Is the engine the same as the classic's? . The reason I want to know is because I am not sure what the reliability is like? we have all read the stories peddled about the classics, chocolate pistons,piston slap, burnt piston rings, sheared crank ....blah, blah. The thing is are these issues real? do they just affect badly tuned cars? if they were true does the bugeye suffer the same ill's. If I get a bugeye I will be expecting it to be reliable if they are not I will not be buying one. I don't intend doing any serious engine mods maybe decat, intercooler and remap but I would only go as far as the PPP goes.

 

i believe they are the EJ20 engine like in the classics, and the wrx version is the same spec as a uk turbo classic.. and having been there and paid the hefty price with engine failure(head gaskets,then 3 weeks later exhaust valve) i went down the blobeye STi route, as any STi SHOULD be more reliable as a general rule, bar obvious exceptions. .wrx IMPORT classics were slightly stronger internals i believe and sti's are stronger still.so in answer, new age wrx (and JDM???) are same engine as uk classics.

 

i believe the new age engines are more reliable than the older versions,the piston slap problems etc were cured.
also the fuel rails and injectors are different they are top feed as opposed to side feed,the top mounts are slightly more efficient aswell.
get it remapped properly and keep on top of servicing and all should be well

 

the old classic engines are not that unreliable.

Reasons they go pop are

1:- They are old
2:- Its a performance car so they are often driven like a getaway car ie ragged
3:- poor servicing (used to be expensive so people simply didnt bother)

The cranks are good items, however the thrust bearing layout changed on later models and this is seen as a good move, earlier engines can be modified to accept the later cranks though.

 

i think my engine is a ej205 its definatly not a ej220 on a 51 plate bug eye

 

The reason I ask is because I have seen many on piston heads and autotrader on 2001/02 plates with under 80k on the clock that say they have had replacement or rebuilt engines, this obviously scares me. I know that people like to tinker with scoobs and that accounts for a lot of these melt downs but if it has always been std and looked after will it be reliable or are the engines weak or over stressed as std? Would love an sti but wrx are 5-6k for a decent one STI's start at 8k and thats probably a dog.

 

hi, my advice is get a 2002> jdm wrx
they have a uk sti spec engine and variable valve timing.
higher compression ration 8:1
larger dia ports
bigger intercooler
close ratio gearbox

as tunable as uk sti for not a lot of cash

 

They seem hard to come by and my pocket probably couldn't afford the insurance, granted they are great cars though.

 

Bugeyes still suffer from piston slap in cold weather.

 

As above. Classics had their reputation marred somewhat by imports that were brought into the UK and run on the incorrect grade fuel. Hardly the car's fault. If we're being honest, cheap, unloved, older imports are still the main candidates for failures. That's not to say there aren't corkers out ther too, cause there are!

Chocolate engines etc is unequivocal bollox! They're very tough, reliable engines that are amenable to significant power hikes without significant work to the internals.

They just don't tolerate idiot drivers, neglect, poor servicing/sub-standard consumables!

Buy one from a good home with a FSH. treat it well and you;ll be laughing!
Ns04

 

arent bugeyes an EJ205? same as my forester

 

Is this caused by neglect or was it a design flaw? I always thought that ther sorted the piston slap on late classics. I am just so nervous of buying a car when I see at least two or three a week on pistonheads or autotrader that states replacement or rebuilt engines, these are all bug's so not more then 7 years old.

 

My bug is for sale PM me for details if you want..

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