'Bug eye' WRX Impreza Prodrives?
Discussion
Adam205 said:
We had one from new til 2006. The sports seats are the most comfortable and supportive seats I've ever sat in. Even better than those in the STI.
The ones that look like this:
They were an option (I believe) but lots of them had them.
Excellent back road weapon!
Agreed, I did a bit of driving in a 2005 GX Sport Impreza that had those seats and they were much grippier than the seats in an STi of the same year, and not that slightly awful blue colour either!The ones that look like this:
They were an option (I believe) but lots of them had them.
Excellent back road weapon!
Adam205 said:
We had one from new til 2006. The sports seats are the most comfortable and supportive seats I've ever sat in. Even better than those in the STI.
Agreed, my dad's Impreza has those seats in and they are extremely good. I love the fact that material creates a bit of grip too, keeping you seated in the corners. I had bought a Bugeye back in '08. It had a full PPP, as well as some cosmetic modifications. I done around 8000 miles during the time of ownership and it never stepped a foot wrong. It was spacious, looked fantastic and went like a bat out of hell! Had a dyno prinout of 380hp (or thereabouts!) which was all thanks to the previous owner.
The only thing I noticed was the pretty dreadful understeer, even though I was running on Toyo Proxes. I decided to take it for a full geometry check at a garage in Birmingham. While it was there, they added a slight bit of negative camber to the front wheels, and added toe in to the rear wheels. It improved the handling drastically, and pretty much eliminated any signs of understeer. Therefore i would suggest you have the same done if you buy one.
I sold the car in 2010, and replaced it with an Evolution 9 FQ. The Evo is a much sharper car in the twistys and is without doubt a much more capable car. Despite this, i still miss the Subaru sometimes.
Have you considered an Evo?
The only thing I noticed was the pretty dreadful understeer, even though I was running on Toyo Proxes. I decided to take it for a full geometry check at a garage in Birmingham. While it was there, they added a slight bit of negative camber to the front wheels, and added toe in to the rear wheels. It improved the handling drastically, and pretty much eliminated any signs of understeer. Therefore i would suggest you have the same done if you buy one.
I sold the car in 2010, and replaced it with an Evolution 9 FQ. The Evo is a much sharper car in the twistys and is without doubt a much more capable car. Despite this, i still miss the Subaru sometimes.
Have you considered an Evo?
Had a 2002 WRX bugeye from new and covered 90k miles in it over 7.5 years, that included using it as my only car for the first 4 years, 12 trackdays and 3 visits to Trier for the Germany WRC with the odd cheeky lap of the ring.
Mine didn't have the PPP, but did have a full decat, STi top mount intercooler, induction kit and a remap to 274bhp which transformed it into a more fun and exciting car, not the fastest but definately pretty quick with the 5-speed!
The only issues I ever had with mine was breaking the standard gearbox after 4 years, although it was found to have a problem which it was probably manufactured with, a coil pack failed and the actuator stuck open which felt like the turbo had expired but turned out to be a really simple fix.
The car itself is very comfortable, has plenty of space and toys inside, very practical and pretty cheap to maintain using a specialist for servicing, was also loads of fun.
As mentioned above, get a proper geometry setup and it handles pretty well as standard although there are loads of cheap(ish) add-ons which can make it handle even better such as solid droplinks and anti-rollbars all the way up to coil-overs if thats your thing.
Great car's in my opinion, infact I thought it was so good, I bought a newer version to replace it but in Spec-C trim this time - although thats a totally different story
Mine didn't have the PPP, but did have a full decat, STi top mount intercooler, induction kit and a remap to 274bhp which transformed it into a more fun and exciting car, not the fastest but definately pretty quick with the 5-speed!
The only issues I ever had with mine was breaking the standard gearbox after 4 years, although it was found to have a problem which it was probably manufactured with, a coil pack failed and the actuator stuck open which felt like the turbo had expired but turned out to be a really simple fix.
The car itself is very comfortable, has plenty of space and toys inside, very practical and pretty cheap to maintain using a specialist for servicing, was also loads of fun.
As mentioned above, get a proper geometry setup and it handles pretty well as standard although there are loads of cheap(ish) add-ons which can make it handle even better such as solid droplinks and anti-rollbars all the way up to coil-overs if thats your thing.
Great car's in my opinion, infact I thought it was so good, I bought a newer version to replace it but in Spec-C trim this time - although thats a totally different story
icepop said:
Well you are completly wrong my friend, blow up, they certainly do not do. But please carry on with the rumour, so that the prices of these excellent cars come down even further........oh,.... and remember, alot of them are owned by chavs....so dont buy them.
You say that... ours had big end failure at 12k miles. So they certainly can blow up! Not sure if its common or not.As Nate says, geometry and tyres on Imprezas are absolutely critical. Too much toe in at the front (which both ours seemed to have) make them quite unresponsive and feel like they want to push on.
Edited by Adam205 on Wednesday 30th November 07:57
Had a 2001 wrx ppp wagon. Great car and super comfy - wife loved it and would have another in a heartbeat. Great, sure footed traction and as someone commented, seems to like averaging 28mpg. If you are looking to buy, check when / if the clutch has been replaced - it's a costly item to replace with something decent.
Drove ours to the ring, 1100 miles round trip, 8 laps on track - perfect. I would say it understeers like b*itch in standard form on track, but very neutral. The engine has a great, addictive burble. Not intrusive, just right with the prodrive kit.
Drove ours to the ring, 1100 miles round trip, 8 laps on track - perfect. I would say it understeers like b*itch in standard form on track, but very neutral. The engine has a great, addictive burble. Not intrusive, just right with the prodrive kit.
CoolHands said:
well there's one example of a blow up, & I've definitely read of others. Which is pretty unusual with modern cars, I mean unheard of really these days. An engine rebuild is a high risk expense so how many (%?) do blow up?
I think the later Imprezas had a lot of engine problems. But I'm pretty certain the era I'm after is very reliable?reliable and subaru engines are not 2 words that go together
just google subaru and big end failure or head gasket failure.
On the subaru forums, about every 5th post in the tech help sections are about the above, I'm not even exaggerating
A wise man once said to me when I told him I was going to buy an impreza
"I hope you like engine rebuids son"
I really wish I had listened
If an impreza engine goes bang, you are looking at 3K to fix, or 1k in parts and fix it yourself. They are cheap for a reason.
I have been down this road once and never again
just google subaru and big end failure or head gasket failure.
On the subaru forums, about every 5th post in the tech help sections are about the above, I'm not even exaggerating
A wise man once said to me when I told him I was going to buy an impreza
"I hope you like engine rebuids son"
I really wish I had listened
If an impreza engine goes bang, you are looking at 3K to fix, or 1k in parts and fix it yourself. They are cheap for a reason.
I have been down this road once and never again
rossmc88 said:
I'm not even exaggerating
Yes you are - or maybe you're just making it up completely.I've put 43,000 enthusiastic km on my current one with nothing going wrong except a MAP sensor which limited boost to 7psi until I replaced with a second hand part for $40.
That general level of reliability is considered pretty normal on the Subaru forums I frequent (as well as masses of Subaru owners I know personally).
I don't think I've actually seen a single poster complaining about their headgaskets! They were an issue on some pre-98 2.5s, primarily in the US market. Big ends are a weak point of sorts where problems are often found yes - the three most common causes I've seen are (1)Detonation caused by poor fuel (2)detonation caused by poor modifications (3)oil starvation, usually from running sticky rubber on track without a baffled sump.
For sure they're not perfect, but no way are they the hand grenade engines that internet gurus like to make out they are.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 30th November 11:39
rovermorris999 said:
The blow-ups you've heard about will almost certainly be modified engines that haven't been done well. Push the envelope too far or do it badly and any engine will pack up. Subarus attract modifiers as it is so easy to get big bhp out of them.
Not true, I had a meticulously looked after, 100% factory standard blobeye WRX lose a crankshaft at ~70,000 miles which lunched the engine. This was less than 2000 miles after its last on-time (early actually), dealer service and it hadn't lost a drop of oil. It also had problems with the centre diff bearing. That said, it was a fantastic car and I loved it until I sold it (and still miss it today).
If I were to go back to Subaru ownership today, I'd be looking for an STi or a special edition like an RB320.
rovermorris999 said:
The blow-ups you've heard about will almost certainly be modified engines that haven't been done well. Push the envelope too far or do it badly and any engine will pack up. Subarus attract modifiers as it is so easy to get big bhp out of them.
I will run with this. I had a classic shape that had had the turbo pressure turned up, not by much mind, and I lost an engine quite quickly. Its something to do with the oil feed being a horseshoe shape, so one of the pistons has a tendancy to go pop. I can't remember the details but i'm sure somebody will be along shortly to elaborate.
Miss it loads though.
There have been some issues with the newer 2.5ltr engines. They are inherently weaker and some have been pushed to hard. With the hatch there have been some map related issues.
Take internet stories with a pinch of salt. People only ever post the horror stories. Many have been pushed far too hard (especially in the case of the WRX).
-P
Take internet stories with a pinch of salt. People only ever post the horror stories. Many have been pushed far too hard (especially in the case of the WRX).
-P
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