Hi all,

At last the time has come to get a scooby, ive wanted one for as long as I could remeber but finances said otherwise but I can just about squeeze an early scooby but I need opinions from you guys

Ive done me homework in relation to differences in power etc between a UK car (208/214) and a Jap WRX (1996 models 260BHP ? but quoted on 102 rated octane) armed with all the jap engine codes giving me the power outputs etc

Now I know the JAP one will have all the goodys and stronger engine bigger turbo etc (my95/96) but I know the UK one is the sensible choice with parts etc readily available and half the insh premium BUT I cant help but get exited at the fact that the my98 JAP will easily kick out 280BHP and I know if I get a UK car I will be sitting there wishing I had got the mental jap. Ive driven a few UK cars and the fastest was strangely a wagon on an R plate just a turbo 2000 and that felt like a rocket coming out of a calibra turbo myself, I cant imagine what a 280bhp scooby would be like but wanna find out obviously

The opinions you guys give will make my mind up about which one to get, I mean how easy is it to get parts like oil filters or link bar bushes and other wear and tear bits.

What a bloody dilema ! I want the JAP but scared of the running costs or if anything goes wrong I dont want to be TSL Motorsports favourite customer chaaa ching...

Any issues with reliabilty with JAP WRX compared to the UK T2000 ?

Either car will have high mileage anyway due to budget were talking near to 90-105k

What do you reckon guys should I go for a sensible UK car with FSSH or for mental jap, please give me your pros and cons

Any JAP WRX (my96/97) owners regret getting a JDM or the other way round ?

Either way ill be around the forum so a BIG HELLO

Much appreciated

 

Why not best of both?
go for a uk and with the cash saved ad a few mods and make the car your own?
I know of quite a few uk cars that are daily drivers with none of the import problems that are 270/280 bhp.
cheaper to insure,cheaper for parts,easier to source parts for etc..
My uk wagon with just a centre decat did 256bhp,now we have gone a bit further and hopefully have got near the import power and "dazapc" runs a uk wagon knocking on the door of 300bhp ,scoobchrissy just sold a my98uk which had done over 270bhp with cats on???god knows how..
so you could have the best of both worlds imho.
don't get me wrong as they come a wrx is a better car pound for pound as a car but its all the other costs that spoil the overall package..imho of course.

Its all down to personal choice of course and i have had loads a different scoobs ,but from the caution in your thread i reckon uk is the way to go..
happy hunting..

 

I have a jap wrx which is my daily runabout, I haven't had any problems with it, though I now buy octane boost in bulk (Millers) and use BP ultimate, so far, the parts, ie brake pads, belts filters etc are readily available and are reasonably priced, also my scoob has a rear wash wipe which is suberb, a mate has a UK WRX and hasn't got one, so he's jealous as hell, also my door mirrors electrically fold in.
in short, my advice is get a jap, my insurance was the same price as a UK STI which was only £70 more than a UK WRX, mind you I am 29 with full no claims and no points ( touch that wood bloody quickly)
the choice is yours mate

 

Plus a jap import of the same age is likely to have less mileage than its uk counterpart.

 

..I went for a Uk turbo. Gave it a full decat and Sti panel filter and run it on Optimax giving my Scooby about an extra 30 bhp on top of the standard 214 bhp and will be having a tek3 remap done in the summer giving it about another 20% more safe torque and BHP without causing problems to the Uk engine.
I should have a car running somewhere over 285 BHP with lots of torque.....and that's potent enough for me.
H & S full Decat and Afterburner Vortex B/B cost me £445.00
Sti Panel filter £55.
ECUTek3 remap £600.00
On top of that you will need a Knocklink and boost gauge.

Insurance is with Liv and Vic for £600 which includes all modifications to the engine.

Bear in mind, if you do have a early Uk turbo, i believe the brakes are very poor. So if you do add BHP you will need to remember to upgrade the brakes.

Ulternatively if money will permit....go for the daddys of Classics Jap Type R's or UK P1

whatever you do have fun.

 

It depends on your age as most insurance co's will either hammer you because your a young driver with a powerful car or hammer you when you modify the car....
I went from a modified UK MY00 turbo to a nice new JDM STi and there is nothing like it it muches miles like there not there but they are a bit better than the older wrx's and STi's.
What you have to watch out for on the JDM cars is that you wont have a dealer network, you will have to have speciallist servicing (which is in most cases slightly cheaper than a dealer) plus you may not know the history of the JDM car (most come without history from japan). With an older car you will be expected to pay to replace some parts which will have worn (bearings etc) plus you will need to run the car on optimax/sul with octane booster as stated above and the addition of a knocklink is essential. Insurance will probably be slighly more on the WRX (well upto 50% depending on who your with ) and alot of insurance co's are now not covering JDM cars

Tony

 

Go Jap Domestic Model - you can get all the parts in the Uk or have them shipped from Japan. I wouldnt bother with subaru UK servicing on a JDM, well speaking from my experiences.

Then again it really depends what you are after for power and toys go for the JDM - just remember that insurance is also likely to be higher. For well serviced and a car with a history that is 100% you would have to choose a UK model with SUKSH.

 

FOR A 1996 WRX VERSION 2 YOU WILL ONLY NEED 97 RON FUEL.

NOT ADDITIVES NOT REMAP NO DET.

I know because I sold 20 so far not a single engine fault reported.

1998 STI's well thats a different story!


+ you will get
air con
bucket seats
light weight bonnet
electric aerial
electric retractable mirrors
rear wiper
colour coded door handles
260bhp instead of 208 for that year
16" wheels (standard fit)
proably lower miles

My comments are based on actual experience and not scoobynet hearsay!

Lee.

http://www.wrx.co.uk

 

Lee,
I was once told by a wise master that japanese cars need japanese fuel, ie basically 100 ron, i have to agree with that, for the day that someone puts unleaded into the super unleaded tank at the garage (and it does happen) your going to get lots of complaints
Optimax/sul and octane booster for JDM cars.

Tony

 

hi mate get a jap one after 95 mate that has the 260 engine as apposed to the earlierK L regs which have the 240 engine. i had a 95 wrx great car mate didnt have no problems with it it had the 260 engine all you have to do is add octane booster or for the earlier ones just get it mapped to uk fuel, these can be done easily for cars upto 96 by gatting a scoobyecu for less than 100 pounds. you get all the goodies as mentioned above ac folding mirors etc lower milege.
if you can stretch to a a jdm wrx after 97 all id advise you is go for it ive just bought one with the 280 engine still cant take the grin off my face go ahead mate go for the jap cars mate all the bull about can't get parts is all bull. there are plenty of specialists for jap cars like gradeA subaru breakers etc you can get all the parts you need go on get the jap you wont regret it

 

Guys

Cannot thank you enough for your input and advice, ive come to the conclusion after your comments that the UK car is the sensible choice and will give me less headache in the long run sourcing parts etc BUT if a JDM comes along at the right price then im going to consider it, best thing is to keep me options open for now but I think a UK my97/98 would be desirable.


Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, I woke up this morning and was like wow ooooh u r a helpfull bunch

 

DID I NOT STATE 97 RON???

Can't really guarantee the quality of pump fuel M8

What's the chances of getting 95 RON instead of 97 RON at the pump???
10,000,000,000 to one???

Could use 95 RON + millers 2 octane boost, guaranteed 97 then and work out the same / cheaper anyway.

+

In actual fact piston damage due to DET is actually rare, far more engine blow with crank problems!

There is a generality - you must use 100RON, but this in the main is only really needed on 280PS cars, that run the more aggresive maps.

My brother runs an engineering company and has worked on many UK and JDM engine repairs, we have found very few with piston damage, 99% with crank / bearing problems, mainly STI's (which have the same crank!)

BUT

Any problem with the car (MAF sensor for example) can cause DET. and this is where the knock link is such a good tool, good suggestion!

Lee.

 

Hi Mo's can you explain a bit more about the 'scoobyecu' bit please?

 

hi mate what a scooby-ecu does to the wrx upto 96 is that it is achip which yuou put into the ecu which controls all the fuelling of the car and mapas it to 97 ron fuel also gives you alot more power in the midrange of the cars check on www.scoobyecu.co.uk or look out for pavlo and david wallis on here they are the guys who do these hope this helps
sorry mate forgotten the link but im sure someone will put it up for you

 

I bought a jap my96 sti myself in this situation.

In general the jap cars I looked at compared to uk spec were a lot better condition, lower mileage, far higher spec and compared to uk a a lot quicker.

Parts availability/servicing/reliability hasnt been a problem and insurance was only 200 a year more than a uk model (25, good postcode 8 years no claims)

Wouldnt ever run it on anything less than optimax and booster though.

What ever you buy though its always worth paying a bit more for a good example.

 

i've owned a my96 wrx for a year and a half now and had no problems at all,std engine run on just optimax and it got 261 on the rollers,insurance is £100 more than a uk but its worth it for all the extra goodies
if i'd have been on scoobnet and listened to all the scaremongers i'd never bought an import...but i'm glad i did

 

Superb comment glad your here!

 

i've had my import for 3 years now, and has never seen octane booster, just optimax or sul, even been know to run it on 95 ron, with no problems at all.

Get a import, you see why! oh and you get air con as standard!


oh speaking of rollers, my 93 WRX produced 224.5@wheels, and 262@flywheel,(on about 105k miles) and thats on just optimax, 'patterened' service parts( i do my own servicing) and decat centre, and 'drilled' air box!

and has over 110k miles and still going strong.

 

Put it this way, i wouldnt put anything but octane booster and optimax/sul in my JDM STi (my03), this has a much better map than the classic cars but its still designed to be run on 100 ron fuel, so thats what she gets
You possably could run your car on 97 ron fuel, but for the price of an engine (or a rebuild) octane booster is much cheaper

Tony

 

Running a PRE version 3 WRX on SUL will not give anybody engine problems!

Running a STI on SUL will not DET but the ECU will retard the ignition to avoid it and this will cost power, (the knock sensors job).

My view is based on 45 WRX sales last year.

Lee.

 

My MY03 JDM is mapped for 95RON fuel - I always use Optimax, but have never needed Octane booster.

I'd go with th uk car for the money though (looks like you've aleady made your mind up anyway). Purely based on future purchases, you need to have something to look forward to next - get used to less bhp now and then get some mods or a new motor next year (if budget allows), as you'll be bored of the power by then

 

Id speak to John Felstead, he use to run his STi V5 type RA ltd on octane booster and optimax, he then had it remapped and continued to run it on optimax and octane booster, it wasnt over mapped (ie it was pushing 311bhp) and John knows his impreza's
One bad tank of optimax and 150 miles later and it popped a piston i also filled up at around the same time as John from the same shell garage and i saw lots of noise on my knocklink (MY00 PPP'd uk car). It happens, you get bad fuel and bang, even with octane booster but its that little extra than before (and cheaper than a new engine!)

Tony

 

No don't do it, he's a traitor to the cause - one of those beedy eyed 200sx drivers now that you see going round in circles when they put their foot down *he opens himself up for John's forthcoming abuse should he ever see this thread*