# My Story so far...



## MikeyB (Sep 30, 2004)

Posted this on the Scooby Forum, but thought I would share it will be fellow ******** friends...

*In the Beginning...*

Afternoon all, just thought I would let you know my story so far of owning an Impreza.

Took delivery of a MY03 WRX around 8 months ago with 38K on the clock, couldnâ€™t afford an STI at the time (which I now regret), but hey, thatâ€™s life.

*Current Spend: Â£11,000*










*The mods begin...*

The car had a Powerflow (I hear you scream) exhaust on, and was running 245BHP.

My first mods were to swap the intercooler for an STI one, and remove the exhaust and upgrade to a full 3â€ decatted straight through system from Scooby Clinic, I had the â€˜beforeâ€™ and â€˜afterâ€™ power runs which produced 245BHP before and 265BHP after without a remap as that's all I could afford. Not a bad increase and the mid-range pull was noticeably better.

*Current Spend: Â£11,750*



















Car pulled so much better and I couldnâ€™t remove the smile off my face with the sound it produced, still has the same noise today!

*Handling*

Next thing was to look into the handling, I went for the cheapest option first, Whiteline Rear Anti-Roll bar and anti-lift kit, had this fitted by Racing Line in Halifax, the difference was noticeable, not much from the anti-lift kit but you could definitely feel the roll bar working. The car went around corners so much more flatter and you could really notice the difference in the car, it felt to just stick to the road.

*Current Spend: Â£12,150*

Keeping it Legal(ish)...

Next step was to take a look into the appearance of the car, decided to add some legal window tints and also the rally style roof vent just for aesthetics, my private plate was also added.

*Current Spend: Â£12,600*



















*Ahh, no, those long left handers!!, the Rebuild...*

Went to Bruntingthorpe proving ground for a bit of a run-out with my bosses 997, my Impreza only managed 3 laps before a horrible knocking noise from the engine, no warning lights or anything, but due to oil starvation I needed a new bottom end. Got the car transported up to the Scooby Clinic where I decided to go the whole hog and installed a Version 8 STI 2.0L bottom end with P1 heads, uprated internals, slapped on a VF34, STI Pinks, uprated fuel pump, decat up-pipe, EcuTEK remap, and a few rolling roads later I was running 334/310.

*Current Spend: Â£18,800*










*The new era...*

The car absolutely flies now, itâ€™s the fastest car I have ever been in.

Was totally delighted with the engine, had a new Excedy single plate race clutch fitted too which I was the only thing I wasnâ€™t happy with, too much judder if you got it wrong.

The noise from the engine had now improved too, purring nicely at low revs, and really giving a rumble once your right foot is planted! (Check out the video at the bottom)

*God I need to stop!*

Next step was to look into the brakes and suspension, I couldnâ€™t afford a big brake upgrade, so at this point it's running on uprated 5 dot 5 fluid, Ferodo DS2500 pads all round and braided lines. Has made a big improvement and Iâ€™ll be upgrading these once finances come in... With regards to the handling and suspension, Iâ€™ve just put the Eibach lowering kit on which has improved roll, and as far as aesthetics go, the car is really starting to take shape.

*Current Spend: Â£19,200* ish...










*Gearbox, mmm, I knew it would happen...*

I use my car as a daily driver, fast B-road driver and also do a few track days a year so compromises are inevitable, like the clutch for instance, it's an absolute nightmare in stop-start traffic, do a launch from 5,000rpm and itâ€™s apparent where the money lies, the car takes off at such a rate!

My next mod is a new PPG gearbox, this is because driving home last night, I put the car into second, accelerating hard and I had a sudden bang, quiet loud and a loss of pull, bloody 5 speed box has lost second gear, itâ€™s now booked in at API for the PPG box to be fitted.

*Conclusion, I am mad!*

Ahh, the fun of tuning cars, and we wonâ€™t even go into the fuel bill, Iâ€™m only getting around 180-190 miles per tank, but that's because the way I drive!

And I haven't touched on the detailing the car gets, Swissol all the way, the sound system is fantastic, around Â£4K on that, sat nav, phone kit, bloody hell am I stupid!!! :wonder:

Hereâ€™s a few pics and a video of a launch Iâ€™ve done in my beloved Impreza.

*Current Spend: Â£21,700* ish..

*Cheers, MikeyB!* :thumb:




























Plenty more pictures here: Public Home | MikeyB | Fotki.com

And the video of the gearbox killer: http://www.mikeyb.co.uk/scooby/Scooby_Launch.wmv


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Must admit i think i will be smiling for some time ( although i did make some polite enquiries at Powerstation today :roll: )

Its not the best looking car and sometimes i'm very conscious of the fact people are looking at it thinking w4nker, however its just so much fun you forget the drawbacks

Agree about the fuel thing though was talking to Genociadalduck on the w/e and he gets better mpg from his RS4


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Where would the aftermarket be without 'enthusiasts' like this chap?

Seems to be enjoying his indulgences tho...


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

BAMTT said:


> Must admit i think i will be smiling for some time ( although i did make some polite enquiries at Powerstation today :roll: )
> 
> Its not the best looking car and sometimes i'm very conscious of the fact people are looking at it thinking w4nker, however its just so much fun you forget the drawbacks
> 
> Agree about the fuel thing though was talking to Genociadalduck on the w/e and he gets better mpg from his RS4


They are cronically thirsty but so much fun. I had this:










Until I got the TT, I still miss it just for sheer fun but I don't miss the fuel bills, I will have another on in the future (RB320) :twisted:

They are not the best looking cars but they serve a purpose i.e go fast, handle well and are cheap to buy.

As soon as another person spots you in one they see Red and have to have a go which is fun especially when they are in TVR's in the wet :lol:


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## Multiprocess (Aug 9, 2004)

Mikey, great story so far..........................keep on modding you know you want too!!! :twisted:


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## ObiWan (Sep 25, 2005)

Mikey, sounds familiar................ I dread the bit when you get to, and then I sold it for ........................ 

Not sure if you are mad or just crazy............. but you only live once so go for it  :wink:


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## coupe-sport (May 7, 2002)

Very nice - i do like the look of these. Shame they drink so much tho :?

The roof vent though - does it do anything (apart from on the WRC cars) ?


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## Stu-Oxfordshire (May 7, 2002)

Mikey,
I was reading your thread and thinking to myself "ah...this sounds very familiar!" I think every petrolhead, at least once in his/her life should spend a inordinate amount of time and money modifying a car, just to understand what a thankless task it is!

Some time ago, I went from boggo standard car pictured here:








and here: 









to upgrading these:









......then these:

















...and when i started to go even faster round corners, did this:

















then even started upgrading parts I had previously upgraded...again...

























....until really silly things started happening on a regular basis, like this: 









This was all on top of other big money mods such as coilovers, turbo outlets, downpipes, ecat pipes etc etc.

It wasn't until I did what you have done (ie: tot up all the bills) that I started thinking "this is getting rather silly" [smiley=deal2.gif]
So, I stopped. And sold the fecker.

My new w/e and trackday car now has the same set of tyres and pads on after 9 trackdays and still has a few more to go, it's cost me considerably less.

Looks like you are enjoying your car - I found there's a point of no return, where you are spending so much money chasing performance, that you need to keep the car for another 3-5 years, or buy something else. Enjoy it while you can, and every time she asks you what it costs, i found the most appropriate response was: _"hhrrrrrumpphhhh"_


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Maybe i will stop at a remap


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

BAMTT said:


> Maybe i will stop at a remap


Just have the Prodrive packs put on (if you haven't already)


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

jbell said:


> BAMTT said:
> 
> 
> > Maybe i will stop at a remap
> ...


Already have it, but then you always want more


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

Nice work.

Modding can't ever stop as it's in the blood. 8)


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## TTCool (Feb 7, 2005)

Mikey, I'm proud of you 

Been there. I could have retired sooner :lol: :lol:

Hope you come back to a hot TT some day.

Joe


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## MikeyB (Sep 30, 2004)

Thanks for all the comments, seems I'm not the only 'one' out there then!

Great pics of the EVO Stu, I've already had to wipe my mouth from drooling over the AP's! Remember seeing the EVO at Castle Combe a few years back actually when I owned my TT.

Thinking about slapping some on mine whilst it's in for the work... :?

Glad to see I'm keeping the spirit of modding up on the forum, and your right, once you have been bitten, there is no turning back.

And don't talk to me about 'point-of-return'... :wink:


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## KenTT (Feb 20, 2005)

An enjoyable read, thanks for posting Mikey  .


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## MikeyB (Sep 30, 2004)

TTCool said:


> Mikey, I'm proud of you
> 
> Been there. I could have retired sooner :lol: :lol:
> 
> ...


Cheers Joe!


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## gcp (Aug 8, 2002)

Nice read Mikey, makes my three motorbikes and a camper van seem quite sane.


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

BAMTT said:


> jbell said:
> 
> 
> > BAMTT said:
> ...


And there lies the problem :wink: , I couldn't stop modding mine but it was so fast by the end especially as it had a red top engine in :twisted:

Go for it


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## Stu-Oxfordshire (May 7, 2002)

MikeyB said:


> Thanks for all the comments, seems I'm not the only 'one' out there then!
> Great pics of the EVO Stu, I've already had to wipe my mouth from drooling over the AP's! Remember seeing the EVO at Castle Combe a few years back actually when I owned my TT.
> Thinking about slapping some on mine whilst it's in for the work... :?


hehe. IMO big brakes are: 
a) the sexiest aesthetic mod you can make to a car and...
b) a must-have for trackdays.

As Maury Finkel (Ben Stiller's alter-ego in Starsky & Hutch movie) said: _*"Do it....come on, doo it"*_


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## stephengreen (May 6, 2002)

Mikey.......Your quitemad!  
Do like the look of the car though, and im far from a scooby fan looks wise. Particulary like the roof vent. Reminds me of Finland last year and pukka WRC cars. Does it vent to the interior or engine? or is it just for show? Very effective either way. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## MikeyB (Sep 30, 2004)

Probably going to have to hold of on the brakes Stu, going for the PPG gearset in the box which is costing nearing 3k, plus with some Toyo's all round and a full geo setup thats nearly 3.5k!

Brakes are the next thing, and I totally agree with you mate, when I put the porkers on the TT they looked fantastic and stopped on a dime!

The roof vent is entirly for show mate, didn't fancy that thing blowing through in the winter! :wink:


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