Who here owns a Subaru?

Not a bad job doing the cambelt on a boxer. Once the radiator and fans are removed there's loads of room! What radiator did you go for, just an OEM replacement?

Removed my front driver's hub assembly yesterday to finally tackle the snapped caliper bolt. Didn't fancy drilling it on the car as I'd never get it straight so off it came and onto the bench drill at work.

271019_hubremoved.jpg


Yes, that is a clamped brake line :( No I didn't want to clamp it and yes the hoses will be replaced for braided lines.

I've also been looking at replacing the downpipe before the car goes for mapping. Currently running the Prodrive sports cat downpipe and considering replacing it for something 3" and decatted. I've seen cheap Japspeed pipes for around £130 IIRC. The last downpipe I bought was a custom stainless steel thing for my Rover at nearly £300. In comparison the Japspeed seems awfully cheap, although I guess downpipes for the Subaru are much more common.

As long as the usual things apply (T304 stainless, bell mouth, mandrel bent) are they much of a muchness or is it worth paying more?
 
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Hi.

I had the Japspeed 3" inch downpipe on my old scooby, which was mated to the 3" Cobra exhaust, mid pipe and rear box. Never had a issue with it at all, even though it was cheap. However if i was to do it again, i would go for the Cobra downpipe.
 
Thanks Lee, something to think about for sure! What are your reasons for using a more expensive pipe? Did you have issues with fitment on the Japspeed?
 
agw_01 said:
Thanks Lee, something to think about for sure! What are your reasons for using a more expensive pipe? Did you have issues with fitment on the Japspeed?
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No fitment issues at first, between the downpipe and the rest of the cobra system.

However after a few years ( i owned mine 5 years before moving on ) i did notice that where the downpipe joined the cobra system, it wasnt as smooth as my OCDness would have liked LOL hence exhaust gases were blowing only very slightly.

When i do it all again ( watch this space :P ) i will purchase a full cobra system, using there downpipe.

I have completed a search around and scoobyparts is the cheapest for the 3" inch SB32d system priced @ £639, get a 5% code, sees that lower to £607 for a brand new full 3" system is pretty good value tbh.
 
peterattheboro said:
It's OK. Lovely and smooth when on a gentle drive. Takes a second to kick down when you floor it but to be honest I don't do that often as I'm trying to keep the mpg up.
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Must admit that I really regret selling my Forester recently and these have drifted onto my radar as something slightly more refined and better equipped, yet still with that inherent mechanical quality that all Subarus possess. Would you recommend one?

I'm a little averse to the automatic transmission but I find these BP5s (just for the often better state of the underbody alone) a more tempting proposition, particularly given that they often cost the same (as, say, a potentially less efficient 3.0 Spec B).

This one caught my eye: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Legacy-2-0-BP5-Spec-B-Twin-Scroll/174091031975

Any thoughts?
 
I've really fancied one of them for ages. i came very close to buying one about 4 years ago and i do kind of regret it as they've held their value way better than the Avensis i did buy.

From the reading i did there's not much to worry about, the auto's seem reliable and you can buy an altered valvebody for them to sharpen up the changes if you need, then it's just the usual cambelt and servicing.
 
Lashout_UK said:
Must admit that I really regret selling my Forester recently and these have drifted onto my radar as something slightly more refined and better equipped, yet still with that inherent mechanical quality that all Subarus possess. Would you recommend one?

I'm a little averse to the automatic transmission but I find these BP5s (just for the often better state of the underbody alone) a more tempting proposition, particularly given that they often cost the same (as, say, a potentially less efficient 3.0 Spec B).

This one caught my eye: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Legacy-2-0-BP5-Spec-B-Twin-Scroll/174091031975

Any thoughts?
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I'm still loving mine after 3/4 months of ownership. Gearbox is solid if a little slow to react when you want to press on. From what I've heard and been told the car is reliable if the cambelt has been changed and also the water pump.

MPG is really bad. Auto/4WD are not a good combo for fuel economy. Think I'm averaging around 20/22mpg and I run it on Tesco Momentum 99.
 
ReAPeR101 said:
No fitment issues at first, between the downpipe and the rest of the cobra system.

However after a few years ( i owned mine 5 years before moving on ) i did notice that where the downpipe joined the cobra system, it wasnt as smooth as my OCDness would have liked LOL hence exhaust gases were blowing only very slightly.

When i do it all again ( watch this space :p ) i will purchase a full cobra system, using there downpipe.

I have completed a search around and scoobyparts is the cheapest for the 3" inch SB32d system priced @ £639, get a 5% code, sees that lower to £607 for a brand new full 3" system is pretty good value tbh.
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Thanks very much Lee, I think I'll investigate the Japspeed downpipe as an option. I can always get the flange refaced if it begins to warp.

£600 for a quality 3" turbo back system is a no brainer tbh. I'd probably go down a similar route did I not already have a Nur Spec <3 :D

I've finally managed to get this snapped bolt out of the caliper with no damage to the caliper or its threads, phew! I'd already worked out that the bolt was quite free to move in the caliper but was seized solid in the caliper brace on the other side of the hub mounting. Several snapped drill bits later and the thread in the brace collapsed enough that I could tap the rest of the bolt through the hub allowing me to remove the caliper and disc from the hub. I still had to remove the bolt from the caliper however.

Some careful drilling into the caliper bolt, followed by using a stud extractor with an array of sockets and extension bars, the rest of the bolt started to slowly unwind from the caliper.

5dnaU5G.jpg

Time to get it back together and get the thing in for its MOT. I haven't driven it since March so the excitement is building up!
 
Hi guys, hoping you can put my mind at rest, i am on the hunt for a Forester STi 2002/07, but feeling a bit concerned about the 2.5 boxer engine, and was thinking maybe i would be better off with a Cross sport twinscroll? or am i worring about nothing
 
Worrying about nothing imho. Unless its been badly abused or you are going to try and map one over 400bhp they'll be fine.

I have a 55 Forester Sti coming up to 100K on the original engine running at around 330bhp ever since it was imported by Litchfield and it hasn't skipped a beat.

Before that I had a standard Forester XT with a 2.5 engine which again had done over 100K when I sold it with zero issues.
 
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