ive been thinking of buying a wrx(approx 1994/95) for quite a while now,now from what ive heard the uk spec cars are meant to be reliable enough,but ive heard a few horror stories about engine failures on the jap wrx's.can anyone shed any light or truth on this,because as ive said i'd quite like a wrx but im not too keen on having to shell out 2k if the engine goes pop.

thanx

 

Most of the Jap WRX engine failures I've seen/heard about (not many) were usually due to fuelling issues and the owner not running the car on Shell Optimax or not using octane boosters with unleaded petrol. The Jap imports are mapped to run on 100 RON fuel and the best we can get in the UK is 98.6 ish RON (Shell Optimax). I'm not aware of any reliability issues per se with Japanese WRX imports. I myself drive a UK car but if it wasn't for insurance issues I'd have definitely gone for a WRX import. Most have low mileage and haven't been raced about too much due to Japanese speed restrictions. The Japanese MOT is a lot more strict than our own so the cars are usually in good condition and well-kept.

 

I have a 94 WRX with 97k and its sweet as a nut. I have only had it a few months and zero problems so far. The chap before me had only used Optimax and I am doing the same.

A remap is another option to map it UK fuel, but as far as I'm aware as long as you use Optimax and/or Octane booster they are just as reliable as UK models.

Also of course you get a lot more power as standard, and some toys - air con/climate, rear wiper, leccy aerial, leather wheel.

240ps up to MY95 (about 236bhp)
260ps-280 from MY95 on (256-275bhp)

 

have had wrx 1996 for about 8 months - run her on just optimax - no probs at all - mate has 93 wrx and he uses 95 ron with no probs either.
Get the wrx mate you get the a/c and little things like the bumper/skirt spats also you get the oe buckets and in my opinion id prefer to have a second hand imprza from a jap rather than a bit who has thrapped it.

Andy

 

cheers lads