Want some feedback from Impreza owners
Discussion
You wont get 30mpg, more like 26 in a classic standard turbo or 27 in a WRX bug eye.
Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK? Ive just picked up a manual 1999 car with 60000 miles on, paid just £1900.
Drives better than an Impreza, has Bilstien suspension, and twin sequential turbos.
You will be lucky to get one for what I paid but certainly less than 3 grand, negatives, are 24mpg on super only, but hows this for a posative............ Quote me happy insurance £380
Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK? Ive just picked up a manual 1999 car with 60000 miles on, paid just £1900.
Drives better than an Impreza, has Bilstien suspension, and twin sequential turbos.
You will be lucky to get one for what I paid but certainly less than 3 grand, negatives, are 24mpg on super only, but hows this for a posative............ Quote me happy insurance £380
Baryonyx said:
As in a UK car? I've seen plenty of nice imports for that sort of cash, dated from the late 90's. The first UK STi's at the bottom end of the market are fairly tatty though, and they're creeping about at that price. Still, you may find a diamond in the rough.
A lot of the more expensive JDM cars are relatively fresh imports, i would prefer a V3 imported in 2007 to a UK V4 that has lived with our s
tty weather for 15 years. But then we are all different. 
nottyash said:
You wont get 30mpg, more like 26 in a classic standard turbo or 27 in a WRX bug eye.
Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK? Ive just picked up a manual 1999 car with 60000 miles on, paid just £1900.
Drives better than an Impreza, has Bilstien suspension, and twin sequential turbos.
You will be lucky to get one for what I paid but certainly less than 3 grand, negatives, are 24mpg on super only, but hows this for a posative............ Quote me happy insurance £380
Not a bad idea, thanks. Probably less likely to be chavved up I would guess? And I suppose cheaper insurance would offset the fuel costs somewhat.Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK? Ive just picked up a manual 1999 car with 60000 miles on, paid just £1900.
Drives better than an Impreza, has Bilstien suspension, and twin sequential turbos.
You will be lucky to get one for what I paid but certainly less than 3 grand, negatives, are 24mpg on super only, but hows this for a posative............ Quote me happy insurance £380
My grandma used to own a Impreza (03 plate), and it was brilliant. They aren't sluggish, it was the 2.0 WRX, and surprisingly it was insane in the snow and ice. Tame if you wanted her to be, but if you wanted to slide on ice, it would. I'd recommend it, just hope you know they aren't the most economical things. If I had a choice nowadays though, I'd get a GT-R (newer one) over a new Impreza, but a old scooby over an EVO VIII or a GT-R anyday.
I loved my WRX, it was quick but it wasn't properly fast, the STi is definitely the better car if you want to cover distance rapidly but I preferred the subtlety of the WRX as I used it daily for work taking it to meet clients etc.
I took mine from 12k miles to nearly 50k over 4 years. In that time the only problems I had were a clutch release bearing getting noisy (probably due to the amount of traffic I sit in) and the rear suspension struts at the rear knocking which is a common problem with the newage cars.
I left my car standard as far as speed goes but I tweaked the handling with anti lift kit, anti roll bars and coil overs. It was an awesome handling bit of kit and I do miss it.
My car ended up being written off in a rear end smash when I was stationary and the car behind me hit me at about 70. It held up really well.
These are not cheap cars to run, they will eat fuel and the servicing is fairly regular. If you find a good independent its not too bad though and definitely cheaper than servicing an Evo. I would get about 10-11k miles out of a set of 4 tyres.
I don't think I will have another but I am glad I've had one.
Any excuse to we out a photo of my old car
I took mine from 12k miles to nearly 50k over 4 years. In that time the only problems I had were a clutch release bearing getting noisy (probably due to the amount of traffic I sit in) and the rear suspension struts at the rear knocking which is a common problem with the newage cars.
I left my car standard as far as speed goes but I tweaked the handling with anti lift kit, anti roll bars and coil overs. It was an awesome handling bit of kit and I do miss it.
My car ended up being written off in a rear end smash when I was stationary and the car behind me hit me at about 70. It held up really well.
These are not cheap cars to run, they will eat fuel and the servicing is fairly regular. If you find a good independent its not too bad though and definitely cheaper than servicing an Evo. I would get about 10-11k miles out of a set of 4 tyres.
I don't think I will have another but I am glad I've had one.
Any excuse to w
e out a photo of my old carA friend of mine recently bought a new 2.5 WRX Hawkeye, right before getting a new girlfriend 40 miles away from his house. Car was quickly sold as he was using a quarter tank of petrol just to get to work and back from her house and he didn't think it was that much more fun to drive than the Fiesta ST he sold to buy it.
I did get a few good rides in it, it wasn't explosively quick (about 225bhp I think) but it did feel very strong, into triple digits it didn't feel like it was tailing off too much, the 5 speed box going into the 140mph makes the gears quite long. I think an STi would be a real step up in terms of fun, even more so the old Type Rs and RAs, with the shorter gears making for a revvier, more involving drive. He fitted a Blitz Nur Spec R (imo the ultimate Impreza exhaust) and his neighbours hated it, but it sounded absolutely fantastic.
I did get a few good rides in it, it wasn't explosively quick (about 225bhp I think) but it did feel very strong, into triple digits it didn't feel like it was tailing off too much, the 5 speed box going into the 140mph makes the gears quite long. I think an STi would be a real step up in terms of fun, even more so the old Type Rs and RAs, with the shorter gears making for a revvier, more involving drive. He fitted a Blitz Nur Spec R (imo the ultimate Impreza exhaust) and his neighbours hated it, but it sounded absolutely fantastic.
HBFS said:
I considered long and hard, but I can't justify paying out over three times what I currently pay for insurance.
My Fabia (Which isn't THAT much slower!) is £650, Scooby £2200.
fabia vs scooby? it is THAT much faster! Lol.My Fabia (Which isn't THAT much slower!) is £650, Scooby £2200.
Edited by HBFS on Saturday 5th May 11:12
I'd look at an audi s3 or the mitsubishi evo which are both better imo. celica gt4 is another wildcard option
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-Audi-S3-225bhp-Imma...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Celica-GT4-GT-Fou...
Edited by dm46 on Saturday 5th May 16:19
Edited by dm46 on Saturday 5th May 16:22
Use somebody like Keith Michaels for scooby insurance. Mine was 700 quid including track days and Nuremberg Ring cover (33, garaged, no poins, 6 years NCB). Ask to speak with Gary Moulson.
In my newage it was easy to get 30MPG on a run providing you stick below 80. However, round town it was shocking.
In my newage it was easy to get 30MPG on a run providing you stick below 80. However, round town it was shocking.
The STi is quite a different beast compared to the WRX. Sure, a mapped WRX will be as fast as a standard STi, however, map the STi and you'll have a bonkers car. Also, the handling is much better with the STi.
My old 2005 STi was ludicrous (and I am saying that now owning a porker - my old STi would mince it at lower speeds).
My old 2005 STi was ludicrous (and I am saying that now owning a porker - my old STi would mince it at lower speeds).
paulmoonraker said:
Use somebody like Keith Michaels for scooby insurance.... Ask to speak with Gary Moulson.
Be warned Gary is a busy man, although they do consistently come close to the top for scooby insurance speaking to Gary Moulson is harder then speaking to the Queen. The last time I quoted for the scooby he took so long to get back to me that i had gone with A-plan, his quote was a bit cheaper though.
omgus said:
paulmoonraker said:
Use somebody like Keith Michaels for scooby insurance.... Ask to speak with Gary Moulson.
Be warned Gary is a busy man, although they do consistently come close to the top for scooby insurance speaking to Gary Moulson is harder then speaking to the Queen. The last time I quoted for the scooby he took so long to get back to me that i had gone with A-plan, his quote was a bit cheaper though.
this is true. Email him and ask him to call you back.rb5er said:
VinceFox said:
I'm sure others will have opinions on this as well, but imho if you're spending circa 3k on a performance car and buy wisely i would suggest the m3 might be less financially ruinous than the impreza to maintain/improve.
The opposite of this is true. Like for like condition wise the m3 will cost much more than an impreza to maintain. Edited by rb5er on Saturday 5th May 12:03
How much is a clutch? Brakes? Transfer box? Turbo? Genuine question, not a wind up but i would have thought the impreza presents far more opportunities to go wrong in a bigger way financially.
For reference, my m3 evo went in for its mot this morning and nothing came up. In the last three years i've done front brakes, radiator, clutch and a coule of oil changes so i'd have to suggest theyre a bit of a safer bet for running costs. In fairness though, although ive driven imprezas ive never owned or run one so i'd be open to being told otherwise
rb5er said:
nottyash said:
You wont get 30mpg, more like 26 in a classic standard turbo or 27 in a WRX bug eye.
Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK?
Drives better than an Impreza
On a run you can easily get 30mpg, an average is more like 25mpg.Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK?
Drives better than an Impreza
And a legacy does not drive as well as an impreza.
I owned a Fabia VRS the same time as the classic, and I managed nearly double the MPG at the same speeds.The VRS was remapped and not far off the performance of the Imprezza.
The Legacy does drive better in my opinion. It doesnt roll like an Impreza. Do an internet search and see why many owners opt for Whiteline anti roll bars.
Also power is available from 1500 revs, not just under 3000.
nottyash said:
Why not look at a Legacy B4 RSK? Ive just picked up a manual 1999 car with 60000 miles on, paid just £1900.
Drives better than an Impreza, has Bilstien suspension, and twin sequential turbos.
You will be lucky to get one for what I paid but certainly less than 3 grand, negatives, are 24mpg on super only, but hows this for a posative............ Quote me happy insurance £380
My Legacy GTB generally does 30-32mpg on a run, and I average around 25-26 in mixed driving.Drives better than an Impreza, has Bilstien suspension, and twin sequential turbos.
You will be lucky to get one for what I paid but certainly less than 3 grand, negatives, are 24mpg on super only, but hows this for a posative............ Quote me happy insurance £380
HBFS said:
I considered long and hard, but I can't justify paying out over three times what I currently pay for insurance.
My Fabia (Which isn't THAT much slower!) is £650, Scooby £2200.
My Fabia (Which isn't THAT much slower!) is £650, Scooby £2200.
It had better be a VRS with some serious tuning! I agree though, no car is worth £2k a year to insure. I nearly cried when I was getting quotes for £600-£700.nottyash said:
You wont get 30mpg, more like 26 in a classic standard turbo or 27 in a WRX bug eye.
Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
This tallies almost precisely with my experience:Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
The 29mpg run was LUDICROUSLY measured - crusiing at 50-60 in 5th, staying off boost. Not worth it.
£600 insurance is about right too for 30 year old male, 5 years NCB, no points, no accidents, in a good postcode. I shopped around for 4 weeks (but still never spoke to the elusive gary moulson
) and that was absolutely as low as it got.VinceFox said:
How much is a clutch? Brakes? Transfer box? Turbo?
Clutch - I've priced up a clutch change (mine hasn't gone but I want money ready if it does as they last 60k miles apparently) Labour is £170 at FB tuning, Clutch is £170 for a standard one or £280 for an uprated Exedy "pink" clutch, Plus £80 if the flywheel needs skimming. That's £340 best case and £530 worst case with an uprated clutch.Brakes: Full discs and mintex pads like-for-like can be had for £180 from m-tec brakes or Brakes international. Obviously you cna spend as much as you like on uprated items, but the brembo calipers off of Sti's are a straight swap with alloys that fit over them (standard WRX alloys don't fit over STi brakes).
Turbos? Don't go unless you don't change the oil/ run them dry/do something silly tuning them. You can get a working replacement for £150 as many people pull working turbos off them to fit bigger/better ones.
Transfer box? Gearboxes? Don't go unless you put too much power through them!
One issue is Newage cars - 2004 on specifically which have inverted struts that routinely fail. Sti's all have inverted shocks on them. I sorted mine out and ended up with all new struts and prodrive springs to sort out the problem once and for all. there are a number of ways to fix it, but it's worth reading up and knowing what you're getting into.
As for the overall ownership experience? Good!
I've had my car since Jan, and covered the miles shown above. It's pretty eye opening once you get in tune with the thing. I should say mines a Prodrive WRX, not an Sti. It has 261bhp, 4.8 Sec to 60 (and feels it, it hits 60 in second in a frankly hilariously short time). The handling is incredible, especially since I had it sorted with new shocks, full allignment and nice Eibach Pro-R springs. People say they understeer - I say people don't drive them right. So long as you manage weight transfer into a corner, they just grip and turn in. Off boost they're nothing special, my wife is quite happy pootling in it (and hooning it as it happens). But get it on boost and unleash Mr Hyde and it's a whole different experience.
The car really does grip and go like nothing else. No Electronics, just a locking centre diff and a LSD at the back, but quite simply traction is absolute under acecleration. In corners, the stance is neutral and balanced, if you do start to slide it's progressive and measured, and controllable on the throttle. Power is the cure to all ills in these things, if a corner is going a bit wrong then the solution is a flex of the right ankle, the car just hauls itself wherever you're poinitng the steering wheel. They're INCREDIBLY flattering of mediocre driving. Where people get it wrong is hitting the brakes in panic, and spinning/skidding. They can carry speed down an unsighted road like nothing else, overtakes are momentary interrruptions, bends are just there to be powered on through... I drove mine with a BMW 1M coupe and a 911, and a chipped S4 with a very capaple driver across the Hartside pass, and at no point did I feel the poor reltion or like it was struglging to keep up - far from it! I was carrying speed the rear wheel drivers amongst us didn't dare to.
I don't know how the long term relationship will pan out. Right now it's all the car I need. It's brutally fast when you want it to be, perfectly comfortable and easy to drive when you're just getting from A-B, and cos it's the wagon I can sling dog/baby/wife in the boot with reckless abandon. Anything missing? Perhaps a bit of edge... It feels like the car is mocking me a bit sometimes. "Is that all you've got? Fine..." and it just soaks it up. You know how some cars when you've been utterly on it for a good few miles, they kind of feel on edge too? Like they've been stretched? The Impreza doesn't. It just feels like it was doing what it was born to do, and it would do that day in day out if you wanted to without fuss, drama or breakdown. Until you lost your licence.
Great great cars. Anyone who dismisses them due to image, or says they're "not that fast" hasn't driven one in anger with an open mind.
Edited by WeirdNeville on Saturday 5th May 23:01
WeirdNeville said:
HBFS said:
I considered long and hard, but I can't justify paying out over three times what I currently pay for insurance.
My Fabia (Which isn't THAT much slower!) is £650, Scooby £2200.
My Fabia (Which isn't THAT much slower!) is £650, Scooby £2200.
It had better be a VRS with some serious tuning! I agree though, no car is worth £2k a year to insure. I nearly cried when I was getting quotes for £600-£700.nottyash said:
You wont get 30mpg, more like 26 in a classic standard turbo or 27 in a WRX bug eye.
Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
This tallies almost precisely with my experience:Insurance cost me around the £600 mark.
The 29mpg run was LUDICROUSLY measured - crusiing at 50-60 in 5th, staying off boost. Not worth it.
£600 insurance is about right too for 30 year old male, 5 years NCB, no points, no accidents, in a good postcode. I shopped around for 4 weeks (but still never spoke to the elusive gary moulson
) and that was absolutely as low as it got.VinceFox said:
How much is a clutch? Brakes? Transfer box? Turbo?
Clutch - I've priced up a clutch change (mine hasn't gone but I want money ready if it does as they last 60k miles apparently) Labour is £170 at FB tuning, Clutch is £170 for a standard one or £280 for an uprated Exedy "pink" clutch, Plus £80 if the flywheel needs skimming. That's £340 best case and £530 worst case with an uprated clutch.Brakes: Full discs and mintex pads like-for-like can be had for £180 from m-tec brakes or Brakes international. Obviously you cna spend as much as you like on uprated items, but the brembo calipers off of Sti's are a straight swap with alloys that fit over them (standard WRX alloys don't fit over STi brakes).
Turbos? Don't go unless you don't change the oil/ run them dry/do something silly tuning them. You can get a working replacement for £150 as many people pull working turbos off them to fit bigger/better ones.
Transfer box? Gearboxes? Don't go unless you put too much power through them!
One issue is Newage cars - 2004 on specifically which have inverted struts that routinely fail. Sti's all have inverted shocks on them. I sorted mine out and ended up with all new struts and prodrive springs to sort out the problem once and for all. there are a number of ways to fix it, but it's worth reading up and knowing what you're getting into.
As for the overall ownership experience? Good!
I've had my car since Jan, and covered the miles shown above. It's pretty eye opening once you get in tune with the thing. I should say mines a Prodrive WRX, not an Sti. It has 261bhp, 4.8 Sec to 60 (and feels it, it hits 60 in second in a frankly hilariously short time). The handling is incredible, especially since I had it sorted with new shocks, full allignment and nice Eibach Pro-R springs. People say they understeer - I say people don't drive them right. So long as you manage weight transfer into a corner, they just grip and turn in. Off boost they're nothing special, my wife is quite happy pootling in it (and hooning it as it happens). But get it on boost and unleash Mr Hyde and it's a whole different experience.
The car really does grip and go like nothing else. No Electronics, just a locking centre diff and a LSD at the back, but quite simply traction is absolute under acecleration. In corners, the stance is neutral and balanced, if you do start to slide it's progressive and measured, and controllable on the throttle. Power is the cure to all ills in these things, if a corner is going a bit wrong then the solution is a flex of the right ankle, the car just hauls itself wherever you're poinitng the steering wheel. They're INCREDIBLY flattering of mediocre driving. Where people get it wrong is hitting the brakes in panic, and spinning/skidding. They can carry speed down an unsighted road like nothing else, overtakes are momentary interrruptions, bends are just there to be powered on through... I drove mine with a BMW 1M coupe and a 911, and a chipped S4 with a very capaple driver across the Hartside pass, and at no point did I feel the poor reltion or like it was struglging to keep up - far from it! I was carrying speed the rear wheel drivers amongst us didn't dare to.
I don't know how the long term relationship will pan out. Right now it's all the car I need. It's brutally fast when you want it to be, perfectly comfortable and easy to drive when you're just getting from A-B, and cos it's the wagon I can sling dog/baby/wife in the boot with reckless abandon. Anything missing? Perhaps a bit of edge... It feels like the car is mocking me a bit sometimes. "Is that all you've got? Fine..." and it just soaks it up. You know how some cars when you've been utterly on it for a good few miles, they kind of feel on edge too? Like they've been stretched? The Impreza doesn't. It just feels like it was doing what it was born to do, and it would do that day in day out if you wanted to without fuss, drama or breakdown. Until you lost your licence.
Great great cars. Anyone who dismisses them due to image, or says they're "not that fast" hasn't driven one in anger with an open mind.
Edited by WeirdNeville on Saturday 5th May 23:01
jackwootton said:
My grandma used to own a Impreza (03 plate), and it was brilliant. They aren't sluggish, it was the 2.0 WRX, and surprisingly it was insane in the snow and ice. Tame if you wanted her to be, but if you wanted to slide on ice, it would. I'd recommend it, just hope you know they aren't the most economical things. If I had a choice nowadays though, I'd get a GT-R (newer one) over a new Impreza, but a old scooby over an EVO VIII or a GT-R anyday.
Are schools off?What are the brakes like on these? Prone to fade?
I'm definitely warming to the idea of an Impreza. How big is the boot (it would be useful if I could fit a bicycle in there - maybe a wagon may be the way forward - but I prefer the look of the saloon).
Oh, and thanks for the review. Very helpful thanks!
I'm definitely warming to the idea of an Impreza. How big is the boot (it would be useful if I could fit a bicycle in there - maybe a wagon may be the way forward - but I prefer the look of the saloon).
Oh, and thanks for the review. Very helpful thanks!
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