JFReturn's Hawkeye WRX Wagon
Discussion
Ved said:
Lovely car! I'm yearning for another Impreza and this is high on the list, even more so as I have a puppy now.
Can you tell me how many miles you're seeing from a full tank? I used to get 300 to the light in my STI Hawkeye.
Righto, I've run the car as far as I dare without filling up:Can you tell me how many miles you're seeing from a full tank? I used to get 300 to the light in my STI Hawkeye.
Actually since I took that picture I drove home and the low fuel light still hasn't come on, now on around 315 miles.
I'm quite pleased with that, as it has been mostly urban driving with a couple of days of air con on full blast. Works out about 25/26 mpg, which is close as damn it to what Subaru claims for combined cycle. I think 350 miles could be possible on long motorway runs.
Still really happy with the WRX - really practical, comfortable (keep saying that, I know!) but quick when needed and feels special. Much better than the usual boring estates!
The only thing that annoys me is the naff stereo....
Anything over 300 miles to a tankful is a bonus. From Northampton i can get over the Scottish border on a tankful of 99RON, fully loaded with two big doggies in the boot, averaging 80mph. That's mapped to around 360.
Sounds like you are extremely happy with your purchase in all ways. Looks good, goes well and is reasonably good on fuel for a giant killer!!
Sounds like you are extremely happy with your purchase in all ways. Looks good, goes well and is reasonably good on fuel for a giant killer!!
ScoobieWRX said:
Anything over 300 miles to a tankful is a bonus. From Northampton i can get over the Scottish border on a tankful of 99RON, fully loaded with two big doggies in the boot, averaging 80mph. That's mapped to around 360.
Sounds like you are extremely happy with your purchase in all ways. Looks good, goes well and is reasonably good on fuel for a giant killer!!
Not a giant killer...yet. Sort of ST / GTi / Astra VXR quick. Shame you are so far north!Sounds like you are extremely happy with your purchase in all ways. Looks good, goes well and is reasonably good on fuel for a giant killer!!
JFReturns said:
The only thing that annoys me is the naff stereo....
Replacing the head unit makes a massive difference. The speakers are not too bad. Only upgrade the speakers if you are thinking of installing an amplifier.I had a MASSIVE stereo in my WRX, and tried a bunch of speakers in the doors etc... It's the head unit that's the principal problem...
JFReturns said:
ScoobieWRX said:
Anything over 300 miles to a tankful is a bonus. From Northampton i can get over the Scottish border on a tankful of 99RON, fully loaded with two big doggies in the boot, averaging 80mph. That's mapped to around 360.
Sounds like you are extremely happy with your purchase in all ways. Looks good, goes well and is reasonably good on fuel for a giant killer!!
Not a giant killer...yet. Sort of ST / GTi / Astra VXR quick. Shame you are so far north!Sounds like you are extremely happy with your purchase in all ways. Looks good, goes well and is reasonably good on fuel for a giant killer!!
I'm only Northampton...lol About 1.15hrs from London, 2.25hrs from the south coast, 2hrs to Gatwick, 3hrs from the Chunnel etc etc... Besides i travel all over 
The thing with a WRX is that even though it's only got 225bhp standard, and there are lots of other performance cars out there with similar bhp, the way an Impreza delivers and puts the power down as standard is what makes the difference.
0-60: 5.8s
1/4 Mile 14.8s
These figures are comparable with a lot of sportscar/supercar status exotica. You look at the car and as you've said, it looks pretty ordinary. I think that's what makes them really special.
To be honest, i don't think even STi's look that outrageous either even with the tea tray on the back. I pulled up this evening alongside a version VI EVO. It looks a lot more extreme/aggressive on the outside out of the box than an STi, like it means business and it's got something to prove.
You don't get that with an STi or WRX, just well rounded good looks. I might be biased though
I think the Impreza isn't a bad looking car. Much better looking than the EVO and thankfully different from the all the hatch-a-like cars 99% of manufacturers keep churning out these days. The humble Subaru is characterful and distinctive.
It's no looker unlike the Porker admittedly but then we can't all defect to the other side in the pursuit of aesthetic perfection and greener patures.
Still, it's hard to see that perfection when said porker you just passed is a tiny spot in your rear view mirror
It's no looker unlike the Porker admittedly but then we can't all defect to the other side in the pursuit of aesthetic perfection and greener patures.
Still, it's hard to see that perfection when said porker you just passed is a tiny spot in your rear view mirror
Looks awesome that JF - really fancied a Hawkeye, but settled for a slightly cheaper blob in the end.
Interesting to see that the Hawkeye has black trim/carpet in the boot. Really annoys me that the boot of the blob is light grey - the only thing it matches is the roof lining, lol!! If the hawkeye trim fits I might switch to the black. Just look a lot better imo.
On the subject of mpg, my last (partial) tank gave ~30mpg (290 miles out of 44.5 litres), half motorway driving, part being stuck in accident traffic for over an hour, and the rest short journeys - and most of that was me, the missus and the dog, plus a boot load of camping gear - I was happy with that
That's a remapped WRX by the way.
Interesting to see that the Hawkeye has black trim/carpet in the boot. Really annoys me that the boot of the blob is light grey - the only thing it matches is the roof lining, lol!! If the hawkeye trim fits I might switch to the black. Just look a lot better imo.
On the subject of mpg, my last (partial) tank gave ~30mpg (290 miles out of 44.5 litres), half motorway driving, part being stuck in accident traffic for over an hour, and the rest short journeys - and most of that was me, the missus and the dog, plus a boot load of camping gear - I was happy with that
That's a remapped WRX by the way.
VictoriaYorks said:
JFReturns said:
The only thing that annoys me is the naff stereo....
Please could you post up what you do if you do replace the stereo? I am 3 weeks into WRX saloon ownership and the stereo is blighting me too. either get a double din, or a single with the cradle that gives you a little tray beneath the unit. With the latter you can test your acceleration and give yourself points if you can launch the content of the tray into the mouth of a rear passenger... paulmoonraker said:
Go to halfords with 100 quid in your pocket, buy one, then take it home and fit it yourself. It's easy either get a double din, or a single with the cradle that gives you a little tray beneath the unit. With the latter you can test your acceleration and give yourself points if you can launch the content of the tray into the mouth of a rear passenger...
I have looked at fitting guide pics online and they looked a bit daunting to me. I have never done any car modifications. The most technical thing I've ever done is fit an airport card into an old imac. either get a double din, or a single with the cradle that gives you a little tray beneath the unit. With the latter you can test your acceleration and give yourself points if you can launch the content of the tray into the mouth of a rear passenger... LOL at the tray content comment
VictoriaYorks said:
paulmoonraker said:
Go to halfords with 100 quid in your pocket, buy one, then take it home and fit it yourself. It's easy either get a double din, or a single with the cradle that gives you a little tray beneath the unit. With the latter you can test your acceleration and give yourself points if you can launch the content of the tray into the mouth of a rear passenger...
I have looked at fitting guide pics online and they looked a bit daunting to me. I have never done any car modifications. The most technical thing I've ever done is fit an airport card into an old imac. either get a double din, or a single with the cradle that gives you a little tray beneath the unit. With the latter you can test your acceleration and give yourself points if you can launch the content of the tray into the mouth of a rear passenger... LOL at the tray content comment
t the Impreza stereo is once you replace it with a st aftermarket one 
Corrected by a dual action machine polisher. If you're interested I'll go into more detail when I'm not on my phone, but suffice to say it is possible to achieve that finish by hand (I've done it) but I would seriously not recommend it. Using a machine polisher is easy with practice and far, far less effort.
Hi JFReturns,
Great thread , lovely car , and some amazing polishing there!
I wish I could get mine done as it needs some work done but I don't have a garage .. Only got it a few months ago . I love it! Have had 6 Imprezas over the years and imo the Hawkeye Wagon is one of the nicest they've ever made . Mine does have the Prodrive pack on it but it came with it already fitted
The low down torque and usablity of the engine is so good!
Here she is:
As has been already been said one of the poor bits of the Impreza is the stereo so I bought a Kenwood Double-Din unit 2nd hand from a seller on Ebay ( just make sure it's a UK one). Dead simple job .. The brackets simply unscrew from the Subaru 1 and go straight onto the Kenwood 1 . ( I also had a Clarion Double-Din unit with built in cd changer in a previous scoob and did exactly the same thing).
Here's a gratuitous pic :
As I said before I've had 6 other scoobs on here and cant see me changing to another as I always like the flexability and style of wagons .
I only have 1 major gripe which I'll post in another thread and that's a bad creeking/flexing noise coming from the tailgate when the car flexes/turns a corner .. it's driving me mad!
Anyway.. Hope I haven't hijacked your thread .. just glad to find a dedicated Subaru section as last time looked all Jap stuff was mixed together
Steve
Edited to add VictioriaYork if you have any questions re changing the radio email me .. I know it sounds daunting but it really is very simple and only takes about 20 mins
Great thread , lovely car , and some amazing polishing there!
I wish I could get mine done as it needs some work done but I don't have a garage .. Only got it a few months ago . I love it! Have had 6 Imprezas over the years and imo the Hawkeye Wagon is one of the nicest they've ever made . Mine does have the Prodrive pack on it but it came with it already fitted
The low down torque and usablity of the engine is so good! Here she is:
As has been already been said one of the poor bits of the Impreza is the stereo so I bought a Kenwood Double-Din unit 2nd hand from a seller on Ebay ( just make sure it's a UK one). Dead simple job .. The brackets simply unscrew from the Subaru 1 and go straight onto the Kenwood 1 . ( I also had a Clarion Double-Din unit with built in cd changer in a previous scoob and did exactly the same thing).
Here's a gratuitous pic :
As I said before I've had 6 other scoobs on here and cant see me changing to another as I always like the flexability and style of wagons .
I only have 1 major gripe which I'll post in another thread and that's a bad creeking/flexing noise coming from the tailgate when the car flexes/turns a corner .. it's driving me mad!
Anyway.. Hope I haven't hijacked your thread .. just glad to find a dedicated Subaru section as last time looked all Jap stuff was mixed together
Steve
Edited to add VictioriaYork if you have any questions re changing the radio email me .. I know it sounds daunting but it really is very simple and only takes about 20 mins
Edited by Goldmember1 on Tuesday 4th September 15:49
Have a look at your rear dampers/springs/top mounts. Might need some of the bushes re-greasing. Check out your rear ARB as well and re-grease those bushes.
You can also get a kit to lock down both front and rear sub-frames to the chassis.
The wagons shouldn't creak due to flexing because they are meant to be considerably stiffer than 4dr cars, it may just be something on the suspension.
You can also get a kit to lock down both front and rear sub-frames to the chassis.
The wagons shouldn't creak due to flexing because they are meant to be considerably stiffer than 4dr cars, it may just be something on the suspension.
Goldmember1 said:
Edited to add VictioriaYork if you have any questions re changing the radio email me .. I know it sounds daunting but it really is very simple and only takes about 20 mins
Thank you! I think I'm going to make-do with the stereo until I've put it through its first service and MOT (under my ownership) and see how much that costs.I think mine might be the same colour as yours, I thought it was silver at first but next to a silver car it has more gold in it.
Goldmember1 said:
Hi JFReturns,
Great thread , lovely car , and some amazing polishing there!
I wish I could get mine done as it needs some work done but I don't have a garage .. Only got it a few months ago . I love it! Have had 6 Imprezas over the years and imo the Hawkeye Wagon is one of the nicest they've ever made . Mine does have the Prodrive pack on it but it came with it already fitted The low down torque and usablity of the engine is so good!
Anyway.. Hope I haven't hijacked your thread .. just glad to find a dedicated Subaru section as last time looked all Jap stuff was mixed together
Steve
Yours looks great in silver! Have you driven a non-PPP version? I would be interested to know the difference. I think the advantage of PPP is it would aid resale compared to an after market tuner (at least I presume so?).Great thread , lovely car , and some amazing polishing there!
I wish I could get mine done as it needs some work done but I don't have a garage .. Only got it a few months ago . I love it! Have had 6 Imprezas over the years and imo the Hawkeye Wagon is one of the nicest they've ever made . Mine does have the Prodrive pack on it but it came with it already fitted
The low down torque and usablity of the engine is so good! Anyway.. Hope I haven't hijacked your thread .. just glad to find a dedicated Subaru section as last time looked all Jap stuff was mixed together
Steve
You most certainly are not hijacking the thread, it is great to keep the Subaru sub forum busy
And I enjoy hearing from other owners. I can't help you with the cornering squeek, I don't get it, but ScoobieWRX seems to have some good suggestions as always.Just one thing, your profile has the WRX as previously owned...
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