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Tidied the wagon up a bit. Gave it a front lip and some new paint on calipers. Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

Done my first wheel bearing/hub today. Rear passenger side wheel bearing on my 2016 STi gave up at 98,000km. Must have worn out prematurely from all the AWD burnouts on the Taupo skidpad! Sorry for the poor quality pictures, they were taken on Snapchat and then saved…

I've decided the nasty plastic trim on the wheel arches are great, will be easy to unclip/unbolt and put on a decent looking/functional set of aftermarket fender flares Also looks exactly as it should in the traditional livery rendering Decent looking as a hatchback that will never exist alas Also as a hot wagon that will never exist (but we have the Levorg which is rumored to get the 2.4, shame there is no 6 speed manual)

Well technically speaking you didn't change the bearing... you just swapped out the whole hub

Replaced my front brake pads yesterday and done my regular 6,000km oil change today. I’ve done 10 oil changes now on this build (60,000km since the motor went back in) and each one of them has had this same amount of glitter…

Seems about right... it's a risky proposition for the buyer of course.

Very good question. I've trying to find the same answer for my fully stock one with 110kkm on the clock. Harley apparently sells them for 3-4k usually for a semi bare timed longblock.

Better late than never... Mk7 GTI is a much sportier drive than a 6R. The 6R uses the previous gen (Mk5) motor with cambelt and is much more reliable, many chain drive Mk6 GTI's have suffered from chain tensioner failures - expensive, often fatal. Golfs use a Haldex AWD system, nominal 90/10 torque split to front, a slow reactive system. Subaru's permanent AWD is a superior solution. The 7R is much better but still no match for a GTI with VW's front LSD - like a Haldex operating on the same axle. A GTI Clubsport/Edition 40/40 Years - same car , different name for different markets, or the 7.5 GTI TCR are much better drives and once moving, just as fast or faster than a 7/7.5R.

Installed a bunch of bushes and started putting s*** back on the car The car now has three wheels on it! The fourth hub will be put on tomorrow afternoon in anticipation for its move to a new home (pictured below) Also ordered a bunch of random s*** to help things along Tomorrow:

I would not count on option 1 existing for long. It’s a moving target. option 2 is an option but it’s a bit of luck as to if it passes. I haven’t looked at in many years. have you called NZTA as a start? then Subaru nz for figures, they may have ones older than 10 years if you are lucky. They may even send you email to use as part of submission. Burden of proof is on you so make sure you have it covered well. do you have the Japanese paperwork for the car? production numbers are worldwide not American ones which are online a lot. you need to supply an article saying it a collectors item not just a review, though review will say it’s a performance model. Depends on how the split the models as well WRX vs STI. You also can’t sell the car for 4 years or use it for work. https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/49738/Application-for-SIV-permit.pdf option 3 put a cage in it and then frontal impact doesn’t apply as the airbags etc have to be removed

So after lockdown and a pile more $ I’ll have a spare stock engine. done 135k km but rebuilt 25k km. Rings and bearings done. has PMBS sump, Stock turbo and PBMS down pipe are all HPC extreme coated. ECU retuned to turbo since the coating made a big difference. only issue is it has small rocker cover leak but wasn’t worth doing while in the car. was thinking about swapping it to an older car but think I want a kei car as second car again.

Flares depends on how much is steel behind it… most are plastic over steel and you don’t get the wheel clearance so have to cut them anyway. Saves loads of paint and panel work though.

So a complete drop in motor? must be worth a bit.

Haha so my mate found this of my old car (first manual car) was in the family a few years until about a year ago.

NZ new got the best spec ! Circuit pack F+R LSDs plus the satnav, JBL stereo etc of the Comfort pack Most of the stupid priced imports are low spec. Avoid.

A guy I do some MTB with has one, he raced it at Port Rd but I didnt get out there alas, havent been for an outing in it yet either. Must sort that out and report back

Well there is actually a few here in NZ with the Circuit Pack (thats the one with the LSDs etc), you just need to look for the ones with the lightweight 10-spoke wheels like this:

Also Amazon is still just as fast. like a week, long enough that I forgot I ordered a flex fuel sensor.

Took the car out for the first time since polishing and coating it during lock down.

The gravel express ticked over 250,000kms today. Well, the base chassis did, mostly everything was refreshed, so not much is actually that old. Although I realised that also means the engine has ticked over 400Kms since being built now, and it's been absolutely flawless in that time. I've been enjoying driving it every now and then, and it's been super practical. The lease on my workshop is up at the end of the month, so using this to move everything to my lock up, it fits a surprising amount in it, that's for sure. Just wish It had roof racks for some of the larger stuff!

Thanks for keeping it updated, this is a great reference for anyone who may have this issue in the future

yup good write up and lovely pics one trap for young playas is the oilfiter O-ring staying on the housing and not on the filter,check that the O-ring is on the old filter before installing new one,2 0-rings are not better than one and it will leak oil all over your nice clean driveway this is from personal experience *oring = O-rings now*