Well after just over 5 years away from Subaru Impreza ownership, I'm back with number 7... and 8, haha.

Over the last 6-12 months, I'd been 'passively' keeping an eye out in the usual places for a nice Classic Impreza to appear which I could tuck away to tinker with and use on the odd occasion, with nothing really taking my eye and a seemingly endless amount of cars with 'just a couple bubbles of rust' and poorly executed 'modifications' appearing instead.

At the same time, one of my best friends was also looking to re-live his Impreza days... although looking at spending a fair chunk more than I was, on a Hawkeye STi. After he had found a car for a decent price, he realised that personal commitments may force him to pull out of the deal as he wouldn't be able to travel to collect it. Anyway, it just so happened that I was free and a week later I landed in Heathrow to view/collect the car on his behalf.

I'd say that in under an hour, I realised that my slight reservations that I had been wearing my rose tinted glasses when looking back at my Subaru history were misplaced and that I genuinely missed that flat-four burble... and so my search for a car went from passive to active.

It's far more irritating seeing the previously mentioned tired/poorly modified examples appear when you have actually decided on a real budget and are actively searching for a suitable car to buy, haha!!

Skipping out the wasted trips/phone calls/emails about cars which weren't to make the grade; I eventually found a cracking example of a 1997 STi Version 3 Wagon. Absolutely bog standard, in black with a mountain of history which included; recent cambelt service, clutch/flywheel, rocker cover gasket, radiator, etc... and it had done ~800 miles between the last MOTs which is the reason the owner was selling it. Another flight to Heathrow later, pleasing inspection/test drive and swapping of documents/cash later... I was on my way home in my 7th Impreza.

Here are a couple of pictures of the car:





A few days after I got the car home, one of my friends told me that a mutual friend was thinking about selling his Sonic Blue Version 6 STi Wagon... which was a car that I'd been a huge fan of since he bought it as a fresh import a few years ago. After a few days of serious consideration and will I/wont I type deliberation, I decided that I needed to take a look at the car (I'd not seen it for a wee while since he moved out of the area) to satisfy my curiosity and see if my desire for the car was still as strong as it had been before... so I contacted my friend and arranged to view it.

After taking a look around it and talking numbers, I ended up owning it... so I'd gone from owning zero Imprezas to owning two Imprezas in around as many weeks?!!

Given that space is a luxury which is in short supply for myself and as much as I'd LOVE to have kept them both, I reluctantly put the Black Version 3 STi up for sale and it sold within a couple of days. Just hanging on for the buyer to arrange collection for the car.

Anyway, that's the story behind it all, here are the details and some pictures that I've taken of the Version 6 STi which will be staying with me for a while:

MY00
Impreza Version 6 STi Limited (Number 232 of 500)
5dr Wagon/Hatchback
Sonic Blue
Additional 'Limited' Extras: Rays Engineering 16" Alloys, Tinted Windows, Blue Dashboard Trim/Instrument Binnacle and Seat Trim

Performance:

AlcaTek ECU mapped by Andy Forrest
HKS De-Cat Downpipe
Apexi N1 Exhaust
GT Spec Headers With Matched Up-Pipe
Cosworth Panel Filter
Turbosmart FPR800 Fuel Pressure Regulator
Walbro 255 lp/hr Fuel Pump
Mishimoto Radiator

Handling & Braking:

Standard STi 'Pink' Suspension
STi Carbon Strut Brace
Cusco Rear Strut Brace
Tarox F2000 Discs & Pagid Pads (Front and Rear)

Pictures :






















I haven't got any massive plans for it really (famous last words!!) but I'm definitely going to change the Apexi exhaust for something a little less in your face... both visually and volume-wise!! It could do with a proper detail (will get that booked into the guy I've used before) and a few wee bits of trim cleaning up/replacing... but I had it in for it's MOT yesterday and it is in unbelievable condition underneath, even cleaner than the Black car, which was immaculate itself. I wish I'd had my proper camera handy rather than just my phone. But I will update the thread whenever I snap a nice picture of it or change any parts.

Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you for sticking with me!! If you've skipped straight to the photos then you must be wondering why there are pictures of a black car and a blue car, haha.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Nice, I'd love that. Why do these only ever appear when I'm not in the market.

I was looking for exactly the same car a couple of years back and ended up with a V6 sti saloon because I couldn't find a wagon.

 

Stunning and glad you found what you were after. A perfect unabused example right there. Newera Imports have one of those V6 STI limited wagons on their website.

 

I love it ! Looks good "rail-less "

 

Nice 😎

I have the same Pivot gear **** on mine, I've never seen another in the UK

 

My STi 5 has it too. I dig its Touring Car-ness lol. It's part of the Super Shift kit I guess, as I have that plaque in my car as well.

I assume Super Shift is a quick shift (shorter throw)?

 

Cheers James, yeah it seems late wagons are rare beasties.. specially in decent nick!! I was actually in a position to buy your Mica Red wagon about 3 days after it sold. I was gutted!! So we're even now!!

Thank you and I appreciate the heads up because I wasn't sure if the seats were standard fit or not, given that the saloon version has all blue front seats... but that one seems to have the same seats as mine fitted, so that's good enough for me.

I'm not sure if that's a standard thing on late JDM wagons or not, that car mentioned at NewEra seems to be rail-less too??

http://www.neweraimports.com/carDetails.jsp?carId=569

Ace, I had absolutely no idea what make of gear **** it was... so thanks for letting me know how rare it is. I wasn't sure about it when I first saw it, but it's actually really nice to use.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Yeah I assume that it's all tied together, the throw is really short. Just wish it had a slightly more masculine name?!


Cheers,
Grant

 

"Ballerina"... What the actual f**k.

Those crazy Japs.

 

Very nice indeed Grant.. I had not realised you had been so busy there

 

Nice man after my own heart

 

I serviced it for the current owner the other month, he said he'd be selling it soon and asked if I wanted it back. I did ask him to give me first refusal but my business is soaking up any money at the moment. Must admit, when he pulled up I'd forgotten how smart it is. The paint is all original (only front bumper been done for stone chips) and it has an amazing look to it, looks so fresh and the rear arches still show no signs of rust.

 

Looks awsome like them

 

Very nice indeed!

 

Hubba Hubba! The black v3 is very nice and came up for sale just after I bought my v2,
otherwise I might have been bidding against you... Looks like a great car, but the v6, well that is something else. What a beauty, I can see why you made that call!!!

 

Haha aye!! Some of their translations are absolutely gold.

Thanks very much Si, haha.. yeah things have been quite hectic here on the Subaru front!! Black car should be collected on Wednesday, so the blue car will have my storage unit all to itself and I'll start to focus on the wee bits and bobs which I'd like to clean up on it.

Thanks Jay.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Yeah looks to be a cracker of a UK Turbo... I might actually know someone who would be interested in the car if you're not able to re-aquire it, I'm away to clear my PM box and then I'll fire you a message James.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Cheers lads, feels good to be back.

Yeah I'm a wagon man myself, so when I saw the Black V3, I decided to swoop!! But Sonic Blue is a colour I've been a massive fan of since I can remember.. so to combine the two, in such a well kept example which I've known since import, it was a bit of a no brainer in the end.


Cheers,
Grant

 

So I finally uploaded the video/sound clip I took of the exhaust note, it should be ready to view on this link now:


...as you might be able to tell, it's completely unacceptable, haha. Believe it or not, it actually gets worse when the engine is under load.

I'm also pretty chuffed because after talking to many, many people about chewed up and overpriced alloys... on a random sweep of the usual places, I managed to get hold of some 17" Speedline Turinis for the car!! Recent refurb in silver (which is the colour I wanted) and they will require some tyres which I can recognise/pronounce before I fit them, but I'm over the moon.







Cheers,
Grant

 

They will look awsome

 

Thanks Glenn!! ...I can't wait to get some decent tyres on them so I can get them bolted to the car.

I do need to get something done about the suspension though, would really like to lower the car a wee bit too.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Ive gotta say you have great taste in cars pal. I love em both. Will look well with the turinis on. If your planning to sell the gold wheels. Give me a shout.

Joe

 

Ive gotta say you have great taste in cars pal. I love em both. Will look well with the turinis on. If your planning to sell the gold wheels. Give me a shout.

Joe

 

Sorry Joe, totally missed your reply mate.

Thanks very much, I really enjoy making wee changes too, so they're a wee bit more personalised.

Not sure what I'm doing with the Rays wheels, think I'm going to keep hold of them just now though. I'll give you a shout if I ever decided to let them go.


Cheers,
Grant

 

After some lovely sunny weather and almost running out of wee jobs to carry out on the interior, I couldn't resist any longer, I fitted the Speedline Turini wheels which I bought the other week. They're still on the awesome 'Triangle' tyres they came on but they'll only be around for a few days since I've got a full set of replacements on order.


You'll also notice the private registration/square plates have gone, replaced with an age-related registration on standard rectangular plates front and rear. Again, I think it's made a decent difference.


This is quite a picture heavy post, so take a seat.


















Think I'd still like to lower it a wee bit, but lowering an Impreza properly without screwing up the handling balance is seeming more difficult the more I read about it... gone are the days of choosing which springs to fit just by going on the drop they offer?! Haha!!


Cheers,
Grant

 

It still looks good on those wheels, but personally I would have kept the original Rays...

 

A nice wagon you have there and much rather the look of new wheels too. These clean examples are certainly the ones to hold onto.

 

Yeah I know it'll split opinion, but I'm not a 'gold alloy' fan really.. and refurbing the standard Rays seemed a wee bit silly. I'll more than likely keep hold of them though.


Thanks Mr Pan!! ...I'm planning to hold onto this one for a long time coming, it's very difficult to find a good classic and I don't want the hassle of trying to find another one again.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Very nice looking wagon, I keep mulling over swapping my Blob wagon for a Classic wagon but not seen a nice enough one to make me jump ship and it would also need to be white or grey for me to love it, I already have a blue Type R so 2 blue ones would be a bit much.

Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks Ditch.

Haha, aye would be a bit too much blue going on there. A friend hasn't long bought a fresh import V6 STi Wagon in Cool Grey (yes, we're all reliving our youth!!) and it is a lovely colour.


Cheers,
Grant