2005 Widetrack
29 March 2015, 11:07 AM
#1
2005 Widetrack Blob STI
Thought it was about time I added a thread for my current car.
Here she is as she looks today.
If you're interested in how she got to this point, read on, it's been a long journey!
I bought my 2005 crystal grey widetrack STi back in February 2012 after selling my blue WRX that had served me so well for the last 7 years.
Many of you will likely have seen that old car in the first 2 minutes of the Wheeler Dealers episode where they went on to ruin a silver bugeye, but my old car was the one featured as the example car at the start, pictured here with the prodrive bumper I ran for a few years before selling.
I had loved owning and driving that car but wanted more power.
Having gotten the WRX to 330bhp by means of a vf35 and some other bits, and in the 7 years of ownership, learned about the weaknesses of the 4 pot brakes (which I uprated to K Sport 8 pots), 5 speed gearbox and WRX engine, I decided that rather than go the expense of buying all the STi engine and drivetrain components, it was easier to trade up.
Over the previous 4 years, I'd met the late Simon Roe (Jolly Green Monster), who had mapped the WRX quite a few times in the pursuit of more power, and I became a regular visitor to Surrey Rolling Road and its obligatory curry nights. Si had advised me that the widetrack STi was a solid buy and had probably the strongest 2.0 engine fitted to UK newage cars, and he reckoned the block was good for 500 on standard internals, although I was aiming for a goal of around 400 at the time.
With this in mind I set out searching for an unmolested car and I found a crystal grey widetrack with about 56000 miles on for a good price locally; the only modification being a set of Tein lowering springs, so the WRX was stripped of the bits I wanted to transfer (the K Sport brakes, PIAA wipers, silicone engine hoses, Zero sports cool action radiator panel, prodrive battery clamp and oil cap, ATI 3 gauge pod and Prosport gauges, STI Alloy strut brace and CDF racing brake stopper - thanks to Neil (White Noise) for popping over and being my assistant whilst I swapped some of this over) and then sold to a member of my local group Berkshire Scoobies.
I decided to keep the K-Sports and transfer the front brembos onto the bug for the sale as I felt the K-Sports provided better braking, and Surrey Subaru Specialists swapped these over to the new car for me, along with the whiteine anti lift kit I had on the bug.
Why crystal grey? My old bug being WR Blue had attracted a lot of attention from the Saxo and Corsa crowd, with them regularly pulling up next to me at the lights and revving the **** off their chariots. I just felt crystal grey was less of a "look at me" and more subtle colour...well that was the idea back in the beginning
.
Here she is on the day I bought her:
The engine hoses were then swapped over and the K-Sports fitted, and in went a Green panel air filter I had from my old bug.
I also fitted some bonnet lifters from eBay and sourced a second hand zero sports airbox hose - does nothing for performance but looked pretty
And then it all went bonkers with the buying!
A 3" Zero Sports exhaust with a one off one piece AAS down pipe was purchased from Scooby Spares, and this was fitted, followed by the car having a full service; the exhaust is on the left here after Si's old Kakimoto exhaust from his classic failed to fit.
I also managed to source a second hand Perrin 25mm rear anti roll bar and uprated rear drop links, together with stout mounts.
To start with, I gave the car a thorough service; everything I knew how to do I changed - coolant, oil (engine, gearbox, diff), plugs, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter, oil filter, the lot - this way I figured at least I knew what I was starting with.
For plugs I opted for a set of NGK PFR7B's and gapped em to 0.65mm.
Dan at Surrey Subaru Specialists also fitted me a set of Goodridge braided hoses and changed the brake fluid for me as this is something I still prefer to leave to an expert!
I bought a widetrack ECU with an ECUTek license from Rob Day on here - much cheaper than paying the ECUTek license fee (although knowing what I do now I'd probably have gone Carberry ROM on open source).
I also purchased and fitted an HRC 290lph fuel pump, given that my aim here was to get the car to at least 400bhp and for that power a 255 might be struggling a little.
April 2012
At the start of the month, I noticed a humming at the rear that got progressively louder over the following week - in fact, going down the M4 it sounded like I was being followed by a space ship - yep, rear wheel bearing on the way out.
I dropped the car off with Dan @ Surrey Subaru Specialists and he quickly resolved the problem at a very good price (less than half than a dealer had charged for my bugeye when it went).
At the end of April I bought a set of Inovit Redlines - having had them on the bug I felt I wanted a set of 18's for this car as well. The wheels went to Mags @ Ruislip tyres and were refurbed in gunmetal, before being wrapped in Hankook Evo Ventus 225/40 tyres, before the car was aligned through Surrey Subaru Specialists.
Map with JGM
Once all this was done, still in April 2012, I returned to Simon and Charlie at Surrey Rolling Road in search of some more power, where Simon added a Prodrive 3 port solenoid and swapped the ECU's over, but here we initially hit a snag; the car just didn't want to make much power.
In fact, it made less than my old WRX...
The original thinking was the Zero Sports item's vortex generator was too restrictive, so we tried running the car with just a down pipe (LOUD!), but it still didn't really improve.
A compression test revealed nothing out of the ordinary - the car seemed fine but still maxed out at about 317bhp - it just wouldn't go further. I was left thinking - wish I hadn't sold the bug!
May 2012
The car went into Surrey Subaru again and Dan fitted a Perrin quick shift I'd picked up in the TSL clearance on eBay, along with the anti roll bar and droplinks.
After the disappointing map results, suspecting the turbo may be at fault, I purchased a used 20g from Mark (TurboTurner) that he'd had rebuilt by AET and had run 400bhp on meth with, and a set of Lateral 650cc injectors from another member on here (might even have been Mark as well but can't remember!).
I purchased a 3" Revolution system as well just in case the Zero Sports system was restrictive, sold the Zero Sports system, and bought a second hand set of Harvey ported headers from Scooby Spares and a matched up pipe direct from Harvey Smith (who was even kind enough to take a look at the headers and verify they looked like his work).
I also bought an AEM wing mounted CAIK from Scott and Andy @ Scooby Spares, sourced a new filter for it, and bought a Viper induction hose given the OEM inlet hose's penchant for ripping when removed from the car.
At this point, one of the rear shocks had started knocking so loudly I could no longer ignore it.....so it was time for coilovers.
As it happened, the timing was appropriate - during Japfest 2012 I had a long chat with the guys on the Tegiwa Imports stand and agreed a good deal on a Racing Logic coilover setup.
Here they are fitted.
Exceptionally well put together looking set of shocks, slightly firmer ride than the old BC's on my WRX but handled a little better.
They also looked a lot beefier in terms of build quality. One alignment later and the car was good to go.
At the end of May, another irritating niggle struck with the power steering belt deciding to shred itself on a journey home.
Thankfully I was able to remove the belt before it totally perished, and so it was straight back to Dan's for a new Gates aircon drive belt and power steering belt. Much better, car was happy again!
June 2012
A set of Ian Godney's well known Godspeed grooved rear discs and EBC blue stuff NDX pads went on in the last week of June as the ones on the car were at the end of their useful life. Dan also adjusted the handbrake for me as it wasn't holding properly without a good deal of ratcheting.
July 2012 - Wedding Car
Whilst I was procuring all the other bits and trying to get on top of stuff I also bought my first HT Autos splitter. Note the word first as this was the first of 3 splitters I've since had on the car!
The first one arrived the weekend before I was due to be the wedding car for a couple I've known for several years, and low and behold on picking up some of the bridal party in the morning, I managed to crack it in half on a kerb doing a 3 point turn.
Cue panic, dremel to drill two small holes and cable ties for a 30 minute emergency fix!
Did the trick though:
Was an honour to do it, and a hugely different wedding convoy - my friend Jamie (BerksJack) and I had great fun doing it and I'm sure he didn't complain having to ferry the bridesmaids
Well the wedding all went well, so it was back to mods a few weeks later.
August 2012 - More mods, another visit to JGM
Fitting the AEM filter was simple enough, airbox and snorkel out and new filter in.
However, as the inlet hose involved manifold removal I left fitting of this, together with the turbo, injectors, Harvey headers and up pipe in the capable hands of Dan and John at Surrey Subaru Specialists.
On it went, and back the car went to Surrey Rolling Road and JGM.
400? Erm...no not quite. The problem persisted. It appeared I'd spent over £1000 odd to gain just over 35bhp. Here's the graph.
The car felt rapid, but was still lacking mid and top end power.
September 2012
In September, I found the Japspeed FMIC offer, and given I was planning to go for 400bhp anyway, I figured I might as well shell out the cash and fit it, just to eliminate the top mount from the equation.
I also bought another HID 4300k kit from Bob Dha of Aztec Performance on here; I'd had the old kit on my bug and knew how good it was, plus as I wrote the original fitting guide on here I felt qualified enough to have a go at fitting a second set
October 2012 - FMIC Fitting
Having read a few guides on FMIC fitting, I felt confident enough to take this on myself so I spent a weekend carefully measuring and cutting the bumper and fitting the front mount.
I intially got the **** ripped out of me by Bod and CJ for fitting the intercooler core off centre (early japspeed bumper bars had the hole to fit the core off centre but it's easy to get around this by using a central bolt configuration instead), so that was quickly remedied to avoid further embarassment, and then the car was mapped.
The front shocks were also making a slight knock, and on contacting Tegiwa who supplied them, I discovered Racing Logic had issued revised top suspension plates for the car to cure this problem, which Tegiwa were good enough to supply at no charge, and Dan and John @ Surrey Subaru sorted this out for me.
I also took the opportunity to stick the headlights in the oven to de-tango them around the same time, so went for the JDM look with totally clear headlamps and Silvatec indicator bulbs.
After this was all done, the car went back to Surrey Rolling Road and Simon for another run.
The results were night and day; the car going from 355bhp to 382bhp; Simon said he'd rarely seen a car with a top mount so badly affected, but knowing what I know now, a good clean with some Jizer followed by a blow through with some air might well have improved the core - probably just clogged up with crap.
After everything it appeared the problem had been the top mount holding the car back.
Here are some graphs showing the before and after of the top mount on vf35 vs front mount on 20g, and top mount on 20g vs front mount on 20g.
Finally, the car felt quicker and with the front mount instead of the top mount, the acceleration and power was a lot more progressive rather than tearing your face off off the line
.
Unfortunately, with all this extra power, the (presumably) original clutch decided it had had enough and started slipping, so that was next on the cards.
This post is a work in progress; I've done quite a lot to the car in the last 3 years I've owned her, so will try and build this out over the next few weeks.
Coming soon:
- Finally breaking the 400bhp mark, and then a little more
- Arranging an OBP oil catch can group buy...and having one fitted
- Hella horns
- ICE and Gauge installation
- Another exhaust swap, 3 bar map sensor and RCM filter
- Some more body mods and another alignment
- Faulty Sigma alarm causes headache
- A BIG spin leading to some new wheels!
- Fuel pump electrical gremlins
- More splitters!
- Methanol map with JGM
- First map with RaceDynamix
- DAMD steering wheel
- More wheels, more body mods and a photo shoot
- Future plans
Bear with me
Here she is as she looks today.
If you're interested in how she got to this point, read on, it's been a long journey!
I bought my 2005 crystal grey widetrack STi back in February 2012 after selling my blue WRX that had served me so well for the last 7 years.
Many of you will likely have seen that old car in the first 2 minutes of the Wheeler Dealers episode where they went on to ruin a silver bugeye, but my old car was the one featured as the example car at the start, pictured here with the prodrive bumper I ran for a few years before selling.
I had loved owning and driving that car but wanted more power.
Having gotten the WRX to 330bhp by means of a vf35 and some other bits, and in the 7 years of ownership, learned about the weaknesses of the 4 pot brakes (which I uprated to K Sport 8 pots), 5 speed gearbox and WRX engine, I decided that rather than go the expense of buying all the STi engine and drivetrain components, it was easier to trade up.
Over the previous 4 years, I'd met the late Simon Roe (Jolly Green Monster), who had mapped the WRX quite a few times in the pursuit of more power, and I became a regular visitor to Surrey Rolling Road and its obligatory curry nights. Si had advised me that the widetrack STi was a solid buy and had probably the strongest 2.0 engine fitted to UK newage cars, and he reckoned the block was good for 500 on standard internals, although I was aiming for a goal of around 400 at the time.
With this in mind I set out searching for an unmolested car and I found a crystal grey widetrack with about 56000 miles on for a good price locally; the only modification being a set of Tein lowering springs, so the WRX was stripped of the bits I wanted to transfer (the K Sport brakes, PIAA wipers, silicone engine hoses, Zero sports cool action radiator panel, prodrive battery clamp and oil cap, ATI 3 gauge pod and Prosport gauges, STI Alloy strut brace and CDF racing brake stopper - thanks to Neil (White Noise) for popping over and being my assistant whilst I swapped some of this over) and then sold to a member of my local group Berkshire Scoobies.
I decided to keep the K-Sports and transfer the front brembos onto the bug for the sale as I felt the K-Sports provided better braking, and Surrey Subaru Specialists swapped these over to the new car for me, along with the whiteine anti lift kit I had on the bug.
Why crystal grey? My old bug being WR Blue had attracted a lot of attention from the Saxo and Corsa crowd, with them regularly pulling up next to me at the lights and revving the **** off their chariots. I just felt crystal grey was less of a "look at me" and more subtle colour...well that was the idea back in the beginning
.Here she is on the day I bought her:
The engine hoses were then swapped over and the K-Sports fitted, and in went a Green panel air filter I had from my old bug.
I also fitted some bonnet lifters from eBay and sourced a second hand zero sports airbox hose - does nothing for performance but looked pretty
And then it all went bonkers with the buying!
A 3" Zero Sports exhaust with a one off one piece AAS down pipe was purchased from Scooby Spares, and this was fitted, followed by the car having a full service; the exhaust is on the left here after Si's old Kakimoto exhaust from his classic failed to fit.
I also managed to source a second hand Perrin 25mm rear anti roll bar and uprated rear drop links, together with stout mounts.
To start with, I gave the car a thorough service; everything I knew how to do I changed - coolant, oil (engine, gearbox, diff), plugs, air filter, fuel filter, cabin filter, oil filter, the lot - this way I figured at least I knew what I was starting with.
For plugs I opted for a set of NGK PFR7B's and gapped em to 0.65mm.
Dan at Surrey Subaru Specialists also fitted me a set of Goodridge braided hoses and changed the brake fluid for me as this is something I still prefer to leave to an expert!
I bought a widetrack ECU with an ECUTek license from Rob Day on here - much cheaper than paying the ECUTek license fee (although knowing what I do now I'd probably have gone Carberry ROM on open source).
I also purchased and fitted an HRC 290lph fuel pump, given that my aim here was to get the car to at least 400bhp and for that power a 255 might be struggling a little.
April 2012
At the start of the month, I noticed a humming at the rear that got progressively louder over the following week - in fact, going down the M4 it sounded like I was being followed by a space ship - yep, rear wheel bearing on the way out.
I dropped the car off with Dan @ Surrey Subaru Specialists and he quickly resolved the problem at a very good price (less than half than a dealer had charged for my bugeye when it went).
At the end of April I bought a set of Inovit Redlines - having had them on the bug I felt I wanted a set of 18's for this car as well. The wheels went to Mags @ Ruislip tyres and were refurbed in gunmetal, before being wrapped in Hankook Evo Ventus 225/40 tyres, before the car was aligned through Surrey Subaru Specialists.
Map with JGM
Once all this was done, still in April 2012, I returned to Simon and Charlie at Surrey Rolling Road in search of some more power, where Simon added a Prodrive 3 port solenoid and swapped the ECU's over, but here we initially hit a snag; the car just didn't want to make much power.
In fact, it made less than my old WRX...
The original thinking was the Zero Sports item's vortex generator was too restrictive, so we tried running the car with just a down pipe (LOUD!), but it still didn't really improve.
A compression test revealed nothing out of the ordinary - the car seemed fine but still maxed out at about 317bhp - it just wouldn't go further. I was left thinking - wish I hadn't sold the bug!
May 2012
The car went into Surrey Subaru again and Dan fitted a Perrin quick shift I'd picked up in the TSL clearance on eBay, along with the anti roll bar and droplinks.
After the disappointing map results, suspecting the turbo may be at fault, I purchased a used 20g from Mark (TurboTurner) that he'd had rebuilt by AET and had run 400bhp on meth with, and a set of Lateral 650cc injectors from another member on here (might even have been Mark as well but can't remember!).
I purchased a 3" Revolution system as well just in case the Zero Sports system was restrictive, sold the Zero Sports system, and bought a second hand set of Harvey ported headers from Scooby Spares and a matched up pipe direct from Harvey Smith (who was even kind enough to take a look at the headers and verify they looked like his work).
I also bought an AEM wing mounted CAIK from Scott and Andy @ Scooby Spares, sourced a new filter for it, and bought a Viper induction hose given the OEM inlet hose's penchant for ripping when removed from the car.
At this point, one of the rear shocks had started knocking so loudly I could no longer ignore it.....so it was time for coilovers.
As it happened, the timing was appropriate - during Japfest 2012 I had a long chat with the guys on the Tegiwa Imports stand and agreed a good deal on a Racing Logic coilover setup.
Here they are fitted.
Exceptionally well put together looking set of shocks, slightly firmer ride than the old BC's on my WRX but handled a little better.
They also looked a lot beefier in terms of build quality. One alignment later and the car was good to go.
At the end of May, another irritating niggle struck with the power steering belt deciding to shred itself on a journey home.
Thankfully I was able to remove the belt before it totally perished, and so it was straight back to Dan's for a new Gates aircon drive belt and power steering belt. Much better, car was happy again!
June 2012
A set of Ian Godney's well known Godspeed grooved rear discs and EBC blue stuff NDX pads went on in the last week of June as the ones on the car were at the end of their useful life. Dan also adjusted the handbrake for me as it wasn't holding properly without a good deal of ratcheting.
July 2012 - Wedding Car
Whilst I was procuring all the other bits and trying to get on top of stuff I also bought my first HT Autos splitter. Note the word first as this was the first of 3 splitters I've since had on the car!
The first one arrived the weekend before I was due to be the wedding car for a couple I've known for several years, and low and behold on picking up some of the bridal party in the morning, I managed to crack it in half on a kerb doing a 3 point turn.
Cue panic, dremel to drill two small holes and cable ties for a 30 minute emergency fix!
Did the trick though:
Was an honour to do it, and a hugely different wedding convoy - my friend Jamie (BerksJack) and I had great fun doing it and I'm sure he didn't complain having to ferry the bridesmaids
Well the wedding all went well, so it was back to mods a few weeks later.
August 2012 - More mods, another visit to JGM
Fitting the AEM filter was simple enough, airbox and snorkel out and new filter in.
However, as the inlet hose involved manifold removal I left fitting of this, together with the turbo, injectors, Harvey headers and up pipe in the capable hands of Dan and John at Surrey Subaru Specialists.
On it went, and back the car went to Surrey Rolling Road and JGM.
400? Erm...no not quite. The problem persisted. It appeared I'd spent over £1000 odd to gain just over 35bhp
. Here's the graph.The car felt rapid, but was still lacking mid and top end power.
September 2012
In September, I found the Japspeed FMIC offer, and given I was planning to go for 400bhp anyway, I figured I might as well shell out the cash and fit it, just to eliminate the top mount from the equation.
I also bought another HID 4300k kit from Bob Dha of Aztec Performance on here; I'd had the old kit on my bug and knew how good it was, plus as I wrote the original fitting guide on here I felt qualified enough to have a go at fitting a second set
October 2012 - FMIC Fitting
Having read a few guides on FMIC fitting, I felt confident enough to take this on myself so I spent a weekend carefully measuring and cutting the bumper and fitting the front mount.
I intially got the **** ripped out of me by Bod and CJ for fitting the intercooler core off centre (early japspeed bumper bars had the hole to fit the core off centre but it's easy to get around this by using a central bolt configuration instead), so that was quickly remedied to avoid further embarassment, and then the car was mapped.
The front shocks were also making a slight knock, and on contacting Tegiwa who supplied them, I discovered Racing Logic had issued revised top suspension plates for the car to cure this problem, which Tegiwa were good enough to supply at no charge, and Dan and John @ Surrey Subaru sorted this out for me.
I also took the opportunity to stick the headlights in the oven to de-tango them around the same time, so went for the JDM look with totally clear headlamps and Silvatec indicator bulbs.
After this was all done, the car went back to Surrey Rolling Road and Simon for another run.
The results were night and day; the car going from 355bhp to 382bhp; Simon said he'd rarely seen a car with a top mount so badly affected, but knowing what I know now, a good clean with some Jizer followed by a blow through with some air might well have improved the core - probably just clogged up with crap.
After everything it appeared the problem had been the top mount holding the car back.
Here are some graphs showing the before and after of the top mount on vf35 vs front mount on 20g, and top mount on 20g vs front mount on 20g.
Finally, the car felt quicker and with the front mount instead of the top mount, the acceleration and power was a lot more progressive rather than tearing your face off off the line
.Unfortunately, with all this extra power, the (presumably) original clutch decided it had had enough and started slipping, so that was next on the cards
.This post is a work in progress; I've done quite a lot to the car in the last 3 years I've owned her, so will try and build this out over the next few weeks.
Coming soon:
- Finally breaking the 400bhp mark, and then a little more
- Arranging an OBP oil catch can group buy...and having one fitted
- Hella horns
- ICE and Gauge installation
- Another exhaust swap, 3 bar map sensor and RCM filter
- Some more body mods and another alignment
- Faulty Sigma alarm causes headache
- A BIG spin leading to some new wheels!
- Fuel pump electrical gremlins
- More splitters!
- Methanol map with JGM
- First map with RaceDynamix
- DAMD steering wheel
- More wheels, more body mods and a photo shoot
- Future plans
Bear with me
Last edited by MrNoisy; 15 April 2015 at 10:13 PM.
29 March 2015, 06:33 PM
#7
Thanks everyone for the kind comments. Have got a few more fun bits to add too like being the wedding car at my friends' wedding ; what prompted this was going through past photos at home and thinking why not do something with them.
It's never going to be quite in the same league as your car Frayz but it's kind of nice to remember the fun and the pain it's taken to get this far
; what prompted this was going through past photos at home and thinking why not do something with them.It's never going to be quite in the same league as your car Frayz but it's kind of nice to remember the fun and the pain it's taken to get this far
Last edited by MrNoisy; 29 March 2015 at 06:35 PM.
Trending Topics
31 March 2015, 02:46 PM
#16
The primary reason I got them was for brighter light so it made sense to go as bright as possible.
Passed MOT no problem last 3 years.
I also have a Fiesta ST and I switched to Osram Nightbreaker bulbs in that which have made some difference but they're still not a patch on a decent HID kit in my opinion.
I had HID's in my old bug and when I bought the blob I couldn't believe how genuinely awful the standard headlights were!
Last edited by MrNoisy; 31 March 2015 at 02:48 PM.
05 April 2015, 07:25 PM
#17
Scooby Regular
I have a 2006 Widetrack and my biting point is quite high, always has been, but I think it'll need replacing at some point, plus there's a whining noise in first which I think is the release bearing moaning, as it's my weekend car I'm not in too much of a rush to replace it, but do think it'll need doing.
OP, lovely example btw.
OP, lovely example btw.
07 April 2015, 05:42 PM
#19
Continuing from above....
November 2012 - New Clutch
Right at the start of the month I purchased a proper silicone reducer from SFS for the inlet manifold to reduce down and fit properly onto the front mount pipework. The Japspeed FMIC kit I bought didn't include one which was a bit of an oversight I thought.
Up until this point I'd recycled the old silicone hose I'd had from the TMIC which wasn't really ideal. This looked and worked much better.
I also bought a few metres of vacuum hosing to continue the blue theme for the washer jets etc.
To address the slipping clutch issue I purchased an Exedy pink clutch (supposedly good for 400 ft/lbs) from Scoobyworld at a very competitive rate, together with a lightweight flywheel from Mark @ Lateral, and decided to have the work done by Rich @ FB Tuning in Princes Risborough.
There wasn't much left of the original friction material, not the worst I've seen but not great, struggled to get to Rich's!
Whilst there Rich performed the clutch slave cylinder mod that Exedy advise, and also changed the gearbox and diff oil again for Motul fluids, which I've continued to use since, and once done the car felt a lot better to drive.
He also spotted that the clutch fork return spring was missing, at some point it had rusted and half had sheared off, so at the enormous cost of £4 I ordered up and fitted a new one from Import Car Parts.
The car felt much better and, yes you guessed it, in just a few weeks I found myself thinking....could be a bit quicker and do with a bit more torque in the midrange and top end.
Rich had dropped some hints he could wrap and fit a set of tubular headers to aid this so I was thinking it might be a good next mod.
I also did some research and evaluated what I thought I'd need and ended up looking at a toss up between the SC40 and SC42 billet turbos as the MD series were a bit out of my price range at the time.
I'll admit part of this was also Simon (JGM's) fault as he was dropping strong hints that I should buy one of the 2 SC40 billet turbos he had on his race car to fund his upgrade to the next size up, but unfortunately by the time I stopped faffing with my reading up, he'd already had 2 buyers breaking down his door and they'd both gone.
In the 2 months prior to this I'd had a few conversations with Harvey Smith via email and on the phone about headers and how to increase torque without sacrificing spool, and the general consensus was for power in the top 300's into the 400's with better torque I'd want to buy proper lateral / RCM / GT Spec 3 bolt tubular headers and a matched up pipe, so I'd gone ahead and ordered a set of new GT Spec headers and one of his 3 bolts up pipes from him.
He was, as I found out later, quite ill in hospital and sadly died soon after, but nonetheless he came across as a genuinely lovely guy and you could tell how enthusiastic he was about the scene. His business card said it all for everyone who ever received one
The rest of 2012
The rest of 2012 didn't go without incident.
When I bought the car it had only come with a single key.
A replacement coded key from a dealer was £200 (yes you read that right), and I wanted to ensure I had a spare, so to save money I tried to fabricate my own key using a blade and second hand key housing off eBay. The key itself worked, the coding didn't, and 2 locksmiths and Simon couldn't manage to get this to work - it appears it's a bit of a dark art and you need the proper Subaru details and kit to do the job....
Back to Bulldog Twyford the car went for a proper coded key, which unsurprisingly worked without incident.
At the end of the year I also took the opportunity to splash out on a millers CFS 10w50 service kit from ICP ready for the first 2013 service.
January 2013
In January 2013, after a busy Christmas, I decided, "what the hell let's push the boat out", reached out to Scoobyclinic, and purchased one of their SC42 billet turbos, planning to take it to FB Tuning and have Rich fit the bits prior to Simon mapping it.
The turbo duly arrived, and the car was booked in with FB Tuning to have the parts fitted in February.
An RCM manifold bolt kit was also purchased to aid fitment following advice from Rich.
February 2013
Tubular headers were wrapped in G-Force thermal heat wrap, and mated to a Harvey 3 bolt up pipe (already wrapped), with the SC42 being fitted to my existing down pipe and re-using the Viper inlet pipe.
Rich also replaced two badly corroded jubilee clips he noticed during the changeover.
About 3 days later I went to collect the car and returned home gingerly, where she was duly parked up until Simon was next at Surrey rolling road.
Unfortunately, this is where it all went a bit Pete Tong again, a bit like this:
- Car goes on rolling road
- Car won't make power AGAIN
- Everyone swears A LOT
Simon eventually identified the cause - which was that the SC42 being a bigger turbo than the 20g it had replaced had kinked the Viper hose so severely against the inlet manifold that it was constricting how much airflow could get into the turbo - or to put it simply - the curve of the Viper hose wasn't good enough to fit around the inlet on a bigger turbo.
This is how it looked; it wouldn't even break 350...:
I phoned Rich, who then confirmed Simon's diagnosis that it would be down to the curve of the hose and that I would need a different one to correct the problem, so the evening finished with the car being restricted back to minimal boost to prevent any problems so I could drive it until I got the new hose.
A few days later the car went to Surrey Subaru Specialists to see if they could get the Viper hose re-seated any better, and after some gentle persuasion with a bit of movement of the downpipe and some light cutting to the inlet hose, it was looking a little healthier.
Dan also adjusted the clutch biting point for me as it was a little high.
I returned to Surrey Rolling road the following week, and the car pushed on to make 412bhp and 365 ft/lbs of torque, a much more respectable figure than it had managed previously, and more importantly - we had FINALLY GOT OVER 400!
However, Simon reckoned the inlet hose was still holding the car back and that I should go for a better one that could flow more air without collapsing.
Bonus of the day was getting to watch Damien Bradley's monster Legacy go on the dyno before we finished for the night.
March 2013
After some checks on my friend Kenny's car to see if the bends in his Perrin hose were different, it looked good and in went another call to ScoobyClinic to buy the same Perrin inlet hose I'd bought for the bug I'd owned before; the advantage here was that I'd fitted that and so felt confident enough to give this one a go as well. Pricey but proven bit of kit and the bend around the inlet is very good.
See the determination....thanks to my mate Dan for lending me a couple of tools to get a few clips off that were proving challenging!
A few hours and a lot of swearing later...
Whilst I hadn't initially anticipated going for an ECU upgrade as well, on a rolling road day I attended in between the last map and fitting the Perrin hose had shown the car was making 396bhp, so had lost 16bhp on the peak figure recorded from the last session due to the standard ECU's penchant for being overly protective and pulling timing on occassion - that and probably air flow had changed dramatically and confused the ECU.
Here's a pic of the day, we had a great turnout:
Having chatted with Simon he mentioned he had a brand new Alcatek ECU in stock that he'd ordered for a customer who had subsequently gone with a Syvecs, and offered me a deal to install and map it which was very attractive.
Whilst I could have gone with the Carberry ROM via Andy Carr I decided to go with the Alcatek for the additional features it offered, so I booked in with Simon for the 27th March for a session to hopefully maximise the gains from the Perrin and the new ECU.
The improvements were clear to see; annoyingly I never did a back to back run pre and post Alcatek fitting - but the output increased from 412/365 to 432/385, the 20 ft/lb increase being the most noticeable.
It was bloody freezing in the cell at the time, and whilst I was standing in front of the fan @ SRR holding the bonnet JGM was kind enough to take this photo, which he posted on Facebook as my "432bhp face". Good times, a great guy, sorely missed.
Finally, the turbo seemed to be working to its full potential, and I was happy, but even more so when JGM wired up the anti-lag
.
Coming soon:
- Another exhaust and then a little more power
- Arranging an OBP oil catch can group buy...and having one fitted
- Hella horns
- ICE and Gauge installation
- Another exhaust swap, 3 bar map sensor and RCM filter
- Some more body mods and another alignment
- Faulty Sigma alarm causes headache
- A spin leading to some new wheels!
- Fuel pump electrical gremlins
- More splitters!
- Methanol map with JGM
- First map with RaceDynamix
- DAMD steering wheel
- More wheels, more body mods and a photo shoot
- Future plans
Bear with me
November 2012 - New Clutch
Right at the start of the month I purchased a proper silicone reducer from SFS for the inlet manifold to reduce down and fit properly onto the front mount pipework. The Japspeed FMIC kit I bought didn't include one which was a bit of an oversight I thought.
Up until this point I'd recycled the old silicone hose I'd had from the TMIC which wasn't really ideal. This looked and worked much better.
I also bought a few metres of vacuum hosing to continue the blue theme for the washer jets etc.
To address the slipping clutch issue I purchased an Exedy pink clutch (supposedly good for 400 ft/lbs) from Scoobyworld at a very competitive rate, together with a lightweight flywheel from Mark @ Lateral, and decided to have the work done by Rich @ FB Tuning in Princes Risborough.
There wasn't much left of the original friction material, not the worst I've seen but not great, struggled to get to Rich's!
Whilst there Rich performed the clutch slave cylinder mod that Exedy advise, and also changed the gearbox and diff oil again for Motul fluids, which I've continued to use since, and once done the car felt a lot better to drive.
He also spotted that the clutch fork return spring was missing, at some point it had rusted and half had sheared off, so at the enormous cost of £4 I ordered up and fitted a new one from Import Car Parts.
The car felt much better and, yes you guessed it, in just a few weeks I found myself thinking....could be a bit quicker and do with a bit more torque in the midrange and top end
.Rich had dropped some hints he could wrap and fit a set of tubular headers to aid this so I was thinking it might be a good next mod.
I also did some research and evaluated what I thought I'd need and ended up looking at a toss up between the SC40 and SC42 billet turbos as the MD series were a bit out of my price range at the time.
I'll admit part of this was also Simon (JGM's) fault as he was dropping strong hints that I should buy one of the 2 SC40 billet turbos he had on his race car to fund his upgrade to the next size up, but unfortunately by the time I stopped faffing with my reading up, he'd already had 2 buyers breaking down his door and they'd both gone.
In the 2 months prior to this I'd had a few conversations with Harvey Smith via email and on the phone about headers and how to increase torque without sacrificing spool, and the general consensus was for power in the top 300's into the 400's with better torque I'd want to buy proper lateral / RCM / GT Spec 3 bolt tubular headers and a matched up pipe, so I'd gone ahead and ordered a set of new GT Spec headers and one of his 3 bolts up pipes from him.
He was, as I found out later, quite ill in hospital and sadly died soon after, but nonetheless he came across as a genuinely lovely guy and you could tell how enthusiastic he was about the scene. His business card said it all for everyone who ever received one
The rest of 2012
The rest of 2012 didn't go without incident.
When I bought the car it had only come with a single key.
A replacement coded key from a dealer was £200 (yes you read that right), and I wanted to ensure I had a spare, so to save money I tried to fabricate my own key using a blade and second hand key housing off eBay. The key itself worked, the coding didn't, and 2 locksmiths and Simon couldn't manage to get this to work - it appears it's a bit of a dark art and you need the proper Subaru details and kit to do the job....
Back to Bulldog Twyford the car went for a proper coded key, which unsurprisingly worked without incident.
At the end of the year I also took the opportunity to splash out on a millers CFS 10w50 service kit from ICP ready for the first 2013 service.
January 2013
In January 2013, after a busy Christmas, I decided, "what the hell let's push the boat out", reached out to Scoobyclinic, and purchased one of their SC42 billet turbos, planning to take it to FB Tuning and have Rich fit the bits prior to Simon mapping it.
The turbo duly arrived, and the car was booked in with FB Tuning to have the parts fitted in February.
An RCM manifold bolt kit was also purchased to aid fitment following advice from Rich.
February 2013
Tubular headers were wrapped in G-Force thermal heat wrap, and mated to a Harvey 3 bolt up pipe (already wrapped), with the SC42 being fitted to my existing down pipe and re-using the Viper inlet pipe.
Rich also replaced two badly corroded jubilee clips he noticed during the changeover.
About 3 days later I went to collect the car and returned home gingerly, where she was duly parked up until Simon was next at Surrey rolling road.
Unfortunately, this is where it all went a bit Pete Tong again, a bit like this:
- Car goes on rolling road
- Car won't make power AGAIN
- Everyone swears A LOT
Simon eventually identified the cause - which was that the SC42 being a bigger turbo than the 20g it had replaced had kinked the Viper hose so severely against the inlet manifold that it was constricting how much airflow could get into the turbo - or to put it simply - the curve of the Viper hose wasn't good enough to fit around the inlet on a bigger turbo.
This is how it looked; it wouldn't even break 350...:
I phoned Rich, who then confirmed Simon's diagnosis that it would be down to the curve of the hose and that I would need a different one to correct the problem, so the evening finished with the car being restricted back to minimal boost to prevent any problems so I could drive it until I got the new hose.
A few days later the car went to Surrey Subaru Specialists to see if they could get the Viper hose re-seated any better, and after some gentle persuasion with a bit of movement of the downpipe and some light cutting to the inlet hose, it was looking a little healthier.
Dan also adjusted the clutch biting point for me as it was a little high.
I returned to Surrey Rolling road the following week, and the car pushed on to make 412bhp and 365 ft/lbs of torque, a much more respectable figure than it had managed previously, and more importantly - we had FINALLY GOT OVER 400!
However, Simon reckoned the inlet hose was still holding the car back and that I should go for a better one that could flow more air without collapsing.
Bonus of the day was getting to watch Damien Bradley's monster Legacy go on the dyno before we finished for the night.
March 2013
After some checks on my friend Kenny's car to see if the bends in his Perrin hose were different, it looked good and in went another call to ScoobyClinic to buy the same Perrin inlet hose I'd bought for the bug I'd owned before; the advantage here was that I'd fitted that and so felt confident enough to give this one a go as well. Pricey but proven bit of kit and the bend around the inlet is very good.
See the determination....thanks to my mate Dan for lending me a couple of tools to get a few clips off that were proving challenging!
A few hours and a lot of swearing later...
Whilst I hadn't initially anticipated going for an ECU upgrade as well, on a rolling road day I attended in between the last map and fitting the Perrin hose had shown the car was making 396bhp, so had lost 16bhp on the peak figure recorded from the last session due to the standard ECU's penchant for being overly protective and pulling timing on occassion - that and probably air flow had changed dramatically and confused the ECU.
Here's a pic of the day, we had a great turnout:
Having chatted with Simon he mentioned he had a brand new Alcatek ECU in stock that he'd ordered for a customer who had subsequently gone with a Syvecs, and offered me a deal to install and map it which was very attractive.
Whilst I could have gone with the Carberry ROM via Andy Carr I decided to go with the Alcatek for the additional features it offered, so I booked in with Simon for the 27th March for a session to hopefully maximise the gains from the Perrin and the new ECU.
The improvements were clear to see; annoyingly I never did a back to back run pre and post Alcatek fitting - but the output increased from 412/365 to 432/385, the 20 ft/lb increase being the most noticeable.
It was bloody freezing in the cell at the time, and whilst I was standing in front of the fan @ SRR holding the bonnet JGM was kind enough to take this photo, which he posted on Facebook as my "432bhp face"
. Good times, a great guy, sorely missed.Finally, the turbo seemed to be working to its full potential, and I was happy, but even more so when JGM wired up the anti-lag
.Coming soon:
- Another exhaust and then a little more power
- Arranging an OBP oil catch can group buy...and having one fitted
- Hella horns
- ICE and Gauge installation
- Another exhaust swap, 3 bar map sensor and RCM filter
- Some more body mods and another alignment
- Faulty Sigma alarm causes headache
- A spin leading to some new wheels!
- Fuel pump electrical gremlins
- More splitters!
- Methanol map with JGM
- First map with RaceDynamix
- DAMD steering wheel
- More wheels, more body mods and a photo shoot
- Future plans
Bear with me
Last edited by MrNoisy; 18 October 2015 at 09:36 PM.
09 April 2015, 10:30 AM
#20
April 2013
After initially setting it up on the sidelight stalk (which caused much amusement), Si had run the wires for an antilag switch for me from the ECU to facilitate this so it was easy plug and play after routing the cables round the back of the centre console and dash.
I purchased a "missile" style switch from Maplin, cut a hole in the blanking plug next to the intercooler spray and mounted it on there; an approach which I'm sure I'm not the first to use, and 3 others in my local club immediately copied. Looks purposeful, job done.
Whilst the car was in having a bit of adjustment to the turbo and down pipe, Dan at Surrey Subaru had noted a minor oil leak coming from the driver's side rocker gasket. I decided to have this fixed up, so purchased a kit for all the seals from ICP as recommended by Dan, and also gave him the 10w50 Millers service kit I'd bought the previous year so he could do an engine oil change at the same time.
This was all sorted in a few hours and no more leaks - happy days.
At the end of the month our local group Berkshire Scoobies also attended the Piston Heads sunday service at Mercedes Benz world at Brooklands. It was a good day out, which was slightly marred by a parking attendant who beckoned me back and reversed me straight into a wire cable fence without giving me any warning before I made contact, and this left quite a minor scrape on the rear bumper.
I left him about to be slayed by a Bentley driver who he did the same to after me; I never complained - it's a charity event, but even so - lesson learned - don't trust parking "helpers".
May 2013
Our group had a great presence at Japfest 2013, with the stand notably including a Help for Heroes urban camo liveried car, a 22B and a Cosworth CS400 which understandably drew a lot of attention!
Prior to the show, I'd fitted a set of Hella Horns, and a revised front number plate to get rid of the tired old one.
June 2013
A few bits purchased in the next few months - an SWRD silicone airbox hose from Scoobyworx to link the inlet to the air filter which smartened things up a bit and looked much nicer than the naff plastic ribbed OEM item.
I also decided I would finally repace my gauges in the ATI pod on the dashboard as the stepper gauges I'd swapped out of my bugeye were looking tired; the backlight on the oil temperature gauge had failed and the boost gauge sender hadn't worked for months.
I'd seen the Evo series on a friends' car and thought they were worth a go, so took a punt on boost, oil pressure and oil temperature gauges from R-Spec. It would be nearly a year before I got around to fitting these though
I also found a cheap second hand RCM induction kit in the for sale section on here, so picked that up for a bargain.
Last of all, I had read a lot about oil in the intercooler pipework degrading performance and had seen people singing the praises of OBP items so I organised an OBP 3 port catch can group buy and purchased a polished item from Sam @ OBP. FYI anybody who wants to do a group buy, it's a painful process but you can get some great discounts if you get a decent vendor.
July 2013
I drove the car in the above spec for quite a few months and really enjoyed the extra power the new mods had given me.
Other than a few initial problems with cold start which Simon promptly fixed, the car was running very well, and got treated to some Millers 10w50 during the summer.
Having run the car in this spec for 4 months, one thing which was slightly niggling away at me was that the Revolution exhaust I'd switched over to wasn't very loud, and whilst I wasn't looking for something like a Blitz Nur Spec, I wanted a little more volume.
I purchased a cat-back 3" Japspeed system in their group buy on here; most people who've heard it seem to think sounds good; it's a bit of an ear bleeder on long journies, but sounds much deeper than the Revolution did and I've been pretty happy with it. The fact it was cheap helped too
Looks wise it's a bit nicer than the Revolution as well as it has the angled backbox, which I think looks more aggressive.
Several other members in my group had also seen slightly better figures having fitted a cold air feed from their front bumper, and Simon mentioned he had one left over from his old silver blobeye, so we put this on along with the RCM kit and exhaust, and with CJ helping me fix the ducting in place, stuck the car on the dyno and Simon gave it a little tweak - this resulted in a great power run (on a pretty hot day) of 439bhp / 385 ft/lbs.
When the car was mapped, Si also mentioned to me that the MAP sensor could probably do with upgrading to a 3 bar to ensure boost was being properly monitored as the OEM one may not cope well at this power level, so I asked when he could fit me in.
Coming soon:
- 3 bar map sensor
- First round of body mods, alignment and MOT
- ICE and Gauge installation
- Arranging an OBP oil catch can group buy...and having one fitted
- Faulty Sigma alarm causes headache
- A BIG spin leading to some new wheels!
- Fuel pump electrical gremlins
- Prosport Evo Gauges
- More splitters!
- Methanol map with JGM
- First map with RaceDynamix
- DAMD steering wheel
- More wheels, more body mods and a photo shoot
- Future plans
After initially setting it up on the sidelight stalk (which caused much amusement), Si had run the wires for an antilag switch for me from the ECU to facilitate this so it was easy plug and play after routing the cables round the back of the centre console and dash.
I purchased a "missile" style switch from Maplin, cut a hole in the blanking plug next to the intercooler spray and mounted it on there; an approach which I'm sure I'm not the first to use, and 3 others in my local club immediately copied
. Looks purposeful, job done.Whilst the car was in having a bit of adjustment to the turbo and down pipe, Dan at Surrey Subaru had noted a minor oil leak coming from the driver's side rocker gasket. I decided to have this fixed up, so purchased a kit for all the seals from ICP as recommended by Dan, and also gave him the 10w50 Millers service kit I'd bought the previous year so he could do an engine oil change at the same time.
This was all sorted in a few hours and no more leaks - happy days.
At the end of the month our local group Berkshire Scoobies also attended the Piston Heads sunday service at Mercedes Benz world at Brooklands. It was a good day out, which was slightly marred by a parking attendant who beckoned me back and reversed me straight into a wire cable fence without giving me any warning before I made contact, and this left quite a minor scrape on the rear bumper.
I left him about to be slayed by a Bentley driver who he did the same to after me; I never complained - it's a charity event, but even so - lesson learned - don't trust parking "helpers".
May 2013
Our group had a great presence at Japfest 2013, with the stand notably including a Help for Heroes urban camo liveried car, a 22B and a Cosworth CS400 which understandably drew a lot of attention!
Prior to the show, I'd fitted a set of Hella Horns, and a revised front number plate to get rid of the tired old one.
June 2013
A few bits purchased in the next few months - an SWRD silicone airbox hose from Scoobyworx to link the inlet to the air filter which smartened things up a bit and looked much nicer than the naff plastic ribbed OEM item.
I also decided I would finally repace my gauges in the ATI pod on the dashboard as the stepper gauges I'd swapped out of my bugeye were looking tired; the backlight on the oil temperature gauge had failed and the boost gauge sender hadn't worked for months.
I'd seen the Evo series on a friends' car and thought they were worth a go, so took a punt on boost, oil pressure and oil temperature gauges from R-Spec. It would be nearly a year before I got around to fitting these though
I also found a cheap second hand RCM induction kit in the for sale section on here, so picked that up for a bargain.
Last of all, I had read a lot about oil in the intercooler pipework degrading performance and had seen people singing the praises of OBP items so I organised an OBP 3 port catch can group buy and purchased a polished item from Sam @ OBP. FYI anybody who wants to do a group buy, it's a painful process but you can get some great discounts if you get a decent vendor
.July 2013
I drove the car in the above spec for quite a few months and really enjoyed the extra power the new mods had given me.
Other than a few initial problems with cold start which Simon promptly fixed, the car was running very well, and got treated to some Millers 10w50 during the summer.
Having run the car in this spec for 4 months, one thing which was slightly niggling away at me was that the Revolution exhaust I'd switched over to wasn't very loud, and whilst I wasn't looking for something like a Blitz Nur Spec, I wanted a little more volume.
I purchased a cat-back 3" Japspeed system in their group buy on here; most people who've heard it seem to think sounds good; it's a bit of an ear bleeder on long journies, but sounds much deeper than the Revolution did and I've been pretty happy with it. The fact it was cheap helped too
Looks wise it's a bit nicer than the Revolution as well as it has the angled backbox, which I think looks more aggressive.
Several other members in my group had also seen slightly better figures having fitted a cold air feed from their front bumper, and Simon mentioned he had one left over from his old silver blobeye, so we put this on along with the RCM kit and exhaust, and with CJ helping me fix the ducting in place, stuck the car on the dyno and Simon gave it a little tweak - this resulted in a great power run (on a pretty hot day) of 439bhp / 385 ft/lbs.
When the car was mapped, Si also mentioned to me that the MAP sensor could probably do with upgrading to a 3 bar to ensure boost was being properly monitored as the OEM one may not cope well at this power level, so I asked when he could fit me in.
Coming soon:
- 3 bar map sensor
- First round of body mods, alignment and MOT
- ICE and Gauge installation
- Arranging an OBP oil catch can group buy...and having one fitted
- Faulty Sigma alarm causes headache
- A BIG spin leading to some new wheels!
- Fuel pump electrical gremlins
- Prosport Evo Gauges
- More splitters!
- Methanol map with JGM
- First map with RaceDynamix
- DAMD steering wheel
- More wheels, more body mods and a photo shoot
- Future plans
Last edited by MrNoisy; 31 August 2015 at 09:01 AM.
13 April 2015, 05:07 PM
#22
Will try and post another update this week.
Haven't had much time as I've spent the last few weekends out and about or doing some servicing on the car.
Last weekend I changed the spark plugs out for another set of NBK PFR7B's as the old ones had been in there since I put them in when I bought the car 3 years ago.
This weekend did another oil and filter change for Millers 10W50 Nanodrive with a black JDM filter from ICP, and then changed my old idle control valve for one which I'd spent about an hour soaking in fuel before cleaning with plenty of cotton buds.
Seems to idle a little better now, but going for a checkup with Duncan this Thursday.
I also took the daft step of going back through the history folder I keep and looking at all the various receipts.
Really have spent way too much on this motor
but also found a few mods I'd forgotten about so will get em all on here in the next few days.
Haven't had much time as I've spent the last few weekends out and about or doing some servicing on the car.
Last weekend I changed the spark plugs out for another set of NBK PFR7B's as the old ones had been in there since I put them in when I bought the car 3 years ago.
This weekend did another oil and filter change for Millers 10W50 Nanodrive with a black JDM filter from ICP, and then changed my old idle control valve for one which I'd spent about an hour soaking in fuel before cleaning with plenty of cotton buds.
Seems to idle a little better now, but going for a checkup with Duncan this Thursday.
I also took the daft step of going back through the history folder I keep and looking at all the various receipts.
Really have spent way too much on this motor
but also found a few mods I'd forgotten about so will get em all on here in the next few days.
Last edited by MrNoisy; 15 April 2015 at 04:24 PM.
31 August 2015, 09:09 AM
#23
Thought it was time to document a little more given I had some spare time at the bank holiday.
August 2013
About this time I decided I wanted to try and make the car look a little different from the majority of STi's so I purchased a Do Luck style boot lid from the group buy being run by Carbenfibre creations, and a reverse scoop from Hammer Man.
It would be a fair few months before I got around to being able to have the cash to have both of these items sprayed and fitted though, so for a few months these items went in the garage.
November 2013
A strange knocking noise from the rear was irritating me and we couldn't work out where it was coming from.
As a few specialists couldn't find it, I took the car over to Bulldog Subaru in Twyford, but unfortunately, during a diagnostic test drive with the technician, the car died and wouldn't restart.
A few days later and it was concluded that the immobiliser wiring had become degraded and this was fixed, the car worked again.
The dealership also diagnosed and fixed the original issue, which was simply the NSR driveshaft nut which had become loose and needed re-tightening.
The alarm had been temperamental for a little while, and a few of our local group had changed to Cliffords so I went the same route with a few little extras, so Chris from Secure Autos came out to fit this to the car; great service he was very thorough and neat.
To clear out the rest of my bank account that month I bought 5 litres of Millers CFS 10w50 and a black JDM filter for an oil change the next month.
December 2013
Nothing much happened just before Christmas other than the oil change.
The idle on the car was a little rough and having read up a few articles, I purchased an ICV gasket from Import Car Parts in preparation for taking off my ICV for a clean.
January / February 2014
In January the car decided it needed a new Battery so Dan at Surrey Subaru kindly ordered one in for me and I popped over to fetch and fit it (hate those bloody fiddly battery rods).
Finally, despite Christmas, I'd saved enough to have the boot lid and front scoop painted so I took it to a bodyshop a mate had recommended in Guildford and left it with him for 2 weeks to get everything right.
The results were a bit marmite - people either loved or hated the car.
In between this my MOT had also expired so I drove it straight from the bodyshop to an MOT station where it passed no issues.
I wasn't really pleased with the colour match on the bootlid initially and it went back for a re-paint to the bodyshop at zero cost to me, although couldn't make my mind up about the scoop, hence I kept changing it back and forth over the next few months.
Fitment wise, I actually wish I'd gone for a Do Luck original bootlid as the shutlines on the copy weren't as good as I'd hoped and it wasn't that cheap. Still, you live and learn.
The other bad news was when I went to pick up the car after its second coat of paint on the bootlid, the bodyshop owner had clipped the kerb and damaged my splitter, so repaired and hand delivered it back to me a few weeks after!
March 2014
In March the fan belt was slipping so re-tensioned it, and followed this up with a set of BC Coilovers and an alignment as I was hoping they might provide a little more comfort than the race logics I was running (which incidentally I'd say handled slightly better at the expense of ride comfort).
August 2013
About this time I decided I wanted to try and make the car look a little different from the majority of STi's so I purchased a Do Luck style boot lid from the group buy being run by Carbenfibre creations, and a reverse scoop from Hammer Man.
It would be a fair few months before I got around to being able to have the cash to have both of these items sprayed and fitted though, so for a few months these items went in the garage.
November 2013
A strange knocking noise from the rear was irritating me and we couldn't work out where it was coming from.
As a few specialists couldn't find it, I took the car over to Bulldog Subaru in Twyford, but unfortunately, during a diagnostic test drive with the technician, the car died and wouldn't restart.
A few days later and it was concluded that the immobiliser wiring had become degraded and this was fixed, the car worked again.
The dealership also diagnosed and fixed the original issue, which was simply the NSR driveshaft nut which had become loose and needed re-tightening.
The alarm had been temperamental for a little while, and a few of our local group had changed to Cliffords so I went the same route with a few little extras, so Chris from Secure Autos came out to fit this to the car; great service he was very thorough and neat.
To clear out the rest of my bank account that month I bought 5 litres of Millers CFS 10w50 and a black JDM filter for an oil change the next month.
December 2013
Nothing much happened just before Christmas other than the oil change.
The idle on the car was a little rough and having read up a few articles, I purchased an ICV gasket from Import Car Parts in preparation for taking off my ICV for a clean.
January / February 2014
In January the car decided it needed a new Battery so Dan at Surrey Subaru kindly ordered one in for me and I popped over to fetch and fit it (hate those bloody fiddly battery rods).
Finally, despite Christmas, I'd saved enough to have the boot lid and front scoop painted so I took it to a bodyshop a mate had recommended in Guildford and left it with him for 2 weeks to get everything right.
The results were a bit marmite - people either loved or hated the car.
In between this my MOT had also expired so I drove it straight from the bodyshop to an MOT station where it passed no issues.
I wasn't really pleased with the colour match on the bootlid initially and it went back for a re-paint to the bodyshop at zero cost to me, although couldn't make my mind up about the scoop, hence I kept changing it back and forth over the next few months.
Fitment wise, I actually wish I'd gone for a Do Luck original bootlid as the shutlines on the copy weren't as good as I'd hoped and it wasn't that cheap. Still, you live and learn.
The other bad news was when I went to pick up the car after its second coat of paint on the bootlid, the bodyshop owner had clipped the kerb and damaged my splitter, so repaired and hand delivered it back to me a few weeks after!
March 2014
In March the fan belt was slipping so re-tensioned it, and followed this up with a set of BC Coilovers and an alignment as I was hoping they might provide a little more comfort than the race logics I was running (which incidentally I'd say handled slightly better at the expense of ride comfort).
Last edited by MrNoisy; 31 August 2015 at 04:01 PM.
18 October 2015, 12:34 AM
#24
So much more of my journey to write up still, but the car will be up for sale soon to fund purchase of something German; looking for a figure somewhere in the region of £12k, which considering spec and service history I don't feel is unreasonable, and whilst I know this isn't SIOC, I'd personally appreciate it if people don't find it necessary to comment on the thread of they disagree with that!
If you're interested pls PM me.
If you're interested pls PM me.
28 October 2015, 10:30 PM
#25
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Greece
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Great review mate!!!
Thanks very much for sharing with us your achievement and the fully report of your car!
You have done a great job without spending 100000 of pounds around and around!
Keep it safe and keep us informed!!
Have a nice winter mate!
Ted from Greece
Thanks very much for sharing with us your achievement and the fully report of your car!
You have done a great job without spending 100000 of pounds around and around!
Keep it safe and keep us informed!!
Have a nice winter mate!
Ted from Greece
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