P1 LTD

Went for a test drive in one last year had a full decat and was mapped it was in a nice Blue colour. Sounded nice lot of popping from then exhaust if i remember right! It felt solid nice interia. But it didnt have the wow factor

STEVEBOXER

And astra vxr's are probably more reliable too! The 2 things you just gotta watch out for is cracked manifolds and gearbox's (of which are easy to spot) other than them 2 problems they prity solid cars! Scoobies on the other hand are NOT reliable and chew clutches .
Quoted from Vxr link.
It would seem scoobys are not reliable lol.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I think it depends a bit more on the driver and what the car is for.

If your not much of a driver and just like to pootle around town in a nice looking car that is quick ish in a straight line and spend a lot of time on the motorway then the VXR is probably the better choice.

If you can drive and like a proper blast down some twisty country roads and track days at maximum attack mode, and also enjoy the fact that with a few choice mods you will be able to wipe the floor with most cars in most situations then the STI is the better choice.

As for running costs i doubt that the astra is a great deal cheaper to run than the STI especially if you drive both hard, then take into account the performance difference and it's to be expected.

As for reliability, the STI is extremely reliable when looked after properly and really does not have any issues other than the Knocking shocks which can be fixed cheaply, other than that they can take some serious hammer, as for the comparison to Evo's, try taking one to the nurburgring doing 20 laps at full chat and driving back

I'd look for 2.0L wide track for that money just watch out for what tax band it's in as some of the later registered cars can be in the £460.

Both nice cars, just do different jobs.

LMC

Megane f1, mk1 focus rs?
For a dd id take one of the above, if its a weekend toy get a scoob.

Abx

iTrader: (15)

I know what I'd rather being driving on the roads today!

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

This?

Norman Dog

iTrader: (1)

Mcintyre19

I had an Astra vxr until baby came along and needed something bigger. I loved my Astra to bit and I'll always love them but now having a scooby it is such a better drive and feel! Drove from Bristol back to iow today in these poor conditions and the impreza was brilliant wouldn't have even noticed that the ground was mush. There's no way the Astra would have coped with that.

InTurbo

iTrader: (3)

Had a vxr for 6 months with 43k on the clock. Had problems with gearbox linkage,turbo seals, and valve stem seals and electric power stering pump. Maybe i just picked up a bad one!
i won't be buying a vaxhall again. Lol
Good looking car tho in Arden blue.

daz1968

iTrader: (13)

Two completely different cars and only one answer from me sti all day long, but try to get a widetrack one.

baz999

I have had both.prefer the scoob. I had the nurburgring version limitid to 835 remus wider track, i did not notice any torque steer or problems in 2010 with the snow despite fwd and 275bhp.
Manifold are crap and to replace you have to buy a new turbo or second hand.
Mpg is about the same as my scoob about 26-28. Uses same fuel type, do miss the pops from the exhaust. If you do go for the astra then get the nurburgring if you like white cars.

Baz

Skyarb

Choice should be easier for you, especially yesterday and today ( snow )

lgtuk

Looking at both forums I would say you need to drive both and you need to decide vxr say Subaru is apparently unreliable and chav and Subaru says vxr is slow and budget choice.

For me Subaru is the obvious choice out of the two you have presented it is just a far superiour car all round and I get many good comments about my hawkeye by young and old not your a chav Dick.

I used to commute with a friend in his vxr and it felt very rep.

On the other side of the argument there are better cars than the scoob for 9k I just love the boxer engine noise so no other will do.

RICHARD J

iTrader: (4)

Iv driven a few VXRs & I think they make a good daily driver for a performance car. However Iv driven several Scoobies & they all made the VXR feel lame in comparison.

BurtyBurg

iTrader: (2)

Also posted on VXR online.

TBH mate they are completely different cars, the VXR is better on fuel, built much better and running costs are definatley lower(unless gearbox packs up) they look very nice, especially in burg form and sound and go very well too, however an STI is a complete different animal really, You just have to remember EVERYTHING is going to cost more, but they have more grip, go faster, possibly sound better, look better in my opinion, gearbox feels awesome. If you do go for one I would go for a widetrack though (05+)
Any other info you need I can probably help mate.

Pic of my old burg


And the new STI

P1 LTD

The STI above allday

toneh

iTrader: (1)

There's a guy just joined the forum (junwin70) who I met last week at s clinic , he's just swapped from a 250 odd bhp modded Astra to an Sti and he was of the opinion the Sti was in a completely different league

scooby_slippers

VXR nice motor (barring I believe torque steer issues) but STI totally different beast. Only one choice for me (but as a RB320 owner I would say that!!)

Littleted

had an 09 Astra VXR fuel was on par with the 08 sti onwards not much in it to be honest. what annoyed me was hitting passenger seat when reversing, if my m8s were in I had to stroke there legs. Nice car though don't get me wrong.

But I chipped it in for the WRX-S and the difference even though on paper was nearly the same, was immense totally diff car.

BUT if you are looking at an 04 sti, I think these were pretty ****e on fuel like sub 200 to a tank, then the astra is much better on MPG. Save up and get a WRX-S or 08 STI ?

bigphilbaby

Well i am prob one best people to answer on this, i work for Vauxhall and do love some of the models,

The Astra Vxr is an very good car, had a number of them as company car, for me the burg is by far best astra vxr out there close my vxrracing.

They do have quite few problems, gearbox being the main one (m32)
Turbo`s can be a problem but whole brand new turbo only 360.00
valve stem seals are another problem but only when getting to higher miles,
To get 300bhp can be done very easy and cheap compared to other cars out there, did it in my astra coupe turbo very easy,
For me the better car is the Mk4 Astra GSI or Astra Coupe Turbo,
But owning an sti prodrive i can tell you that the impreza is by far the nicer place to be, handling kills the vxr by an mile.
Looks wise if you was driving down the road in both cars you could miss an standard vxr driving past but impreza you wont.
Performace wise having just come out of an astra coupe turbo with 300bhp mark my STANDARD sti prodrive feels quicker, pull better and holds power alot better.

For me hands down sti by an mile,

Now other models that are great is vectra vxr staged one mapped(300bhp and 400lbs) goes bloody well and very good looking car, handling wise not the best, VXR8 by far best car i have drove, a complete car for me, corsa vxr very poor, piston 4 problem and handling not the best, how ever the new corsa burg(205bhp) with limited slip diff and brembo brakes is an amazing handling car just down on power.

Phippsy

I'm not an expert on these things I've had a scoob for 18months I took my time and bought a good example I've had a few jap cars wouldn't sell it for anything else but another one. I've seen the comments put on the Vauxhall forum. A lot of unconstructive comments about the owners of subaru's not many fact mine has been very reliable no bad on fuel great fun for me at the weekend safe in the snow for the wife's Dailey commute. had a focus st before was no comparison like getting into a car with rallying pedigree. Would never have considered a decision between an Astra and impreza the jap seen is huge and not fuelled because of a fascination with being a chav! Fast fun and especially reliable that's my view. Watch this weeks top gear!

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

I've set it to record, too.

But what's featuring, then - Imprezas? lol