The Car Thread

[vanpeebles]

Sounds good! How did the fitting go?

[Yakumo]

That sounds gorgeous!

Thanks. Now you can see why I had a big smile across my face yesterday when I turned the engine over for the first time.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't secretly hoping for the camera to fall over when you revved the engine, just for continuity's sake, nothing malicious intended.

I'm glad it didn't That Panasonic camera was expensive. Almost professional quality at 1080p

Sounds good! How did the fitting go?

Well, the nuts stayed well and truly stuck even with a weeks worth of release spray on them before going to and back from work. So a friend of mine has a blow touch which I used to heat up the nuts. They came of with ease after that. As for taking the old exhaust off and putting the new one on, that was easy. Just a little awkward with me being on my back under the car praying that it didn't fall on to my head

[charlesr]

Decided to copy you dude, although my choice of filming location was bad - probably peppered the lens guard with super high speed bits of gravel (see vid....)

If you really want, you can watch the Trees in the background in 1080p.... (it still looks good if you blow it up to full screen for amazing gravel detail).

[charlesr]

I also took a sample from the other end because I have a daft free-flow induction kit (on there when I got it), which does nothing (at my level of tune) except make lots of noise and kill the MAF sensor too quickly.

[Yakumo]

Decided to copy you dude, although my choice of filming location was bad - probably peppered the lens guard with super high speed bits of gravel (see vid....)

If you really want, you can watch the Trees in the background in 1080p.... (it still looks good if you blow it up to full screen for amazing gravel detail).

Hehe, yep, grave in the lens. Hope your camera is ok. You car sounds nice. I love the burble sound from it. I need to find a none residential area so that I can give mine the beans as well. Maybe this weekend if I'm free I'll pop on out to the countryside.

You're right about that free-flow induction kit. What a noise!

[charlesr]

Have you got a free-flow panel filter in yours? e.g. Green (brand name) (which is the daddy of panel filters). If not, then that would give a major performance enhancement at your level of tune.

I think you are almost at the tune where you could benefit from an induction kit. They are only really necessary above 330bhp though - what's yours?

[Yakumo]

No, I don't have one. My engine is pretty much as I
got it. I never have any money you see The last time the Impreza was on the rolling road it clocked up an avarage of 295 bhp. Yours is actually more powerful than mine even though it's an older model. Just goes to show that those engine mods really do improve preformance. The next item to buy after the exhaust was indeed a new filter so I'll see if I can track down that "green" one here in Japan. Although it may not be worth it at my level of tuning.

[charlesr]

Ah, no dude, the panel filter is absolutely necessary at lower levels of tune (up to 330bhp). Should give you an extra 5bhp easy and make it much more responsive. If you can't find the Green, then there are loads of other panel filters e.g. HKS, but Green is the one to go for if poss.

Not sure where you got the idea mine's more powerful than yous I've only got ~230.... 0-60 I timed at 6.0s, so it's well off the pace.
Thus me hankering for a AFP5-16 and a remap to push me well over 300bhp/300ftlb.... (and better mpg off boost).

[Yakumo]

Yeah, I've seen the HKS filters many a time and I know they are good but why get good when you can have best How much are the Green filters going for in the UK? If they're cheap enough I'll probably import if I can't find them in Japan.

I always though that your Impreza was over 300bph for some reason. To be honest though, my car is more than powerful enough for daily use. I've even taken it out on Mine Circuit which is only 1 hours drive from my place. That was a fantastic day although I was slower than most of the other drivers on there The circuit is closed down now but every now and then they open it up for a track day. It's not cheap at 150 pounds but it's well worth it. Here's a site that shows the course map. - http://homepage3.nifty.com/yatti_f/Attack/mine.html

I've no idea what my 0 - 60 mph is. What's the best way to do it without really F*ing up the clutch or tires?

[charlesr]

£40-45 for the Green panel filter, i.e. fits straight into you current air box. Let me know if you need me to send one over.

"What's the best way to do it without really F*ing up the clutch or tires" - lol. Don't do it. The only way to launch a 4x4 is to dump the clutch with enough finesse at high revs such that the tyres don't light up and let the clutch slip take the strain. It's bad news for the clutch.

[randombs]

I decided to start cleaning my car yesterday. I don't mean just a wash and wipe and a hoover, I mean a proper clean, the likes of which it has most probably never experienced in its entire nine year life. I've spent three hours so far, even the neighbours came out to find out what's been taking so long!

Started with a hoovering all over followed by cleaning the interior (vinyl, dash area, doors, seats, etc) with a mild washing liquid/water combo. I've got vinyl and leather cleaners, too, which I'll use once I've done the basic cleaning. I've even been scraping out any gunk from the grooves along the indicator stalks! The plan is to make it look like it's fresh out of the factory (minus the bodywork scratches, but those are a separate mission). So far I've just finished the front half of the interior and the front doors. I've even cleaned near the hinges (left the hinges themselves well alone as I don't have any grease) and in places you may not necessarily see, basically anywhere I'm seeing dirt of some sort. Got all the mud out of the pedals, too. Driver's ash tray was funny - it was full of coins for parking meters but some juice or other sticky stuff had got in so I had to prise the coins out with a screwdriver

The poor thing's been through a lot as it was the family car, so there's some stuff I probably can't sort out, like scratching on the vinyl where shoes have been kicking it, etc. I suppose I could use some kind of vinyl paint.

Does anyone have recommendations for the fabric stuff on the pillars and ceiling? It doesn't seem to be any special sort of fabric, feels like typical velvety interior fabric and just has some light stains from hands and stuff.

Today I'll finish up the back and the boot, and then I want to clean around the engine bay (nothing major, just clearing out mud and leaves and stuff) before washing the exterior and then waxing. Not sure how I'll fare today, though. I've had four hours' sleep and my brain's feeling a bit sloshy

[charlesr]

Just cold water and a microfibre cloth can work miracles on fabric e.g. carpet.

If you are going all out, you'll need to clay the paintwork in between wash and wax.

[randombs]

Ok maybe not that far! I'll give the cold water a try and see what happens. It doesn't look too dirty but it may be darkened due to use and so a quick clean might cause clean spots.

I'll look into claying it next time I clean it as I don't feel like a trip to Halfords right now.

[ChrisF]

Snow Foam, and a lance... That's my favourite car washing gizmo atm. I gave up with the Meguiars polisher as it was too much like hard work. Snow foam though... much win. (obviously for the outside, not your interior)

[nakamura]

Yakumo where is your bonnet vent? Have you gone with a FMIC setup and ditched the vent?