There appear to be Sti's on the market for dealers price or slightly less however the PPP version I have only found at £17K + for an 02 with a book price of only £15.5k. Not prepared to pay that much for a PPP so intend to look for standard and when warranty ends upgrade to PPP power or better. Would like to get a car early in the new year with some manuf. warranty left. Don't really want to buy at dealer price as budget extends to around £13.5 K, hopefully I can get what I want as warranty running out on this year and the uncertain looks of the blobeye (which I happen to like). Any comments welcome

Now regarding performance. My presnt car, a Fiat Coupe 20VT would be beaten off the mark by the Sti but I can upgrade my Fiat quite cheaply to 270 bhp. I am nervous though as the car as standard suffers from torque steer and I think will loose grip easaily with this power, hence looking for an Sti. But that's not the end of the story, overtaking power is perhaps more important tan a quick start (0-60 and allthat). The Fiat top gear, 5th is slightly higher than the Sti's 6th. Fiat will do 60-80 in 5th in 6.4s wheras the standard Sti takes 10.8s and even the PPP takes7.6s. (both in 6th) I know the Sti PPP wins easily with the extra gear and closer ratios, but the standard car shows little advantage.

So on price it looks favourite to buy a standard Sti (PPP just does not look value for money with inflated dealer prices) and upgrade when the warranty runs out. The 333bhp/ft lbs look a good aftermarket option but does this impair the reliability?. Would the performance be to my liking coupled with every day usability? Any comments please
Many thanks Melvyn

 

eng622

I will be selling my MY02 STi Prodrive style (with PPP) in January. I've been following the market closely for this reason. Dealers seem to be selling MY02 STi's at £17-20k although as you say PPP models attract a significant premium. Looking at Autotrader for similar cars for a UK model you're looking at £14-17k, I would say. This is of course assuming FSSH, good condition and average mileage.
Certainly I wouldn't buy a non-PPPd STi unless you intend to modify after purchase. I found the standard version's off-on power band intolerable.

Let me know if you're interested in my car (e-mail donaldbain@doctors.org.uk)

D.

 

You definately need to try the MY02STI for a good test drive before you buy.
I had mine for 6 months before having a PPP installed, and found it incredibly difficult to live with. The on/off power delivery is dreadful and uncomfortable for passengers. Out of the power band (below ~3700 rpm) there is absolutely nothing at all, zip, less power than a 1 litre metro!

I would have sold it ages ago if it were not for the PPP. It is a completely different car with PPP.

 

What about a jdm sti 7? More power than a uk car and has all the toys. Prices as cheep as 12k!

 

Just an observation, if you were going to wait until the warranty expired to upgrade then there are other options open to you. The main advantage of PPP -other than being a very safe upgrade- is that it doesn't invalidate your waranty. Many on here would argue that it's not the best upgrade and its certainly very expensive considering the work undertaken! A common option is a full Decat and custom ECuTek 3 map. Others take their car to someone like TSL - who do a 333bhp/lbs conversion.

Personally, I wouldn't even consider putting 270bhp through a FWD car. There just isn't the traction available to deploy it effectively. I think you'll be very happy with a well sorted STi. I'd take one for a spin and se what you think.

Best.

 

Hi,

I Have a may 02 STI Type Uk Prodrive style with PPP.
It is black, done 62,000 miles (mostly boring ones) and been pampered. It has extended Subaru warranty and has been lavished at it's recent 60k service with tyres, brakes, belts (at 50k) etc.

I am thinking of punting for £14k..............

How does that sound to you guys?

 

Had my STI02 new from Jan 2002, PPP totally transforms the power delivery and is well worth paying extra for, although £1500 extra is debatable, but it's a different car with PPP, much, much quicker and more flexible power delivery.
If you can get one with Prodrive or Eibach springs, stiffer ARB and with geometry changes + solid droplinks (ride may be a bit harsh) and decent tyres it'll destroy 99% of other cars in corners with a larger safety margin.
One word of warning, the rear suspension gets very noisy after 20-30K and mine was terrible after 40K (clonking, creaking, knocking) so try to get one that has had rear shocks replaced under warranty. If you search around you can pick up new rear struts in the For sale section of Scoobynet from the later STI03-04 models that will bolt straight on, if the rear suspension gets too noisy.
For some reason I had a couple of wheel bearings go in mine which were replaced under warranty.
Other than that have done 50K in mine and still going strong.

 

I'd be interested in th Fiat when you come to sell ...

 

I have an 02Sti PPP and got an HKS HiPower Silent exhaust w/DP.That made a real change compared to the PPP exhaust.No cat and it starts delivering the goods from 2800/3000rpm

 

Good morning

Yes it is very easy to get a reliable 270bhp from the Fiat Coupe using the standard turbo and intercooler, there are a number of aftermarket 'chips' that will do this for less than £50.

With decent tyres, and sorted suspension, torque steer and grip in the dry really is not an issue untill over 300bhp in my experience.

As regards to acceleration ,on the move, there would be very little between the cars.
An STI with PPP would be a very nice car, I don't know if you go on the forum

http:www.fccuk.org

but a chap on there 'Jacey Boy' went from an STI to a Fiat coupe, best thing he ever did (in his opinion), so it might be worth chatting to him as well.

Good luck

Joe