Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon | Spotted
Still pondering a fast, all-weather estate? You didn't break the bank to bag one...
If you’re anything like me and idolise the rally machines of the late 1990s and early 2000s, you’re likely going crazy about the skyrocketing values of their road-going counterparts. Save for the Peugeot 206 GTI. Or the Skoda Octavia vRS. Or the Hyundai Accent. Okay, so it’s predominantly the Japanese ones, but it means that if you want a blue Subaru Impreza WRX STI with gold wheels for the Richard Burns or Petter Solberg look, expect to clear out a fair chunk of your bank account.
Annoying, really, because the whole point of these cars was to offer hair-raising performance for the fraction of the cost of a comparative sports car. The laughably rubbish interior quality was easy to overlook when you had nearly 300hp on tap and a torque splitter to mess about with. It’s also easy for wealthier folk to turn a blind eye to a car’s foibles if it means they can get their hands on a hero car from their childhood. Consider that many Japanese performance saloons were tuned to high heaven and that finding a stock example is getting harder, you can’t blame those who spend a pretty penny to get hold of their dream car.
If, however, it’s difficult to justify forking out tens of thousands on a stock STI, then it’s worth considering a regular Impreza WRX. Yes, I know, it’s not easy going for one of the ‘lesser’ models, but you’re not sacrificing all that much performance for the amount of money you’ll save. Just make sure you find one with a punchy engine and not the gutless 1.5-litre motor. For instance, this Impreza WRX gets the turbocharged 2.5-litre boxer engine that features in the UK-spec Hawkeye STI, though it’s obviously in a slightly lower state of tune. In non-STI guise it’s able to churn out 230hp and can dispatch a 0-62mph sprint in 5.9 seconds – roughly half a second down on the STI model - but still likeably brisk.
Of course, that’s in stock form. While a tad fragile, these 2.5-litre motors are capable of considerably higher outputs with a little work. Granted, you can’t go slapping on STI parts left, right and centre, but the Impreza is a relatively modular platform. In fact, the standard Impreza did receive some support from Prodrive in the form of an official Prodrive Performance Pack (PPP). This car doesn’t seem to have it equipped, but there are still plenty of official Prodrive parts out there for an OEM-ish performance upgrade.
That this car is a wagon makes it all the more tempting. The Impreza WRX saloon is a perfectly practical car (more so than the hatchback, if you ask Ben), but the wagon has to be the ultimate family mobile. As far as I can tell (and correct me if I'm wrong) the STI Wagon was never officially sold in the UK and Subaru didn’t even bother making one for the Hawkeye generation. With a bit of time and the right knowhow then, it wouldn’t be hard to get this thing looking and sounding like a proper STI.
For a fraction of the cost, I might add. The Bugeye was the last Impreza wagon to receive the STI treatment; there's one on the classifieds at the moment for £18,990, which is £12,000 more expensive than the non-STI estate we have here. Now, admittedly, the MOT history isn’t what you’d call rock-solid. A bit of corrosion here, a dodgy exhaust there. But the work seems to have been done to get it through its most recent MOT, so it’s ready for some light tuning and is pleasingly cheap to buy. But be quick - it’s getting ever more difficult to find performance estates like these in the bargain bin.
SPECIFICATION | SUBARU IMPREZA WRX WAGON
Engine: 2,457cc four-cylinder boxer, turbocharged
Transmission: 5-speed manual, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 230@5,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 236@3,600rpm
MPG: 27
CO2: 244g/km
Year registered: 2007
Recorded mileage: 98,000
Price new: £22,000
Yours for: £6,990
every journey is a special stage !!!!
I wanted something fast enough to be fun while retaining an air of practicality for the pushchairs and other detritus that come with having kids. I also wanted something with an interesting engine - you cant blat about ALL the time so i wanted something interesting to listen to when stuck in traffic.
My search was:
Ideally blue (cuz rally car)
SL (Sunroof & Leather) as it lifts the otherwise budget interior
I found a Blue WRX Wagon SL on a 55 plate so lower tax than the one in the ad - bingo, all boxes ticked. I've had it for 11 years now, going from 69k to 110k miles. In all that time i dont think i'v ever got 27mpg as per article, mostly it hovers around 22-23 due to shortish journeys / heavy right foot.
Despite my worrying all the time about 2.5L "chocolate engine" its been pretty reliable - the only major expense being a cambelt that tried to eat itself and the engine but i saved it just in time as i was trundling through town.
These days its brisk rather than fast but it still sounds good - and these days the boot is full of sub-woofer rather than pushchairs
and yeah, i like to keep my cars filthy
Cracking car to drive, took it around Scotland and was epic. Loads of grip on the wet and snow too. Comfort vastly improved by sticking sound matting everywhere.
Cracking car to drive, took it around Scotland and was epic. Loads of grip on the wet and snow too. Comfort vastly improved by sticking sound matting everywhere.
No problems really I replaced the front callipers (cheaper than rebuilding them), new springs (1 had broke) and various bushes due to age. Timing belt wasn't too hard to replace neither.
30 yrs ago at Mercury Comms, I had a 309GTI... facelift white 3-door... utterly superb to drive, but.... scary brakes. First car I'd ever had with discs all round - and I didn't expect to be scared by those.
Mirroring the comments above the standard 4 pot brakes are abysmal and the STI swap is a must along with upgrading the headlights as the OEM ones are lacking and full beam doesn't really do much, I ended up fitting 8k Lumen motorbike off road auxiliary lights to mine on the grill and wired it to the full beams, the difference is night and day on unit roads.
One thing to check for on any newage wagon is rust where the rear seat latches are on the suspension turrets, they rust from the inside out under the rubber mat that's used as noise insulation so the rest of the car can be pristine from the outside in the wheel well but the turrets completely rusted out from the interior side!
Problem with it was
- Challenging looks
- Very poor equipment
- Terrible fuel economy and hence very high Benefit in Kind tax
The combination of £1500 extra tax and fuel economy in the 20's coupled with me doing over 20k miles a year meant it really wasn't a sensible option - went for a Mk5 Golf GTi which for what I wanted/need was a great car
Now, as a 2nd hand buy to enjoy and do a modest annual mileage it now looks a much more attractive proposition
(except I've just bought a GR Yaris, but you know what I mean ! )
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