ok, never bothered with doing one for my car before but im now planning on making it interesting rather than just changing what i felt needing doing,,,,, so its sort of gonna be a project im hoping ,,,,, anyway here goes

first of all a few years ago i was planning to go to the ring with my cossie



but someone else prefered the car and decided to steal it instead so that year i had to take my BMW run about,,,,, though i did spend a good day with XRT-Si "ring prepping it for the trip



and what sexy sticker they was and worked well as the car made it there 25 laps and back !!!

though ill admit with *cough* 160k miles on the clock it was never gonna make it back the following year SO as i LOVED my BMW and cause it cost fuck all to run i decided to look for a quicker car to take to the Ring,,,,,,,,,, and so the hunt for a BMW M3 was on !!!

i looked at 3 of them,,, didnt feel like a cossie, didnt feel "fun" and,,,,,, the price of parts scared me if im honest so the missus sugested we go take a look at the impreza about 5 miles from the M3 Evo i test drove,,,,,,, and ill admit they are fucking ugly and had no interst in them,,,,, but you know have to keep the wife sweet and all that,,,, so we took a drive to have a look at this motor





now i told her that this is not a car we are gonna buy, its over what i would spend on a impreza, its a car trader and its JUST to get a idea what they feel like ( basically telling her in a polite way we aint getting a fucking chavs car !!!)

i took it for a test drive,,,,,,, WORST THING I EVER DONE,,,,,, cause i LOVED it, best car i EVER drove,,, was like a playstation just FUCKING LOVED IT,,,,,, so,,,,, without even telliing the missus i came back from the test drive,,,,,,, and paid for it on my debit card with out even knowing ANYTHING about them

turns out its a V3 Impreza STI which has forged engine as standard, 300ish bhp and,,,,,,, oh yeah insurance is 1300 quid a year !!!!!,,,,,,

advice to anyone,,,,, GET A INSURANCE QUOTE BEFORE PAYING FOR A CAR,,,,, Better yet leave just a deposit rather than pay for it in full like a cunt i am !!!

so with the new impreza..... a few weeks later it was time to take it to germany to test the car out







it done well if im honest and apart from it being a bit "understeery,,,,,pmsl" i loved it,,, even let Jim Galbally have a lap of the ring in the shed too


He also loved it aswell,,,,,

now time to come home



just just needed a few tweeks like maybe A spare set of wheels,,,, but just the one set pmsl







notice i love these wheels

and erm,,,, something doing with that rhino horn on the bonnet but ill get to the nose later

OK as now i decided to keep the car rather than sell it ( ive yet to actually sell a fucking car and im 31 now pmsl) i thought i would "mod" the suspension a little bit







basic list is HKS coilovers with adjustable top mounts and pillowball bearings, powerflex bushes EVERYWHERE, wjiteline front and rear roll bars, rear alloy drop links, anti lift kit, steering rack bushes, STI adjustable rear tie bars, and front rose joint drop links,,,,

basically i managed to lower it 25 mill pmsl and hopefully sort that understeer perhaps,,,,,

oh and another set of wheels too,,, wanted 17's for the road and didnt wanna risk my RL7's pmsl



and there it is,,,, ok prob a went a little far on the handling but,,,,,, im happy for now, few more months and its ring time !!!

THEN on a cold febuary morning i woke up to this



OH GOODIE GOODIE GOOODIE GOODIE GOODIE,,,,,,, subaru in the snow,,,,,,, its home turf,,,,,, FINALLY all this stupid money on fuel will pay off,,,,,, i wil DRIVE my subaru in the snow,,,,, my 4wd will save me and i will LAUGH and the people and there 2wd motors,,,,,, I AM THE KING OF THE ROAD !!!!




DOH !!!!

damage aint TOO bad,,, honest pmsl







NOW I CAN LOOSE THAT FUCKING RHINO HORN !!!





may aswell get a carbon bonnet as i need a new one i guess

now for the damage




apart from needing new pullys, cam covers, rad, bumper, bonnet, headlamp, slam panel, front panel, and a few other tweeks,,,,,, hardly any damage in the crash pmsl

after a few months the car was done






so i thought i would celebrate the car being finished on time for the ring,,,,,,

with ANOTHER set of wheels,,,,,









and off to germany we go

well we got to dover and on the ferry,,,,,,,, all is well........and erm,,,,,,,



and then we get off the ferry and erm




then,, we get going again


until ANOTHER ford !!!




FINALLY,,,,, we make it into germany,, time for a meal



then a few laps is on order




done 2 laps of the ring,,,, first one was told no bonnet pins so had to borrow gaffer tape to "hide" the pins pmsl,,,,, though all we had was grey pmsl

then after the 3rd lap the box was whining and so slowed down ( which im fucking slow anyway so,,,, this was REAL slow pmsl) and discovered the car was either low on oil or,,,,,, well lets hope it was low on oil and but just incase lets not go back on the ring

clean up all the under neath of it ( and fuck me there was loads) refill with some oil ( that i happened to bring with me,,,,, 5 litres aswell but just needed 2 for a top up)and leave overnight,,,,,,, morning comes and NO OIL LEAKS,,,, take it for another lap,,,,,,,, whining box when giving it beans so sod anymore laps this trip, still got the drive home to do,,,,,,,,,

so time to just take a look at others having fun



we all drove home..... though i used another 3 litres of gearbox oil on the journey pmsl

anyway i drove around with it for about another 10k which it whining when driven hard and apart from needing 1 litre every 1k miles it was fine pmsl

WELL now the clutch was slipping,, time for a box change at the same time and ive got a few weeks till the ring so,,,,, well they dont call me lastmin.com for nothing

time for a quick clutch change,,,,and a gearbox






always buy a car with service history,,,, i have a invoice for 1200 quid for a twin plated clutch fitted,,,,,,


guess it was fitted in the boot or something


well the car is finished,,, the morning before i leave for the ring the,,,, well wont go into it but the car dont go in the end !

NOW 3 weeks after a mate of mine is given the keys to my car,,,, then i get the car back the following day with no 3rd gear pmsl

Now this is where i am at right now

gearbox rebuilding,,, my NEW project pmsl









and this is how the car looks at the min



ill update when i can unless i forget

hope you enjoy

 

wife had a uk wagon turbo, and both she and i loved driving it.

jason

 

Good read mate.Why don't they allow bonnet pins at the ring? Thought the same thing when I went for a test drive in mine " not buying it, hate the things, there like arse holes.. everyone's got one, hang on a minute it's actually quite good lol. Got to sell it now though as the misses is expecting number 3 in two weeks and the baby seats all want fit in the back, but till its gone I'm going to enjoy it, and finally get round to taking it over the snake pass

 

the reason for the pin ban is incase you run over a small child,,,,, who HAPPENS to be crossing the road at the ring and snaq hes trousers or scrape a dirty rip in his skin at 130mph,,,,,,,,,, they are just dangerous so nothing sharp can stick out of the bonnet,,,,,, i got Aerocatch fitted to it now though,,,,,, another perfect thing i bought that i love pmsl

 

ill admit i HATE the subaru image,,,, i told a bloke before im into cars and said love going to the ring and was asked what i drove,,,,,, the bloke then started talking down to me as i own a childs car and dont know what a fun track car is about

oh and i wont use it to go to a funeral in either,,,, or a job interview or ANYWHERE infact pmsl

 

Cracking wee read that

 

i had to laugh when i seen you crashed in the snow lol when id my sub i could nt wait for the snow too, drove about 2 mile and i was nearly in the hedge twice
it was nt long before id it parked up in the garage again til the snow was gone, tbh i think my saff would be easier to drive in the snow and its 2wd.
good read mate keep it up

 

Looks nice Ginge - good story too

I had my old classic last winter and i thought i was invincible in the snow i was kind of lucky i didn't hit anything when all four corners locked up and i skidded sideways down my street

 

hey i aint fussed about the snow, was pissed that i kept 3k in the bank for when the engine died,,,,, had the car a year and only thing i needed for it was a radiator that i got FOC from nissens so i spent just over 2k on the suspension and crashed the car a few weeks later meaning ANOTHER 2 and a half grand on parts to repair so i spent around 4,800 quid on the car in 7 weeks was a bit of a sting in my arse ill admit but the car REALLY drives well

 

Great read Ginge, it's been an adventure with the Scoob that's for sure. Not seen such good pics of your Saph before either, that looked bloody nice

I see a few pics of my Evo tucked in there too, one of the better Ring trips ended with me, you and my brother all heading back to the Ferry at a nice 100 mph cruise

What's next on the list of "to do" things for the Scoobie then?

 

Good write up, I do like Scoobs, my old one was a grin factor of 10. Stuff the image though, drive what you like.

Please paint the bonnet though, I never did like white cars with black bonnets, just looks unfinished.

 

well gearbox for a start im thinking pmsl then im hoping to actually get some more power in the car as it SOOO needs more power

hows MY Evo coming along,,, hope your looking after it for me pmsl

seriously though how has the evo been working since the last trip as i noticed in nigels thread he was using your garage for both of his sheds

 

NIce read. Interesting but you havnt had much luck with it!

 

hey ive had the car for a few years now and apart from the crash and a mate killing the gearbox all thats gone on it are the clutch and a gearbox,,,,,, for 35k miles, 2 ring trips and,,,, if im honest it gets driven quite fast ALOT of the time it aint done too bad

also the last gearbox was 100 quid i think and the stage 1 excedy clutch was a fucking bargain you could say pmsl

new gearbox is 250 quid im buying and will carry on with this over time i would think and recon the rebuild will be around 900 quidish with new diffs, bearings and gaskets

 

Nice project

 

the clutch that was fitted to it IS a twin plate clutch,
pressure plate and drive plate, thats 2 lol,
i've got a 2000 classic, the mrs uses it for running around in etc,
got to admit its actualy quite good to drive,
only needed a clutch in 14 months we've had it,
i didnt like it at 1st as i was comparing it to my cossy,
but they're just very differant cars and cant be compared realy
and they're quite reasonable for parts(as long as its not from the dealers) so not bad as an everyday car

 

the fuel is crap for every day if im honest as i do 30 miles a day and get 200 miles to a tank or worse if i enjoy my drive

 

scrap the shed!!! lol looking good mate

 

clarke its getting close to that idea,,,,, ive taken off the rear boot lid today aswell

wonder what its worth in bits ?

 

Nice write up fella, shame about the damage in the snow, looks like you bought your's from the same guy i got mine from (d mcann near hemel hempsted????)

I was the same as you i wanted somthing but was'nt sure what as the evo's where out of my price range and to worried about getting a cossie as was worried about rust, but really did'nt want an impreza but thought i'd just try one, not the best idea

Not sure what test drive route he took you on but i got as far the chicane they had put in to slow people down and told him i'd have it and i was in the passenger seat and had'nt even driven it

Keep up the good work

p.s i'm still a ford lover threw and threw

 

Nice writeup there mate and I'd forgotten that you damaged the front end like that. You were lucky not to lose your engine in that accident because they tend to bend valves when you damage the cam pulleys!

I love your ST2's, that's what I want for mine

 

was it a bloke with a french bulldog and a garage you would kill your mother to have and would live about it as a flat ? if so yeah thats him, proper nice bloke, generally im funny with people but he was straight up and honest and even told me what to look for aswell though he wasnt cheap but the car was imaculate and full (fake) service history but that was the owner and not the bloke i bought it from

paul when the lamppost jumped out infront of me,,,,, as i was sliding down a hill at 15mph TOPS on ice i had enough time to turn the engine off,,,,, search the ipod for a nice tune to listen to and read a book before the impact,,,,, being down hill i was doing 10ishmph but when it lost traction i startedto speed up STRAIGHT into it grrrrr !!!!

i like them too,,,,,,, hence i use them for the road but im gonna get another set of wheels soon, need a different offset for my slicks as they catch on the coilovers which is anoying

 

thats the manifold, cant think if ive taken anymore pics but i will soon as i get round to fitting my P1 rear spoiler

 

i didnt know how hidden the Vf was on these! give it a clean pal it looks like its been workin in a mine!

 

i shouldn't like this car but i think it's ACE....

 

i think ive cleaned the car 6 times since ive owned in and one of them was was the bodyshop who sprayed the bumpers as they wanted to see if the paint was the right colour

ps: what is a VF ?

 

VF would be the turbo and being an sti 3 it will be a vf23

 

so how come it didnt make it to the ring in the end chap?? great read

 

Oh dear come on ginge!

ihi Vf's were fitted to JDM sti's and td04s to wrx's, td05' 16gs were fitted to uk spec 270+bhp cars

 

93-96 wrx saloons were fitted with TD05 16gs with a 90 degree entry, the wrx wagon came with the td04. UK cars up to 96 had the td05 and then switched to the td04, uk cars were 208bhp until 98 and 99 increased to 215bhp but could have 245bhp with the optional ppp.

Only two Uk cars the came with 276bhp the P1 and 22B type UK.

 

aye, theres 2 differ types of td04's for the uk spec 1998+'s too, td04L and td04HL, Hl coming on boost earlier, Had a L on my starlet at 1.4 bar and flew, ihi vf23 is a similar turbo to the L but is roller bearing and alot more reliable and worth 4 times as much

 

VF23 is a bit bigger as it will flow to around 330ish and the TD04 will flow to about 280ish give or take. The old mitsi turbos are tough as nails, if anything the early VFs are more prone to going.

 

never made it to the ring as i had a mate who was comming with me but he pulled out literally 6 hours before i was due to go and didnt fancy doing the trip on my own in a car that was just finished and Jim Galbally was due to go on his own and sib also had a spare seat from dover so i went as a passenger,,,, first time i done it and i quite liked it if im honest

didnt realise you was talking about the turbo, yes mine has a vf23, will have a bigger turbo on it soon though as it needs a bit more power

 

nice motor glade the bonnet got bent ,i did same in snow to mine just used the hand brake so it was only one corner damaged ,had 2 clutches in mine 400brake seemed to eat them
no a good idear race bikes tho

 

Nice story fella.Im not a lover of imprezas but at least your enjoying it and thats the main thing.

 

mate i HONESTLY wasnt till i drove this, i drove a uk turbo 2000 just after i bought this and the difference is just unreal,,,,,, at first i thought mine must be superpowered or something,,,, turns out that sti's are the quick ones and the others need to be made quicker pmsl