Adam

I have low tints on my GT-B on all side windows and the tailgate. Still looks good from the outside but its not silly dark so doesn't attract the attention of the law.

I was in Tlag's garage yesterday and Bip unboxed a turbo the size of a water melon and said his Dad would be using it in the project car, so I have a rough idea what he's up to!

She was sat in the back of my car plotting ways to get her own car to the 'ring all the way home, and after talking to your wife today I think she is keen on taking her Z3 over too... Sounds like you're going to have a convoy from Coventry to Germany soon!

The photo with the BMWs and the Merc was in the hotel car park and belonged to our fellow guests. Always a good time there. We didn't go with the expectation of doing a lot of driving because it's the wrong time of year. Both the Legacys that went were bought earlier in the year as cheap run-abouts as my GT-B has head gasket issues, and Rob's GT-V had bottom-end fail at Hockenheim. I hadn't been since 2012 so this weekend was my last chance to make sure my record of going every year was unbroken, even if it was only in a GL! It also gave me a chance to take my 16-year old son for his first trip... Methinks he'll be going back whenever he can!

It's normally really quiet at the 'Ring at this time of year, but this weekend the weather on Saturday was very good and it was quite busy. There was snow on Sunday, but by then we were heading home! My car wasn't the only Legacy 2.0 GL there!

The block cases but not the internals as they will not be strong enough. Turbo engines also have a lower compression ratio so the pistons have shaped surface, while non-turbo pistons are flat.

Subaru say every 6,000 miles but I like to do mine more often if I can. Use a Genuine Subaru filter too. These engines will last well but only if you look after the oil. EJ205 was the basic turbo engine for version 5 and 6. It was also used on the WRX but that car had a higher state of tune. The STi used the EJ207 which had more agressive cams and revised inlet. In the Applied model code, digit 6 is the trim level. '8' was used for the base turbo model in all markets, so in the UK that was Turbo 2000, in mainland Europe it was the GT and in Japan it was the WRX. Digit 5 gives the market, with 2, 4 or 5 being for Japan (2, 4 or 5 doors), 'K' for Eurpoe RHD and 'L' for Europe LHD. ('Y' was USA if you seen any of them!). The 17-digit VIN code was not used in Japan when the classis Impreza was built. If your car was a JDM car the VIN would be GF8-xxxxxx. The WRX and STi versions were not sold in the UK until version 7 (New Age 'Bug Eye').

I hope to meet up with Tlag and Bip next week to talk about a new website for their business. If they want that page (and the gearbox code page also on that site) I will dig out the original source code and rewrite it for them. If they're not interested maybe we can talk about hosting it on here somewhere? It was a lot of work when I wrote it and it seems a shame to see it vanish when the hosting contract runs out.

From memory it would have been about 220bhp from new. They can get 250-260bhp with a good map so if you are getting more it probably will have had other work done. Is the paperwork a rolling road print out or a mapper's estimate? Do you know who did the map?

Yes, but when that was new it was the best you could get in the UK, so don't feel too upset! I broke one for parts earlier in the year and I still have a full interior for sale... You don't need new seats by any chance :p

You trying to make me blush?!

Not planning to film as most of the driving will be at night. I'll probably do a couple of laps while I'm there, but that's not the reason for going... It's an end-of-season p*** up! I'll have my DSLR with me so I'll get some stills and post them when I get back.

Since writing that page I've been able to decode most common Subaru codes from memory. Sometime I feel like a right geek!

Funny you should say that, but the only time I ever drink that stuff is heading home after one of our European trips. It is therefore time to stock up again as I'm off to the Nürburgring this weekend...

A few years ago I wrote THIS webpage about the Applied model codes. The company I wrote it for has since gone bust so the page may vanish from the web any day, so enjoy it while you can!

Sorry, I fell asleep before I got that far down the list! Digit 5 is for the market where the car was sold, so look for that first to see if its an import. JDM cars have numbers, everywhere else it's a letter.

That list is for JDM cars... Yours is a UK car as the K = "European and General market (right hand drive)" Its a UK Turbo 2000. As you already said, the H is for version 6. Edit... A few years ago I wrote This webpage about the Applied model codes. The company I wrote it for has since gone bust so it may vanish from the web any day, so enjoy it while you can!

If it is valve damage due to having too much oil you could get away without having a full rebuild. It still wont be cheap as the engine will need to come out and the heads removed, but the bottom end could be left untouched. Depending on what has failed, it may then be easier to refurbish the heads or buy a set of replacements. Cost would be in the same area as having head gaskets done, plus the cost of head work or replacement on top.

Do you have the Appled Model Code? They are much easier to figure out!

Gearbox oil would be my first guess. Has the problem started since the oil change? If so, are you sure the correct type of oil has been used and it has been filled to the correct level?

I love the photo of Beechey and the tank. You just know he wants to play!

The P1 lights are very hard to find, but they do come in two flavours... Although they look identical you can have either normal fog lights of gas-discharge driving lights.

Maybe you should think about changing your profile photo before asking things like that :p

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Can't just drop it in... The complex twin-turbo setup will require a GT-B ECU and full wiring loom, then you will need a new exhaust system to feed the turbos, then an intercooler and bonnet scoop... It would be a lot easier to buy a full GT-B car and fit Outback suspension and body kit etc to that. I think some in the USA has done that.