Stuart89

EDIT - Videos added at the bottom of this post

Hey,

Well I picked my STI up about 3 weeks ago and Im loving it.

Some pics of it when I got it





Some of the things that arent clear in the pics, the car is heavily swirled, Im certain its been washed with a sponge its entire life, the wheels are ageing and showing signs, paint bubbles and chip marks, no kerbing though and the headlights are UV faded along the top which really makes the car look ****e.

First thing to do is the most important thing you could do with any car - get good tyres on it!

Enter a set of Federal 595 RSR's (Brilliant tyre for anyone interested, cheap to buy with amazing grip and predicibility). The car came on budgets and jesus, I had no faith in them what so ever.

Before the tyres arrived though, the car went in for a full detail only 2 weeks after getting it, Ive missed it so much this past week and only just been driving it again on the new tyres today.







A before shot:



After shot:



You can see my daily driver in this pic



Then I decided to get the wheels powder coated before the detail finished, a very good idea I think you'll agree when you see the finished pics.



A few random progress shots

















My new wheels





And some finished pics, I appologise for the bad quality, it was dark when we finished and I only used my iphone, I will be taking better pics with an SLR when I completely finish the car. I still need to remove some polish from door jams and dress the plastics black.
















Some videos

Before:


After:


Walkaround:


Thanks for reading ,

Stuart.

toyney83

iTrader: (3)

Looking good fella

Ginola

iTrader: (25)

Looking good Stu like the new colour on the wheels

How are you finding the RSR's?

Hawkeye D

Great work. Given that a lovely new fresh lease of life. Nice one.

Stuart89

Thanks, I havent had a chance to really test them yet because its been raining tonight but you can feel the immediate difference between them and the budgets, just instant precision and control. I had the RSR's on my Mini before I bought the Subaru and they were just amazing, loads of grip in the dry and still a lot of grip in the wet providing you drive smoothly. I used to think Toyo T1-R's gripped well but these are in a different league really.

Stuart.

thenewgalaxy

Federals seem good but not had much of an opportunity to push a car fitted with them. I'm really interested to know what those new S001 Bridgestones are like not aware of anyone with them fitted to an Impreza.

Big difference between Toyo T1-Rs and the newer T1-Sports, the T1-Rs are not good for newage and hatch cars imo.

The OP has a smart looking car good to see someone putting the effort into making one look like it should!

STIWR1

Looks great - was the rear spoiler difficult to remove?

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

Very clean and tidy looking car, those feds are getting some great reviews

blackvenom

Gorgeous car mate

Stuart89

Nah its very easy, open the boot and remove all the nuts, there are two hiding underneath the rubber bump stops at the corners and then it will pull off, it is clipped in 4 places and you will need to disconnect the 3rd brake light to remove it, the connector is on the side of the boot brackets and it will pull through the hole. You need silicon then when putting it back on to seal the nuts and brake cable to stop water leaks.

The thing thats impressive with the federals is the price, for the money theres not much to beat them. I paid just over £90 a corner from camskills and they are pretty hard wearing.

Stuart.

CREWJ

Looking very nice. Good work.

salsa-king

what those tyres then... it's not a brand I'd of thought of buying.



well done with the car cleaning... alloys look so much better that colour too.

53

iTrader: (41)

Federal 595 RSR's

mervil

iTrader: (5)

Love it

+1 on those wheels... great colour and they really suit the car! The RS-Rs are great tyres! Plenty of dry weather grip... not pushed them in the wet mind

Good luck with the rest of your plans

Stuart89

Thanks for the comments guys

Apparently the RSR is the only good tyre they make, if I remember correctly they are a korean brand.

I pushed them in the wet with the mini and they did really well, like I said earlier as long as you drive smooth and dont jerk on the steering wheel they wont suddenly break contact. When they begin to understeer its progressive and predictive, you can just back off the throttle and its sorted. Obviously I cant speak for them on a subaru as Ive only just put them on but so far they feel good but Im no where near pushing the car

Stuart.

EssexJamie

iTrader: (5)

Looks good, can't beat a Proper good clean.

gregwill

iTrader: (1)

Looking really smart and clean there mate I take it you did all the work to it yourself? I have never tried them tyres I use vredestein ultrac sessanta's just purchased a full set for mine cost me 102 per corner.

Greg

stonejedi

iTrader: (51)

Nice.SJ.

Stuart89

My brother done it all and I just helped him with the preclean and waxing, he does all the machine work. Ive still got the trim, engine bay and interior to do though.

Stuart.

STI Glenn

You have worked hard on it looks great ,a nice splitter would finish it off

Stuart89

Funny you should say that, I ordered one yesterday

gmanwrx

Looks very nice mate. Top job very clean

Stuart89

Little bump, videos have been added, watched them in HD