Setright

Murmur, did you buy it brand new, or "pre-owned"?

You're on! But it could be a while....let me know if you drop by Copenhagen in the meantime!

Well, the compressor is supposed to cycle on and off, stops things freezing. Froth in the sighglass is a sign that you need to top off, or replace the fluid.

Ceramic discs. Like what Porsche developed for their latest generation of GT's, Turbo's, and that lot. Expected to last the lifetime of the car. Mercedes is using them on the McLaren/Mercedes SLR, and they are optional on some of the AMG tuned models. Haven't driving any of these cars myself - dang it! - but the braking is supposedly powerful, fade free, and devoid of feedback.

Maybe you should consider selling/junking it. However, any car is a money pit..

It must really be a minimal advantage. I have a 3inch pipe taking air from inside the fender cavity - through a velocity stack of course! - and delivering it straight into the filter box on top of the engine. The momentum of the air alone, will push it through the TB without affecting the volume or mass as it gets heated. I don't think there is enough heat to actually slow the air down, if you see what I mean? Although, I would understand if this improved low engine speed throttle response, since there might be enough heat to affect the mass air flow in this condition. The easy solution of course is to keep the revs up!!

Because the leak is tiny. A very small amount of compression and exhaust gas is slipping into the coolant. This will form a little bubble. If you're lucky this bubble will find its own way out of the system via the rad cap and expansion tank. An a longer trip, or during hard driving, more gases are forced through the leak. When you are unlucky, the little bubbles keep circulating around with the coolant. They like to collect around the water pump, because the pressure drop makes them expand. Once enough of them get stuck in the water pump, you lose circulation and the engine overheats. The increase in temperature makes the gas pocket in the water pump expand and that forces coolant out through the top radiator hose and past the rad cap into the expansion tank. The thermostat will often be closed, because it's sat in a gas bubble, which can't provide the heat to open it. If the system is bled, and there are no external leaks, then the headgasket is likely to blame. A worn water pump won't cause such sudden overheating. And since your thermostat is new, thats not causing it. A bad radiator cap, one where the spring is too weak after years of service could also produce these symptoms, so it might be worth going that way first. You could consider getting a cap with a slightly higher pressure rating. I think 0.9 Bar is standard on your engine, newer Subes use 1.1 Bar. Try one of those, but make sure your coolant hoses are up to it. (1 Bar = 14.5 PSI) Even if your cap is okay, a higher pressure would delay the problem :-)

It's a drawback of the flat boxer design. I prefer to read it cold, on level ground. If it seems to have dropped suddenly, take for a short drive, let cool, check again. Sometimes oil just stays in the rocker covers...

A small headgasket leak will produce overheating, at long random intervals. Most often after long high speed trips. Intervals get shorter, as the leak gets worse. If you experience another overheating scenario, check for an overflowed expansion tank. This will mean a 95% chance of a blown HG :-( However, if you keep the coolant level up, and keep a watchful eye on the temperature gauge, you can drive for months while you save up for the repair! I did. An mine was the legendary EJ22 - so it can happen, but let's assume your car is okay!

Off hand, ceramic pads need ceramic discs to work well. Ceramic pads will wear brake rotors quite fast. And they don't provide as much feedback and feel as low metallic content pads.

Yep, Castrol is a winner on the brake fluid for most applications - apart from hardcore track. Mintex brake pads have served me very well. M1144 formulation will brake from cold and keep on biting well past the stress of normal driving. Just make sure you get the anti-squeal stick-on shims that go with them. Now I know that you aren't calling for a racing brake pad, but M1144 will give you added bite in an emergency, and mean a lot for your safety. This is why I use them. I have tried other "fast road" pads, but none can handle the day-today driving like Mintex. I did in fact take my car for a track-based driving course, and I had had no problems. Some of the others car's pads started smoking.... Mintex offer consistent brake performance right down to the last few millimeters of pad material. Mine last approximately 25k miles, but I do run slotted brake discs, which tend to wear pads faster.

Yep. More power is only useful in the "traffic light Grands Prix" or on the dragstrip. Better suspension, brakes, and tyres is what makes difference on the track.

Okay. Should have a boiling point of around 108 degrees Celcius. Sometimes old fluid will boil "early". You should be okay there.

Sunflow, yes a blown HG will make the level rise in the expansion tank. When it actually overheats, it will flow out of the top. BUT, once you stop the engine and let it cool...SLURP! and the coolant level suddenly drops. But nothing is definite yet. An air bubble trapped inside the engine will expand considerably and push coolant into the expansion tank too. What kind of coolant are you using, and how old is it?

Not much exists. Legacy is a bit of a "sleeper", wolf in sheeps clothing kind of car. Some Impreza parts will fit, like engine and exhaust, but be ready cut and weld a few things to match perfectly.

Well, I had an EJ22 in a 1990 Legacy and that blew a head gasket at 120k miles, so it's not impossible. It is unlikely. I think that the overheating blew some coolant out throught the expansion tank, and you now have an air bubble trapped inside the engine. Some Imprezas just gurgle a little now and then from cold starts. Mine does. The cabin heater core can get hold of an air pocket and keep it trapped for ages... Park the car nose up, let the engine cool, remove the radiator cap, start and idle the engine. Pour in some coolant - same type as what's in there already please! - to bring the level up toward the filler neck. As the engine heats, the coolant will expand and the level will rise. Once it begins to climb up the filler neck, screw the cap back in. Make sure the expansion tank is up to the FULL mark. Drive for a few miles, and park the car again, level this time. Let it cool overnight. In the morning, note the level in the expansion tank. Open the rad cap, and top off if there is still room. Close the radiator and leave it closed. During the next few days, take note of the level in the expansion tank. In the morning, when it should be at it's lowest. If it drops below FULL, top it off. Immediately after a drive that gets the engine up to running temp, don't switch of the engine, but open the hood and look into the expansion tank. A little bubble every few seconds is normal. A stream of bubbles is bad. This can mean a blown HG. During warm weather the level in the expansion tank will rise a few inches above the FULL mark, and this is normal. It should just refind it's lower level overnight as it cools. If it the expansion tank overflows during normal driving, that is another sign of the dreaded HG.

Search "coolant replacement", or just know that you must detach the upper rad hose and fill as much as possible through here to begin with, before filling the rad. Get a new thermostat gasket too.

Thermostat facing the wrong way will overheat the engine for sure. Get a genuine one and mount it correctly. Fill from the top hose until it spills over, then fill into the rad. Idle for a little while, shut off, top off the coolant. Run til operating temp, let cool overnight, top off again. Cross fingers.

Uhmmm, what? The coolant is pumped around the engine, returns to flow across the thermostat. If it's too hot it will open the thermstat and pull in coolant from the lower radiator hose. This mixes cool coolant with the hot stuff and once the balance is right the thermostat closes again. While the thermostat is open, an amount equal to that drawn in from the bottom is pushed back into the radiator via the top hose. Although this will mean that the thermostat has to dance between open and closed, it probably gives a more stable engine temperature.

All else being equal, harding wearing tyres will have less grip. My Bridgstone RE720'ies have lasted about 30k miles, and would go for a little longer. BUT, since I tear around bends the the outside shoulder on all four tyres are looking a bit rough. I am not complaining, this a good lifespan for a grippy, sporty tyre, that handles wet weather surprisingly well, and has never been anything but progressive and informative. Tyres that will last 80k miles does not sound like my kind of tyre.

Look around the engine bay for disconnected hoses. Or possibly a cracked/split hose.

I used to a be a Michelin addict, but in the last few years I have turned to Bridgestone. I would also go for RE over anything Turanza, but better Bridgstone than Michelin.

King Bee, your manual should state something like be careful what type of product is used because it may dissolve the factory coating! I would stay away from internals, but keep an eye on the actual underside of the car, especially the wheel wells. Once the original black coating starts to disintegrate, it's time to re-apply an undercoating. Steam-cleaning the old stuff off first is always a good idea. I would also like to express my belief in washing cars often during winter! Come spring time, make sure it gets rinsed all over, since any salt left behind will have a real field-day during the warmer months.

Subes low mounted thermostat WILL NOT cause the burp to spray coolant geyser style. Top mounted thermostats will trap all the air bubbles in the housing until it gets warm enough to open and then that cummulative bubble will pump fluid out of the rad cap hole. Yesterday I was draining, flushing, and refilling a 1977 Opel, an believe you me, we left the cap on for burping, and carefully unscrewed it after a short cool. This simple does not apply to Subes low mounted thermostats. I have bled this way, cap off, tens of times and never had any trouble. There is one major advantage with having the rad open and that is simply that when working with only atmospheric pressure, the air bubbles grow larger more rapidly as the engine heats and this will make them easier to pump out. Under rad cap pressure the bubbles are compressed and more likely to stay stuck in some nook or cranny.

Normal driving mode has a 90% front, 10% rear, torque split. I would not think that removing the rear driveshafts would be a good idea, in light of this. Also, I believe Blitz is on to something. I would start by replacing the solenoid and crossing my fingers.