I was just going through some old files on an external hard drive and thought you may be interested in seeing these pics.
I took them at Greenwood Subaru near Manchester in 2006 when they had a brand new Spec D in the showroom with a WR blue STI

 

Found out a bit more info on mine, got the local dealers to do a check on chassis number as i was trying to see had PPP been fitted at any point. turns out mine was one of the Subaru UK press cars. So have tried contacting Subaru UK for more info

 

Anybody know what the T button is? sits just below indicator stock on the cowling?

 

It's for the smart nav system

Gambit which dealer did you ring. I've tried two and just been fobbed off, subaru and prodrive also did the same !!

 

Sure its so you can talk to the traffic master help desk if you get lost etc, ties in with the sat nav feature

 

Ahhh right, in that case mine is no longer lol found it while removing the sat nav facia today, alarm led was used to plug the hole for meantime!

Http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...ps29cf93d3.jpg

@cuprajake - i rang the dealer that was in service history and spoke to their service desk, told them i was looking some info on a car they used to service (back in 2010) they couldnt have been more helpful

 

I think it totally depends on who you speak to. I've tracked vehicle histories on Scoobs i've looked at/bourght and it amazes me how helpful some will be and how useless others are!

One dealer told me they have no record of the car at all (Despite 4 fairly recent stamps and checking via Reg and VIN)... i phoned back the same place a day later after the owner assuring me it was ligit and another guy found it straight away.
Best bet is to try the face to face touch cause that way they can't fob you off by playing angry birds when pretending to look at their database!

 

My car was originally a Ppp car but since then, what with the map I've had done etc and the engine rebuild as well as the trackitive solutions slip jointed exhaust there's not much of the PP pack left. But it was easily distinguishable as a PPP by the chrome sticker under the bonnet next to the bonnet catch saying that it had a 'PPP fitted with 316bhp please inform your insurance company' not sure if this was on all PPP cars though. I'll get a pic of it on here as soon as I can get it out of the garage. Years ago I called Monks Heath Subaru in the hope that my classic had a PPP fitted, they did a quick check and informed me straight away that it was a 'no' :-( oh well!! I went on to buy an STi blob off them.

 

You'll be able to add me to the list later this week, agreed to buy a Spec-D to replace my very tired 177,000 mile UK Turbo this morning...

 

Nice one mate... I think you'll be pleased with the upgrade!

 

nice one Andy,lets see a pic and give us the reg date.

 

As promised here's a snap of the sticker under the bonnet

 

Well i defo dont have one of those

 

Arrrgh that's a shame, I don't know if they were put on all the PPP cars or just the odd one here and there!
Did you manage to find out any more info on yours?

 

Had a quick clean up today under the bonnet, could do with spending a lot more time on it though with the correct cleaning stuff. Not a big fan of steam cleaning after ad experiences in the past

 

You running BC's on that Warren?

 

Yeah they're BC (BR I think) with internal adjusters for the back, they are really good and transform the handling of the car :-)

 

Just got the makings of rear strut knock now so it's good to get some feedback from a fellow Spec D. Hows the harshness compared to standard for you? I've seen people say its the seats not the suspension that makes the 'bobble head' bouncyness in a Spec D?

 

Mine was just the same with firstly a slight knock from the rear, it then got louder and more pronounced pretty quickly. The cost of replacement std shocks was stupid money. So I bought a full set of BCs off Neil at scoobyworld. Had them set up properly too with some proper geometry. The ride height has been dropped too, sometimes I find it to low and impractical, might get it raised back up abit soon. As for harshness, they are a lot harsher than std struts but remember you can adjust the dampness, I have mine 3 clicks off the softest setting just for general road use. That's just enough for pretty much everything day to day and the car seems very stable when you are 'making progress' through the twisty bits ;-) they are 1000 times better than the std struts and they've been on the car now over two years with no probs, touch wood!!
I'm considering may be getting some ARBs fitted too.

 

Sounds interesting. They seem good value for me given i'm not looking for a track car. A little concerned if they are much harsher but then a stiff car is a fun car!!

I did the ARB's on my last scoob and I was amazed at how that transformed it all. I had 22 whiteline front and 24mm eibach rear which made the tail quite playful + the whiteline droplinks. Still had a bit of understeer but a lot better! To be honest I want to invest in that type of setup again before struts/springs as i have seen the results (plus ALK too) but the knocking will do my nut if it gets worse!

 

wasnt able to find anymore info on it, last thing to do is lift the carpet and check the ecu just outta curiosity but there are no tell tale signs anywhere

 

I went the ALK + ARB route 2 years ago and completely agree - Fantastic upgrade! Last year I also fitted JDM pink springs and struts and CDF droplinks all round which improved things further along with uprated bushes for the rear diff cradle & outriggers + the positive shift kit finished things off nicely.

Unfortunately due to still having the standard inverted type struts I think im getting the knocking coming back again so think its time to go for a set of coilovers. Am looking at KW or Bilstein at the moment.

 

Can you guys not just rebuild the strut with a grease nipple

 

Could you look at the fuel pump too, because I the PPPs have the upgraded walbro pump

 

As an interim fix I'm considering it but its such an **** to do when you have to work on a driveway in our lovely predictable weather.

Its also the classic dilemma of "why remove and refit the old suspension when you can spend the same amount of effort putting shiny new bits in" (ok so there is a fairly hefty cost implication too compared to nips/grease but we'll dust over that!).

 

I considered that but its only a temporary fix - you need to keep packing the struts with grease which is a concern as where does the old grease go? Will it seep out the top of the struts? Not sure I like that idea as theres a chance it could affect the brakes (not saying it would but I dont fancy the risk).

Also the underlying problem is with the strut design. The housing gets clogged up with dry old grease and this affects the travel of the strut - a normal right way up strut wouldnt suffer this issue as there is no external housing.

Its a shame as im pretty much happy with my handling setup at this point but there is no aftermarket options other than going for coilovers. I wish Bilstein did a B12 kit for our cars with a fixed perch strut and Eibach springs - I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

 

+1 - I've heard that Eibach springs on the stock struts are a great match until the struts fail/knock. It also maintains that 'stock' look too when it comes to selling.

 

Andy, did you get your Spec D ?

 

I did

Very happy with it, it is a strange mixture of very similar to my old UK Turbo and also very different...

First registered 21/03/2007



I knew the suspension would be a lot firmer than my old Turbo, didn't expect it to be quite so bouncy on the motorway !

 

Very nice Andy!
I know what you mean about the bouncyness on the motorway. 'Bobbleheading' I believe it is known as and a suspension change is the fix. Eibach lowering springs on the stock struts is supposed to be the cheapest method if you are on low mileage.

If you don't do much motorway driving its not really worth doing IMO.

Any mods on it? Whats the mileage?