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I've always loved the look of the Spec C Type RA. I love the clean lines when the side skirts and giant spoiler are taken away, and the smaller carbon fibre spoiler and Enkei alloys give it a purposeful but subtle aggression.
I've been keeping my eye out for a nice clean example for a couple of years now and had almost given up on finding what I wanted. It had to be white, lowish mileage and unmodified. As I already own a highly modified blob, I wanted this to be as close to standard as possible.
I saw this one advertised on FB back in August, a fresh import with only 32k miles on the clock. I provisionally agreed for the seller to hold it until I could come and see it, which I did the following weekend and promptly put a deposit down.
Although the car is very clean, there were some bits I wanted tidying before I took delivery on the car. The front splitter was missing and the suspension has been swapped out for a set of in-car adjustables. The car was really low and the wheels had rubbed the arches so the previous owner had had them rolled! Also, the front winglets had been scraped and rear arch extensions had a couple of chips. The front calipers were looking a little worse for wear and the cat was cracked.
Rather than mess around with the front wings, we decided to replace them. At the same time we'd add new genuine winglets, front splitter and rear arch extenders. While the car is at the paintshop, it will also get a clear underseal and caliper refurbish. So here are some pictures so far, please bare in mind that the car is fresh off the boat and hasn't been detailed or even properly washed yet.
first day in the UK
The coilovers had to go
The original adjustable pink suspension was put back on
Off to paint All back together
There's still plenty to do before I collect which is likely to be December now. New DBA disks and PFZ pads all round. Full service including gearbox and diff. New set of AD08's. New decals. Full detail and sealer.
I'm keeping the titanium exhaust on it for now but an OEM cat back system is also included so I can change it in the future if I want to. I'm also leaving the stiffer ARB's on it for now as the OEM ones are easy enough to source.
You have the massive wing and sideskirts on your modified Blob and the track orientated version on this. You must be a happy chappy. Well pleased for you dude
@NOSSY_89 hahahaha. unfortunately not. With this new lockdown I'm expecting the registration to be delayed ever more, they are talking 8-12 weeks now! And because it's the DVLA, there's no way of checking the progress of an application.
I spoke to Tom yesterday to make some final decisions on brakes and tyres, etc. The painter is doing the final bits tomorrow so should hopefully have some more pictures over the weekend. Transport is booked to take it back to Bristol next week so we can finish doing the service parts and refit all of the interior. I'm hoping to have Richard Cope map the car once it's ready. If the registration is still not here then we do have some trade plates but I'm not sure if he'll map it before it's registered....
I am very happy and just a little bit excited!
I'm also really glad I decided to keep the other one. It's an expensive decision but these cars aren't exactly going down in value, at least that's what I told the wife!
Thanks @johno01
I'm thinking the this one may be a bit more fun on a sunday morning B road blast with the lightness, quick rack and short ratio box.
I'm also interested to feel the difference with the twin scroll and ELHs, I'm told the power band is steady from 2-8k rpm and makes it feels more like an NA car.
The black one is very rigid so it does skip around a bit on uneven roads. On the track it is a monster though!
Mate where are you getting the OE STI Pink ARBs from. If at a decent price now might be worth getting them and storing. Not trying to make you spend money lol but I've seen the price of genuine STI parts and the price just seems to be going up for the most part and thats if you can find them from somewhere other than the dealer.
Mate where are you getting the OE STI Pink ARBs from. If at a decent price now might be worth getting them and storing. Not trying to make you spend money lol but I've seen the price of genuine STI parts and the price just seems to be going up for the most part and thats if you can find them from somewhere other than the dealer.
@NOSSY_89 interesting, I was actually told these came with the black STi ARB. Your comment got me doing some more research and it appears the RA, S203 & S204 have different ARB mounts and should have the pink ARB as standard. Other spec c models had the standard STi ones. It's really hard to find any official documentation though as it's all in Japanese...
@Don Clark Are you able to shed any light on this please mate? If you have a part number that would be even better!
So, to follow up on the ARB thing. We've checked the Subaru system and these come with the black 20mm version. The only cars to have the pink 21mm ARB as standard were the RA-R and S203/4 models. That said, I think it was a catalog option so some may have them, I know another type RA locally who has the pink bar.
That car looks amazing, the Blob RA really is the best looking from that shape IMO. Tom was showing me it when he'd just won it at auction. That man is a complete topper of a lad and I have no doubt in my mind that car will be fantastic, you are in good hands with him. I hope you enjoy the car. I'd be in agreement with you on the roll bar situation. Those look like Super Pro and I'm sure they will be superior to the OE RA items. I will probably opt for a set myself after my project starts moving again instead of rusty Whiteline gear lol.
Any other plans? Have you been eyeing up a bigger a Twinscroll turbo yet? haha.
I 'm sure I remember seeing you asking about SPG XL's. I have them in my JDM Hawk for a few years and lended them to WUZ some time ago but I'm unsure if he had the same issues we have regarding the trim fouling. The rails I have are 'Buddy Club' supplied by Alyn @ AS Performance, although they are badged M2? The shoulder bolsters were too close to the lower B-pillar trim so I ended up just emoving the trim and totally forgot about it.
I believe it will be a case of trial and error to see what works but I'm sure between the two of us we could work it out with Tom's help
@Dreep
Thanks Kyle. Yes, Tom has been fantastic. He's helped with sorting everything out and answering my plethora of questions at all hours of the day, it helps that he's had a few of these pass through in the past too. When you buy a car like this it's as much about who you are buying it from and right from the off we were able to share the vision for it. There's not many other places that would have it up on a ramp for inspection before it's even been cleaned! That honesty and openness is all you can ask for and there's not too much of that around in the subaru world any more.
The purist in me wants to try to keep it as standard as possible, so we've actually been removing some of the uprated parts and replacing them with the OEM bits. Again, Tom has been great as he has a lot of that rare OEM stuff sitting on the shelf. That said, never say never. I'm keeping my other blob for now though and that runs a very fast spooling 460hp, so I can mix and match.
I did have an issue fitting the Recaro on the Impreza specific Recaro base. I actually decided it wasn't the right seat for me anyway so sold it on and managed to recoup what I'd spent. Those M2 mounts fit really well, I had them with a set of Pro2000+ when I bought the car and wish I'd kept them now; I sold them far too cheap as well! If I do decide to change the seats in the future I'd probably go for a sparco seat again, they just seem to be comfortable for me.
Next thing on my agenda though is to get my driveway sorted and finally get a garage up so I have somewhere to store them.
So, to follow up on the ARB thing. We've checked the Subaru system and these come with the black 20mm version. The only cars to have the pink 21mm ARB as standard were the RA-R and S203/4 models. That said, I think it was a catalog option so some may have them, I know another type RA locally who has the pink bar.
Glad you got to the bottom of it
Word of warning, do not go through the parts catalogue loooooooool
That car looks amazing, the Blob RA really is the best looking from that shape IMO. Tom was showing me it when he'd just won it at auction. That man is a complete topper of a lad and I have no doubt in my mind that car will be fantastic, you are in good hands with him. I hope you enjoy the car. I'd be in agreement with you on the roll bar situation. Those look like Super Pro and I'm sure they will be superior to the OE RA items. I will probably opt for a set myself after my project starts moving again instead of rusty Whiteline gear lol.
Any other plans? Have you been eyeing up a bigger a Twinscroll turbo yet? haha.
I 'm sure I remember seeing you asking about SPG XL's. I have them in my JDM Hawk for a few years and lended them to WUZ some time ago but I'm unsure if he had the same issues we have regarding the trim fouling. The rails I have are 'Buddy Club' supplied by Alyn @ AS Performance, although they are badged M2? The shoulder bolsters were too close to the lower B-pillar trim so I ended up just emoving the trim and totally forgot about it.
I believe it will be a case of trial and error to see what works but I'm sure between the two of us we could work it out with Tom's help
Cheers,
Kyle
They did foul initially when I fitted the SPG XL's to my Spec C RA but I "modded" my Buddy Club Rails and thus moved the Seat 15mm towards the Centre of the car..... issue sorted. I gave Kyle his ones back (after a while) and ended up buying my own as they really were that comfortable, 4 years later they are still in the Spec C RA I can still say that Kyle was correct right from the start - these really are the best seats ever!
So, to follow up on the ARB thing. We've checked the Subaru system and these come with the black 20mm version. The only cars to have the pink 21mm ARB as standard were the RA-R and S203/4 models. That said, I think it was a catalog option so some may have them, I know another type RA locally who has the pink bar.
Correct - the Blobeye Spec C RA comes with Black ARB's from the factory......... or at least the ones on my RA did!
They did foul initially when I fitted the SPG XL's to my Spec C RA but I "modded" my Buddy Club Rails and thus moved the Seat 15mm towards the Centre of the car..... issue sorted. I gave Kyle his ones back (after a while) and ended up buying my own as they really were that comfortable, 4 years later they are still in the Spec C RA I can still say that Kyle was correct right from the start - these really are the best seats ever!
@WUZ I'd been told they are really comfy which is why I bought it. It was sold to me as an XL but it was seriously tight and I'm not a huge guy. I think it was probably a standard size and the guy mis-sold it to me, when I sold it on I listed it as a standard. To make it fit I would have had to adjust the base, like you say. What was strange to me was that I had an official recaro base for it (impreza specific) and it still fouled. I would like a nice set of seats for my black one at some point in the future but for the time being the budget is being spent elsewhere.
Well the XL is a nice fit for me and I have a 38" waist and I am 17 Stone but the SPG XL's have been more comfortable than any other car seat bucket or not.
Well the XL is a nice fit for me and I have a 38" waist and I am 17 Stone but the SPG XL's have been more comfortable than any other car seat bucket or not.
Would be good to get a comparison with OMP WRC-R's in the type R, Russ.
I just checked the specs against the SPG XL and even the non XL OMP is 2" wider in the **** and it was a snug fit on me before lockdown... Maybe I should get round to Duncs and check if my fat *** still fits in the car!
Well the XL is a nice fit for me and I have a 38" waist and I am 17 Stone but the SPG XL's have been more comfortable than any other car seat bucket or not.
I'm a 34" waist so this definitely wasn't an XL then! I sold it as a standard size and the guy that bought it from me was very happy with it. @WUZ do you have a blob or hawk? Any pics?
@NOSSY_89 interesting, I was actually told these came with the black STi ARB. Your comment got me doing some more research and it appears the RA, S203 & S204 have different ARB mounts and should have the pink ARB as standard. Other spec c models had the standard STi ones. It's really hard to find any official documentation though as it's all in Japanese...
@Don Clark Are you able to shed any light on this please mate? If you have a part number that would be even better!
I have a copy saved of the original website created for this model when it was released.
You can load the html files into chrome and then use translate from japanese function.
if you want a copy of the files pm me your email address.
I have a copy saved of the original website created for this model when it was released.
You can load the html files into chrome and then use translate from japanese function.
if you want a copy of the files pm me your email address.
@Dreep
Thanks Kyle. Yes, Tom has been fantastic. He's helped with sorting everything out and answering my plethora of questions at all hours of the day, it helps that he's had a few of these pass through in the past too. When you buy a car like this it's as much about who you are buying it from and right from the off we were able to share the vision for it. There's not many other places that would have it up on a ramp for inspection before it's even been cleaned! That honesty and openness is all you can ask for and there's not too much of that around in the subaru world any more.
The purist in me wants to try to keep it as standard as possible, so we've actually been removing some of the uprated parts and replacing them with the OEM bits. Again, Tom has been great as he has a lot of that rare OEM stuff sitting on the shelf. That said, never say never. I'm keeping my other blob for now though and that runs a very fast spooling 460hp, so I can mix and match.
I did have an issue fitting the Recaro on the Impreza specific Recaro base. I actually decided it wasn't the right seat for me anyway so sold it on and managed to recoup what I'd spent. Those M2 mounts fit really well, I had them with a set of Pro2000+ when I bought the car and wish I'd kept them now; I sold them far too cheap as well! If I do decide to change the seats in the future I'd probably go for a sparco seat again, they just seem to be comfortable for me.
Next thing on my agenda though is to get my driveway sorted and finally get a garage up so I have somewhere to store them.
I understand your point from the purist perspective but at the same time a bigger twinscroll turbo won't hurt 😝
I feel as long as it is good quality parts being fitted then I am all for it.
Originally Posted by WUZ
They did foul initially when I fitted the SPG XL's to my Spec C RA but I "modded" my Buddy Club Rails and thus moved the Seat 15mm towards the Centre of the car..... issue sorted. I gave Kyle his ones back (after a while) and ended up buying my own as they really were that comfortable, 4 years later they are still in the Spec C RA I can still say that Kyle was correct right from the start - these really are the best seats ever!
Recaro always have made the best seats let's be honest. Never seen the huge fascinaton with Bride seats either, when you see proper track focused builds in Japan they all run Recaros anyway. It's more of a poser / drift thing I think. Plus we aren't racing snakes so wouldn't fit in them either lol.
I assume you just elongated the mounting holes on the rails so that they can sit wider and then shift the seat closer to the centre of the car ?
Originally Posted by LewisScoob
Would be good to get a comparison with OMP WRC-R's in the type R, Russ.
I just checked the specs against the SPG XL and even the non XL OMP is 2" wider in the **** and it was a snug fit on me before lockdown... Maybe I should get round to Duncs and check if my fat *** still fits in the car!
More than welcome to plant your **** in mine seeing as they are sitting around doing **** all. My SPGs have become quite the ***** haha.
Originally Posted by adam.pah
I'm a 34" waist so this definitely wasn't an XL then! I sold it as a standard size and the guy that bought it from me was very happy with it. @WUZ do you have a blob or hawk? Any pics?
The XLs are actually a bit of a rare seat tbh.
You can tell the difference between the regular SPG and the XL by the harness slots. They are alot larger in the XLs and are almost triangular in shape, whereas the SPGs are a rounded rectangular shape. The XL is also taller in comparison.
I agree @Dreep that a few quality parts don't hurt. I'm going to see how I feel once I'm driving it, I definitely won't be taking as far as my other one though.
Looking at your definition, I definitely had the standard size then. I've got a picture somewhere...
If you decide to move yours on at any point then please let me know, I'd definitely be interested as it was between these and the poles that I was considering.
I'm hoping to head up to Scotland in the new year. I'll most likely be rebuilding the engine in my other one so will need to do some running in miles and I promised the mrs a trip north of the border.
13 November 2020, 02:56 PM
Spec C Type RA
If I do decide to change the seats in the future I'd probably go for a sparco seat again, they just seem to be comfortable for me. 
