RE: SOTW: Subaru Impreza Turbo

[Bobdenero]

J4CKO said:

So, the less on here is....



Dont buy a car of Bobdenero !

The point was made as a warning about Impreza's but having re read it, it does come across as though I am either inept, jinxed or both!

[matfitzpatrick]

I've had 3 Imprezas; a P1 then a UK STI which I didn't like so got another P1. Absolutely love the classic Impreza, went like stink and sounded great (Prodrive Backbox). Service costs were fairly cheap given the performance, cambelt change bumped it up a bit though. I used main dealer on my first P1 as it was only 2 years old when I bought it, later ones I used a specialist who I thought offered great value for money. It was a killer on fuel though, my E46 M3 returned better MPG! That being said a remap generally improved MPG and in the case of the P1 would help prevent it lunching itself.

I traded it for my M3 as I sensed a knock (I found out that a matter of weeks later the bottom end gave up) a real problem on the P1.

[graham22]

GeeTeaEye said:

I see it has a towbar - is the Impreza a good towing car?

Does it mean that the engine will have been more stressed than usual?

Very good - used to tow bike trailer with 2 enduro bikes, quite happy at 90.

Did take my parents caravan away for a weekend, upset a V8 discovery who couldn't get past on a uphill dual carriageway. Didn't work out to be the cheapest holiday at sub 10mpg.


Rust would worry me on this one, they seem to go above the windscreen quite early in their lifes.

Cracking shed, I'm twitching over one of these to carry my trials bike.

[bicycleshorts]

Worth pointing out that the UK model only had 208bhp compared to the 260bhp import WRX (even higher for the STIs). Not sure why we got such a raw deal.

I've had mine up for sale for a bit now, had a few offers of a grand but it seems silly money for so much car. Not sure if you could go faster for less? (On 4 wheels at least!)

[Bobdenero]

bicycleshorts said:

Worth pointing out that the UK model only had 208bhp compared to the 260bhp import WRX (even higher for the STIs). Not sure why we got such a raw deal.

I've had mine up for sale for a bit now, had a few offers of a grand but it seems silly money for so much car. Not sure if you could go faster for less? (On 4 wheels at least!)

Have you the link to the ad?

[bicycleshorts]

Bobdenero said:

Have you the link to the ad?

There's a link in my Garage, buddy

[Decky_Q]

C350 said:

Thats very tempting but insurance would probably be a killer and end up costing nearly as much as the car

Insurance would be quite a bit higher 5yrs NCB, good area, over 30 and coming in at £3500 comp.

[lovejaps]

cant really go wrong for a grand for that. i miss my turbo wagon, theres something about the wagons that just really appeal to me!

[WhiffofCastrol R]

Love it, had two classic shapes and a couple of blob eyes, classic wins for me.

[bakerstreet]

Wouldn't surprise me if that is gone from the classifieds within about 48 hours.

Probably the best shed for a while.

[DJFish]

Great cars!
I loved mine!

[bicycleshorts]

Decky_Q said:

Insurance would be quite a bit higher 5yrs NCB, good area, over 30 and coming in at £3500 comp.

3 years NCB, 24, with a 23 year old on the policy, £850 from the big grey land mammal. That's for an import as well!

[anything fast]

WOW!!!

not one chavved up add on bit of tat on that car.. a rare sight indeed. Once the cretins have left these cars alone, they will be few and far between and I think genuine future classics in the making..

[TobesH]

Had a bright red saloon in 1997! Did 80k miles in it over 2 years and it was fantastic. Terrible seats and plastic steering wheel. They all came over with no air-con or leather. The air-con was fitted by the dealer and the leather re trim done by a UK trimming company!!! The chalk marks were still visible in places around the stitching!

A little trick was to rev to 4000rpm, clutch down in first, then side slide you foot of the clutch for severe 0-30 times! I killed the clutch by 50k miles!

P808 ERX - where are you now?

[BigTom85]

MPG wise, what can you realistically expect from one of these on, say a 20 mile NSL commute? high 20s?

[danwhite]

I have owned lots of Japanese performance cars and this is my second Impreza the current one being a X reg classic wagon.
I have been thinking of selling it to build a drift/track car for a while ,Great cars these are I am really struggling to actually post an advert up as I like it so much! it does have an image issue but if you haven't buggered about and over chav it they are great value.

[bicycleshorts]

BigTom85 said:

MPG wise, what can you realistically expect from one of these on, say a 20 mile NSL commute? high 20s?

It depends what speed you cruise at. The key to good MPG is to keep it off boost which is around 55-60mph in 5th. Highest I got was 25mpg but that included quite a few 3rd gear overtakes.

If you cruise at 70-80mph (on private land), you'll get around 17mpg

[hothatches]

That's a nice set of wheels for a grand. Thought very seriously about one of these for a track car, but in the end went for an MR2 due to it being a bit shorter on garage space and the time required to find a decent Impreza.

And then you go and find one. Bugger.

[esvcg]

C350 said:

Thats very tempting but insurance would probably be a killer and end up costing nearly as much as the car

..or twice or Thrice!

petrol would be a kiler too, and i'm not 100% sure but i think these need to really be run on 97 oct.

sadly for me it's the chave imagine that spoils them, but i really did used to like these motors when i was younger, especially after watching subaru rally on tv.

[Husaberk]

bicycleshorts said:

It depends what speed you cruise at. The key to good MPG is to keep it off boost which is around 55-60mph in 5th. Highest I got was 25mpg but that included quite a few 3rd gear overtakes.

If you cruise at 70-80mph (on private land), you'll get around 17mpg

You must be referring to modded or STIs. Cruising at 70-80 gave me 26-28mpg in the near stock Turbo 2000 wagons I've owned/driven. Normal mixed driving 22-24 and cross country thrashing drops into the high teens. Unless you spend a lot more money most other cars with similar power/performance do very similar mpg.