SparrowHawk

Hi all,

I own a 2003 Blobeye Wagon. Its a WRX model with PPP.

The car is my daily workhorse, and has done a superb 215,000 miles, with barely any hint of a problem.

It has been well-serviced and maintained, but is now generally very tired and just doesn't drive like a lower mileage and better condition example would.


My question is - What would you replace / upgrade on the car, to get it feeling like a younger model again....????


The main problem I have is the handling, it just doesn't feel 'tight' in terms of steering, road-holding, and cornering etc. But I also know it definitely isn't putting out the same BHP as it once did.

I have a few hundred pounds to spend now, and potentially more over the coming months, to get the car back to where it should be. The body is in good condition, and it is still a great car - so it is worth putting some work in to.

So your advice on what your personal priority would be on the car and specifically which parts etc you would buy, would be much appreciated..!

Cheers

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Shock Absorbers
Springs
Top Mounts
Drop Links
ARB bushes
Ball joints
Track Rods
Rear trailing arm bushes
Steering rack bushes
Gear linkage bushes
Geometry alignment
Tyres

That's £1.5-2k there and more if paying labour for someone to fit.

At 215k though...it might be worth putting some work into but I'd struggle to convince myself to spend any money on it. How much oil is it using?

SparrowHawk

Thanks - those are some of the things I was expecting.

Have you put those in order?

I won't be dropping £1k+ on it, as the car is probably only worth 1500. But I'm prepared to spend a little on it, as its running well and I'm quite attached to it.

The car doesn't really use oil, it all runs and sounds how it should. But it will need a full service soon, so I will also be changing oil, filters, spark plugs and doing engine flush etc.

I'm not really prepared to splash out on shocks and springs (despite the improvement it would bring - I cant justify the spend).. so I'm leaning towards bushes. Maybe droplinks or ball joints as these appear to be original!

Which bushes would offer the greatest improvement in tired handling?? Or is this totally dependent on the individual car. Is there a fanboy approved brand for bushes?

Tyres are relatively new and doing well.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Does it already have solid drop links?
I'd change to those and put in a thicker REAR arb, leave the front alone.
then get the alignment done.

But I'd also seriously think about new springs...they do get tired.

SparrowHawk

Springs might be a good shout - I believe the Prodrive springs were fitted from nearly new - so they have 200K on them!!

If the dampers aren't creaking or groaning, then they may well have been changed, but I haven't seen any receipts for that work being done.

Which springs come recommended for the 2003 WRX? And does the fact it is a Wagon affect the specific make and model of spring?

Thanks

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Cars worth about 1500 quid so pointless spending a fortune on it.

What you really want to do is listen to your uncle Ditch.

Front and rear roll bar Poly bushes and steering rack bushes from Alan at AS Performance.

Cost about £50 to 70 quid all in and you can DIY the lot at home in about an hour... it will just tighten the feel up, and flatten things out... your Prodrive springs will be fine and if your shocks aren't leaking or knocking leave them alone.

You don't need to spend a fortune on it to make it feel nice again.

SparrowHawk

Thanks ditch.

Thats the kind of recommendation I was looking for - bushes are a bit of a dark art in my eyes.

My aim would be tighter feel, and by this I mean more steering feedback, less play in the steering, and less body lean during turn-in.

Would the roll bar bushes and steering rack bushes be the best bet to help with this?

Perhaps I can do the bushes first, and then update the springs next.

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

The problem you'll have is that without identifying exactly which parts are worn and to what to degree, then you are just throwing random bits at the car and hoping they will make an improvement. If your shock absorbers are knackered, then no amount of new bushes is going to change that and you're just wasting money.

I have a 2002 WRX Wagon PPP, with 178k. I refreshed all the suspension at 130k. I then had to replace the shock absorbers again at 170k. That was in the space of a little over 2 years.

You also need to consider that the suspension works as a whole; all the parts in unison. If you start replacing some bushes with new, firmer ones, you may find that it has a negative affect on other parts that had worn at the same rate as the original bushes and now appear to have a lot more play in them.

So really, before thinking about new parts, you have to be scientific and identify exactly what NEEDS replacing. Eg worn shocks or drop-links. If you don't rectify these parts first, then you are just wasting your money on everything else. Shocks, drop-links and a full alignment won't see much change out of £800.00 but I really would suggest that as a minimum. Otherwise there is little point throwing lesser money at it.

You'd be better putting any money aside and look to buy another PPP Wagon with far less mileage, then chop yours in. Plenty of ~100k cars about for <£4k.

Alternatively, commit £3-4k to your current car and get all the suspension replaced and include a full engine rebuild. Then you are good to go for another 50k+

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Pretty sure that the non-inverted WRX shocks don't "knock". Or rather, they can be totally shot without "knocking". Certainly when I removed the Excel Gs from my Wagon, 2 of the rods didn't return after being compressed...they didn't knock whilst on the car though.

I'd imagine that the gear linkages must be completely shot, so that's a cheap fix to improve the driving experience.

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

https://www.scoobynet.com/subaru-par...c-springs.html

SparrowHawk

Thanks Techno, gear linkages are another aspect I had not considered.

I don't disagree with your logic, about changing everything being the best option. But neither of those options are really available to me. I want to keep the car (so upgrading to a newer model isn't an option either). But I can't justify spending a huge amount of money on it.

So my options really are to replace certain parts, parts that I think will see an improvement - which is what I'm asking for help on. I don't think this would be a waste of money, as long as I am replacing parts that are worn and needed replacing anyway.

Replacing steering bushes and roll bar bushes will surely show some improvement if those parts are worn out and not performing? It seems OTT to say that this wouldn't make a difference unless I changed absolutely every component?

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps....without knowing exactly what is worn and needs replacing, it's impossible to say what effect anything will have. You could simply start replacing the cheapest parts first. Bear in mind though that if you are paying labour, it may work out cheaper to get several parts fitted at once, rather than piecemeal.

If you want to commit to keeping the car, then commit to spending money on it. Or just run it into the ground. Otherwise I think you'll still end up spending money on it with only marginal improvements at best. At your sort of mileage, the engine could give it up at any time. Plus how long until it's due a full belt change, clutch etc?

I was in exactly the same position as you and I decided to buy an '05 WRX PPP Wagon with half the mileage of my Bug - it was either that or spend £3k+ on getting everything sorted including an engine rebuild.

Maybe spend a little and take it to a decent Scooby specialist and get them to give it a thorough inspection before committing to spending anything else on it first, if you are unsure?

SparrowHawk

Sound advice.

The complication is that I have another car. My weekend car is an '05 WRX PPP saloon with really low miles, and that car gets all the money spent on it. The Wagon is very much a workhorse, which is why I've not replaced components such as suspension (my '05 saloon has had new suspension, new wheels, new clutch, new brakes, cambelt, the works).

But thats not to say I want to run the Wagon into the ground, its barely given me any problems despite the huge mileage - so I just want to spend a little and get it driving a little better again.

The bushes recommended by Ditch might be the right choice for now. And then taking on board Techno's recommendation that any money spent could be money wasted if the engine gives out. No sign that will happen, but it will be due another cambelt soon and I have to bear in mind that it could cease to be economically viable if there are any further major costs after that.

I'll go for these bushes and see what difference they make to the feel. Any more recommendations on suppliers / brands would be great.

Thanks

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

You are indeed correct that they don't knock like later cars but they do leak and sag which does result in a little knocking, but you'd need to live where I do to hear it.. (500m dirt track).

I also agree with the rest of what you say in your previous post... BUT the OP said he had a couple of hundred quid to spend not a grand to 1500... so I tried to help the lad improve things within his budget.

And those bushes are a very good place to start on a tired WRX Wagon... I did it to mine and it really improved things... sure I did a few other bits later... but like I said... it's a good starting point.

Have a read of this thread matey... there's some good info in there.
https://www.scoobynet.com/suspension...-uk-roads.html

Paben

iTrader: (5)

I'm sure we've all had cars like this; too good to scrap but too far gone to be worth spending money on. Best advice is drive it until it seriously fails an mot or if it passes its next one sell it on for whatever you can get for an old car with a year's mot.

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

I still maintain that unless you know exactly what needs replacing, it's potentially £200 wasted. I'd still advise spending some of that £200 on having a full inspection by a reputable indie. You may not even need to get uprated parts - OEM bushes/drop-links are cheap and will make a world of difference if they are currently shot.

SparrowHawk

I agree with that point Techno, simply replacing bushes with OEM parts will probably make a difference - there's no real need to 'upgrade' them. And that will also be cheaper (I think?), and therefore a more sensible option given the situation with the car.

But I still don't agree that this would be chucking away money (unlike replacing all of the suspension components could be, for example).

Another factor is that whatever changes I make to the car will potentially be fun to do, and give me an opportunity to learn more about the car. And although the Wagon is maybe not long for this world - I do own another almost identical model, that I have no intention of giving up.. so the more I learn the better. Maybe in the process I'll get over my view that bushes and suspension are a dark art!

So all in all, replacing bushes seems like a great idea. And I'll also look into gear linkages too. Thanks for the helpful input, I'll make sure to report back.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

"Fun to do"???

Only if you have a fully equipped workshop with lifts etc.

In the real world, (ie, non-Fuzz or ed) you'll struggle to get suspension parts undone.........and that's only a start.

SparrowHawk

Yep, agree with that to an extent. But it is still fun getting your hands dirty.

I had a last minute emergency last weekend after sheering a wheel stud of my race car, ended up taking pretty much everything apart on my cramped driveway in the freezing cold, wheel off, brakes off, steering arms undone etc, and finally resorted to taking entire hub off and swapping it out with a donor car.

With nothing coming undone, and parts not doing what you want, and of course losing the 10mm socket a dozen times, and things snapping off in your hands, it never seems "fun" at the time. But after its all back together and the problem is solved.. then at that point you can call it fun!!

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Who looks after your '05 WRX PPP saloon? Why not take the Wagon to them first, so they can determine exactly what needs replacing for you? Then you can crack on with.

uxon

I can highly recommend following mods/service:
- Changing steering cross member to solid sti version and changing steering rack bushing to poly version - this improved steering feel vastly in my case. This cost me about 50 quid plus labor.
- Changing shocks and springs - I see 2 budget options here: either get a set of STI takeoffs or buy a set of new KYB GR2 plus some uprated springs (eibachs or blue prodrives/PCA). I have chosen first option and it gave me really vast improvement, especially in reducing body roll and general increase in confidence. The only downside is a little of harshness and rear inverted struts may knock. A set of STI takeoffs can be bought for about 300 quid.
- To improve steering feel even more, you could buy a set of wider alloy front control arms and do a free castor mod; another 100-150 quid (but this is not crucial)
- At that mileage changing front control arms bushings might be a good idea. Also, you don't have to use original parts here, I am not sure about prices though.
In the end have your geometry set to some better settings (for example from prodrive) and your car should be handling great.