Subaru Impreza WRX and STI: PH Buying Guide
Want a 'proper' four-door or wagon Impreza but want something more modern than the classic? Here's the answer!
At the peak of its sales success, the first Impreza Turbo 2000 accounted for 35 per cent of all cars sold by Subaru in the UK. So, it was with a mixture of anticipation and horror when the first new second generation Impreza WRX was unveiled.
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Yes, the four-wheel drive, 'Boxer' flat-four engine and boxy saloon shape were all still there, but so were a pair of googly 'Bugeye' headlights. If the original Impreza had been a slightly bland car made good with functional addenda for the performance versions, the Bugeye was just, well, a bit ugly.
Subaru cottoned on to this as fast as it could and a hasty restyle for the start of 2003 introduced a more normal headlight style that quickly became known as the Blobeye. More power also joined the fray at the same time for the standard WRX, going from 218hp to 225hp. The STI had 265hp until the 'Hawkeye' facelift of November 2005 raised that to 280hp, while a UK-only special edition RB320 came with 320hp.
The final hurrah for the Impreza saloon and Sports Wagon estate was the GB270 that came with £7,600 of extra equipment, including the Prodrive Performance Pack that was always a popular option to upgrade power and performance of the standard WRX. Only 300 saloon and 100 Sports Wagon GB270s were made for the UK.
The GB270 remains one of the most expensive second generation Impreza WRX models, with prices for low mileage pampered versions as high as £23,000. At the other end of the scale, an early Bugeye WRX in standard trim starts at around £3,000 for reasonable condition cars, while an early STI costs from approximately £6000.
Second-gen Impreza at a glance:
2000-2002 WRX, 218hp (225 from 2003-on), 0-62mph 5.7 seconds, 140mph
2001 WRX UK300, 245hp, 0-62mph 5.5 seconds, 143mph
2002-2005 WRX STI Type UK, 265hp, 0-62mph 5.2 seconds, 152mph
2004 WR1 special edition, 325hp, 0-62mph 4.3 seconds, 155mph
2006 RB320, 320hp, 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds, 150mph
2006-2007 WRX, 230hp, 0-62mph 5.4 seconds, 140mph
2006-2007 WRX STI, 280hp, 0-62mph 5.0 seconds, 158mph
2007 GB270, 270hp, 0-62mph 5.2 seconds, 143mph
PHer's view:
"I'd recommend a 2.0L WRX wagon with the factory PPP kit. They are becoming hard to get a good one now, but well worth searching out."
Mark McDonald
Buying Guide Contents:
Introduction
Powertrain
Rolling Chassis
Body
Interior
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The first one purchased new in 2007 just as the hatchbacks came out. Served me well whilst in Norway, specifically in winter on decent Nokian non-studded rubber.
Bad parking thread contender, I realise.
The second I picked up recently as a winter hack. Red SL model with heated leather and sunroof.
Bit tatty in places, but goes well enough and looks nice on the Prodrive alloys.
Great little wagons; wouldn't win any beauty contests though.
Well received by EVO mag when they had a long termer in 2006.
Still, never say never...
Other people sell KYB but their sites frequently list the incorrect part for the car, to the point they'll list Saloon parts for the Wagon. On top of this, I *think* there are 3 distinct types of rear shock. Two non-inverted types, but you need the later ones (and bump stop, as mentioned) if you're going to fit them to an 05 onward car as the top mount changed.
Best go to the KYB catalogue and Google exact part numbers now.
Or go to Subaru for a giggle over what their OEM prices are (I think KYB are the OEM anyway).
I now have the 'pretty' Hawkeye, it's got a sunroof and everything!
Yes they are a bit 'chav' but once they get in your system, it's quite difficult to move on to pastures new.
Powertrain
Engines are two options EJ20 up to 2005 and EJ25 from 2006 to the present day. The former is very strong up to around 320bhp and will give little to no issues for the vast majority of owners. Full history with regular oil changes is a must to keep it healthy. I sold mine with 96k on it with zero problems whatsoever and for half if its life it had roughly 330bhp through it. It needs to be worked but the rush at 3500rpm is well worth the effort and it will not tail off as it climbs.
The EJ25 has a long running issues of head gaskets (mainly the early 2006 Hawkeyes) which can and should be fixed at some point with a better one. The pistons (ring lands specifically) are very much hit and miss. I put 50k on my Hawkeye with zero issues but a look at the last MOT it had showed it'd been off the road from 76k. Not sure why but I would not buy an EJ25 without it either being very cheap or forged. An engine rebuild is not a bad thing to see on an advert and doesn't mean it's been mistreated. Just make sure all the receipts are present. However.... the EJ25 is by far the best for every day driving thanks to the greater torque and in terms of remaps 400lbs or torque is very easy to get to for very little money.
Gearbox is utterly bombproof but the clutch will need upgrading after the 300bhp barrier is breached in both cases although it's always dependent on how it's driven.
Rolling Chassis
Blob eyes fell between the chassis changes with the wider track that continued into the hawkeye. This came in at the same time as the DCCD and the later interior so is worth the extra money as it keeps the best engine with the best chassis. Rear struts will start to knock on both varietnts (and go back to the bug eyes) and although it doesn't really hurt the car or the way it drives getting them changed is a good idea. The way to tell is to come to a halt and listen (and feel) a tiny knock from the rear.
Tyres are a huge part of the car and I found no better than Bridgestone RE070s.
Body
Never had any issue with mine other than some peeling and cracking paint on the blobeye bumper and the usual age related marks. Rust should not appear anywhere but the wheels will corrode especially around the centre caps.
Interior
The hawkeye and late blobeye cars have the best dash and materials but the seats in the hawk eye are awful thanks to the extra airbags. The 55 plate blobs are by far the best seats of any Subaru and are well worth the wait to find a good one. The stereos are always crap but generally the speakers, at least in the hawkeyes, are just fine with a better headunit to feed them.
Is £15-18k the norm or are these just dealers who are trying it on a bit? I was expecting £10 - 12k tops.
- S5 weights 1800kg.
- XFR weights 1900kg and comes with auto gearbox.
None of those cars was designed to go sideways on a bumpy and wet B road, comparing apples to pears..
I think the 2.5's put people off, and reading several owners club threads, it would suggest it's more of a case of 'when' rather than 'if'. Yes there are examples of 2.5's with 100k+ but there are also examples of standard cars letting go well before 50k. I discounted the 2.5's as fear got the better of me, and the thought of an engine rebuild could seriously sour a ownership experience.
Looks nice though, from what I can see!
About the engine, the better of the two is definitely the 2.0 unless you can find a 2.5 that has already been forged (quite common now days!). The last of the Blobeyes are regarded as the best UK newage due to being wide track, DCCD and retaining the 2.0 engine.
Either that or do what I did and go for a JDM import, they come with a breathed on 2.0l with a twin scroll turbo, more aggressive cams, free'er flowing heads and loads of other nice bits, you loose the 'Scooby burble' but in return you get virtually no turbo lag and a car with aggressive acceleration through all 6 gears.
Adding to that, there are also lots of JDM variants such as the Spec C, Spec C RA, Spec C RAR, S202, S203 etc.. which are all built with the aim of being turned into track and rally cars, they all come with quicker steering racks, lots of suspension goodies and the 2.0 twin scroll, which from my experience of owning a Spec C for the last five years, is AWESOME!!
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