Dan_Pearl

Hi there everyone,

Thanks so much for the great and in depth responses to my questions!

So what have i learnt so far?!...

Well i've defiantly learnt i NEED to go test drive one to get the best idea about what there all about....and/or....if any of you happen to be near oxford and fancy taking me for a blast one eve in your STi i'd be VERY up for being a passenger! hehe. Just throwing that out there! lol.

But what i seem to have learnt is MPG wise there isnt gonna be alot in it. Its mainly down to how heavy your foot is. My M3 will do around town about 15-18mpg and on a motorway journey driving completely sensibly it will JUST about make 30mpg.

As for the whole ''Forged Engine'' thing i now have a much better idea of what is involved and cost so thanks!

I liked the advice and opinions about the UK vs JDM versions! Which i didn't even know existed! So i will defo now look into that.

Now having only ever had German cars i realise in the finish quality side being abit of a step down over the BMW. Even just on the interior quality side, Spesh as the M3 has a beautifully finished interior with Kappa leather, heated memory seats etc. And Subaru's arn't known for the best interior finish along with most Jap cars in regards the plastics used etc. But this isn't a problem.

The whole reason i'm here is i want something VERY different from the M3, and i think the scooby is! Its really just down to how i feel it drives i guess now. The M3 is VERY smooth both in engine and the car itself. Cruses motorways near enough silently in the cabin, so again i reaslise the Impreza is gonna be a BIG step away from this lol.

One thing i was aware would happen as always does on all OC forums is the already i start to hear the horror story's that can happen with cars, so i take this with a pinch of salt. As if you head over to the M3 forum doing the opposite of what i did with this post you'd hear instantly horror story's of rear subframe mounts cracking etc. The general percentage of this happening is very small...but being on a forum makes it seem like it happens to everyone.

But thank you very much for all your comments, i was never expecting anyone on here to really bad mouth or slag off scoobys as your all obviously fan and enthusiasts of scoobys as you wouldn't be owners or on here otherwise. But do appreciate your balanced (as possible) views! I shall keep you all posted how i get on with a test drive. And again...if anyone happens to be about my area and fancys taking me for a drive i'd really appreciate it!

Carnut

Well Dan you certainly seem like a nice guy that deserves a bit of help, you seem to have the forum theme down pretty well also so are able to read through the smoke screen.

Hope it goes well for you and if you do decide to get a scooby I am sure you won't be let down, they can be modified in so many different ways that you can always get it to your liking.

P.s think it would be good if someone could step up and take you for a drive, with a bit of luck maybe someone will.

Dan_Pearl

Cheers Chris!

Lots of further investigation is taking place haha. But yeh would love if anyone is local-ish and up for a lil drive!?

dnc

Just post a new thread saying 'groom to be........'

I went the other way a few years back, never regretted it. Benefit of impreza is that additional power and torque is quite cheap if you have the right base car e.g. 2.0 STi, at least up until 450 or so bhp. Heavily modded STi will be quicker than M3; M3 will be quicker than standard or modestly tuned (UK) STi.

JDM will feel more like the M3 with a more linear power delivery. UK STi will feel more like a turbocharged car - nothing, nothing, nothing, whoa.....

M3 has better fuel economy for me, by about 10-15%. Impreza generally cheaper to fix.

HoddyRS

So Dan, did you ever end up getting a Scoob?

staccato

I'm fortunate enough to have owned quite a few cars and have experienced german and jap.

Here's the list of cars I've owned... I apologise in advance for the dodge nitro.

2001 Fiat Punto 1.2
2004 MG ZR 1.4
2004 MG ZR 2.0TD
2003 MG ZS 180
2005 MG ZS 180
2006 Vectra VXR
1995 Renault Clio Williams
2005 MG ZS 180
2007 Mazda 3 MPS MK1
2008 Subaru STI hatch
2004 Mitsubishi Evo 8 340
2006 BMW M5 E60
2011 BMW 335d
2005 Subaru STI Wide track
2009 Dodge Nitro (don't ask!)
2009 Alfa Romeo 159 TI
2008 Vectra VXR
2012 Seat Exeo Estate
2009 Renaultsport Clio
2016 Subaru STI

My wife has owned (and I have driven quite a lot...)
2005 Renaultsport clio
2008 Honda Civic type R
2008 Mazda 3 MPS MK1
2009 Mazda 3 MPS MK2
2007 BMW 123d
2006 Audi a3 s-line

By far the best driver's car that I have loved every second of owing is the blob eye STI. Absolutely perfect balance of power, handling, noise levels, grip, the attention etc. Best car I've owned of all that I've had.

I'd say what you'll notice the most (unless maybe you go for a brand new STI) is interior comfort/quality. It's not to say the interior of the STI is badly built but it's quite dated and very plastic.

My german cars haven't been great. At 45k the M5 had a fuel pressure issue that nobody could diagnose, the 335d dpf blocked up every 15 second and my wife's 123d never got the auto start/stop to work. These were all very low mileages too.

I'd say other than the interior I even prefer my blob eye to my 2016 but don't tell the missus because she's financing 29k for the current one :-)

WrxDiva

I've just done the reverse too...................father and brother are hardcore german car lovers so the yard has always been full of Audi/BMW's and a seriously cool E55 AMG that was fab fun to drive!

i've regressed to chav hooligan long before the mid life crisis point because the scoob makes me smirk and actually laugh out loud during the test drive!

my car is (or will be when it arrives!) a totally standard and brand new with no mods car, so different to what a lot of these guys are driving but i 100% understand the need for something totally different.

(and ironically my brother is now thinking about booking a test drive in a scoob as he's jealous of my chav hooligan pre mid life crisis car!)

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Old thread but hope you kept that M3. Worth double the price of a hawk STI now .

MrNoisy

iTrader: (28)

Thread resurrection - but just so happens it's relevant to me too .
I sold my old Impreza (was running 440/390) last year and bought a 2013 v8 M3 with DCT (dual clutch transmission) and 6 months on am still regretting it.
The M is a far prettier car for sure, the handling and grip in the dry are without a doubt better (wet I'm less convinced as the traction control interferes a lot); the ride is more comfy and the cabin much more civilised.

My M has 4 main issues for me though:
1. It's not a manual - my fault I guess, but I just feel far less connected to the car, and say what you like, going into corners it's nicer to be able to choose the gear you want and go, not have to pull a paddle 3 or 4 times to select a gear, especially if you're coming in quick!
2. The power delivery isn't brutal enough and the gearing for the DCT seems wrong to me - makes it a pain in the *** when you're overtaking and you need to shift down or up to get the revs up or hit the limiter when it feels like there's more to come. I have far less confidence overtaking than I did in the Subaru as a result.
Straight line speed the M3 would have been crucified by my old Impreza, as my mate with a 400bhp Evo proved when we went to Thruxton.
With or without DCT, the M3 doesn't claw back until you're nearly into three figures, which is never going to be usable on a public road anyway.
Some of this I think is simply down to the fact that the car's RWD and is always going to struggle more to find traction.
3. The paint is very soft and on a black car swirls appear if you blink at it in the wrong way; very irritating.
4. This is a small but very annoying issue - every time I start the car it's in DriveLogic level 2 (this dictates how aggressively the car changes gears and controls features like blip on downshift etc). You cannot change this or even map it out apparently.
You also can't select the most responsive accelerator setting by default either - it's not selectable unless you're in M mode (which means pressing another button).
Now my point is this - sure, sometimes I want to select a less aggressive mode - perhaps if it's raining or snow then I may want the car to be miss daisy-like in its characteristics, but most of the time - I didn't buy an M3 to drive it like a Grandma. I shouldn't have to press any buttons to go to mad mode. I want to start the car and go, and for it to remember what I did last time.

But far simpler than this - it's less fun to drive than the Subaru and doesn't make me smile nearly as much.
In the last 3 days I've test driven an M4 (better ride but power delivery actually feels like it's being held back, even in MDM and everything in sport plus), a Golf R (total disappointment, felt slow and lazy to drive, and the build quality in the cabin didn't reflect the price tag for me), and the new Civic Type R.
It's the latter which I want to say I hated because it's ugly, the styling is more gharish than any Impreza (bar maybe the old S201 edition ), the suspension was too hard and it's annoying that you can't set the torque map and suspension settings on the car separately because R+ is too hard for an average UK road.
But you know what, despite all of that, I loved driving it because it felt honest, silly fast and exciting when you used the accelerator in earnest.

I'm just not sure I can justify spending 2012 M3 money on it .... nothing else on the market right now seems to deliver as much bang for the buck right now as my old car and part of me is wondering whether I'm remembering it a little too fondly.
The M3 and M4 range seems to be targeted at people who want something to show off to their mates and boast about figures or social status (this is definitely reflected in some of the owners groups where I got flamed for daring to suggest the car was less than perfect) but I'm not convinced its a true drivers' car because BMW seem to have dulled it down for the general population who've never had a truly fast car and that to me is a very sad thing.
Even the sales guys at BMW understood what I meant; said the M2 is a good car but overpriced for what it is, and I whole heartedly agree.

Isn't it about time Subaru, Mitsubishi and Toyota made something mad again and took the fight to Ford and Honda?

RussStiTypeuk

I owned a mint M3 this time last year but had to sell as the other half hated driving it....

I will keep it simple, once you have owned a tidy STi nothing else seems as safe especially in the corners as the STi, the M3 was a hoot to drive and impressive in a straight line and lovely power delivery at 50mph to 70mph of course when you flipped the paddle down a gear. My STi is purely a weekend toy so I don't mind the rattles and noise as the handling and turbo power just puts a huge smile on ya face. Both great cars but I have gone back to a STi Widetrack and love it....

madwrx

iTrader: (2)

omg staccato my wife has owned a similar number and quality of cars to you she literally owns cars for 6-7 months then trades up and down as she likes

for myself i.ve owned 5 imprezas since 2002 ,generally we use the mrs cars as our dailys and my scoobs as weekend hoon cars lol--not a single ford,bmw.mini,renault.vauxhall,audi,or porsche that we,ve owned has made me sell up yet,,
my current blobeye was built last year and mapped this year to 550/500 -hard suspension noisy exhaust,paddle clutch. big brakes i absolutely love it...

if i saved for a bit and added a bit of finance i could probably own most of the current crop of baby mega hatches,but they absolutely leave me cold. better cars. better interiors.more frugal.probably better handling. and still i own an aged shonky impreza as my "sunday car" lol.

tend to do most of my own servicing and brake work just because i like to potter about- there pretty simply engineered cars really,with a few decent tools the service work is apiece of ****. other than when i,ve had to, i never go near or by our dailys,they nearly always go to dealers or local garages.

Dvddan

Hi Dan, if you're passing Middlesex at anytime feel free to drop me a line I can take you out in my Type r for a spin

Regards