I will start by apologising, sorry. I have been lurking about on this forum for a few days and searched but there is a tidal wave of information and difficult for someone new to this to decipher what is what.

I will hopefully be buying a new Impreza WRX soon. I can't afford the £25K for an STi although I would love one but can scrape to a new WRX. I don't want a used one as from the start I have to use this for business and have costed it all out based on high mileage so want the 3 years servicing and full warranty.

What are the basic mods you can do to make it snappier off the mark for say £500?

is it Panel filter & back box? - which ones?

How much is a ECU remap? and which do I get?

Last question...... I hate the standard rear spoiler, where can I buy a pre-painted spoiler to replace it that looks like the Sti spolier?

Thanks guys, and sorry for asking a question that I am sure you have seen before.

Tim

 

welcome
you have not serched very hard then
modding any part of your car could invalidate your warranty.
a exhaust with decat centre and back box would realse a few more bhp removing the front cat or having a sports cat would help even more. Regards the remap you would want a ecutek it cost around £650+vat unless you get on a group buy, but you really should have done the exhaust first or you will not gain that much.
Try drm motorsports for a spoiler or look out in the for sale section or even ebay


cheers

 

The only mod that will keep the warrenty intact is the PPP(Prodrive Performance Package) at £1600
Otherwise other options such as a Prodrive backbox might be considered.

Remember servicing on new cars is free for the 3 years

As mentioned try http://www.drmotorsport.co.uk/New%20Body%20Styling.htm

 

Oh and don't forget to check out the insurance position before you start changing things!!!!

 

Just had another thought if you buy a euro import STi you should be able to get one of those for about the price of a UK WRX

 

With good haggling he should be able to secure a UK WRX for around £18.6-19.3k. The EU STi's come in at around £21.5k + the top-ups such as alarm, lockers & Trackstar (needed for insurance) taking it up to £22.5-ish. The man said he would be needing it for business use, so allowing for above average mileage of maybe 20k a year, he will be needing 2 services annually during the 1st 3 years which could come to £1.5-2k. The UK car will also provide Subaru Assist saving the cost of AA/RAC/GF. As irrelevant as it may be, the residual value of EU imports will also be around £1k less than a UK car too, so savings aren't too big when all areas are considered not just the bottom line.

In his situation I'd personally go for a UK, and haggle hard on getting the PPP fitted at the 1st 1k service for a good price. You might also want to go for the Prodrive springs, as if spec'd on a new delivery you don't pay for fitting. If you really want the big wing then as mentioned earlier, look at DRM or troll through the scrappers, but make sure the insurance knows about it. They usually want more to insure a WRX that looks like an STi than they do for an STi

 

and i wonder why he called it a minefield !!

 

silver jan05 wrx with 1000 miles on going for 17k near me with free serv. just get an sti spoiler and prodrive kit in 6 months when you got the poke. keep ya warrenty then ans something to lookforward to

 

What Corrado Boy said - spot on..

As an alternative on the spoiler you might also want to have a look at the Carbon Fibre one from Scott Lowe similar as fitted to the S202 and Spec C's.

 

Thanks for this info it's great.

I did search hard, there is lots of info, but that's my point. There is so much info to find that it is confusing that was my point. Lots of conflicting info.

So WRX with the PPP package when I can afford it or negotiate it with the sale seems the best bet. Needs to be a UK car from a UK dealer ideally as I have a part-ex that would be difficult to sell with the supermarkets like Motorpoint etc.

Thanks again

 

First of all, welcome
if you have never had a impreza before (like me). you will find it fast enough for the first few months.
2.any mods could invalidate your warranty.
3. Insurance
4.there's not that much performance wise for £500(you will probably need that for fuel) LOL.
Not trying to be negative mate, just things hopefully to help you.
All the best.
Mac.