Stargazer's Garage

The sunset last night wasn't that spectacular, but there was a pleasant surprise: the cresent moon appeared for a short time before it disappeared behind the mountains. You can see some of the other pictures I took on my Flickr album .

I've posted the other pictures I took right after the Weds TC105N were installed here: Weds TC105N Pictures

With the switch of wheels, I was able to get the wheels and tires on a scale and compare numbers between my winter and summer combos. Because I'm not going to use the stock BBS wheels for summer, my weight savings is not going to be as much. I was not able to weigh the BBS wheels by themselves, but doing a search on several forums shows that most people report them to be 19 lb each. With that information, I was able to estimate the weight of the Hankook Ice Bear winter tires. Weds TC105N 17x8, cast = 15 lb (6.8 kg) BBS STI 17x8, forged = 19 lb (8.6 kg) Bridgestone Potenza RE070 (summer performance tire) 225/45R17 = 27 lb (12.2 kg) Hankook Ice Bear W300 (winter performance tire) 225/45R17 = 25.5 lb (11.6 kg) Summer wheel/tire combo (Weds/Bridgestone) = 42 lb (19 kg) Winter wheel/tire combo (BBS/Hankook) = 44.5 lb (20.2 kg) Because the Bridgestone performance tires weigh more, when I do the summer swap with my setup there's an overall weight savings of 2.5 lb per corner (or a to...

The wheels will be installed tomorrow :0). Previous #1: The search has ended. Previous #2: Weds TC105N Wheel size/offset comparer UPDATE #1: Weds TC105N vs. Stock BBS wheels weight UPDATE #2: Weds TC105N newly installed pictures . UPDATE #3: Weds TC105N - Latest pictures with RCE Sport springs .

Subaru STI road construction , originally uploaded by istargazer . I took this picture this morning outside the construction for the David Avenue connector. It's a pretty major project that will provide an additional (needed) link between Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.

Pic of the 06 Roof Vane working. - IWSTI.com A new addition to the 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is the roof vane/spoiler. It is designed to direct air to the main spoiler on the trunk and provide additional downforce at speed. This link shows a picture of the roof spoiler in action. The source is (ironically enough) on a Evo forum and there's a good explaination of how it works.

sti-underground05 Originally uploaded by istargazer . This is another picture from the same photoshoot last Saturday. I've created an account at Flickr.com and I'm going to upload my pictures there and maintain that site as my photo gallery. I've had several people contact me asking where this underground location is. Although I've given them the information, I feel a little wary about giving it out to too many people because I don't want to cause any trouble to the businesses in the area or have the location further vandalized. My kids have nicknamed it the "scary place."

I took this picture at Mountain View Cemetery today. Opened in 1887, this cemetery is one of Vancouver's oldest . Since 2004, they've been going through several revitalization projects including restoring old headstones. At the city of Vancouver web site you can also find a list of interesting people buried there with links to information about them--including the unsolved murder of Janet Smith the "Scottish Nightingale" in 1924.

The lighting came out weird in the following picture.... ...so I used Photoshop it give it a comic book effect:

The first carbon fiber roof spoiler that I received had a minor cosmetic defect (a dent) so it was sent back. I'm going to be picking up the replacement today. UPDATE: June 11, 2006 Here's a picture from yesterday after I installed the replacement carbon fiber roof spoiler on my Subaru WRX STI. The fitment was a little bit tighter (more than the first first one) but there are no blemishes on it. Thumbs up to Ravspec for a great product and service!

On Wednesday, I brought my 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI into the dealership to upgrade the security system and had them install the shock (impact sensor). I will be adding more details here later, but I just wanted to say that the service at Don Docksteader Subaru on Cambie was top notch. I was very impressed!

There's been a lot of problems with Blogger this past week and after I made the Subaru Fast post, the blog template got corrupted. That's why it was blank all night and right now it doesn't have my usual sidebar. Luckily enough, because of these problems I had just backed up the entire blog to my computer before this happened. I'll restore everything tonight. I found this article very useful: Save Stress - Backup your Blog

This is Subaru's latest ad campaign for the Impreza WRX STI and that particular page appeared in the July 2006 issue of Motor Trend Magazine. Of course, "Fast" refers to the character used in the VW GTI Fast commercials advertising the new GTI.