RE: PH Heroes: Subaru Impreza P1

[All that jazz]

Nearly bought a P1 some years ago as I've always liked them, but after speaking to a few owners of them and discovering that the mpg on a gentle drive is on par with a fully loaded 44 tonner I decided against it.

[Dagnut]

300bhp/ton said:

The P1 is sort of a mashup between a JDM STI and a UK Turbo 2000 in a 2 door body shell.

I see the appeal when new as it'd have been a UK model with a UK warranty, and there was a time when UK Subaru dealerships wouldn't even service an import.

Today I see the appeal as a collectors item, but if you want a fast Subaru you can buy an STI for half the price and get essentially the same or better spec, more so if you go Type R. The P1 does look good though.

Not really true in fact a P1 is a V5 Type R with changes for the UK market...they removed DCCD, added ABS and fettled the suspension ....a few bespoke body parts... that's really it...very little in common with the Turbo 2000... You won't get a Type r for half the price now..which is the only comparable STI.

[Alex]

All that jazz said:

Nearly bought a P1 some years ago as I've always liked them, but after speaking to a few owners of them and discovering that the mpg on a gentle drive is on par with a fully loaded 44 tonner I decided against it.

In normal driving I average 19mpg, but when I was running the engine in, I got 30.5mpg (which must be a record for a P1).

[p1doc]

wal 45 said:

Great car, wish I'd owned one pre children.

Sure they struggled selling the 2nd batch of these as they were late being launched and almost crossed over with the travesty that followed. Weren't there issues with the original optional Alcon brakes ruining the finish of the wheels as well?

Anyway future classic without a doubt.

first 500 sold very quickly so subaru made 500 more and every subaru dealer had to take one no matter what and sell them at cost or below to get rid of,similar thing with tribeca years later
paintwork was notorious on rear spoiler and splitter due to poor paint on spoiler and splitter being chipped very easily,came with spotlights as standard which you had covers for
alcon brakes were good but pads mintex had a lot of deposits which stuck and chipped paintwork
still loved my p1-wife said she could hear me coming from 2 miles away lol
martin

[AWG]

Skullfudge said:

I've owned 39 cars and always been a PH ( still am and currently own a P1.

It's current spec is a little higher than OE but when I collected the car 6 years ago at 300 bhp it was the most solid car I had driven.

Rather than rant on how good they are I recommend you drive one and see for yourselves.

haha understatement of the year mate!

[D.no]

I bought a new one in 2000 and owned it for 18 months-ish. By far the best all-round, everyday sports car for UK roads (and weather) that I've owned. The only downside for me was that it was a tad one-dimensional in so much as the rewards only really came when it was being driven like it was on a special stage - which is fine on a special stage, but not healthy on the road. It was an utterly benign, wonderful handling thing that would assume a fantastic four-wheel drift to slight over-steer stance if you kept hard on it through the initial push and waited for the centre diff to shuffle some torque rearwards.

It liked a drink though! I once ran out of fuel coming back from Le mans in less than 100 miles from a brimmed tank...

Fond memories of a truly epic car.

[GravelBen]

300bhp/ton said:

GravelBen said:

Dagnut said:

Never understood why they dropped the DCCD from the TypeR

Because they wanted ABS instead for the UK market I think - it wasn't until the blobeye that they got DCCD to work with ABS, before that you had one or the other.

That's what I've read too. Still can't see the point in massively over paying for a P1 over an STI though, not unless you are a collector or something.

I'd take DCCD over ABS personally, still get tempted by STi-RA Imprezas from time to time. Especially the Ver.2 V-ltd with McRae/Ringer autograph seats etc...

[big_rob_sydney]

I own 22B #301, and I've always been curious about the P1. We dont have them in Australia unless someone brings them in as a personal import, which is a shame.

I'm thinking about heading back to the Uk in a few weeks, and will see if I can add one to my collection.

[Scooby P1]

In normal driving I average 19mpg, but when I was running the engine in, I got 30.5mpg (which must be a record for a P1).

mine has around 302bhp and i can get 22mpg regukarly even when giving it some on the tiwsty roads!

p1doc said:

first 500 sold very quickly so subaru made 500 more and every subaru dealer had to take one no matter what and sell them at cost or below to get rid of,similar thing with tribeca years later
paintwork was notorious on rear spoiler and splitter due to poor paint on spoiler and splitter being chipped very easily,came with spotlights as standard which you had covers for
alcon brakes were good but pads mintex had a lot of deposits which stuck and chipped paintwork
still loved my p1-wife said she could hear me coming from 2 miles away lol
martin

Agree with the paint issues. Had my whole front bumper and splitter repainted twice in the last 4 years. Will do it again in April.
spotlights are great - headlights were never an Impreza strong point!
Alcon brakes need seriously good pads - i changed mine to CarboTech XP8s and now the P1 stops better than almost anything.

[Jibber Jabber]

Scooby P1 said:

Agree with the paint issues. Had my whole front bumper and splitter repainted twice in the last 4 years. Will do it again in April.
spotlights are great - headlights were never an Impreza strong point!
Alcon brakes need seriously good pads - i changed mine to CarboTech XP8s and now the P1 stops better than almost anything.

How much does it cost to fill up and what kind of range do you tend to get?

[Ved]

Jibber Jabber said:

How much does it cost to fill up and what kind of range do you tend to get?

It's a 60l tank.

[ge0rge]

Wonderful looking and sounding car. Not quite a patch on its rival the vi gsr though.

[Jon Brown]

A mate of mine has a completely original one of these for sale with full Subaru history if anyone is interested, although it is not advertised for sale anywhere

[BILL PAYER]

Had a WRX classic and the fuel consumption on that was also on the wrong side of terrible, so its a problem across the range not just with the high end models

[RB Will]

Have I just got a magic Subarus?
My 400+bhp P1 does around 24mpg in mixed driving including hoofing it whenever possible.
My 3.0 Legacy achieves over book figures
My Dad's Forester with PPP on does about 27mpg in mixed driving.

Granted my old V2 STI would range between 31 and 8 (worked out going to and then going round the Ring) but normally in the 20s

I can assure you I don't drive like a granny so why are mine so efficient?

[GravelBen]

My Legacy GTB usually averages around 26ish, and 30-32 on the open road.

[housen]

looks like a itchy jumper

[Si_man306]

I've got a complete love affair with the P1- test drove one when I had the exige but branded it too soft and the one I tried had soggy brakes which put me off- especially with all that power! So so quick though...and the noise...

Went for a 350z in the end, enjoying the jap thing and I think next it will have to be a skyline/ evo or scooby. I know the Skylines and the evos of the world might be quicker on paper but there's something about the P1 which just gets me. The first time I saw the garage door open on one I think if I had had cash in my hand I just would have handed it over and driven off. It was a mint car, full history, 2 owners for £7k (around 3-4 years ago). Have just always been terrified of the engines going pop. That said though, you only live once

[mark morris]

Heres my old one at Goodwood in 2001



Bought it when it was 4 weeks old and sadly sold it when it was 18 months old with 10k on the clock
I had a full scoobysport exhaust, 18" wheels, alcons etc on it
Changed it for a Sti 7 prodrive ppp, never gelled with that car and changed that for an evo 6 rsx, wish id never sold the evo or the p1
Mark

[Guvernator]

Had the import version of this i.e. a Version 5 Type-R. Still one of the quickest acclerating cars I've owned. The DCCD which allowed rear power bias and the relatively light weight (1200kgs) made this a very chuckable car. The rally alike suspension also made it excellent for our crappy UK roads. Still don't think that this classic 2 door Impreza has been bettered by anything produced by Subaru since.