RE: Subaru Impreza WRX | Shed of the Week

RE: Subaru Impreza WRX | Shed of the Week

Author
Discussion

Earthdweller

13,432 posts

125 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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I love them .. never owned one but drove plenty at work, very hard

Great cars smile

Augustus Windsock

3,340 posts

154 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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Jay Kay 225 said:
Augustus Windsock said:
Blob eye. Not for me.
Estate blob eye. Definitely not for me.
I’ve owned a mint low-miles classic and a mint low miles WR1 both of which I loved and both of which I would choose over a blob eye car.
One of things I loved about the WR1, apart from the extra power, was the DCCD which allowed a bit of fun when it snowed..
Erm, a WR1 is a blob eye
My bad, as my teenage kids tell me is the right way to say ‘I fked up’!
Got it the wrong way round. As usual....!
Guess I walk to loved the ‘classic’ I had (V reg) and the WR1 but this one does nothing for me, the headlights make it like a myopic old aunt.


Edited by Augustus Windsock on Friday 14th February 23:03

davesrighthere

21 posts

210 months

Friday 14th February 2020
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To the few comments that mentions understeer.
I had one just like this for a number of years, bought when it was 18 mth old, loved it.

I found, like most cars I guess, it only understeered if you backed off on the approach or mid corner. If you keep the commitment going, it would controllably oversteer like the best of them.

To my mind, a very satisfying setup.

rallycross

12,747 posts

236 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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davesrighthere said:
To the few comments that mentions understeer.
I had one just like this for a number of years, bought when it was 18 mth old, loved it.

I found, like most cars I guess, it only understeered if you backed off on the approach or mid corner. If you keep the commitment going, it would controllably oversteer like the best of them.

To my mind, a very satisfying setup.
If you can drive well you can jump in an Impreza on a track and have great fun sliding them around with wild oversteering in 2nd 3rd and even 4th gear if you know what you are doing (makes you fell like Tiff Needell).
To the person who said they only under steer - clearly a clueless driver with no car control and no feeling for what is going on with the car (maybe get a Prius).

As per last SOTW WRX to anyone tempted with a cheap Impreza turbo just be ready for a headgasket change which will cost not far off the purchase price (there are two heads to change on these),

Prohibiting

1,734 posts

117 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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The car in the advert is a bug eye, hence the rounded headlights.

Why are some people in this thread saying things like "if I wanted to tick owning a Subaru off my list I'd go for it." No you wouldn't, you'd be extremely disappointed with a bog standard WRX wagon.

You should up your budget to £7-10k and get yourself an STI or if you wanted to keep the budget low (£2.5-4k) a nice classic Turbo 2000 will be faster than this WRX and more raw/fun to drive.

There's a reason why plain WRX's are cheap.

A1VDY

3,575 posts

126 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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No mention of the Jap eye..

TEKNOPUG

18,844 posts

204 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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Cambs_Stuart said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Good luck fitting 16" tyres on 17" wheels....

I have a similar mileage 2002 WRX wagon, albeit with PPP and a few other mods, that I am just prepping to sell. Won't be asking anything like as much as this one, so will be interested to see what it goes for. Further proof that they are capable of big miles though.
So have you still got two WRX wagons? I still think of my black blob with affection.
Yes, still got them both:



The Bug is now wearing the Meister R coilovers, brakes and interior from the Blob. Been too busy with babies and life to do much else. The Bug just gets driven to the MoT station each year hehe

I'm moving house soon so it's gonna have to go. Just recommissioning it now. Full interior steam clean, stuck a battery on it and pumped the tyres up yesterday. Started first turn of the key after about 5 months. Needs a new knock sensor. Probably just corrosion but I've ordered a new one and will then fit the one from the Blob, as I know that works. That's why I've kept the Bug for so long; instant spares!

Bought the wife a Cayenne for family duties and haven't worked much in the last 6 months, so the Blob hardly gets driven now either. I'll have a garage in the new house so it will get some more attention then.

With regards to the SoTW, I’d probably not advise a stock one. Or at least, be prepared to fettle it. They aren’t quick as stock and need some breathing mods and a remap or PPP at least. PPP gives STi power and improved mileage. I’ve driven 70k+ miles on my high mileage WRXs and they always return ~28mpg over a full tank of mixed driving. I’ve also never had any headgasket failure or anything else significant fail. The only unforeseen work they’ve needed are the cam cover gaskets replacing (which I did myself), a couple of exhaust gaskets and an O2 sensor. All of which could be considered consumables. I do a lot of preventative maintenance but they are very easy to work on and properly engineered, everything is very straightforward to do. Once you start taking them apart, you can see that the money was spent on the design and mechanical engineering, rather than soft-touch plastics of their contemporaries. Hence why there are so many about with big miles.

As said, a bigger rear ARB can help with understeer but actually a simple wheel alignment with plenty of front camber is sufficient. A slight lowering also helps.

To properly appreciate them, you need to use them as a daily in all weather and all road conditions. The ability to press on all year round and not be phased by anything is their USP. I’ve not driven a car that I’ve been as comfortable taking such liberties on unknown roads. Providing you can scrub off enough speed, you can always get around any corner with any amount of throttle.

You soon take it for granted and don’t really appreciate how good they are until you get in something else and try and drive the same way. That’s why I don’t think they make very good weekend cars or why people slate them when they’ve test driven them. It’s not about how fast you can drive them, it’s about how often you can drive them fast. Which is all the time…

Court_S

12,764 posts

176 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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nickfrog said:
Where is Eric? When the thread has nothing to do with Subaru he is all over it with Subaru comments but when it's about Subaru he is nowhere to be seen. Disapointing.
hehe

Not really my cup of tea when they were current and time hasn’t really changed that opinion.

GOATever

2,651 posts

66 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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I owned a couple of STIs, one blob one hawk.They were fun, but a bit on the pricey side when they went wrong. I’m surprised you can get a WRX wagon for shed money, but if you have deep enough pockets, that would be a fun run around.

1430

81 posts

116 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
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How mad do you have to drive to get understeer on the road?

Furyblade_Lee

4,107 posts

223 months

Sunday 16th February 2020
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I had one for 10 years, 40,000 miles to 130,000 miles, a green 2001 Wagon WRX identical to the one in the pic above.100% left unmodified. Only things that ever went wrong was the rear shock absorbers twice, and a turbo at 120,000 miles. Never let us down, most likely the best car I ever owned all-round. Actually gave it away with a slipping clutch in need of a cam belt service. Best 10k I ever spent.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Tuesday 18th February 2020
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1430 said:
How mad do you have to drive to get understeer on the road?
In the wet going in a tight roundabout, not that mad. Otherwise I agree.

greenarrow

3,551 posts

116 months

Tuesday 18th February 2020
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TEKNOPUG said:
[

You soon take it for granted and don’t really appreciate how good they are until you get in something else and try and drive the same way. That’s why I don’t think they make very good weekend cars or why people slate them when they’ve test driven them. It’s not about how fast you can drive them, it’s about how often you can drive them fast. Which is all the time…
This is a very good point actually. Modern road tests major a lot on dry track times and very few feature real world tests in the sort of conditions we've had in the UK for months now. The Impreza wasn't the fastest on track, but boy did it give you confidence when the roads were wet and covered in leaves and other ste....

GOATever

2,651 posts

66 months

Tuesday 18th February 2020
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1430 said:
How mad do you have to drive to get understeer on the road?
It depends on the sort of diff(s) and control system you have. Some of the Blobs and hawks ( STIs) had a DCCD controller, if you left it in auto, they were pretty well behaved. If you put it in manual, set the DCCD to locked, and forgot, then tried to get it round a tight roundabout, it got ‘fun’. Lots of bangs and clangs and distinctly ‘odd’ handling on full lock. Not an issue on a WRX though.


Edited by GOATever on Tuesday 18th February 22:57

GravelBen

15,655 posts

229 months

Wednesday 19th February 2020
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greenarrow said:
TEKNOPUG said:
[
You soon take it for granted and don’t really appreciate how good they are until you get in something else and try and drive the same way. That’s why I don’t think they make very good weekend cars or why people slate them when they’ve test driven them. It’s not about how fast you can drive them, it’s about how often you can drive them fast. Which is all the time…
This is a very good point actually. Modern road tests major a lot on dry track times and very few feature real world tests in the sort of conditions we've had in the UK for months now. The Impreza wasn't the fastest on track, but boy did it give you confidence when the roads were wet and covered in leaves and other ste....
yes

The worse road conditions get, the more at home Subarus tend to feel. Bumpy, slippery, loose surfaces just make it more fun.

Quite different to some other cars which feel better and sharper on smooth grippy roads/tracks but get easily flummoxed by more 'rural' road conditions.

Second Best

6,402 posts

180 months

Wednesday 19th February 2020
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I've had a 2001 Impreza WRX for many years. It's old and has 134,000 miles on the clock, but still drives very well, starts within seconds and has lived a relatively respectful life. The bodywork's a bit tatty, but it's the only car I've had over the years that starts first time even if it's been sat around for a few months, has never thrown a wobbly about belts or fuel or anything, and is just about the right level of power and handling for rural fun.

I paid £3200 for mine a few years ago but it's a keeper.


R400TVR

542 posts

161 months

Wednesday 19th February 2020
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Once owned, a Subaru does get under the skin. They've definitely got a character not found in modern cars, and that includes the modern Subaru range. If looked after, they go for miles, and are great fun. I love my Gravel Express, and will hopefully keep it for a long time.

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

82 months

Friday 21st February 2020
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TEKNOPUG said:
With regards to the SoTW, I’d probably not advise a stock one. Or at least, be prepared to fettle it. They aren’t quick as stock and need some breathing mods and a remap or PPP at least.
Not sure I agree that they're not quick, the 2000 Turbo that I had was running stock power on a freshly rebuilt engine and that felt surprisingly quick, I'd imagine partly due to the old school turbo lag. I was surprised that it didn't feel as quick as expected as a passenger though. I didn't understand why people bothered with STI ARB's until I did it, I'd say it's a must on one. I do agree that if you're going to buy one, then a lightly modified one would be the way to go. I've never driven anything outside a GC/F8 so I can't really speak for the bugeye onwards. For £1200 you can't really go wrong though, I've seen them up for spares for more than that. Love your green wagon btw, it's one of my favourite colours for them and yours looks mint.

TEKNOPUG

18,844 posts

204 months

Friday 21st February 2020
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200 kgs heavier than a Turbo 2000.

Turbo is 170bhp/tonne stock. WRX is about 150 b/t.
With PPP they make more like 180 b/t. 200 b/t is pretty straight forward on the stock turbo. More than that and you need to pinch one of the many turbos from the STi.

350bhp (250b/t) is really the limit before its makes more financial sense to just buy an STi to begin with.

~300bhp is the sweet spot for performance/cost/reliability.

They aren't slouchs as stock but a proper custom remap for £500 will give greater response with more torque & power everywhere in the revs range and better MPG also.

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

82 months

Saturday 22nd February 2020
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TEKNOPUG said:
200 kgs heavier than a Turbo 2000.

Turbo is 170bhp/tonne stock. WRX is about 150 b/t.
With PPP they make more like 180 b/t. 200 b/t is pretty straight forward on the stock turbo. More than that and you need to pinch one of the many turbos from the STi.

350bhp (250b/t) is really the limit before its makes more financial sense to just buy an STi to begin with.

~300bhp is the sweet spot for performance/cost/reliability.

They aren't slouchs as stock but a proper custom remap for £500 will give greater response with more torque & power everywhere in the revs range and better MPG also.
Damn, didn't think there'd be a weight difference like that. In that case I can imagine it's not the quickest car about. I had one with around 280bhp, one with 230ish and one running standard power. I found the one with 230 to be the most enjoyable to live with.