Ved

Having missed out by hours on a JDM Impreza at David Hendry Cars, I managed to find one in even better condition, with more kit and even more power...again at David Hendry Cars. So last Saturday off I trot on the two an a half hour drive to look at a car with the intention of seeing if it was as good as my old Hawkeye STI that I owned from 2007 to 2009. Well, the poker face immediately dropped to reveal a huge grin. We agreed on a very good valuation for my car and a few things I wanted completing on the STI and that was that. A week later, this Saturday gone, I drove down to see David and Andrew to take away my new car with a very happy Mrs Ved and labrador. I even got 36.8 mpg on the way there, which I think is a universe record for the R32

The Impreza is already amazing me. It's built like a tank, goes like a bullet train and stops like a cartoon roadrunner. It has a lot to share with the Hawkeye although the heavier steering and sledgehammer power delivery are the most striking differences after the 480 miles I've done in the last three days.

It's had a stage one performance pack on it since 2008 with the following:

• Turbo-back 3" Milltek exhaust system with sports cat
• Uprated fuel pump
• Zero sports panel filter
• Forge recirculating dump value
• ECUtek remap

This takes the power from somewhere between 300 and 340 bhp although it's never had a rolling road to verify it. Once there is a session at Surrey I'll take it down to get the definitive answer. If does feel very very fast and it'll go from 30 to 80 leptons in the time it takes to count them out loud. The smooth V6 has probably warped my concept of speed so I'm curious to know what it precisely puts out.

One other nice addition to the car is parking sensors. As you'll see from the photos they look standard despite being aftermarket ones.

I've already ordered:

• iDA-x305 Alpine head unit
• genuine subaru DIN pocket
• PIAA silicone wipers
• Richard Burns sticker from RB5OC
• STI dust caps

After that it'll be fitting some new speakers, front splitter, mud flaps (prodrive ones if I can find some), replacing a few worn bits of trim and sending it off for a full detail.

All in all, very happy

Bug splatter after a Sunday blast


















The only manky bit of the engine (to be replaced)


Bit of polishing on the exhaust. You can see the state of it before from the section I'm yet to do.




With our other Subaru, a minter of a XT


I'll start another post on the Forester later on too. It's having the front bumper painted and a full polish but once I have it back and I'll the camera out and tell you all about it.

Cheers!

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

Nice spec