Belgarion

Newbiee needing advice.

I'm giving serious thought to buyimg an Sti type r in the next couple of months. The problem is I'm hearing some conflicting stories regarding the engine strength of these modles in particular the version 5 with tales of engine blow up's and the need to change the ECU.

Can anyone give me some advice as to wheather or not these horror stories are true, or what I need to do to prvent this happening. I'm gradually being put off the idea.

Darren king

I am too looking to buy an STI 4 or 5 soon, as far as I know there are some stories of the 5's big end bearing letting go but you have to bear in mind how were the cars driven, was they warmed up, history and so on. I believe that if you treat the car well use correct oil etc then you have done all you can to make it reliable.

There will be owners who had them blow say don't get one, then those who praise them who had no problems.

By far the safest way is to have the ecu changed and mapped for uk fuel but this costs a fair bit. I wouldn't let it put you off I'm a mechanic - all cars go wrong and alot of its down to luck!

This is my opinion and I'm no expert, but Ihope it helps.

BTW where are you going to buy from? mail me offline if you want.

Regards

Daz.

what would scooby do

mine blew up - but I would still buy one because they are the best impreza..

Blind Side

I have had one for 15 months now ('99 sti 5 Type R) without any bother whatsoever. I use the car daily to commute to work and have around 15,000 miles of trouble free motoring on the standard ECU. Darren's comments above are very sound. The Type R is a 'highly strung' drivers car and needs to be looked after with care. I would add the following:
Get one with a good history that has been properly serviced from a dealer or private individual who is an enthusiast and knows about the cars and be wary of bulls..tters. There will be cars around that have had the guts thrashed out of them.
Make sure that you only use a mechanic who knows Subarus and in particular how to work on this model!
Service religiously every 5,000 miles, including the best quality oil.
Only use super unleaded or optimax and absolutely nothing else. I do not use octane booster out of personal choice. But many will recommend you do as clearly the engine is set up for 100 ron fuel.
Warm the engine under 3,000 revs until she gets to temperature before you push hard and allow to run down before switching off. A turbo timer is a good investment.
Finally if you do buy one and decide to 'change the chip' be prepared to pay good money for a decent one, proven in this car fitted by an expert. Watch the claims about increasing power. The engine is good for around 280 bhp. Decatting the exhaust and decent air filter will push this up to around 300. Once you go beyond 310 -320hp you are pushing things to the limit internally. There is plenty of power there already believe me! If you are patient and get a good example you will not regret it.

Belgarion

Thanks Blind.

I'm probably going to try and have the care imported from Japan to make sure it's been run on 100Ron fuel, it's nice to hear that someone has had some good experiences with these cars.

V.5sub

Mate dont belive the hype!
had my type R from new 2000 as the other guy says, look for a enthusiast, good garage (mine serviced every 6 months ) and licked clean at weekends, you should have no probs.
only advice is take an owner with you when looking hopfully youll smell a rat?

Good Luck hope you love "The Beast"

durleydude

i have been searchin for a type-r v4 fer a while now and have come acros many dodgy dudes. has any one seen the 2 type r's for sale around the london area (blue) did u think they were dodgy atall?

5 Type R

I have a Version 5 Type R

Plenty of hype regarding the MY99, however as already stated there have been owners with no probs and those with loads.

Regular servicing, no sustained full boost, no hanging on to 8200rpm in every gear and you should have a fun car.

Remapping is a good recommendation . Pick a good engineer with extensive mapping experience and you should be fine.

mail me direct if you want further info

durleydude

the type r's dont redline at 8250rpm, its more like 7 isnt it??

Adam M

lol.

type r stis redline at 8250, witht he hashing are starting at 8k just like all post version 2 stis.

Not sti type rs will redline at 7 because they have the heavier pistons of non sti engines, and possibly because of their valves too.

big ends go on all scoobs not just sti 5s, so no need to worry there.

there was fear int he beginning that the five (and six) was more sensitive to ron differences in fuel, so in this situation running only on at least super (and preferably a decent "octane booster") should sort you.

Chipping is nonsense and apart from the uni chip avoid it like the plague. A remap is only as good as the mapper, and I dont know of any decent unichip mappers. If you are really very worried, then consider a replacement ecu done by someone who knows how to map, such as bob rawle (also havent heard anything bad about steve simpson - gems only!).

I believe the sti 5 can be mapped with the ecutek software, inwhich case, Bob is definitely your man, and has an sti 5himself as testimony to how good the car is.

Using this upgrade will allow it to run perfectly safely on whatever fuel you choose to use, and doesnt cost the earth.

If you look after the fuelling properly there is no reason why teh 5 is any worse than any other impreza, I would treat them all as described above.

Dont abuse it and any impreza should last a long while. Although saying that I know of plenty of models of impreza that have let go for no visible reason, and have been treated with kid gloves all off their lives, (nearly all big end failures).


And there is nothing special aboutt he type r that means it has to be treated better. You have to drive it more carefully as very few have abs, and if it doesnt have abs, you need to know how to use the manual centre diff, but apart from that it needs no more special treatment than a uk 2000 turbo.

Belgarion

Thanks alot peeps, some very usful and encouraging news here, much appreciated.

5 Type r, would like to contact you ofline but cant see yor email details, any cahnce you could contact me if you see this rely.

Thanks all

durleydude

i havnt checked this thread for a while but thankyou for all the comments. very useful

ps who is bob rawle and where do i find him ??

johnfelstead

The shift point on an STi5 is actually 7900rpm. The rev limiter is 8250rpm.

5 Type R

Agree with all you say Adam, except the Unichip issue

Owen Developments.......in Oxfordshire.

The very best around bar none........ Unichipped cars for many professional race series around the world

I had one on my previous MR2 Turbo, which consistantly out performed cars with the more common/traditional ecu changes.

Gixerman

I've done about 25,000 miles in my version 5 type-r and it's been an absolute pleasure. Agree with all of the above advice but also don't try driving on the road with the centre diff switch any further than the first click as this can cause it damage while going around corners.

Take you time to find a good one and enjoy it!!!

johnfelstead

Uterly untrue Gixerman. How am i going to kill this myth once and for all? I seem to have to explain it every couple of weeks!

Gixerman

damn, told off by teacher again

John

I was led to beleive that that was the case and would be grateful if you could clear this up for me about the use or not of the centre diff when driving on tarmac whether its wet or dry.

Thanks in advance for your reply

Tony

johnfelstead

LOL

I will post the normally quoted translated handbook info and the real info, translated for me in Japan in a seperate thread. I'll ask Salsa for some virtual neons for the topic description.

mega_stream

I've been looking on and off now over the last 5 months or so, spoken to several people selling but not one so far has been a totally clean sounding car, sketchy history, missing bits, little or no history, big engine rebuilds etc.

I'm sure there are a few good ones that comeon the market, maybe its just me that seems to contact the suspect ones
What I will say though is the good ones do seem to sell very quick.

stockcar

could always check out the "import handbooks" (in parts for sale) thread contain exactly the type of info you're after and even have a service history section!!
alyn - as performance

[Edited by stockcar - 10/23/2002 8:10:48 PM]

johnfelstead

check this out re the centre diff controller http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadID=143750

I was the first to view my current TypeRA, bought it straight away. FSH, imported brand new, one owner, every bit of documentation etc. They are out there.