Setright

Limited slip, are you sure the other rear wheel wasn't turning, just much slower? The LSD probably cannot lock the rears together 100%, and has it biggest advantage when accelerating hard in bends. Not really meant for mug slugging. Although I would expect it to have gotten you out of the situation you describe. But yeah, like Texan says, a little judicious brake application could help. Maybe just a click or two on the handbrake to quell the rear-wheel spin.

What's an Imprezza? I can try to remember to measure the bootlid on my Impreza tomorrow, it's probably a similar size ;-)

Knock sensor, fuel pressure regulator, injectors,

There could be a relay box under the bonnet somewhere. Pop the lid off and there should be a diagram on the underside of it. Or perhaps in the fuse box in the drivers footwell? Actually, it does sound like you may have a bad ground connection somewhere.

New pads still need to burn off some of the chemical bonding agents. Phenolic resins is the correct term, I think. I had the same problem on the Nürburgring recently, braking hard down the hill into Fuchsrore.....only happended the first time, after that the brakes didn't smell.

Yes, yes, but Castrol buys their synthetic basestocks from....Mobil !

Yeah, Mobil 1 will last 6-7k miles easily.

Mobil 1 will protect better and give a slight increase in economy and power. The debate on whether it's worth it or not will never finish. I run Mobil 1. You might want to get the "High Mileage" Mobil 1 - not in the economy sense, but for engines with lots of miles. This will guard against the oil leaks that can come with switching to a synthetic.

Ermmm, it's actually Mass Air Flow, because the unit can deduce how many kilograms of air are passing through it. The Manifold Air Pressure can't do that alone, it needs the temperature sensor help interpolate the mass of the ingested air. MAF is more accurate and more expensive. And yes, a little fragile.

Welcome! And congratulations on a nice car :-) The "Canister purge valve" is often the reason for the on/off CEL light. Or maybe a bad ground connnection. Check all the cables that run from the battery negative pole to the engine and car body.

Nothing to be sorry about ;-) I guess I am the strange person. How many other people do you know that swap the muffler round for short and long trips?

Oh dear! I am 6'5" and don't have that problem. But even so. I miss that adjustment wheel that my 1992 Legacy had on the side of the headrest.

Well, BKR6E are NGK plugs and the others are Champion. Most people here will agree with me: Use the NGK! "V Groove" perferably. BKR6E-11 or perhaps BKR5E-11 The "5" plugs are a bit hotter tipped, which is good for self cleaning if you run a lot of low rev and shorter trips. The 11 refers to the 1.1 mm gap - set from the factory, but worth checking during installtion. Tolerance is 1.0 - 1.1mm

Might be worth making sure everything is in good working order. Replace plugs, fuel filter maybe, and run some injector cleaner through the system. RedeX works for me, but Seafoam gets good ratings on this board.

The shimmy could stem from the "half-shafts" between gearbox and front wheels. Remove, balance, enjoy :-)

I love it when a plan comes together! Please tell me, which gasket did you use??

Ermm, no. But I don't rest my head on the head rest while I am moving. The new headrest are "anti-whiplash" by the way. They scoot forward and support your head in the event of an accident.

Jay, don't sweat it! The only thing to keep in mind is not to "race" a cold engine. Until the temp needle is up to the normal point - just below halfway - I never use more than half throttle or 4000rpm. By the way, 4000rpm is nothing, your engine just loves it! My Legacy's 2.2 engine saw 6500rpm daily. It's still running, a friend of mine bought and it's well past 200k miles now. My 2.0 Impreza sees 6000rpm daily too. As the others on the board have said, lugging is the biggest danger. Don't ask your engine to work/accelerate below 2500rpm in fifth gear. In general, keep the revs above 2000rpm in anything other than 1st and 2nd. Cruising on flat ground in 3rd at 1500rpm is ok too, but don't open the throttle up suddenly if you want to gain speed. A smooth progressive opening will avoid lugging. Blah..blah..blah...I hope what I say makes some sense. Bottom line is that these engines thrive on revs and last a long time. Oil and filter changes are a must, be sure to fill the new filter will oil before mounting it. Keep an eye on coolant and gearbox oil levels too.

The o-ring might have made it into the sump, but it'll stay there. The wire mesh on the pump feeder pipe will stop it.

My Euro-spec EJ22 from 1990 was redlined at 6500 but the limiter didn't kick in until 6800rpm ;-) Even so, useless to go that far, torque and power are dropping off from 6000rpm. 6500 is only useful in first gear. 2nd at 6000, 3rd at 5500, 4th the same 5500, and fifth til she shows 130mph!

I think you'll find that some of those are double platinum and some are not. You decide if the extra money is worth it. They platinum plugs last much longer. Like 60k miles versus 20k. If you consider a slight boost in power and economy, it may just make up for the price difference.

Silicone would probably work well, just make sure it can handle oil vapour :-)

Permanently on, or only when you press the brake pedal? The car might just be trying to tell you that one of the brake bulbs is burned out. If your brake fluid is above the minimum level, the brake fluid warning light shouldn't come on - unless the wire is broken or disconnected.

On the warranty thing: I think the dealer might try a "oh, so you like fiddling with the car yourself" routine if you do have problems and they have proof - muffler - that you do. To them, the radio failure could be the result of your tinkering. The muffler would we used as evidence that you MIGHT have played about with the radio. Or perhaps the dealer is honourable

Congratulations !