95' Subaru Impreza WRX RA STi V2 Dream Car

Nice car. Definitely out of my price range now but would love one. slipngripross I'd be getting those fog lamp covers scanned and either 3d printed or seeing if a run of them could be subcontracted to be made!

They had a crazy option list for the STi Type RA, even a 6 point roll cage if you wanted it.

Just a few moody shots at Castle Combe today as i went out to book in the car for ceramic coating for early March.

I organise a monthly Auto Social event near Chippenham now and a lady got some great images of my car.
















I managed to find a replacement genuine lower front panel on ebay. I think there were three left in stock if anyone needs one. Thought i'd grab one before there are none left but I won't be having it changed until the middle of the year. I have also had the full car booked in for full ceramic coating now too.

On to the dyno this morning at Badger5 near Stroud. The idea of this process was to ensure the AFR's are safe and to see what power its running. The car has a boost controller so initially we ran the car at 0.7 bar and then ran it up at 0.9 bar. On the higher boost its running a tiny bit lean on top end but nothing to panic about. Thoughts are that the fuel pump may not be flowing as it should so I will replace it in the near future. Other than that pulls well and AFR's are where they should be.







Received my classic 4 pots back from being refurbished. Went for black with white Subaru logo as it feels a bit more factory than red. Came with fitting kit too. Will be fitting these at the weekend along with Walbro 255 fuel pump which should solve the slightly lean issue at the top end.

I'm part of a local MSUk club which is Devizes and District Motor Club. I often help out with marshalling on events and we meet once a month for an AGM. Its a great bunch. I just sold my Civic Type R road rally car but on Friday I was invited to take part in the March 12 Car Road Rally. They had an experienced co-driver ready for me so I bit the bullet and decided to take the RA out instead. I was a little nervous due to how clean it is but it was a mostly dry night.

For those that don't know what road rallies are they are run by approved car clubs and generally run around 60 miles on b-roads and whites. The tend to start late in the evening after 8pm and you navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint on road open to the public. The aim is to reach each checkpoint within a time limit and in the correct direction whilst noting down code boards during each section. The team closest to there set time with the fewest penalty point is the winner. Most larger road rallies are restricted to NA 4 pot cars but monthly small events called 12 cars you can pretty much run anything that is near stock or modified under road rally regs.




A bunch of experienced crews attended using cars such as 205 GTi's, a classic Mini and other hatch backs. The route ran 60miles around the Chippenham and Wiltshire lanes and you are meant to average around 30mph over the route which is quite a challenge on backroads when you have to stop for checkpoints and to read code boards. it kicked off at 8pm with us leaving MTC1 at 8:10 being car 10 in the lineup.

The roads were wet in places which made for challenging traction in places. But my god did I remember why I love these cars so much. Our pace was so good down the back roads and Matts navigation and plotting so good we were arriving at checkpoint 7-8 minutes early. I was glad to have refitted my option sump guard as it did bottom out once over a yump. I did not manage to fit my larger calipers in time but i was presently surprised how well the 2 pots did with upgraded pads once they had warmed up.

The car was in its element smashing down back roads in the dead of night and even with Michelin road tyres the grip and acceleration was frankly baffling. The low ration box and plated diff did an epic job. The final leg of the route was a few miles of By-way so we locked up the diff a tad and went for it as fast as we could whilst trying to prevent any damage, even on the gravel and through the deep puddles she was a gem.

We finished around 10:30 pm at a pub in Devizes and had a pint to await the results. Considering were were airing on the side of caution due to the cars value we were very surprised to finish 6th out of 12 cars with 4 fails and 2 minutes late. Safe to say I popped to the jet wash first thing the next morning to give t a clean off before i give it a proper wash and detail today. The ceramic coating has done a great job of making it easy to wash dirt off. I'm very tempted to take it out on the next one too which is April 29th but we also have the Corinium run which is a classic tour in the Cotswolds coming up that my mrs is navigating for me too.
















Next up on the list of things to do is order a V2 IC Water Spray bottle if anyone can direct me. Some nicer wheels nuts and like an idiot i didn't realise I didn't have any caliper carriers for the four pots so need to find some of those.

I was getting quite worried that I wasn't falling for the car and having to cherish it without enjoying the driving but after this event I am so stoked to own it.

Bit of a special moment over the past few days searching for carriers for 4 pots that don't actually have carriers......what a numpty.

Had to do a wheels off wash on the car yesterday and inspect any damage from the 12 car, which there doesn't seem to be, Undercoat held up well. I also fitted the 4 pots on the front.



















I had this setup from the ex McRae car I owned last year so the pads and discs were nearly new but had sat in my garage. Scoobyworx refurbished my calipers and although they did a good job on the pistons, rubbers and powdercoating, the white decals started to fall off when just fitting the calipers let alone driving the car, so I'm quite disappointed about that and have emailed to asked what they can do about it. I'm a little amazed that they have been doing this for year but are using such poor quality decals. Hoping they will offer new better decals to send out that i can fit or small refund for the poor quality.







I have kept the factory option sump guard fitted for now as we have a classic tour next month anyway and i quite like the look of it. I have ordered some black wheel nuts which should suit better than chrome and hope to get the window surrounds painted this week.

Yes the clear wrap is called PPFE and I have toyed with the idea. Its very very expensive, I had someone quote me around £3000 just to do the front end. sills and arches. The sort of price you can have a whole respray done. I have a pal who is about to start doing similar stuff but its spray on and much cheaper. I need to have the pas rear quarter and boot lid painted first though as they have some paint missing I'd like sorted.

They are great machines and as you say not much else would touch them down B roads even in near stock form. MY first RA also sadly got written off on a wet roundabout where a lorry pulled out on me one morning. With semi slicks and no ABS i had no hope.