Niran

Cheers man. Will probably go ahead with that. Also probably smarter to learn all the characteristics of the car at the limit first (on track hopefully soon) before i start changing some of the fundamentals that will will affect understeeer / oversteer.

Right. Maybe i should just stick with the stock bars then and upgrade just the endlinks and bushings? Since they are failing anyway.

@kwi_fozze cheers dude. Will probably get one over the strut brace. Would it be better to go with a 22mm? Car is mostly a street weekend car and hoping to get it to the track one day! Re the end links, read a few reviews that the whiteline ones snap aye? Apparently the kartboy ones are better. Well on reviews anyway.

Hi Guys, My 03 WRX STi is making some clunking noises over bumps. Got AJ to investigate and it turns out my sway bar end links are shot as well as bushings. I'll be investing in some kartboy end links, not sure which bushings yet though. Don't have a massive budget, otherwise i would have possible upgraded the rear sway bar as well. But my question is, will adding a rear strut tower bar give me the same effect and stiffen up the rear end, giving me a balanced car, in combination with the stock sway bars and upgraded end links and bushings? Thinking something like a Cusco Rear Strut Tower Bar vs a Whiteline 22mm rear sway bar. Also if anyone can enlighten me on what the stock diameters are for front and rear sway bars on the 03 STi that would be awesome. Don't have a set of verniers unfortunately!

Bump - anyone else have any experiences they'd like to share?

They are pretty awesome - Yes. Although pretty expensive aye

IMO you might notice your fuel economy drop slightly due to the ethanol content in the fuel (10%). Its a heck of a lot cheaper than BP98 so that would probably balance out the economy issue. You're supposed to have special fuel lines run etc if you are going to be running fuel with high ethanol content (E85 and so on). Since this is only E10 you probably wont have any issues there. Quality wise - its a 98 octane fuel just like all the others. I personally have mine tuned to Gull E10 since its cheaper. Running 220kw atw no issues. Ethanol content in fuel increases knock resistance if tuned properly, although at E10 it probably wont have as much of an effect as E85.

Hey guys, Looking for a good and reasonably priced panel beater in the Auckland region. Want to get a few things done on the car like: front bumper respray / refit and allign, install a rear diffuser (may need to fabricate brackets), some plastic welding and so on. Anyone have an experiences or recommendations you'd like to share? I've got a quote from the Gloss Master. Was a bit weary though because his specialty is detailing (bloody awesome work) not necessarily panel beating (that I've seen on his page). He ensured he could do all of it but i wasn't 100% sure. Have any of you had him do panel beating works?

Wow, how much would it cost to get those on our shores?

If I do go down the kit route. Which from the OP do you rekon will be the best in terms of quality and fitment? will get a quote from lds and compare pricing too.

Nice that sounds like a good plan! I've heard lds fab do great work! Pending price offcourse. If i had money to burn, then a Perrin Kit would be amazing, but hey not a baller lol. Any recommendations on a core by itself? I read somewhere that tube and fin would probably result in less lag?

Oh here's another one. CX Racing: http://new1.cxracing.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=500

Sweet, have sent them an email. Will post up their response

Cheers man. I think dtech do an hourly rate for minor changes on tunes aye. So wouldn't be much of a cost get that sorted I don't think. Chris did my whole tune in less than an hour the last time! Crazy. Yeah true read about the whole cert thing. In all honesty though, do they actually check? It's not really visible unless you take the bumper off aye?

Hey guys, So i'm planning the next wave of mods for my version 8. Have a nice 220kw ATW currently, but kinda want more! Good convo with Dtech after my tune resulted in recommendations of: Bigger turbo, injectors and FMIC. The first two are probably gonna cost me the most and i'll probably only get around to those much later. But I'm thinking, I can maybe get a decent FMIC setup for a good price, install it myself and possibly fix current heatsoak issues and maybe squeeze another 10kw or so if i sort a cold intake as well. I've read through most of the FMIC threads (most of which are over two years old now), and it seems you guys have tried a whole bunch of stuff: redline, HDI, luxury sports and Scarles. All of which seemed to have some negative in terms of fitment issues or core quality. In regards to turbo setup in the future, I most likely will go with straight bolt ons and don't really want to flip the manifold due to a lot more added cost. Looking at the options out there at the moment, this is what is available: Redline ($595): http://www.redlineperformance.co.nz/products/intercoolers/front-mount-intercooler-kits/subaru/subaru-wrx-and-sti-gdb-intercooler-kit/ Luxury Sports ($480): http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/radiators-cooling-systems/auction-1142346439.htm HDI ($799): http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/turbos/auction-1144778928.htm HDI Hybrid ($665): http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/turbos/auction-1144172510.htm Scarles ($449): http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/turbos/auction-1144772778.htm What do you guys rekon? What do my fellow GDB owners that have FMICs run at the moment? Any info will be appreciated.

Running Michelin Pilot Sport 3s on current set of Rota wheels Have Bridgestone RE003s on my other set of Weds Sport Racing wheels

Previous owner had the shocks already installed. I'd guess over 2 years old aye. Since i only had 1 shock insert to replace it wasn't too bad. You've got two to replace and the chances are the other two may not be too far away. Probably better off getting a new set all together aye. May be able to cash your old shocks in for some coin on trademe as well. Few people buy, re-condition and on sell.

This info may or may not help: I had leaking front BC gold shock so had to get it fixed. Only option was to replace the whole insert. Part cost about $150 and labour for swapping it over was $150 with alignment.

Thanks for the responses guys. The insurance company only valued the car at $5300. I asked them if i could cash settle and keep the car. So they did a valuation from the wreckers... $500!? So id be getting $4800 plus the car on condition of de-reg. So i dunno if there is something dodgy going on between the wrecker and the insurance assessor. Either way, got a mate that imports and fixes and certs cars etc. Should be around $1500 all up. Even if it was double that as a safeguard, I'll still be better off. Checked with land and transport and they said no issues as long as it can pass cert.

Oh awesome thanks man! I've got a mate that imports cars and repairs and recerts them too so should be able to get that sorted. His and my only doubt was: is there any rule or law preventing a de-registered written off car being re-registered after repairs?

Hey guys! Somebody smashed into my wife's car on the mway a few weeks ago. 2002 Toyota Premio. Really does not look that bad, rear bumper is pushed in and boot lid is slightly bent. Insurance repairer estimated like 4.5k to fix!? Hence they wrote the car off. I spoke to the guy that inspected the car and he said it was just the rear bumper that need replacing and the rear bumper plate, and panel and paint work. Said chassis was fine. Insurance guy looked at it and said it has structural damage.. Anyway, decided to take a pay out and get it sorted myself. Which means I need to get the car de-reged cos of the write off and then they will pay. My question is, how easy is it to get re-registerd after i get it repaired? Already got a rough quote of 1k for repairs. Any info is appreciated

Definitely going to need one aye. Its slipped a few times on the odd occasion, but it hasn't straight out lost its hold yet. But yup. The no brand and price is what im concerned about. Can't really afford to get the job done twice, so want to get it right first time.

Resurrecting this thread. My clutch is still holding out! Pretty amazing really, considering how i drive the car . But yeah looking to buy a replacement now to be safe. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1120883163 What do you guys rekon? Pretty cheap. And will hold to my power level (440nm) and more apparently.

Legend! Thanks for the help guys!

Ah sorry should have been a bit more clear. Know I need the panel beating side of things. Was more worried about removing the wiring. The sensors only work when in reverse right? So are they hooked up to the main wiring harness or something? I am no expert on this stuff. Here is a pic for reference: