impreza,evo 4 or gt4???

[gar-type-r]

one of the above is my next choice of car but not really sure which, had my heart set on a gt4 but kinda gone of them a bit now, what are the other 2 like to run day to day and reliability/service wise. would be lookin at a 96/97 sti impreza just to narrow it down!

thanks!

[Blue Meanie]

Be different and get a GT4! better looking, and certainly not run of the mill. Plenty tunable as well to keep up with it's lighter, and younger rivals.

[stevieb]

GT4 is also cheaper to insure than the impreza/evo...

I would say the GT4 would be the chepest to run on a day to day with the evo being the most expensive due to the short service intervals of 4500 miles.

The impreza is a good al rounder 4 doors boot and reasonable quick when you want it to be

[trickywoo]

Big reliability issues with an Impreza STI, think version 4 was around '97, and they suffer from piston slap as well as the usuall big-end woes.
Evo 4 suffers crank walk with highish miles.

I would imagine most people would be looking at these because of the affordable purchase cost but you can easily spend £3-4k if the engine lets go. Well worth going into the purchase with that in mind.

[stevieb]

i have not heard of any probs with a standard uk STI from that era, the only ones that have had problems have been modded in correctly with manual boost controllers or are imports which have not been mapped for UK fuel..

If they have these kind of problems then how do they get the reputation for bullet proof reliability

Edited by stevieb on Friday 14th December 11:43

[trickywoo]

stevieb said:

If they have these kind of problems then how do they get the reputation for bullet proof reliability

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/archive/index.php/t-27569.html

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/archive/index.php/t-45199...

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-general-1/6201-...

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/archive/index.php/t-29845...

I'm not sure where you get the idea they have a good reputation? They have a reputation for going pop. Usually related to no.3 piston area.

You may well have a good one that does 1,000,000 miles but the evidence is that shit loads of subaru engines fail with less than 60k on the clock.

[stevieb]

trickywoo said:

stevieb said:

If they have these kind of problems then how do they get the reputation for bullet proof reliability

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/archive/index.php/t-27569.html

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/archive/index.php/t-45199...

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-general-1/6201-...

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/archive/index.php/t-29845...

I'm not sure where you get the idea they have a good reputation? They have a reputation for going pop. Usually related to no.3 piston area.

You may well have a good one that does 1,000,000 miles but the evidence is that shit loads of subaru engines fail with less than 60k on the clock.

Ok you got the source from Scabbynet must be credible then!

[stevieb]

Just reading one or to of the thres and i quote from one of them

scabbynet said:

Wrong fuel used - jap cars
Stupid modifications - like super chips (poor maps) and bleed valves
Abuse - over revving
Neglect - not servicing the car when needed.

what did i say above?

Edited by stevieb on Friday 14th December 11:42

[trickywoo]

stevieb said:

Ok you got the source from Scabbynet must be credible then!

Thats more a reflection on the type of people who buy Imprezas these days.

They are genuine posts from people whos engines have gone pop and the guys from API quite often post information to the same effect.

I know that owners sites will always list a lot of problems but you won't find that volume of similar engine issues on any other specialist site.

I don't really have an axe to grind (although my on subaru engine failed sub 60k). I'm just saying if you are spending £4k on a car its well worth knowing there is a chance that you could be faced with a bill of the same size for repairs.

[trickywoo]

stevieb said:

Wrong fuel used - jap cars
Stupid modifications - like super chips (poor maps) and bleed valves
Abuse - over revving
Neglect - not servicing the car when needed.

what did i say above?

Yeah but its not limited to that at all, there are plenty of standard / cared for cars that go pop. I can't see that people who drive scoobies go in for more abuse than any other performance cars.

Edited by trickywoo on Friday 14th December 11:50

[stevieb]

Sorry but not many people from local Subaru clubs take anything said on scoobynet as credible.

I was just stating that the on the majority of cases they have been modded incorrectly and not maintained so if you can get a good standard un-modded one it will be a good buy

[GravelBen]

Imprezas have a good reputation for reliability among most people, but Trickywoo had a bad experience with his and tends to think they all explode from time to time. We've clashed on the issue from time to time and generally agree to disagree, if you look into it a bit you'll probably find (as I have) that though like any car they're not perfect, most people have good ownership experiences with them.


try this thread for discussion about Subaru reliability:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[gar-type-r]

ok this has turned into an arguement as to wheather scoobies are reliable or not please help someone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blue Meanie]

I'd rather have the reliability of the 3S-GTE The GT4's are different, and look so much better than the scoobies, and evo's. Get the GT4!

[stevieb]

Blue Meanie said:

I'd rather have the reliability of the 3S-GTE The GT4's are different, and look so much better than the scoobies, and evo's. Get the GT4!

The GT4 is a good car, plus cheaper to run... But the question is ydo you need 4 doors?

[_Al_]

stevieb said:

Blue Meanie said:

I'd rather have the reliability of the 3S-GTE The GT4's are different, and look so much better than the scoobies, and evo's. Get the GT4!

The GT4 is a good car, plus cheaper to run... But the question is do you need 4 doors?

I really need to have another shot at a GT4. I hated the one I test-drove. It seemed to be in top condition, no expense spared judging by the folder of receipts I waded through and he had 300+bhp shown on two different rolling roads.

It felt slow, heavy and unresponsive. I'd swear the Impreza I actually bought weighed half what the GT4 did. I much prefer the look of the GT4 but I was so disappointed driving it.

Oh, and my scooby has had an engine rebuilt - happened around 90k.

[thetrash]

I'd avoid the GT4. Two people I've known who have moderatly modded ones have no end of trouble with the suspension and engines.I'd go for an Evo and consider the cost of the short service life better than paying out fixing the other two.

[Blue Meanie]

The 3S-GTE are retty renowned for being fairly bulletproof, that is presuming the modifications done were done properly. It's the same engine that can be found in the MR2 Turbo, except with the IC on the top. Engines would be the least of my worries! Saying that, get a standard one, as you don't know what muppet has been trying to "mod it, innit". The same applies to Scoobies and Evo's as well mind.

[_Al_]

Blue Meanie said:

The 3S-GTE are retty renowned for being fairly bulletproof, that is presuming the modifications done were done properly. It's the same engine that can be found in the MR2 Turbo, except with the IC on the top.

Many people on here will tell you stories about my 'bulletproof' 3S-GTE...

[Blue Meanie]

_Al_ said:

Blue Meanie said:

The 3S-GTE are retty renowned for being fairly bulletproof, that is presuming the modifications done were done properly. It's the same engine that can be found in the MR2 Turbo, except with the IC on the top.

Many people on here will tell you stories about my 'bulletproof' 3S-GTE...

eah, but you tried to port and polish it with a bag of sand!