RE: One-owner Subaru Impreza RB5 for sale
Discussion
Augustus Windsock said:
NDT said:
Xcore said:
Expensive for a turbo2000 with afew stickers on.
Exactly. Buy a JDM model instead.My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
As an aside I’m sure they made 444 of them (?) and they could be specified with the Performance Pack which had a fettled ecu and a Prodrive exhaust which gave it 237bhp
Iirc there was also a suspension pack
As standard, the RB5 came with:
Prodrive quick shift
Aircon (which was a £1500 option on a standard car and was installed by the supplying dealer, rip off merchants!)
17 inch speedline alloy wheels
solid rear bulkhead (no idea…!)
PIAA driving lights (replaced the standard fog lights, and had ‘RB5’ covers)
alcantara interior
RB5 mats
RB5 numbered build plate
218 bhp as standard (which iirc was the standard output?)
I’m sure the Prodrive pack also added a bigger rear spoiler but I’m sure someone will correct me…
The RB5, Terzo, MxCrae etc offered very little over the standard car bar paint and stickers.
Excusivity was the main thing.
I loved mine, but a basic JDM import Turbo WRX was a better car by a long way.
Augustus Windsock said:
Two people who I’m guessing have never driven let alone owned a UK market Impreza
My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
As someone who added 18k miles to a Turbo 2000, and with a friend who owned every variant of Impreza model brand new when released between 1998 and 2005, I should be able to add weight...My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
Yes Turbo 2000s in their iterations are great, but £40k for one with a special paint job, some stickers and a set of springs/dampers?
Would rather get a rust free 2 door P1 or Type R import for that kind of price.As for the WR1 of which you make mention, my friend chopped his in after 6 months, passing the chassis off as unresolved for our roads and the adjustable centre diff as merely a gimmick, pointless for the road. Interesting seeing cars I have experience of being 'overhyped' in the marketplace, and hilarious comparing what I/others from the time think they're worth vs. what chancers are advertising them for now!
epom said:
I thought the Prodrive Pack had the bigger spoiler ??
I’m sure the light covers were removable so wouldn’t be too worried about them not being on.
And if folk looked at the actual ad they'd see that the covers are in the boot as well anywayI’m sure the light covers were removable so wouldn’t be too worried about them not being on.
It's a nice motor and I would imagine it's a struggle to find one in that sort of nick with that sort of mileage these days.
It seems strong money for me and I'd tend to agree with wanting a P1 or similar for that sort of money, but I've seen far more ridiculous prices being put on things!
Edited by Ian974 on Friday 26th November 13:57
I always thought these would climb in value, I bought a slightly later blob eye Lichfield type-25, unfortunately bought in too early for £11k and sold it at small loss. Annoyingly I had the choice of a P1 with 65k on it or an rb5 with 38k on it, both started to climb in value a lot earlier than the Lichfield. It’s difficult trying to predict the markets!
In case anyone missed it and wants to follow up the 'RB' connection, Autocar ran a nice piece by Colin McMaster yesterday, marking the anniversary
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/rememb...
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/rememb...
Ian974 said:
epom said:
I thought the Prodrive Pack had the bigger spoiler ??
I’m sure the light covers were removable so wouldn’t be too worried about them not being on.
And if folk looked at the actual ad they'd see that the covers are in the boot as well anywayI’m sure the light covers were removable so wouldn’t be too worried about them not being on.
It's a nice motor and I would imagine it's a struggle to find one in that sort of nick with that sort of mileage these days.
It seems strong money for me and I'd tend to agree with wanting a P1 or similar for that sort of money, but I've seen far more ridiculous prices being put on things!
Edited by Ian974 on Friday 26th November 13:57
The normal UK Turbo spec spoiler got me googling to check:
"Only 444 RB5s were produced, of which a mere 120 were WR Sport special editions."
and
"The WR Sport edition gained a Prodrive rear spoiler and the Prodrive Performance Pack, comprising an upgraded ECU, enhanced suspension and a performance exhaust system, as well as revised intercooler piping."
So presumably your non-WR Sport RB5 model, e.g. most of them, didn't get the Prodrive Performance Pack, and don't have any more power than a UK Turbo 2000?
But by the look of the car in the article some of them did get the Prodrive Performance Pack on its own. And those that didn't might have had it added later on.
"Only 444 RB5s were produced, of which a mere 120 were WR Sport special editions."
and
"The WR Sport edition gained a Prodrive rear spoiler and the Prodrive Performance Pack, comprising an upgraded ECU, enhanced suspension and a performance exhaust system, as well as revised intercooler piping."
So presumably your non-WR Sport RB5 model, e.g. most of them, didn't get the Prodrive Performance Pack, and don't have any more power than a UK Turbo 2000?
But by the look of the car in the article some of them did get the Prodrive Performance Pack on its own. And those that didn't might have had it added later on.
Dave Hedgehog said:
wish i had bought a 22B and R34 when they were cheap ...
Did the R34 GTR ever actually end up all that cheap? I remember looking to buy one back in 2006 and they were still fetching around £29k(granted some might class that as cheap, but it wasn't for me at the time). I've always liked the RB5(and the P1/22B). I've driven 3 of them over the years, an N reg import STi/a tuned LE Terzo, plus a nearly new 1998 standard turbo model.
Looking at the photos of this one, the interiors were pretty grim to be fair for sure.
Chunkychucky said:
Augustus Windsock said:
Two people who I’m guessing have never driven let alone owned a UK market Impreza
My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
As someone who added 18k miles to a Turbo 2000, and with a friend who owned every variant of Impreza model brand new when released between 1998 and 2005, I should be able to add weight...My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
Yes Turbo 2000s in their iterations are great, but £40k for one with a special paint job, some stickers and a set of springs/dampers?
Would rather get a rust free 2 door P1 or Type R import for that kind of price.As for the WR1 of which you make mention, my friend chopped his in after 6 months, passing the chassis off as unresolved for our roads and the adjustable centre diff as merely a gimmick, pointless for the road. Interesting seeing cars I have experience of being 'overhyped' in the marketplace, and hilarious comparing what I/others from the time think they're worth vs. what chancers are advertising them for now!
I’m unsure as to how many got the Performance Pack (and let’s face it there were plenty of tuners who could offer similar or better performance improvements).
As for the WR1, the adjustable centre diff was something I found to be ‘useful’ as I found out during the first winter I owned it, adjusting the torque split according to the grip required and at which end of the car got the most of it
I do remember going around the motorway island at J29 of the M1 with ne’er a car in sight.
I had dialled the torque split towards the rear of the car and as I turned off on the A617 towards Mansfield I floored it. Absolute pedal to the metal
It hunkered down with just a slight whiff of oversteer before catapulting down the dual carriageway.
Can’t imagine my ‘Classic’ irrespective of its power deficit, quite doing the same
Forgot to add, the one in the advert is a beautiful looking thing but even in this market it’s £10k too much
I wonder how many people buy such things in this super-heated market and risk losing a big wedge of money (somehow it reminds me of the infamous ‘Dutch Tulip Bulb Market Bubble’ where people were buying tulip bulbs at ridiculous prices and then the market crashed….
My friend had one of these and I felt the low to mid speed understeer was horrendous.
He switched up to a P1 and that was a different kettle of fish and a proper challenger to the Evo VI TME I had. His P1 was faster once tuned and the Evo still had a small edge on the handling IMO.
RW
He switched up to a P1 and that was a different kettle of fish and a proper challenger to the Evo VI TME I had. His P1 was faster once tuned and the Evo still had a small edge on the handling IMO.
RW
borat52 said:
Augustus Windsock said:
Two people who I’m guessing have never driven let alone owned a UK market Impreza
My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
As an aside I’m sure they made 444 of them (?) and they could be specified with the Performance Pack which had a fettled ecu and a Prodrive exhaust which gave it 237bhp
Iirc there was also a suspension pack
As standard, the RB5 came with:
Prodrive quick shift
Aircon (which was a £1500 option on a standard car and was installed by the supplying dealer, rip off merchants!)
17 inch speedline alloy wheels
solid rear bulkhead (no idea…!)
PIAA driving lights (replaced the standard fog lights, and had ‘RB5’ covers)
alcantara interior
RB5 mats
RB5 numbered build plate
218 bhp as standard (which iirc was the standard output?)
I’m sure the Prodrive pack also added a bigger rear spoiler but I’m sure someone will correct me…
I've owned a fair few classic impreza's including a 1999 with a prodrive pack on it. The rest were all JDM's of some sort, from a V2 WRX to a several V5 STI's.My last was a WR1, 15k miles bought from its only owner (ex-SAS guy who did personal protection for big knobs at HSBC bank) but I started with a mint ‘Classic’ with 12k miles again from its first owner (a guy in his 50’s) which whetted my appetite and I bought my second Impreza, an RB5, from its first (or second?) owner, again very low miles.
Much as I loved the ‘Classic’, the RB5 was just that little bit better in so many ways
As an aside I’m sure they made 444 of them (?) and they could be specified with the Performance Pack which had a fettled ecu and a Prodrive exhaust which gave it 237bhp
Iirc there was also a suspension pack
As standard, the RB5 came with:
Prodrive quick shift
Aircon (which was a £1500 option on a standard car and was installed by the supplying dealer, rip off merchants!)
17 inch speedline alloy wheels
solid rear bulkhead (no idea…!)
PIAA driving lights (replaced the standard fog lights, and had ‘RB5’ covers)
alcantara interior
RB5 mats
RB5 numbered build plate
218 bhp as standard (which iirc was the standard output?)
I’m sure the Prodrive pack also added a bigger rear spoiler but I’m sure someone will correct me…
Without any doubt the V5/6 STi's are on another level both in terms of performance and handling. The gear shift on them is also sublime, that last 5 speed in the V5/6 classics is in my opinion the best shifting impreza box by a mile.
That's before we even get to the 8k rpm engine in them.
Steven_RW said:
My friend had one of these and I felt the low to mid speed understeer was horrendous.
He switched up to a P1 and that was a different kettle of fish and a proper challenger to the Evo VI TME I had. His P1 was faster once tuned and the Evo still had a small edge on the handling IMO.
RW
Best mod for face-lift classic Impreza was a thicker rear ARB; dialed out the understeer entirely.He switched up to a P1 and that was a different kettle of fish and a proper challenger to the Evo VI TME I had. His P1 was faster once tuned and the Evo still had a small edge on the handling IMO.
RW
P1 was based on the JDM v5 sti saloon (same inverted struts) but with a slightly softer spring rate specced by Prodrive.
Days Like These said:
I was laughed at when years ago I said that these sorts of cars (Evo, Impreza, Skyline...) would be collectible.
Great competition history, fun to drive, aesthetic in their own way, special engineering
When a generation starts making money, they want stuff from their childhood.
Someone born in the mid 80s on wants cars like this - and if they're on six/seven figure salaries at tech companies/banks, and if there aren't many nice, original ones left, prices will rise accordingly. Add to that that there are loads of special editions (collectors love something someone else doesn't have) and the massive nostalgia for JDM stuff in California etc...they'll be the 'air-cooled 911' of my generation. Something cool and retro for the weekend, which some will want to tastefully mod with quality parts.
That's before you realise that the majority of the new money in this world is East Asian (incl. those who were born in/live in the US).
For a lot of the young rich, breaking down in a DB6 on their way to Goodwood, whilst wearing a silly hat and itchy trousers, doesn't hold all that much appeal.
Wow three edits to say that. Or was that three copy and pastes from every car forum ever ? Great competition history, fun to drive, aesthetic in their own way, special engineering
When a generation starts making money, they want stuff from their childhood.
Someone born in the mid 80s on wants cars like this - and if they're on six/seven figure salaries at tech companies/banks, and if there aren't many nice, original ones left, prices will rise accordingly. Add to that that there are loads of special editions (collectors love something someone else doesn't have) and the massive nostalgia for JDM stuff in California etc...they'll be the 'air-cooled 911' of my generation. Something cool and retro for the weekend, which some will want to tastefully mod with quality parts.
That's before you realise that the majority of the new money in this world is East Asian (incl. those who were born in/live in the US).
For a lot of the young rich, breaking down in a DB6 on their way to Goodwood, whilst wearing a silly hat and itchy trousers, doesn't hold all that much appeal.
Edited by Days Like These on Friday 26th November 12:36
Edited by Days Like These on Friday 26th November 12:37
Edited by Days Like These on Friday 26th November 12:38
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