The "Classic" Imprezas

[Carlson W6]

My WR Prodrive.

Bought new by me in 2000.

100% standard apart from Prodrive upgrade fitted from new at Prodrive Banbury- car sent there by Subaru UK at new.

[rossub]

Just to be pedantic, the first cars were supplied from November 1992 - hence why pre-face lifts are referred to as being 92-96.

[jon clare]

[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/DHfRPhiE[/url




Here's my MY95 version 2 wrx sti pre-facelift Impreza its 99% standard and in exceptional condition for a 23 year old car

Edited by jon clare on Saturday 10th June 18:55

[rossub]

My 24 year old, very non-standard Version 1 WRX. In my rather biased opinion - standard isn't always best

1993 Impreza WRX by Ross Davidson, on Flickr

IMG_5281a by Ross Davidson, on Flickr

Edited by rossub on Saturday 10th June 21:40

[jon clare]

To rossub - car looks really tidy and nice to see you haven't gone for the facelift conversion, mine won't be staying totally standard for to much longer but with 275bhp as standard it's not a bad place to start off with

[rossub]

Thanks ... Had it for 14 years now and never wanted the facelift. I've made sure that the mods I've done have not made it out to be something it's not. Still has the original WRX boot badge, so it's not pretending to be an STI for example.

Just make sure your STI is easily returnable to standard. Pre facelift ones are worth looking after and difficult to find (including Japan).

[jon clare]

Yeh I saw you hadn't drowned it in pink sti badges and noticed the badge proudly being worn on the back, I think you're car would really suit a low level spoiler aswell

I plan on doing mods that are just bolt on stuff so if I was to sell it ( which I doubt ) then I can put back to standard again

Going to be doing suspension, brakes , wheels , few cosmetic changes and I want atleast 300whp but I've only had the car a few weeks and took ages to find a clean one , my mates got a super clean v2 aswell so we should be attending a few shows this year with the cars

Edited by jon clare on Saturday 10th June 22:55

[rossub]

I have a mid level spoiler for it, but the boot is drilled along the middle. £500 job to change the spoiler because I want to keep the immaculate boot lid = maybe some day

The v6 wing was added back in 2004 when everyone was doing it. It looks better in real life - photo above makes it stick out more than it does when you see it.

[jon clare]

Oh ok see what ya saying

[paul555sti]

10 years I'll have had mine this years. She's 22 now.

[JackReacher]

My 96 UK wagon

Rust has now taken one of the driving lights away, as the metal casing disintergrated. Struggling to find a replacement light fitting.

It's done 114k miles, runs well enough although suspension could certainly do with a refresh. There is surface rust in places but structure is ok. It was a stop gap until my next car, but to be honest might just fit some all season tyres and keep it as it's worth so little.

[tonyb1968]

rossub said:

Just to be pedantic, the first cars were supplied from November 1992 - hence why pre-face lifts are referred to as being 92-96.

And the model year starts in September the previous year, ie an MY93 model year runs from September 1992 to August 1993, just to put things into perspective, so no such thing as an MY92 Impreza.

[tonyb1968]

Ahbefive said:

Oh and now resorting to insults. Impressive.

What because I called you an idiot?
To start with its correct, you are, all you are doing is passing on the incorrect information to other less knowledgeable owners, which when confronted makes them look like idiots for using that information YOU have given them.
So one idiot makes others look like an idiot, so please either get your facts right or don't open your gob and spout incorrect information.

[anonymous-user]

Its always fun reading the passionate responses about Impreza models.

I've driven pretty much every version of classic Impreza made (and a lot of the Newage), the JDM Type R/RA are the ones to go for if you want the best driving experience, the UK special editions (except the P1 and 22B Type UK) really are not special dynamically, great exercise in marketing though.

The biggest disappointment was the P1, it could have been so much better, but at the time the DDCD used on the JDM cars couldn't be used with ABS, so that limited them to sticking to the normal STi running gear. Still a good car but not a patch on an STi TypeR/RA, think JDM STi in a 2 door shell and you are pretty much there.

It's nice to see the well looked after cars holding good money now.

[LFB531]

JackReacher said:

My 96 UK wagon

Rust has now taken one of the driving lights away, as the metal casing disintergrated. Struggling to find a replacement light fitting.

It's done 114k miles, runs well enough although suspension could certainly do with a refresh. There is surface rust in places but structure is ok. It was a stop gap until my next car, but to be honest might just fit some all season tyres and keep it as it's worth so little.

I've got an unused Prodrive fog light replacement kit with a pair of brackets and two PIAA driving lamps doing nothing and bought in error like an idiot. Let me know through here if of any interest.

[SAB888]

Bought my Impreza RB5 15 years ago today and had a new MOT yesterday. Definitely the best car I've owned.

[chandrew]

Ahbefive said:

I don't think that the RB5 is better than the 22B no, but then I haven't driven a 22B and in the article there are several reasons why they preferred the RB5. The RB5 was also the quickest around their track in their test although the article was mainly based around road driving.

Perhaps the 22B does not have such good road manners. I have the magazine somewhere and will try and dig it and scan it if you are interested.

I had a Sti4 new way back and had the good fortune to drive quite a few of these cars at the time.

I was never a huge fan of the 22B. I must have done several hundred miles in a Japanese sourced one and in truth it wasn't hugely different than my Sti4, certainly not at road speeds. I have memories of it feeling a bit less nimble but this could have been due to the suspension setting changes that I had applied to my car (following recommendations from someone who rallied a Group N one). Also driving someone else's very rare car can be a bit daunting.

The 22B had huge presence and I can understand why it's worth a lot more, but I think that's for the looks / rarity rather than the drive.

I think if I was wanting to add one for the garage (and I do have those thoughts) it would be a 2 door with the shorter gear ratios. They felt very fast on a B road but would have been harder to drive everyday.

The STis used to be significantly different from the UK turbos. The bonnet, boot and a few other panels were aluminium. The shell was different (no folding rear seats), there was additional bracing etc. At the beginning they really felt like they were homologation specials, which to get the cars for Group N is what they were.

[JohnoVR6]

chandrew said:

I think if I was wanting to add one for the garage (and I do have those thoughts) it would be a 2 door with the shorter gear ratios. They felt very fast on a B road but would have been harder to drive everyday.

Have to agree with that to an extent. This is my labour of love;



And on the rare occasion that the stars align, and nothing breaks on it*, it does feel hilariously fast down a B-road.

I wouldn't have said it was any harder to drive than anything else though - the exhaust that's on mine at present, in combination with that box, does make it a bit boomy at certain speeds. But because of the shorter ratios, I find it's not far away from boost in any gear meaning fewer changes when driving 'normally'...that said though, my commute is largely B-road so I may be biased with that a bit.

*(This is only because I bought a dog, and it's taken three years of chasing niggles and faults around the car to get it some where near its original for sale ad description.)

[rossub]

chandrew said:

The bonnet, boot and a few other panels were aluminium.

I'm afraid that's an often regurgitated myth. The only panel that was ever aluminium on the classics was the bonnet. Nobody has ever taken a magnet to the other panels on any of the models, including the RA and found that it doesn't stick.

[ianwayne]

Having had a few old and what some would say are 'modern' classics myself, I was very drawn to a 2000 reg Impreza Turbo at the classic car auction in King's Lynn 10 days ago.

34k miles from new, 18 stamps and factory PPP fitted when new. The only faults I could find were some chipping of the lacquer on the bonnet scoop and small trail marks under the paint on the roof near the rear windscreen rubber, which slightly concerned me. The roof may have been resprayed but if so, it matched.

Otherwise it was excellent, no dinks, scratches or defects at all. Practical Classics online guide rate a mint one at £6k and I went past my ceiling to bid £6800. It went for £7800 + commission in the end = £8190. Too much or a good investment?

http://www.angliacarauctions.co.uk/en/classic-auct...