Stutopia

Keep ‘em coming, we’ve had some good uns, but you can’t have too many.

Have you checked your brake fluid is absolutely spot on Max.? Slightly off either way can lead to the lights you mention coming on.

After many, many years hard labour another one of the Team has been granted parole. It’s been an honour to serve alongside @ioneabee since I joined, his retirement is very well earned. Thanks for all your help when I was a noob mod and for all the other work keeping the place going.

I’d love to get comfy between those legs.

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Merry Christas to the **** who couldn't resist neither parking next to me at the furthest point from the supermarket entrance, nor slamming their door into my car. I particularly enjoyed how you managed to do it in the 10 minutes I was shopping and then move your car somewhere else in shame, curiously though it wasn't enough time for you to leave a note. At first I thought it was jut some paint transfer, but after a clean up theres a 5 inch crease in there, which I wasn't able to pull. £350 has been quoted to sort it out with my local paint guy, the only good news is that they do flawless work, so I know it will be taken care of properly. If only I'd been there to catch them...

It's not much fuller in real life TBH, only 4 cylinders seem to be running

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Blackpool prom this morning...

@Jimmy please can you include if this is collected or shipped and, if it is shipped, any price for shipping. Thanks.

As requested - http://youtu.be/v5A0hT8ejuA - not the best for a phone job, but hey ho. I can't be certain about the CAT until the test, but it's what the bulk of info on the forum says, it seems to be mainly that one doing the leg work.

This project has been on my to do list for a while now, but it was delayed by a joke of a company messing me around for weeks on the fabrication side. Anyway, here we go. The BRZ doesn't have capacity for a roof rack, nor does it have a bike rack offering that I was happy with, I don't like straps and clips rubbing on paint and flapping about all over the place, so I got googling. Before you know it I had a brand spanking new OEM tow hook. I then (eventually) found a skilled magician who biggered and blackered it for me. (PM me if you or your lady friend want anything bigger and blacker) Then I got it wet. Suddenly I had two. Next I screwed the biggered tow hooks into the OEM slots. Then I found a quality roof mountable bike rack. Last but certainly not least I took my bike and balanced it on the rack. Et voila. It even clears the boot with room to spare. I've tested it and it's solid as a rock* and doesn't touch the body one little bit. The arm which comes up to meet the frame is super sturdy and grips it like a mutha. *may not have been tested for solidity, may result in bike loss, your results may vary. Terms and conditions apply, your bike may be at risk if you do this.

Recently a lovely Tuning Developments unequal length manifold and overpipe popped up for sale, before you could say M6 to Stoke and back, it was sitting in my boot. Now, I know many of you will think that I've finally cracked and succumbed to the frivolous world of modding for noise or performance reasons. Straying from my golden rule of only doing quality maintenance - and you could be forgiven for thinking that way. However, as it turns out, when it came to the swap over, one of the nuts one my factory overpipe was looser than it should have been. Needless to say I think I've been completely vindicated in my Columbo style hunch of choosing to do this piece of maintenance - prior to that fateful nut working itself off completely and causing untold damage. Gorgeous piece of kit this from TD, working it's way miraculously through the guts and fitting very snuggly indeed into the belly of my blue beast. The noise when combined with the Ark Grip is a little bit special, it really sounds like a Subaru now. Whilst she was in with the excellent tech's at Grinspeed in Leyland (I can't recommend Stevie and Don enough to anyone in the NW). I treated her to new fluids all around (nicely smoothing things off in the gearbox) and decided this was a time to do the spark plugs too. It is a little early for plugs for my BRZ but as there were bits coming off in the vicinity, and it never hurts to have new plugs, it felt right. For those of you who don't know, the plugs are a "bit of a job" on these. The workshop manual recommends the removal of many items including, but not limited to, the ECU, exhaust manifold, your underpants, all jar lids in the workshop, the engine mounts and then hoisting the engine up half a foot before twiddling around with the plugs. Fortunately, ingenuity is not in short supply at my tech's and this was dismissed as an inefficient approach and a quicker way was devised involving a great many extension bars and some knuckle scrapes. Take that Japan. Naturally you'll be aware it's not ideal to change the exhaust flow and run a touch lean. So, after a chat with Tuning Developments, old bluey was on the dyno for a leg stretch. I've kept the 2nd cat in a desperate effort to maintain an easy MOT life, so I'm a little down on the 210s and 215s the fully breathing FA20s see, but I'm still very pleased with the dyno work. The sharpening up of the throttle response alone is super, not to mention the fuller Subaru sound and a splash more torque when crunching motorway miles in 6th. I've not yet had a chance to take her for a spirited B road drive but it is on my to do list. ECUTEK also throw in some slightly gimmicky (IMO) features such as launch control, flat foot shifting and a downshift-on-the-brakes throttle auto-blip. Some demo video here if you're interested http://youtu.be/YM9zkGsA96w I'll give these a whirl on some safe and private area one day, but the tune is all about the improved drivability and noise for me. Anyone thinking of going to see Mike at Tuning Developments (they do tunes on 370s, but nothing for 350s), this was my first trip and I was very pleased with the service. It can sometimes be a bit dull sitting around waiting to get your car back, but it was great to have a chat with Mike and get some first hand info on the products and services they offer. I can see why the FA20 boys and girls really rate them. It's a great place to go and spend your hard earned with a genuine fellow enthusiast. That's it for me now modding the BRZ, my insurance premium has taken a preposterous leap in response to these recent changes (and I shopped around ALL the specialists). I really dislike handing a wedge of money over to them for a teeny tiny bit more noise and torque, which has no appreciable impact on my statistical likelihood of making a claim. In other news, I got to see the world's largest pot of hand scrub... ...that's a 1 gallon and a 1 litre pair of oil bottles next to it. I can't think who might want that much GREEN knocking about

Not enough, I need more!!! Get em in gang.

This just gets better and better, fabulous!

Hitting Reims also allows for a quick photo op detour at the historic circuit route. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims-Gueux

It’s not that there’s Gregg’s everywhere, it’s the population density per Greggs! https://thetab.com/uk/2017/08/02/weve-figured-exactly-north-plotting-every-single-greggs-store-map-44385

What a great tribute for a fellow petrolhead.

I’ve done the Chunnel a couple of times from North England and found it was most relaxing to stay in a travel tavern that night in the UK and then get the train first thing, fresh and ready for a day of driving across Europe. You can smash a big driving day straight away then and get some mileage done. I’ve also done the Hull ferry to Belgium and slept for the night of the crossing (which also saves you one night accommodation when considering the cost) and that was pretty sweet waking up ready to go in the land of waffles. If I was going North toward Scandinavia, I’d deffo get the ferry and sleep on the way over. If I was going south or east in Europe I’d base it on where you want your first night’s stop over to be in Europe. If your first destination abroad is 8 hours from the coast, then get the ferry. If it’s just an hour from Calais, then get the chunnel after the drive down England and have your first night on the Continent.

Wise words Col. All I can add is to go with your heart on whichever you’ll enjoy the most. I’d give up sociable hours for something that really revs my engine but not for a little more cash.

Just rediscovered these clearing out the garage, get ‘em while they’re hot and be prepared for winter. I’d keep them for the BRZ if they fit. £30 delivered, less than half price and never opened.

So many cars to drive, so little time. Great ad, I was tempted by these as the best way into V8, but then decided to go B4 instead. GLWTS

Just time for something new?