v1.3- 28th July 2000
You will need some software and a cable or infrared port to install these phone graphics.
Some basic does/don'ts of track day driving.
a) Make sure the car is in a well maintained condition
b) Check ALL fluid levels
c) Replace the brake fluid if not changed at service specified interval
d) Check the condition/pressure of all your tyres, Make a note of the pressures
e) Check your brake pads for condition/thickness, preferably put new fast road/comp
pads such as Ferrodo DS2000 pads in, front and rear
f) Remove any accessory's not securely fitted
g) Check the speed rating of your tyres, Make a note of this and never exceed
it on track
h) remove any floor mats from the drivers footwell
i) remove the spare tyre if you have secure storage
j) take some basic tools with you, enough to change brake pads at least
k) take at least one axle stand for when you change the pads
l) take some rags/swarfega for cleaning your hands etc
m) Fill up with SUL even on standard spec engine, you wont get more performance,
just gives the engine more protection from detination. If you run on SUL normally
put 1% octane booster in for safety.
n) take a can of Red Bull, it gives you wings you know!
a) one set of brake pads at least, front and rear
b) one 5 litre can of oil
c) some tape to cover your light lenses
d) a helmet
e) some thin soled sports shoe's, aids with brake feel
a) recheck your tyre pressures, if one is down you may have a slow puncture
which could blow when at high speed
b) increase the tyre pressures by 4-6PSI higher than you run on the road
c) tape up your headlights
d) ensure you understood the driver briefing, if you are not sure about any
aspect, ask for clarification. Ensure you understood the passing rules in particular!
e) drink your can of Red Bull and put on your helmet
a) Never thrash the car on the first lap, speed up gradually bringing the
oil/water temperatures to normal working parameters
b) Gently bring the brakes up to temperature
c) use this lap to get familiar with your new, rather alien surroundings
d) Try and give yourself space front and rear, don't be tempted to follow the
car in front too closely as you will be concentrating on him/her and not learning
the track
e) Get used to checking your mirror before and after each corner, you will be
amazed how quickly some cars will catch you if you are a track novice.
a) Bring up the speed gradually if you are a novice, you will learn more
b) Remember your there for fun
c) If you experience brake fade/boiling don't think it will go away before the
next corner, slow down, it is very likely to be worse the next time
d) If you feel a power loss coming out of a tight bend back off, don't keep
it planted, you are probably getting the first sign's of fuel surge, if you
keep it planted you are risking detonation due to a week mixture. return to
the pits and refuel. This can happen with half a tank of fuel on board, don't
get fooled into thinking it cant be happening already, it can.
a) Do a slow last lap in
b) Try to avoid using the brakes at all to give the disks/pads some chance to
cool down
c) don't stop looking in your mirror, there might be some idiot still on max
attack
a) enter the pits slowly, look out for kids/speckies, it is easy to not hear
you coming
b) DO NOT SWITCH OFF YOUR ENGINE
c) allow the engine to idle for at least 2 minutes, i usually give it 5 with
my 350BHP
d) DO NOT PUT THE HANDBRAKE ON OR SIT WITH YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL
e) the above is to stop the pads from being destroyed by the heat sink effect
from your red hot brake disks, stop on a level surface or arrange for someone
to chock you wheel.
f) let everything cool before your check the following
a) Check the brake pads for wear, you will be amazed how quickly they are
used up, This is especially so if on the Donnington GP track and not the national
b) Check ALL fluid levels, You may never use oil on the road, you are almost
guaranteed to do so on a track day run
c) Check your tyre pressures, if one has dropped you may be on the way to a
blow out
d) Check the tyres for wear/cuts
e) Check you are still not wearing a silly cheesy grin
Hopefully the above gives you some basic useful info to help you enjoy the day and come home in one piece
There is an undocumented feature which allows you to configure the alarm to give an audible tone when locking and unlocking the car. This is only available on recent model cars.
Options 6 (off) and 7 (on). Shows as future use in the book.
I.e. Switch ignition on, press the key fob once, press either 6 or 7 on the key pad and the switch the ignition off.
For standard UK tyres, running around 32 or 33 psi all 'round, seems to be a common setting. Going up to 35psi in the past sharpens up the feel of the car a little, but it looses some grip, particularly in the wet. Lower pressures feel like the car is wallowing too much and higher pressures compromise grip (and ride)
Essentially it's down to personal preference. Some have been know to run 34psi front and 32psi rear (pressures measured from cold). Some believe that having the fronts slightly higher reduces the understeer a little as you get better grip on the front.
Anything from 28 to 36 is worth trying, bearing in mind that too low gives wear on the edges and too high gives wear in the center. Also you might find that running pressures too high reduces ride comfort. One thing that has been noticed when trying out over 36psi was that understeer was greatly increased, and when running 28psi there wasn't enough grip.
A number of people reported indicator canceling problems that was eventually traced to the steering lock assembly being installed upside-down!
1.Remove the door panels as per section 4.9.2.2 of SIDC FAQ (Audio).
2.Using one inch strips of gaffer tape, stick all the edges of the clear plastic
door liner down firmly.
3.Using a drop of Superglue on each, fix the door panel poppers in their mountings
on the door panel to stop them rattling (this is the low down rattle especially
on rear doors).
4.If you turn the door panel round and look at the back face you will see the
edges are returned and flat at the top corners. These flat faces rub up against
rubber and plastic on the door and cause the 'ticking' sound. Place felt draft
excluder on these faces to create a cushioned separating layer, but separate
the felt from the plastic 'selotape type' backing before you do - buy some and
you'll see what I mean.
5.On the top edge of the door you will see two metal upstands on which the door
panel 'hangs'. Stick a one inch strip of draft excluder on the top of each one
(selotape backing removed again).
6.Refix the panel.
Another noise reduction tip/ find was to fill the back of the door panel plastic clips with silicon rubber and glue the panel to the door with blobs of the stuff too. It can easily be cut through if the panel needs to come off and then it will peel off from the plastic or metal easily. Worked a treat. I also found loads of loose alarm wires that stuck firmly down with insulating tape, before putting the interior back together.
Ther are so many different bulbs on the market today that it is pretty confusing.
The main four types are normal bulbs, xenon filled bulbs, and the 'electra blue' and all-weather types.
The xenon filled bulbs are roughly equivalent to normal bulbs, except that they produce 20-30% more light. This is achieved through a thicker filament which burns brighter, and a small amount of xenon gas to prevent the thicker filament overheating.
The 'blue' bulbs are either normal bulbs or xenon filled bulbs with a dichroic coating which filters out the yellow component of the light, producing a more blue light. Unfortunately the filament produces most of its light in the yellow wavelengths so by filtering this light out the bulb is effectively a lot less bright and pretty pointless.
The all-weather bulbs use a similar dichroic coating to the 'blue' bulbs which instead filters out the blue light from the filament to produce a yellow light. This is supposed to aid vision in fog/rain, etc. The reason being that yellowier light is less easily diffracted, and therefore less glare is produced. (Conversely one would guess, 'blue' bulbs produce more glare?)
It has been reported that changing from Halfords 'blue' bulbs to Osram Bilux Super H4 (a xenon charged bulb) will provide an immediate improvement. The Osram bulbs came out top in a bulb test in Auto Express earlier in the year, and the 'blue' bulbs were universally panned). They cost about £18 for the pair from Demon Tweeks, and are similar to the hugely expensive PIAA bulbs in terms of technology and light output.
To change the bulbs, there should be a wire clip on the back of the bulb, 1 stem going up either side of the bulb, with a round bit on the top of each, squeeze this 2 rounds bits towards each other and the clip should swing down, the bulb should then come out, refitting is the opposite.
GradeA Subaru is based 15 miles south of Manchester.~They say they are one of the largest breakers of Subaru Impreza Turbos. For further information and stock enquiries, contact Andrew on 01663 744114 or email GradeA@gradea-subaru.co.uk
I recently got Vodafone to install a Nokia hands free car kit. They used the following in order to interface to the standard stereo, such that the radio auto mutes on incoming and outgoing calls, and sound is played through the standard speakers.
Cellular Interface Lead
PC6-069 Subaru all models except Jan 92
Autoleads Ltd, Hampshire, UK.
They also used a dashboard kit which meant no screw holes in the dashboard, this was by- Connoisseur Products Ltd, 0870 8408406. http://www.dashmount.co.uk
Overboost in simple terms is where the boost pressure produced by the Turbo exceeds a predefined maximum. Once the limit is reached the ECU cuts all power to the engine for a fraction of a second. The result of this when accelerating hard in second gear feels like running into a brick wall
Or a more detailed explanation is:
The wastegate is held shut so that boost is generated and when the desired boost
level is achieved the wastegate is then opened. However this is mechanical stuff
controlled by electronic stuff - electronics can react quickly whereas mechanics
can not.
Causes of overboot include the T piece clogging up with oil. Also if the orifice (brass hole restrictor) is placed in the wrong line, it will also overboost. Depending on which model it is, it should either be in the line from the turbo to the T-piece or the pipe from the solenoid on the right side of the struct tower to the inlet manifold.
97 98 cars seem to suffer this the most. The hoses from the wastegate can be cleaned and the problem still comes back. Also dealers have removed the restrictor that is in the line to the wastegate and fitted a larger holed one, this lets the car boost to a lower level. Problem solved. Some dealers are drilling the hole slightly larger. Beware they do not drill the hole to large or your boost will suffer.
This seems to be a very emotive subject, with people getting anything from 15 to 29 mpg, depending on how much the turbo is used. 35 mpg has been noted during the running in period.
There doesn't seem to be many racks that will fit under or around the rear boot spoiler on the Impreza Turbo. One owner has one from Halfords, and cost about £40 a couple of years ago. Its the 3 bike version, and adjusts in enough ways to fit through the spoiler (MY99 type standard spoiler - with about a 6 inch gap), rest on top of the bumper, and secures with 6 straps (2 on the front edge of the boot lid, 2 on the sides by the rear lights, and 2 under the bumper on the securing eye & exhaust mount).
Others recommend Thule systems, a thing to remember is the Scoobies roof is actually quite short so the THULE system is one of the only ones to hold the front and back really securely.
Tow bar racks are in many ways a more elegant solution...if you don't mind tow bar on the back.
The other solution is to buy the 5 door Impreza.
The bike rack used by one owner was a "Paddy Hopkirk" 3 cycle carrier. Available from Chevin Cycles, http://www.chevincycles.co.uk. and is designed to take up to 3 bikes for £45.
Straps hook onto the lip of the boot next to the rear window glass, more go to the side and finally two clips hook onto the exhaust hanger and towing eye. Seems pretty stable - my only worry is that it will dent the Impreza's near legendary tin boot.
I think it may have troubles with the small spoiler of pre MY99 UK speccars, so try before you buy.
Subaru do a set of roof bars for the 4 door Impreza. They clip under the rubber strips that run over the roof. They also do bike racks that bolt to these bars, or you could buy the Thule ones and clip them on.
These prices were worked out for me, aged 32, clean license, car parked off road on a drive, 5 years company scheme no claims. Sometimes the Impreza Turbo is referred to as being in group 17b. The 'b' is a stipulation that can be enforced by either the manufacturer or the insurance company that only allows drivers over 30 to drive the car.
Click here for the spreadsheet.
There have been a few reportings that a knocking/squeaking sound under the offside bonnet is the result of the alarm bracket snapping clean off & the siren dangling in the engine just on the wires. This has been discovered on MY99 and MY00 Subarus.
It appears that with some third party stereos when the ignition is switched off the radio stays on for approx. 10 seconds.
By following the radio power back to the source and applying a voltmeter, the following was noted.
The power gradually reduces and the stereo cuts out when it reaches 5 volts. When you activate the wiper arm it immediately reduces to 0 volts. There is a Capacitor in line with the power supply to smooth out the voltage so that you get a constant 12 volts instead of rising and falling with revs. When you activate the wiper arm it discharges this capacitor. The Panasonic unit seems to be very sensitive to this.
Tar spots on the paintwork can be removed using lard or Flora margarine
When replacing bulbs you may find that the levelling adjustment linkage becomes detached. To fix this,
Remove the bulb again. Put your fingers inside the headlight and click the moving reflector back onto it's adjuster. Just be careful.
The symptoms are a distinctive knocking sound when cold, which disappears when the engine warms up. It is quite loud, and is not to be confused with a tappetty sound quite common in our cars when first started. The noise is apparently like a BOK BOK BOK.
This is apparently a "known" problem with MY98 cars, and some 97MY cars. It seems with the new piston design introduced with the new engine, there can be a chance of the piston in cylinder number 4 distorting slightly. The problem is with the piston skirt design as you state and the fix is the replacement of a 'short engine'.
The fix is either a new short block (ie block + crank + pistons etc), or a new piston for number 4 cylinder which has a different design. Which option is fitted depends on the severity of the problem, as some are worse than others. The problem is apparently due to heat distribution, and it's just as likely to affect a car which has had an easy life, as one which has been pushed hard, so it's no reflection on how the car has been used, or the owner.
A 'short engine' is the basic block (the rest of your engine like alternator/turbo etc gets put back), as this is cheaper than stripping and re-building. It is not a short block, or closed deck
There is a dealer supplied accessory, which adds black plastic strips along the middle of the doors. They are black with the Impreza logo on them. Ford Mondeo strips fit well and are much cheaper these can be purchased in Ford colours or plain from memory.
All you need to do is reprofile the end...i.e. remove a cm from the front door strips.
All current Mondeo's use them and it was very easy to order
It has been said that they look better than the IM strip.
The upper level is the top drilled hole, the lower level is the bottom drilled hole, and the notch is the notch in the side of the dipstick above the upper drilled hole.
1) Park on a level surface and stop the engine (My comment: this means the
engine has been run, i.e. not stone cold in the morning)
2) Pull dipstick out, wipe clean and re-insert
3) Make sure the dipstick is pushed fully home and the oil can symbol is the
correct way up looking from the front of the car, the symbol going left to right.
4) Pull out the dipstick and check the oil level, if it is below the lower level
add oil to bring up to the upper level
5) If you check the oil level just after stopping the engine, wait a few minutes
for the oil to drain back into the oil pan before checking the level.
6) Just after driving or while the engine is warm, the engine oil reading may
be in a range between the upper level and the notch mark. This is caused by
thermal expansion of the oil
7) To prevent overfilling the engine, do not add any additional oil above the
upper level when the engine is cold.
What I read from that is that to check the oil level, fire the engine up for 1 minute, switch of and leave for 5 minutes then set the oil level to the top drilled hole. Take it for a run and then once fully up to temp the oil level should be above the top drilled hole and below or on the notch on the side of the dipstick.
For track use I would check the oil level after the car has come off track and has stood for 5 minutes, it should be between the top drilled hole and the side notch.
As an important note, overfilling with oil is as bad as under filling, you put the oil control rings on the pistons under great stress when you overfill, this can lead to excessive bore wear.
This information has been received from Mobil.
Subaru Japan have stated that all oils with a 0W rating will invalidate engine
warranty. This is because 0W viscosity has not been tested by Fuji Heavy Industries
and is unlikely to be tested by them in the near future. It is not a result
of engine problems and is not related to synthetic technology or oil quality.
This oil which operates at temperatures as low as minus 54 degrees exceeds the
quality level required of Subaru vehicles. This oil was used by customers for
2 years in Subaru engines without any claims for engine failure before the Warranty
Bulletin was produced regarding OW oils.
Mobil recommend Mobil 1 0W-40 for vehicles outside warranty.
Mobil 1 Motorsport 15W-50 uses the same synthetic technology which results in
fast flow rates and reduced friction. It is designed for ardous race and rally
use at the highest temperatures where a thicker more stable oil is required.
Again this lubricant has not been tested by Fuji Heavy Industries so they cannot
give approval.
Mobil recommend 15W-50 for use outside of the warranty.
Using the same technology as Mobil 1 0W-40, MOBIL HAS MADE MOBIL 1 5W-40 EXCLUSIVELY
AVAILABLE TO SUBARU DEALERS.
This product fulfils the viscosity requirements of Subaru for use in all of
their model range. Mobil 1 5W-40 makes available the same benefits achieved
by Mobil 1 without the extreme low temperature capability and ulta quick circulation
offered by the 0W rated product. Mobil 1 5W-40 will be available exclusively
to Subaru dealers for routine servicing. For interim lubricant top-up, we advise
customers to either return to dealer for top-up or use Mobil 1 Motorsport 15W-50
for DIY top-up. While Motorosport is 15W-50m, the viscosity will have negligible
effect on the sump viscosity and the lubricants are totally compatible.
Mobil Super S 10W-40 and Duchams QXR 10W-40 have been accepted for use during the warranty period and whilst not delivering the optimum performance of fully synthetic engine oil, they still exceed the performance requirements necessary to meet the Subaru warranty.
During the warranty period and in order to adhere to the viscosity requirements
of the Subaru warranty, Mobil recommend the use of Mobil 1 5W-40, Mobil Super
S 10W-40 or Duckhams QXR 10W-40. Out of warranty, Mobil recommend Mobil 1 OW-40
or Mobil 1 Motorsport 15W-50"
My thoughts
It appears that the dealer CAN use MOBIL 1 oil, the 5W-40. However this is not
available to the general public but only to SUBARU dealers. The other MOBIL
1 products will invalidate your warranty, the 0W-40 and 15W-50 types. However
using Mobil Super S 10W-40 is okay for your warranty but MOBIL recommend the
best oil to use outside your warranty is Mobil 1 0w-40 or Mobil 1 Motorsport
15W-50. So for the people who have wrote and said that their dealer uses MOBIL
1, then it is almost certain to be this exclusive 5W-40 rated oil which we cannot
buy. At least the above should clear up everything regarding the use of MOBIL
1. The above is the official statement by MOBIL, it looks like to me that the
Mobil 1 Motorsport is a good oil and is probably the best oil but if we put
it in our engines we know that SUBARU will not honour the warranty.
This is a calculator that lets you input your axle ratio, tire size, and gear ratios, and gives you a speed/rpm/gear table.
http://www.maitreg.com/Cars/tools/speedrpm.asp
Warning!
Mucking around with your brakes can be dangerous, if your not sure what you are doing, get professional help.
Put unsuitable(read cheap or road pads on track etc) pads on a great setup and you'll get poor results. Put hard race pads on a standard setup can result in poor braking from cold and excessive wear or cracked disks when used when hot - basically the pad will not fade as early so you'll continue to use them and thus allow the disks to get much hotter than they may have been designed to withstand.
POTS
Scoob owners often mention POTS when referring to their brakes.
POT is the number of pistons pressing on the pad.
The 2 pot design (early jap WRX's and UK cars before my99) have 2 pistons on the inside of the caliper, the caliper having a sliding design to pull on the outside pad.
The typical 4 pot design (UK cars MY99 onwards) has 2 pistons pressing on the inside pad and 2 on the outside pad.
The 6 pot design has 3 pistons pushing on each pad.
The 8 pot design: has 2 variants; 1 is 4 pistons each side, the other was 2 sets of 4 pot calipers
The 10 pot design: has 5 pistons on each side
Note: typically with aftermarket designs the pistons are different sizes to spread the loading on the pad..Also the calipers are made of a more heat dissipating alloy. The 10pot design IMHO is a joke marketing tool - all pistons being equal size.
There has been occasions when these have been fitted the wrong way around. The groove should pass through the pad on the outside edge of the disc first.
A cheaper VERY permanent way to a quick shift.
Remove the gearknob/gater. Take one hacksaw, and cut off the top of the gear stick, leaving about 5mm of thread. If you can, run a 12mm die down the G/S to extend the threads. Note that you will only make a shallow cut, as the G/S is 11mm dia, with a 12mm thread "rolled" in. Don't worry if you can't extend the thread.
Use some electrical/ptfe tape to pack out the stick just bellow the treads (stops any gearknob movement) and re-fit gater/knob.
If you find your 5-door/station wagon appears noisy then you get an enormous improvement by removing the side boot lining panels and bonding shaped sound deadening felt (about 1 cm thick) to the inside of the outer wing as far forward as possible. To a lesser extent the boot lid resonates, but sticking shaped pieces to the underside is less elegant, but still makes quite an improvement. The lower floor pan didn't seem to be a problem.
Armourfend - stops stone chips brilliantly, and can be self applied and peeled off later.
the price to do a bonnet, from 8 May 2000--is £59.95 plus vat
If you notice an annoying high pitch whistling coming from the wing mirrors, almost like a stone scrapping against a Disc.Its most noticeable at about 40mph, folding back the mirror instantly stops it.
it appears to be caused by the small gap left between the mirror body and the mount. The cure was to fold the mirror back and apply a strip of black insulating tape down the normally hidden leading edge of the mirror at that join. When back in the mirror's normal position it was not visible, but the gap was almost completely closed, hence no more whistle for the last year and a half.
Air -con problems have turned out to be a stone in the air-con radiator whic is not covered under warranty and is expensive!