meth mouth

Before you say "didn't notice you were gone" I was and I'm back after 5 years without a scooby I found another Hawk and pullled the trigger a few weeks ago. It's a T20 Lichfield and I'm in looooove!!

So glad I'm back in a scooby I really missed it. The last five years I kept having dreams about my old car. Anyway, I had been looking for the last year and thought about a few different models. I decided after a chat with Hurst cars that a Jap import Hawkeye was they way to go. I was going to go up and see them re bringing one over for me but this one came up during Christmas and as soon as the garage doors opened and I saw it, that was that. Anyway I'm keeping the old boy in storage for a little while and will post up some pics in the Spring. I wanted any rec for a trickle charger and also wondered weather I should keep the 18" on re performance etc or revert back to 17". I came across some Enkei TFR wheels but not sure if its worth the extra expense. Cheers.

Anger

iTrader: (4)

Welcome back

great choice on the T20

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Couldn't imagine not owning a scooby. But it's good you've come back to your senses. Welcome back to sanity ?

johnoggy

Welcome back, yes they are hard to shake off once you have had one

meth mouth

Thanks guys.

Going to change tyres to pilot sport 4 what's everyone else on?

NOSSY_89

Thats a decent tyre mate. I was running Prelli P Zero and Falkans. Brilliant tyres for our British weather.

Wouldn't touch Toyo or Yokohama tyres again if I'm honest. Well not with the weather we have.

Hawkeye D

For me CTek charger all day long. Had mine a few years, very good quality and always very reliable. Shop around for best price :

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Welcome back. Pilot sport 4 is NOT the same as 4S, and definitely not what I would put on a car known for its handling.... Unless you're only going to drive in the winter. I would look at 4S or Super sports from Michelin, or the new Supersport from Goodyear, or any of the stiffer sidewall tyres that suit Imprezas.
Plus another vote for Ctek.

Vxr2010

Vredestien ultrac vorti , got them on my scoobies , i’m running 500bhp through a rear set of tyres and they do a good job there , not expensive but grip very good , i had pirelli p zero nero before the vorti are the vorti are so much better , plus falken 452 kuhmo ku39 again vorti streets ahead

NOSSY_89

Good shout this, completely forgot about that. Ignore what I said about the Pilot Sport

meth mouth

That's interesting, lots evo boys swear by them. My mate has an evo and that's what they're all recommending on MLR (apparently). My previous Hawk had Bridgestone Potenzas which I liked, my classic had Goodyear F1s which I hated and then I put on Falkens which were great too. Don't remember which Falkens they were though. Will look into this further. They original wheels have vredestein ultrac sessanta though I havn't driven on them yet (they looked a little battered) and the current wheels have dunlop zeros(?) I think.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Potenza re070s were OE for the hatch spec C, and really suit Imprezas. If you liked them, you would like Michelin Super sports or 4S, but you'll find that they dont do every size for different Impreza wheels. Obviously they are a bit more expensive than others mentioned here, and they are a summer tyre, but fine when not booted in rain and non icy winter. If you want to maximize handling in summer, it's always a compromise over cold wet times.
Edit; it's quite possible to confuse the pilot 4 and 4S on threads, it's happened here a bit; but one is an out and out sport tyre, and the other is their premium general use tyre, year round.

meth mouth

It's definitely the 4 as they mentioned all weather performance and no need to keep changing wheels in winter.

fpan

iTrader: (11)

A friend of mine has used the 4 in his Evo6 and is sworn to it (on the wet you can drive almost like it's dry - his words) but I am with HG on this having previously used the PS2, PS3 and PSS.
The PS2 was really good (albeit in a 205 GTi which is lightweight car, not sure how it'd do in a Subaru), the PS3 (in a Panda 100HP) was "disappointing" (too spongy and grip was, meh, even Uniroyal Rainsport 3 was better) but the PSS is in another league, fantastic steering feel, great grip on both wet (close to 0 temperatures) as well as on dry and on the track.
Shame the PS4S doesn't come in the dimensions I am after so I'll stick with the PSS.

Hawkeye D

Plus another for RE070's... They do tramline somewhat, but that's what keeps you alert and you know instantly you're in an Impreza...not a ditch.

Ice and snow, worst tyres in the world, you don't know you're in an Impreza, and will find a ditch (with unrivalled ease!). So it's a compromise.
People at work can't believe I use my 54 plate Passat TDi in the snow, but man it's 10 times better than the Subaru running RE070's.

The trouble in the winter with RE070 is that I think they are 49% track and 51% road tread patterns. But, a good all rounder for wet and particularly summer use. Great value at around £85 / £90 delivered per corner, and sensible miles out of them every time.

The only time I tried something else on my 2007 Spec D was Toyo Proxes all round, terrible move, fine for a Classic or Civic Type R I hear, but were changed to RE070 after literally 400 miles. The increase on body roll with the Proxes tyres was frightening in comparison.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Sadly Bridgestone 245 40 R18's RE070s for the hatch were Japan only, and they are £££

meth mouth

Michelin P4S are not available in 17s and i can't seem to find the PE070s anywhere online. I've found the PE050A1 but reviews don't seem as good as the 070s.

As a tyre man once said to me "all these toyo, kumho and Hankook tyres are just glorified budgets mate!"

I did like the Falkens but that was on my classic and don't think they'll do good on this Hawkeye. I think the PS 4 or PE050A1 is the way to go. I'll ask my tyre guy if he's still around.

Oh I ordered a ctek MXS 5 too. Cheers

NOSSY_89

Why do you think they won't work on your hawk when they did on your classic

meth mouth

Well as a thought, my classic was 220bhp and my hawk is 345. More torque too so would effect the performance of the tyres.

Ian E

iTrader: (1)

A good review on Pilot 4 and comparison with Pilot4S here

Rusti

iTrader: (4)

not had any issues with PS4 on my Hatch, surprised so many people like RE70s, had them on a hot Honda, great in the hot and dry but suicidal in the rain particularly standing water. I dont think Japanese tyres work well in UK conditions unfortunately.

NOSSY_89

Fair point mate. But I can tell you at high bhp they were very good.

Just a quick reminder to anyone else browsing and looking for tyres. Be very careful of the reviews you read. We in the UK have very weird weather/climate. So a review from another country won't always translate to our weather. A tyre might work there but won't work here.

Hawkeye D

Ok this is scary, I thought I'd be able to put some links up from Camskill or Black Circles....but there's nothing out there....
I could do with 4 ideally

meth mouth

Thanks for the vdo its interesting to see that really the P4S tyres are ideal. A follow on vdo matched the PS4 the Super cup 2 and Asymetric 5 good years and the latter seemed really good over all. I'm still waiting on new wheels so will research some more.

A note on Japan's weather it is quite similar to ours though they get (a lot) more snow than we do. Loads of Scoobys out there and the roads in Tokyo were effing awesome; smooth, no potholes. Would have loved to rip them up while there!

NOSSY_89

Humidity, average temperature etc is different to us. Oceanic vs Subcontinental climates (not sure the correct way round lol)

Theres a reason us Brits talk about the weather so much. This could explain why certain JDM tyres just don't feel as good over here.