Church

I'd say if one is months away it's better to disconnect battery. Maybe i'd also invest in some trickle charger. Good battery should last month though.

I'd just use spacesaver, as by my experience it's sufficient to get by in case of emergency, eg. drive to tire repair shop, can be relied upon in all cases (unlike stock tire repair kit, after which usually tire repair shops refuse to repair tires filled with that gunk), and it also won't reduce already not that big boot volume of our cars. AUDM twins had also option of full size spare same as main four wheels, and boot liner with extrusion for that full-size wheel, but i don't like reduced boot clearance due that, and need to carry extra weight all the time for something needed rarely more then once per two years. As for wheel size .. main bit should be tire's outer diameter, not wheel diameter, as similar outer diameter can be reached in multiple ways/sizes, eg. low profile tire + bigger wheel, or smaller weel and tire with high sidewall .. but again "precision" of that outer diameter matching doesn't matter regarding our cars, as, like manual says, spare wheel should be used only on front, not rear (due twins having limited slip differencial). On front wheels may differ by a lot, they are not driven. On rear diameter matching is very important due LSD, as even small differences will mean diff working all the time, even when driving straight, thus in turn overheating, which will quickly degrade oil in diff, as result LSD diff can quickly be killed, which will result in expensive, non under warranty, repair/replacement. So if punctured front wheel, put spare wheel there, almost no matter size, as far as it clears front brake caliper & suspension bits, it should do. If punctured rear wheel, put (as same sized, luckily our cars have square wheel/tire setup as stock, which simplifies things like tire/wheel rotation) wheel from front to rear, and again - (any fitting/clearing) spare on front.

Pitty that you are out of warranty, otherwise and if that was original 45Ah, i'd check if dealership won't change it for free to 65Ah one. One dealership changed mine to was (P/N: 28800-YZZJA) 12V 65Ah-590A BCI-570A, but probably many others of reputable brand and of needed type/size and capacity/cranking power should do. Eg. some used Yuasa (IIRC 12v 60Ah 450A Car Battery YBX3014 (65D23R)).

Oh, then i probably had mistaken primo with absolute lowest trim in JDM (probably meant for modding purposes from get-go), that came with open diff, stamped steel wheels and unpainted bumpers and .. not sure on that, but maybe with more basic audio headunit or even without it completely. BTW, apart from a bit smaller brakes, IIRC at least rears also might be non-ventilated, no? Also main lights non-HID ones, no foglights, no heated seats, basic A/C instead of dual-zone climate control and mentioned no digital speedo. Also - does primo AT has steering wheel's "flappy paddles" shifter? But as you say that primo has LSD .. i guess it would fill my minimum set to consider for purchase. At some time in future i'd probably would buy aftermarket 17 wheels and also normal ventilated disks once stock rotors are done (checking if that's possible with primo's calipers first though), but that wouldn't keep me from initial purchase if i'd saw very good deal on primo.

Hmm, primo has or hasn't LSD diff?

By chance isn't torque more important then power in relation to aftermarket clutch choice? Also not sure it's worth so much to higher power, as clutch is not the only thing that might be inadequate, eg. also gearbox (IIRC increased chance to grenade 4th or 5th gear), axle (in addition to stronger forged internals for engine and such. Engine rebuild may cut at rather high budget). Imho if you find basic forced induction packages still lacking, given high cost of supporting mods for even more power .. much better choice seems getting different car.

Wait a sec. Drawback of summer tires is that they are bad in winter on snow? Really? And all season tires are better summer tires then summer tires?

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.

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.

Not sure on handling improvement .. most probably changes will be - slightly heavier steering due increased scrub radius and slight increase in wheel bearing wear due more load due increased lever length. Wider track gives little to no improvement (unless one can feel changes as little as 1-2% ) and it's positive impact on handling is often overstated. Also, as octavia most probably is FWD, imho there might be a bit more torque steer. As change is little, probably no impact on rubbing (most cars (including twins) are sold with non-flush recessed stock wheels/tires, probably due models being sold world-wide and requirement of being able to fit snow-chains for being legal in some of countries). But as offset difference is reasonably small of just 15mm, impact shouldn't be drastic in any field there will be changes to care about. As i'm not from UK, not sure on is it really needed to register them on insurance. Some negatives list above may sound bad, but extent is too little. Many for looks/flush fitment purposes go much much further, and are fine with changes with steering changed not unbearable or bearings lasting long enough, so you should be OK with just 15mm imho. Torque steer .. not sure on that. In most FWD cars i had in past i usually drove just on public roads and rather sedately

Also + to above slightly more rigid body, instrument dash panel with lcd, headunit, VSC(now track) mode, steering wheel (+controls), flange between axle back and midpipe, shocks/springs/swaybars, optional performance package (shocks/brembo BBK/wheels), in other markets a bit different final drive & exhaust header & intake manifold & airfilter & ecu tune worth +5whp. But yes, rear window among things that are unchanged.

One thing is minding engine only. Imho our engine should stomach some 300whp and higher without any strengthened components. But there is also tranny side. Very possibly at very least higher rated clutch won't hurt to not slip with increased torque, and stock gearbox .. was it 4th or 5th that granaded for several of higher boost builds? If one tracks car and has forced induction, i'd also think of BBK. I guess, cossy decided to limit boost with stock pulley exactly because much more accompanying mods at higher budget would be needed if one wants reliable / safe overall result.

Hmm, something else but P0420? I hope header installer hasn't damaged o2 sensor.

If that is what i think CEL type (cat readiness tests failed), then you can freely keep driving until get ecu tuned, what among other things also should disable those tests. Car won't go in limp mode, only cruise control won' t work.

Then install aftermarket gearbox/tranny/diff bushings, so that other parts will whine in place of quiet supercharger

IIRC heating of seats starts not just depending on being switched on, but also if seat sensors detect if one also sits in seat or not. Slightly annoying, as when i explicitly switch on i want it on, while i in winter clean snow/ice from outside of car, i want after finishing it to sit in already preheated seats , but no, have to drive 1/3rd of route to work prior those things are heated up 😕. No clue, why toyobaru chose this way. Maybe to save battery if heating is forgot that switched on? But if so, they could have did it just for passenger that might not be there. I doubt driver won't feel & will forget that it's seat is still with switched on heating 😕

For those, that say they are inadequate, worth mentioning what tires they are running, if aero mods, and if forced induction, and what pads & fluid they had and how long sessions they were running when they experienced fade that made them to decide on BBK. What good is to state in generalized way that stock brakes are bad, if other 9/10 doesn't have specific mods that may put higher heat load? Or if those aftermarket pads that were used, were not really track ones, but only hybrid ones at best? Everything has meaning in context. As for track sessions length for them to be enjoyable .. imho 15min are not that short. Yes, i now can go longer then that, once moved further up from hybrid pads i had, from car technical capability standpoint, but those extra minutes driven.. i probably am now too old or too physically/mentally unfit to spend 30min on track. Attention/concentration drops, starting to do more mistakes, running in sweaty .. why not drive off to cool brakes and for short rest for oneself with coffee & cigarette and maybe do some short checks, eg. tire air pressure adjustment, retighten lugnuts and such. On several local events organizers even limit rounds to 10-15min (probably because there are all kind of cars, including even with way less capable brakes, and also for queue of next cars to not wait too much).

With tires of around MPS4 grip i could easily go for 15min with no brake fade on stock brakes with MBF660 fluid and even on not really track pads like DS2500 for 15min sessions trashing on track (they started to fade if i kept driving longer, which i usually didn't). Currently changed to CSG C1, and with those i can brake consistently even when rotors are gloving red and dustboot rubber smokes. Inadequate? Well, perfectly sufficient for me. Yes, i'd still wish BBK, but only for cheaper wearables. Otherwise BBK for me means 1) according local MOT inspection rules failure of street legality, 2) not being able to fit my narrow R16 winter set (if anything, i find trackdays in winter on ice tracks even more fun). So i'm glad that from own experience for my track needs stock brakes of twins do good enough job unlike scare stories you guys are telling, and i'm not having to pass such enjoyable hobby as trackdays due that. Yes, stock - everything -, including pads & fluid, indeed, among first limits one soon hits on completely stock twin on track, but imho you guys shun their capabilities with proper fluid & pads too much, opposite to my own experience, at least on car with tires of moderate grip and without forced induction.

Well, i and many others could track just fine with right pads and fluid on stockers. Maybe it's just you for whatever reasons. Yes, some limits are lower, eg. max session length or they start to get less adequate with very extensive other mods (eg. low treadwear slicks, or heavy aero, or forced induction), but with reasonably normal tires, NA power, i feel stockers more then upto job. My full concentration/attention span will not last past 20min anyway, and i don't plan in going with mods too far to keep track spendings reasonable, and for that with just good pads and fluid stock brakes do just fine. Many cars have way less capable stock brakes. Of course one can taxate them more in ways i mentioned above, past their capabilities, but will that represent majority of twin owners that are track enthusiasts?

Cost £270 inc VAT? Spare wheel itself worth getting at any subbie breaker yard used for less then 1/5th of that. Mind you, not all R16 or R17 subbie 5x100 fits over stock calipers, so worth testfit check clearance first or dig around this thread for pics/links how one clearing should look. Most importantly it should clear front brakes, as spacesaver is not meant to be used on rear due our cars having LSD diff. For example pics of R16 spare that fits and which not .. R17 that fits from 2007 Subaru Legacy 3.0L Space Saver, T135 D70 17

I guess more noise, as these replacement snorkels lack stock snorkel resonators, that would had removed some frequencies ..

If wear is any indicator, and as many tracking cars replace front pads twice as often, rears indeed are just for looks. And if so .. in my book rear BBK is too expensive to spend for just looks. And i certainly wouldn't want to make brakes _worse_ by careless retrofit of brakes made for other cars and shifting braking bias or running into other issues compromising braking and reliability of brakes. Caliper paint and branding on them is certainly not worth it.

"small" "tolerable" regarding NVH increase with less compliant parts is very subjective thing. Just like exhaust loudness. I'd be careful taking fully subjective feel of others.

quote from saved notes for aygo bits: Y51931-0H010 (N/STK CARRIER, S/WHEEL) - £4.71 + VAT Y64777-0D060 (N/STK CUSHION, SPARE) - 13.71 + VAT (bolt + foam cone above it)

IIRC stock already are expensive premium type iridium spark plugs. I wonder if not because to last them longer without change, as change is tedious and expensive So imho nothing to improve by going to aftermarket plugs .. if only for maybe better price .. but as by then one will need to do homework on getting right ones .. imho simpler to just use OE (not cheap, not bad) ones.