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Good day, thanks for organising Lee[emoji41] Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Thanks to all who came today, without the support of the members we wouldn’t of had a great day, nice to meet you Andy hope the family enjoyed the day too. Hope you all got home safely. Looking forward to next Sunday now. See you there.

Very enjoyable day despite the lack of a Panda win!! Really good to see you guys. Many thanks for organising Lee

Looking forward to Sunday at the Museum. The plan for those who wish to meet up prior to the event are: Meet at the Boreham Service area Chelmsford. (McDonalds Car Park) Get there in time for a 08:15 departure to the Museum. see you there.

When mine went in for valve springs, toyota quoted me £85ish for spark plugs (price of parts). While I didn't have them done, I did check the price elsewhere and found these: https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/search/shop-by/q/Spark%20plug/vaa__vehicles_code/59171d13d55cf/ (HKS iridium) ... Four of these is also £85 ish, so I'm thinking that they might be a similar spec to what Toyota themselves would have used (though I don't know, of course...!) Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Simply in eyes of subaru engineers pros outweighted cons. Obviously harder maintenance cannot be intentional. Yes, boxer engines are very wide, which makes some maintenance tasks harder/take more time & effort, but they also do have their pros, most probably now about. PITA plug change done after lots of miles hardly should be reason to shun boxer engines in general. To me another con of wide boxers - limited clearance for front suspension & wheels resulting in reduced max wheel steering angle without rubbing - seems bigger drawback then some harder to do maintenance procedures, but in same way that's not enough to dislike these cars or these engines as a whole.

I wouldn't skimp on plugs, just because HKS ones are a bit cheaper. Unless you need a different heat range due to forced induction, then stick with OEM. There is nothing to gain from fitting 'upgraded' plugs.

Update 22/06/19 - Track Wheel & Tyre Combo Updated In preparation for several upcoming track days over the next few months, I decided to get a set of track tyres. I've been extremely happy with the performance of the Michelin PS4's, however I didn't want to eat them up over a short period with alot of track use. With that in mind and after doing some research on a good track tyre that is still safe to use day to day, I found two compounds / tyres that would meet my requirements. The Yokohama AD08R and the Nankang NS-2R. In the end I decided on the Yokohama's as I could get them extremely cheap, even cheaper than the Nankang's (this was the only deciding factor, I'd happily run either setup). A set was swiftly purchased, however I was aware that Yokohama have recently replaced the AD08R with the AD08RS (for environmental reasons). So I wasn't sure what version of the tyres I'd actually be getting. As it turns out I got lucky and ended up getting one the first sets of AD08RS, these have been fitted to my 949Racing 6UL wheels. Pictures:

Given that spark plug change on our cars due boxer layout is major PITA and costs a lot (original procedure even involved lifting engine out for that, though possible to do without too as some DIY guides shown), and due these engines being high compression/high volumetric efficiency ones, i guess toyobaru decided from get-go to use expensive iridium (IIRC made by Denso) plugs to extend replacement intervals for those (my speculation/guess). I'd say to just go with OEM. Not much if anything to gain by hunting aftermarket replacements.

Many thanks Lee, I have booked the tickets, looking forward to it. Lou