The Car Thread

[charlesr]

Nice Scoob. They are called wagons over here too. (I've got the classic wagon.)
What have Subaru done with it then?
If you want any advice one what mods to go for next, let me know.

I think the rear light setup you describe is euro standard.
Also the STi have a red/white thing going on on the rear cluster, so no need to detango! (UK speak for de-orange). I was thinking of getting some STi clusters for mine but can't bring myself to spend money on non-essential mods.

[charlesr]

Also, good choice over the Evo. All the people I know who have owned both said that although the evo is quicker point2point, it does it all for you, so the experience is a bit weird. And if it goes wrong, the Evo is more expensive to fix.

New evo looks waaaay better than the new scoob though. Latter looks like an astra or something.....
Evo: http://charlesr.sugarsync.com/albums...48#83373_76953
Evo got it right with the front mount intercooler too, although makes changing cambelt very tedious.

[Richard.John]

Yakumo,

My 8 is manual, too. I was considering getting an automatic as my wife doesn't have a licence and if she did, AT would be better for her. After having spent six months driving it though, and putting up with comments from friends about how 'hard' it is to drive an MT car in Japan, I must say it has been a pure joy. Changing gear is a pleasure, in my opinion, not a pain.

[Yakumo]

Also, good choice over the Evo. All the people I know who have owned both said that although the evo is quicker point2point, it does it all for you, so the experience is a bit weird. And if it goes wrong, the Evo is more expensive to fix.

Yeah, I've heard that too. Especially the repair bills. My wife works in Mitsubishi though so I could get discounts on everything but even then it would be expensive to repair one.

New evo looks waaaay better than the new scoob though. Latter looks like an astra or something.....
Evo: http://charlesr.sugarsync.com/albums...48#83373_76953

What the hell happened to the wheels on that Evo 10? Day-glo-orange, YUCK! But yeah, the new Impreza looks turd. I actually had to dive one for a few days while Subaru were tuning mine. It was a shift automatic which was quite a strange thing to drive. Sort of like playing an arcade racer. No clutch, just a shift leaver. It was fast but cornering really did make a lot of noise. Even at 60mph round a normal bend would make the 4 wheel drive system grip the road too much resulting in tire squeal.

So what have you done to your Subaru (why do you call them "scoob"?)? I'm trying to get the most out of the engine before I move on to a new more powerful turbo however the Subaru guys tell me nothing can be done other than a new turbo. I'm calling bull **** though because an indi garage said yo can get well more out of it. What do you recommend for engine tuning? I don't like taking the advice from so called professionals, they're just after money over here.

Yakumo

[Yakumo]

Yakumo,

My 8 is manual, too. I was considering getting an automatic as my wife doesn't have a licence and if she did, AT would be better for her. After having spent six months driving it though, and putting up with comments from friends about how 'hard' it is to drive an MT car in Japan, I must say it has been a pure joy. Changing gear is a pleasure, in my opinion, not a pain.

Luckily my wife also prefers manuals over automatics so I guess I'm lucky. saying that though, she finds driving my car too much work. She says the clutch is too heavy. Fair enough, it is a bit but saying that the clutch on her EK Wagon feels as if it's broken. You only have to rest your foot on it and it goes down, hahaha.

Everyday I take a 1 hour 20 minute drive to work and must say that at times in traffic an automatic would be easier however once I get out of the traffic I wouldn't dream of using an automatic. There's just something about revving up the engine then slipping in to a new gear with that raw from the engine. So much more exciting than pressing the accelerator and err...... that's it.

Yakumo

[Richard.John]

I can never see the point of paddle shift (manual) autos. No clutch to me = no point, so just leave it in D and be done with it. Does the new Impreza have a double clutch set up (DSG, S-Tronic or PDK,etc) or is it just a traditional torque converter type?

[Yakumo]

I can never see the point of paddle shift (manual) autos. No clutch to me = no point, so just leave it in D and be done with it.

Agreed!

Does the new Impreza have a double clutch set up (DSG, S-Tronic or PDK,etc) or is it just a traditional torque converter type?

I couldn't say mate. I have no interest in the new model after they converted it in to a family hatchback look-a-like. It does seem to have a lot of torque though. Like I mentioned, I only drove that stick shift one for a few days so I never really got much chance to give it a good road test but I can tell you it will pull away from the lights with impressive results.

Yakumo

[Richard.John]

A quick question about parking etiquette. Out of interest, do people in the UK reverse park into spaces, supermarkets parking for example, or drive nose in and reverse out again? Here, the trend is to reverse in for an easy and safe exit, and you have to do left and right reverse parking into spaces as part of the test.

I recall that in the UK, reversing around a corner is/was part of the test along with parallel parking. Is making a three point turn is still part of the modern test too?

I would suggest that parking is one of the biggest pet hates of learners drivers and possibly those with a full licence too. I have found that I am getting better at it as time goes on and I get used to my car. Some of the Nissans and Toyotas here even have far side cameras now, to avoid kerbing those alloys, along with reversing sensors and cameras too. Driving is getting easier, me thinks.

[ChrisF]

I dive into parking spaces nose first... Couple of reasons why.
1 - I find it easier to reverse out into a bigger space than a smaller one.
2 - It's easier to get the stuff into the boot if it's in the open space. This is especially important when you have a shopping trolley, or a load of bags.

I know a mate of mine ALWAYS reverses into a space though, so that he "can make a quicker getaway".

Trouble is, over here in the UK, if you go past a space, ready to reverse in, some git will always try and nick your space

[Yakumo]

A quick question about parking etiquette. Out of interest, do people in the UK reverse park into spaces, supermarkets parking for example, or drive nose in and reverse out again? Here, the trend is to reverse in for an easy and safe exit, and you have to do left and right reverse parking into spaces as part of the test.

I remember reversing around corners in the UK for my test then I had to do the full Japanese test like Japanese do to get a license here. The reverse parking is piss easy to me as was the UK reversing around the corner. I still think it's easier to drive nose first in to a parking space though then reveres out.

One thing I've always been good at was getting close to the cerb without touching it. I just have a feel for the car I guess.

Yakumo

[Richard.John]

One thing about nose in, is that it makes it harder to steal in a hurry, I reckon. If you found some **** trying to nick it for a joyride, etc. Parking rage, indeed. A busy supermarket car park on a Saturday afternoon. Possibly hell on earth.

Yakumo, I think its easier, too, to go in nose first but it's safer to reverse in which is why they push it that way I think. Lets not talk or think about those narrow roads again!! LOL

You took your test here? So did I but went to a school and coughed up ¥400,000 for the pleasure.

[charlesr]

So what have you done to your Subaru (why do you call them "scoob"?)? I'm trying to get the most out of the engine before I move on to a new more powerful turbo however the Subaru guys tell me nothing can be done other than a new turbo. I'm calling bull **** though because an indi garage said yo can get well more out of it. What do you recommend for engine tuning? I don't like taking the advice from so called professionals, they're just after money over here.

Yakumo

"Subaru" - sounds like "Scooby Doo" So everyone here calls them scoobies.

"Subaru guys tell me nothing can be done other than a new turbo" - LOL. Just hilarious. Perhaps they won't agree to do anything else, but there's no limit to what you can do to these cars in engine, styling and chassis. I'll post more when I get a moment, but just on the engine front:
http://www.flat4online.co.uk/catalog...ance-packs-sti (this site is rubbish by the way. Used them a couple of times, but although they have a comprehensive list of stuff, their delivery times were weeeeeks, but you can get an idea of what's available).

Turbos:
http://www.andyforrestperformance.co.uk/16307.html

Mine's a UK model so standard is 215bhp, and it's only got minor flow enhancements, so guessing at 240bhp, all working towards the turbo and remap later. Adjustable rear anti-roll bar to stop them understeering (yours will need this as well probably). And metal droplinks to make turn in more responsive.

If you get it remapped, you can choose from two maps (switch between each with the rear demist button while on full throttle) so you can either have a limp-home map in case a sensor dies, or have an "ecomomy" map vs "throw fuel out the window" map

[Yakumo]

great info there charlesr. I doubt I'll order from them with me being in Japan and all but then again it maybe cheaper even with shipping due to the lousy exchange rate. I'll take a good look through that site tomorrow to see what's next on the shopping list

Yakumo

[charlesr]

There must be similar companies locally surely?
Having the STi means it's already a good starting point, having the bigger intercooler and injectors. You might need a bigger fuel pump if you start to up the power. Much further. I presume they've put an exhaust on, although they probably won't have removed the cats which makes a big difference to how much air a turbo can force through, but can make MOT tricky.

For real power, you need to change the intercooler to a hybrid front mount (similar to the evo).

Don't buy anything from that site. There must be similar stuff local to Japan?
You'll also need to find a reputable mapper with ecutek capability.

If you want toys: http://www.ecutek.com/products/deltadash/
Let's you do rolling dyno graphs, quarter mile / 0-60 stuff. Also lets you mod the engine at a basic level yourself depending on what fuel you put in for example. Not sure if it works on Jap versions though.

[charlesr]

To get an idea of engine stuff:
stage one 325bhp to 335bhp
stage 2 360bhp
He's now up to 400bhp, still on standard engine internals....

I've had the lightened flywheel done and it makes gear changes really sweet.

Coming home Lucy and kids today and was mumbling about the car gymkhana vid I posted yesterday and drifting and saying how it was tricky to do in mine with so little power. She said she didn't know I could drift mine. I turned in and smacked the throttle down and lit all the tyres up with a little opposite lock. Was raining though. She'll probably be cancelling my insurance tomorrow... hehh