost as there will be less exhaust gas pressure to spin the turbo. I can't see any logical reason why it would or could effect another part of the system. If you think you have damage in that area, have you looked at the lambda sensor? Not to far from the up-pipe and will effect the running.

The mapping is the most important part in that chain as it will show up any problems elsewhere, and if they are small it can compensate for them. If they are not small you will go away with a shopping list for any new parts that are needed!

All EJ20 engines. It's not so much a design problem, it's more likely one of two things... An old age problem when things like the fuel pump get weak over time, or a bad tuning problem where other mods put demands on the fuel supply that they were not designed to handle.