New impreza owner needing a little advice
 

Hello first of all peeps, I've waited a long time to become a Subaru owner and on Monday I picked up my 99 plate classic :D if anyone can help me with a few questions that would be appreciated..

1. Which oil do I use, the local parts factor carlube book reccomends 5/30 longlife but I've heard 10/40 semi is better ??

2. Fuel ? It's a classic uk running 286bhp, I have no idea what mapping it's had done but it pulls like a train, I can't seem to get a straight answer on the subject, normal unleaded or super unleaded :s

3. Brakes, it's had 4 pot upgrade on it but they feel weak, on this model are they poor or do I need to check the system ? Pads and discs are fine but I was going to do a fluid change to see if that would solve it

I'm sure these have been answered a thousand times so I thank you for your answers in advance

cheers all, john :)

[quote=WRX-John;9406746]Hello first of all peeps, I've waited a long time to become a Subaru owner and on Monday I picked up my 99 plate classic :D if anyone can help me with a few questions that would be appreciated..

1. Which oil do I use, the local parts factor carlube book reccomends 5/30 longlife but I've heard 10/40 semi is better ??

2. Fuel ? It's a classic uk running 286bhp, I have no idea what mapping it's had done but it pulls like a train, I can't seem to get a straight answer on the subject, normal unleaded or super unleaded :s

3. Brakes, it's had 4 pot upgrade on it but they feel weak, on this model are they poor or do I need to check the system ? Pads and discs are fine but I was going to do a fluid change to see if that wouyour answers in advance


hiya john welcome to the site regarding oil subaru reckon 10/40 semi but other people use full synthetic like millers fuel tesco 99 ron super or shell v power not normal unleaded subaru brakes are ****e anyway:thumb: hope you enjoy the subaru experience post some pics

Speak to Opie oils,

www.opieoils.co.uk

I've found that he is a total oil expert, and is a member on here. If you speak to him, he can tell you the proper oil, for the mileage of the car, and for its usage, i.e. lots of stop start short journeys, or motorway miles. He also does a scoobynet member discount.

As for fuel, with a turbo car, and especially as yours appears mapped, I would think that it would need to be run on High Octane fuel, but it might be advisable to speak to the mapper to check what fuel it was mapped for, but in most cases as power is the main objective, its probably mapped for high octane I would imagine.

As for brakes, if the discs and pads look OK, then thats about as good as it gets - a bleed and fluid renew might help but to be perfectly honest, I have never rated the 4pot brakes at all. I've always thought them to be poor brakes, but I think you just have to use more legpower if you are used to over servo'd brakes on other cars. Once you get used to them, they are good brakes, you just need to get used to giving them more legpower - get used to them on an empty road or something and see how far you can push them. I think the only downsides to impreza's might be the brakes and the headlights, other than that, really reliable cars.

for gods sake dont put normal unleaded in,
as above v-power or tesco 99

and i always use the best oil i can get, yeah it is expensive but so is a rebuild.

i use miller fully synth 10w 60 its race spec oil , i dont like the 10/40 too thin when hot but others will probably have different opinions but as always worked for me.

1. agree with shaggydoo, speak to opie. i have a 99 import running 270 and use 10/50 silkolene pro s fully synth

2. Has to be super unleaded. V-Power/Tesco 99

3. i have the 4 pot set-up also, they do take getting used to but they should be fine. if you fancy an upgrade highly recommend Ian @ Godspeed. Got reconditioned calipers (with stainless pistons) and their grooved discs, very resonable price and great service.

hope this helps :thumb:

Thanks for your quick replys, I can see the oil topic being a big debate but I will contact him and seek his advice, as for the fuel I filled up with normal unleaded, newbi error, will it be ok for this one off error ?

Cheers

yep :thumb:

Thanks nick :)

defo speak with opie oils for oil but i use 10w 50...round about 50 bucks for a 5 litre...always 99 octane or higher if you can get it. regular fuel is only 95, and bp and esso are only 97 for thier premium.... brakes?. if they don;t feel like their stopping and everything is fine and not worn, i'd get a better system or defo get them checked, not good, enjoy your scoob and post some pics mate!:)

By modern standards the 4 pots don't feel too good, but you just have to get used to them, they are adequate for road use.

If you really don't like them you could put a set of secondhand newage Brembos on the car, but will need to make sure your wheels will fit over them.

TESCO 99/V-power is the stuff to use as stated already.

The 4 pots are good with better fluid (DOT 5), discs and pads.
You could always renew the seals if your good with a spanner, I have done mine.

http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/part...42&var=26&dc=y

Have a look at the link below. I have the grooved pads and they are very good.

http://www.godspeedbrakes.co.uk/

Hi John Re brakes, a lot of people fit braided front brake lines and a bracket that supports the servo to firm up the brakes. Your MY99 should have 4 pots as std on the front. worth checking to see which pads it does have, some work better than others and some only work well when they are very hot.

Re fuel, likely run on SUL, there is a thread on here re millers octane booster which may well work out more cost effective. I used to use this in MY MY99 insted of sul.

One thing to watch. The MY99's do go through MAF sensors, especially if fitted with an induction kit. MAF failure can result in melted pistons so worth a search on here and perhaps even changing yours for a new one as a proactive approach if the age of yours is in doubt. This is an issue with MY99 models and some MY00's dependant on when they where made rather than sold.

Good luck and enjoy!:)

1) Agood quality fully synthetic 10W-40 eg Motul or Royal Purple.
2) Shell V-Poer or Tesco 99.
3) Start with the brake bias mod for £45 and go from there.

Thanks for all the help, I've still got the origanal air box on with a panal filter but not to sure how old the maf is..

Harvey where can I get one of those mods from pal ?

Something we do regularly here in Darlington.
Where are you located?

Doncaster, ur about 100 miles away I think

M18/A1M Junction to workshop is 84 mls and 1hr 15- 1hr20 subject to traffic and roadworks.

I had a '98 S Classic and the brake discs kept cracking on me, certainly the brakes werent the best for track (which could be why they kept cracking) but for road they were ok.