EddScott

Looking at a car this weekend. Looks pretty much standard albeit an STI RA.

It does however have an APEXI AFC which puts me off a bit.

I've seen this car about 6 months ago and it was well looked after then so I assume its been looked after reasonably well - although that can't really be proved.

Its got a HKS exhaust but filter is standard setup etc. Just worried that the AFC will have damaged the engine if its not set up properly.

bighead

iTrader: (1)

lol if fitted and mapped right it is an asset to the car ...as it wil be mapped for uk fuel

EddScott

This is my hope. So an AFC could be fitted as a way of running the car safely (ish) on UK fuel?

briforbes

I don't think these piggyback Air Fuel Ratio controllers work that way, i.e. they cannot be used to re-map for UK fuel.

What they are designed to do is adjust the air/fuel ratio. So for example if breathing mods are fitted, such as an exhaust, the air/fuel ratio may be slightly out and the car will run lean. The AFC would then be used to correct the ratio to add a bit more fuel at lean spots in the rev range.

As far as I'm aware they cannot be used to adjust ignition advance as would be done by a "proper" mapper who is setting a car up for UK fuel.

If the car only has an exhaust fitted, then it's likely the AFC has been fitted as it looks "bling", or there have been other mods fitted in the past, such as a boost controller. If the exhaust has a de-cat downpipe, then it may have been fitted to counter problems related to running lean after fitting that.

EddScott

It has a full de-cat exhaust.

I'm asking loads of questions because I've been after an STI RA for a while. This one seems to fit the bill but I don't want to trade my very reliable and faithful UK Turbo for a import thats going to give me nothing but grief.

wrxcraig

b4 i brought my old bmw i was looking into buying a scooby then and found one that i liked, some i did some research on it and most ppl told me to be very wary i.e engine compression check etc etc as it had a dawes devize. Imo aslong as the reciepts, fssh ect adds up and everything seems ok then yeah go for it, when i brought mine the 1st owner put the milage of when each mod went onto the car in a different service book so i have 2 service books going, 1 for the mods and 1 for servicing.

briforbes

I bought my STI RA from one of the event organisers over on SIDC. The car looked, sounded and went perfectly, and as the guy I bought it from had a good reputation on SIDC, I didn't think twice.

The day after I took ownership the bottom end let go, costing me £1800 for a rebuild, and I then found out a few months down the line that the car had been in quite a hefty crash with damage that had been badly repaired. This is in the process of costing me another £1000 to have a new rear quarter, boot floor and subframe fitted, as well as some paint work. MVM who imported the car "apparently" didn't know it had been damaged. The previous owner was looking into it for me, but funnily enough, I've never heard any more about it. I'm still seething.

Best bet is to get the car properly checked out by a garage of your choice...you can never be too careful.

bighead

iTrader: (1)

Ditto that...it make sense

briforbes

You live and learn

EddScott

September last year, I had my car serviced at my usual garage (rally prep mostly) This car I'm thinking of buying was there. I'm hoping that the garage can dig out some info on it when it was there.

Sadly the garage is 2 hours away from where the car is now. Its a trade sale so has 6 months warranty - although how comprehensive this is I don't know.

Thanks for the advice.

briforbes

Ask if you/they can take it there for a check over, on the basis that if it gets the all clear, or nothing major is wrong with it, you'll buy it. Can't see them saying no to that.

Either that or arrange an AA/RAC inspection where the car sits now. I wish I'd done this when I bought mine, and will now do it for all future cars.

EddScott

Was thinking this myself. They offer an insured delivery service so might ask them to delivery it to the garage - if it gets to agreeing a sale. I ask the garage mechs to check it over and if they think its OK (structurally at least) then all good.

I guess its hard to tell if an engine is about to let go - then we'd see what the warranty really covers.

To be completely happy, I'd like to take the AFC off and get the car properly mapped for UK fuel via ECUTEK mapping (got this on my UK car now).

Good luck with yours though briforbes

briforbes

Cheers.

Mine possibly isn't as bad as it sounds. When it was repaired, whoever did the work welded a section of the rear panel from another car to replace the damaged part on mine. Although it looked fine when I bought it, a visible line has appeared along the weld where moisture has found its way through from the back. To make it right, the rear panel needs replaced, as does the boot floor which is rippled. There is also a terrible bit of welding done on the subframe, so that needs replacing. This was all found when it went in for a wheel bearing on that quarter...bit of a shocker of a day! The work was done in Japan before it was imported, and they're notorious for poor repairs. It should have been on the auction certificate, however I've never seen this. It would/should have been noticed by MVM before they sold the car to the previous owner too.

It drives well and the engine is great now.....but I still balk at the fact my car which cost me the going rate at the time, now owes me £3k (not including mods, servicing etc) more than everyone else's.

What age is the one you're looking at?

EddScott

REMOVED LINK

EddScott

Spoke to the garage I take my car to. They only did a little work on the car above - new discs and pads. It had been stood for a few months and the owner worked in Luxembourg for months at a time.

It had previously been serviced by a garage who used to be very good with subarus (mine went there a few times). The owner felt that that particular garage had gone downhill (which was also my reason for stopping using them) so went to where I go now in Narbeth.

I just said I know its hard to tell just from sight the condition of the engine but just concerned that the car may have had a knock at some point. They were pretty sure it hadn't been damaged - at least as far as they knew anyway.

So, hopefully take a look Sunday.

briforbes

Cool. Don't be too put off by my horror story - I'm in the minority, and I'm sure there are lots of good ones around. The one you're going to see looks amazing for the price!

Funny spoiler though

EddScott

Funny ha ha

Or

Funny Jesus what the hell is that??

From info given from a helpful chap from Type RA forum, apparently it was an option from new to have an S201 spoiler fitted. I hope it only uses the same 4 bolt holes as a mid spoiler.

chris singleton

Does look like the the S201 spoiler......absolutely hideous

Glad you're going to change it if you buy it!!!

briforbes

Funny as in a....I quite like it, but wouldn't have one on mine sort of way.

Think the standard version 6 sti spoiler would look best on the one you're looking at?