Seamus300

Anyone got any experience of running one of these (or a Saloon)? I understand they go well but what're they like generally?

I am having to move office and will have to do a 80 mile commute each way everyday, not really practical to run the Scoob this distance (and add that mileage) anymore.

Any info appreciated.
Sean

igratton

No direct experience - but I did have a testdrive in a 330d Sport and was very very impressed. Huge economy, comfort and fantastic build make this car a great option. Its not subaru quick off the line but the engine torque is amazing (289lb/ft from 1750 - 4000rpm - impressive)

I am currenty trying to decide if I should get shot of my P1 and replace with a 330d as it would make a great practical car for the family runs - and we get to use the XTR for other stuff

Let us know how you get on.

Ian.

MattOz

Sean,

I ran one for a year. Fantastic car. Would have another tomorrow. Something called a Skyline dragged me away from it! Mine did 3 Ring trips and over 30,000 miles in the year I had it. Averaged 39.7 mpg, and cost £600 in total to service 3 times. It was bought for £27,995 and lost £3K in value over the year. Pretty solid residuals just make you grin.

It might not be as explosive as a Scooby off the line, but elsewhere it's fantastic. Would have one over any current Impreza, or indeed, any previous Impreza incarnation.

All you have to do is ignore all the t0$$ers who'll slag you off for choosing a Beemer.

Matt

Richie1

Does it not beat most cars (including Imprezas) for in gear acceleration ??

Flat 4x4

.. or try my last car - A4 2.5 TDi Quattro Avant V6 (185bhp, 285lb/ft) with 4wd

MarkWRX

Sean,

Sorry to hear you're thinking of selling the scoob

When I have my sensible head on I have seriously thought about a 330D as my next car, so id be interested to hear what you think about it. Shame they dont do a coupe version tho.

There was an article in last months Evo comparing a 325i with a 330D and I think they said there was very little in it.

Mark

Seamus300

Hi Mark, we're not getting rid of the UK300, the plan is to sell Debs RB5, she'll then have my car and I'll commute in the new diesel. To be honest I quite miss having an estate in the household, it's amazing what an inconvenience 2 Scoobs can be when you need a load of crap moving etc!
Plan is to test drive a few in Swindon on Saturday (as I'm down there with a few hours to kill), I'll give the Audi a try too and post some thoughts.

Cheers, Sean.

Luke

Neighbour has one. If I had the money I would buy one. A Subaru is only better on a very wet road. It will cost you less and give you more.

gregh

Interested in how you get on, maybe in the market for an estate myself by the end of the year. Have you looked at the MG ZT-T? Evo mag just got one on the test fleet and raved about it in this issue. 0% finance and 1 year free insurance at the moment

Brendan Hughes

Not sure I should confess this on Scoobynet...

I finally got round to driving a 530d Touring. Yes, bigger than the 330d, but only 100kg heavier.

At the end of the day, I didn't like it.

True, the engine is really grunty, and allows effortless overtaking etc. But I just found it ran out of breath - diesels only rev to about 4k.

Car was a bit (only a bit) squashy as well, I felt it was the sort of car which would allow me to fall asleep at the wheel on long journeys. But that's not fair on a 330d Sport, which is smaller with tighter suspension. Unfortunately, they don't have any 330s (i or D) here for me to test at the moment, so the idea was for me to drive the engine everyone has been raving about for the last year and a half, and, seeing as I can't get a Caterham for the weekend, this would be my only "fun" car. I just couldn't imagine thrashing it round country roads like the scoob, though I can certainly understand how those doing high annual mileages would like it.

To add insult to injury, Subaru don't have any WRXs to test drive, either. Drove one a month ago, but before I was used to Portuguese roads, so didn't really think about the car.

After all the glowing praise I've heard about the 330d, I feel a bit of an "emperor's new clothes" confessor, or just a weirdo (DON'T go there!), but I am reassured by my last choice, btwn 1985 911SC or Scoob. Drove the 911, hated it. I still can't understand why so many people liked it.

Brendan The Dissenter ()

Jon Jonzz

Brendan,

Have to agree with you re Porsche 911.

I had a 911 turbo - managed 6 months with it before I got rid of it.

GaryC

Seamus - I have a 330d touring auto, happy to wax lyrical about it but currently on holiday in Egypt so paying (extortionately) by the minute for web access - and I do go on a bit Either mail me offlist or I'll post when I get back.

But as a tempter - the 330d is (so far) the best all round car I have owned. Not as *****-out as the Impreza (I had a 288hp MY99) but allround a better car, and I don't regret changing one bit

paulk

Seamus

I just got rid of the wrx a couple of months ago and have placed an order for the 330D Sport Touring, due to arrive in July. With the recent addition to the family the touring made sense and i was also looking for car with better consumption than the impreza as the running costs were doing my head in. The 330D for me was a very good compromise, after the test drive i knew it was the car for me and didn't bother testing the more frugal 320D. In my case the 330D is the car that has to make me smile as our Fiat Tipo just doesn't hit the spot.

However, if i were in your situation already with a high performance car (eg UK300) in the family i would seriously consider the 320D touring or even the Renault Laguna Estate as they are much cheaper than the 330D Sport Touring, not peformance cars but fast enough.

If cost is not a concern, then go for the 330D, i'm sure you will look forward to it arriving as much as i am.

GaryC

OK - back now

I swapped a tuned MY99 for a 330d Touring Auto in Feb '01. Reason? I was starting to do even higher mileage, the scoob was costing a rediculous amount of money, for 95% of the time it was just a very compromised tiny family/commuting saloon car - and the times you could 'use' it were getting fewer and fewer.

I started looking at 330i/CLK 320/A6 2.7t et al. Drove the Audi - nice but bland to drive, CLK too expensive for what it was, 330i beautiful car. Came back from test drive and dealer (also a friend) bet me £1000 off the 330i that I wouldn't prefer the 330d. 30 minute test drive later, I did and signed on the dotted line.

15 months and 35000 miles later nothing has changed.

You can't really compare an impreza to a 330d - they are very different propositions, but then I swapped one for the other (has have many) so there is some synergy.

The 330d will never match the Impreza for ball-out fun. That diminishing 5% of the time when you find a clear twisty b-road with great visability and no police/cameras. But then it isn't designed for such. Most of the time in my Impreza it was an uncomfortable, tinny, noisy, high-attention-attracting, exceptionally expensive, moving towards 'max power' image saloon car. Tremendous fun, but at an increasing financial and non-financial price In all those areas (and thus for 95% of the time) the 330d counters all those issues.

My car was a MY99 PPP with downpipe/centre section/SS BB/induction kit, narrowed restrictor valve etc. The last dyno it showed 288BHP (might have been 289) and either just under 290lb ft or just over (memory has wained in 15 mths) so a fast and great car. BUT it was costing me a fortune. Servicing more than every 3 months, tyres every 10-12k, brakes pads every 12-14k, £5-600 per month on fuel plus the never ending tuning bug. Add in to this a rapidly collapsing market and a new model just released causing plummiting values. All this in a car that was becoming compromised 95% of driving time. My car cost over £27k when new yet the best quotes I was getting for trade in (even for a P1 as a 'test) were £13k £14000 (over 50% ) in 16 months. That was the final nail in the coffin - for me. I ended up getting £15k from a new franchise that was desperate for high-spec 'tidy' UK imprezas.

Onto the 330d. In those 95% of situations, it is ideal. It is comfortable, the cabin is a great place to be, luxury/'kit'/space/comfort/lack of noise etc etc make it a great place to commute and get from A to B in. Performance is still brisk, and impressive. Not only is mine a heavy touring body, but its got an auto box which hurts performance even more. BUT it will still just about keep up with a new WRX in a straight line once on the move, and the auto box is perfectly suited to the car as with so much torque it drives like a bentley, hardly ever needing to drop a gear, and even then only one so hardly noticeable. If you go for a manual (and even better for performance) a saloon, it is a fast car, and mid range there isn't a great deal that will keep up with it.

I went for a touring body purely for aesthetic reasons. I think it looks far better than the saloon - especially in silver with tinited windows, and is certainly far less common Handling is good. The extra weight of the touring actually balance the car better, but mine is a non-sport (the 330d touring wasn't available as a sport when I got it) so the suspension settings is a little on the soft side. Having now driven the 'sport', that is the only thing I would change if getting the car now.

Cost wise - different world. My car now has 40000 miles on it. In that time it has just (last Friday) had its first new set of tyres although it did have new rears due to a puncture when I bought it at 6000 miles. Full set of z-rated tyres? less than £400. It still has the original brake pads and discs, which are still only 75% worn. Servicing - it has had just one full service (c£160) and just had its second half/oil service (c£80) - it won't need another service until over 50000 miles Then the big one - fuel. The imprezza used to cost me on average £5-600 per month for fuel alone, the 330d has averaged just c£200 per month for the same mileage Thats £4000-5000 per year on fuel alone Add in the tyres/brakes/servicing saving and that grows to over £6000 per year on running costs alone. Add in depreciation and that virtually doubles

On the ownership experiance, as mentioned cabin is a nicer place to be. The stereo is better, the aircon is climate control and more effective, the seats more comfortable, cabin space better etc etc etc, but you also get less hassle. Every tom, dick and harriet is not trying to 'have a go', the police take no interest (I have been stopped once in 15 months in the 330d - I was stopped at least once a week in the impreza ), cruise control mean commuting and long journey's are a doddle - the list goes on.

Don't get me wrong - I miss the Impreza. What an awesome car. A trip to the shops on a sunday morning took an hour because I went for a 'play' on the way. Every journey was an event (but also could be hard work), outdragging 911s/355s/M3 etc down the motorway slip road or on the twisty roads - what a scream, but all in all, the 330d is simply the better all round car. The impreza only has one real USP - the 330d has dozens. I am lucky, I still get to drive an STi4 - and it does still put a smile on my face, but week and week, month on month the 330d puts a bigger one on for longer!

The ultimate advantage for me was that with the £five-figure annual saving over the impreza - I could justify (and pay for) a weekend car, so I now have a 330bhp/tonne bike-engined westfield (13000rpm, F1 soundtrack and better PWR than a Diablo - makes the STi4 looks like the turbo isn't working ) for weekends/track - combined running/owning costs of both still come in less than the Impreza! Best of both worlds

....and talking of which, with the sun shining - it's time to take her out for a good hoofing Scream if you want to go faster


Feel free to mail if you have further questions on the 330d.

NBW

Gary,

What an excellent summation of what I'm sure many of us have been thinking about the costs/usability/image of the Impreza.

Mine goes in a couple of weeks, sadly I would have liked, but couldn't justify, a 330D (next time may be ), so instead have gone for a Golf 150PD in a fairly high spec.

Cheers
Tim

TopBanana

Isn't there a new 330d coming out soon?

Chins

If your looking for a 3 Series Diesel, go for the 320d if residuals worry you. Only problem is the waiting list. The advantage of a 330D is dealers are willing to deal at present. The 320 is on a 5 month wait, the 330 is "what colour would you like next week". Due to the company tax law changes, sales of the 330D have collapsed (high emmisions compared to the 320d). Apparently lots of dealers have new stock of the 330D. Demand was overestimated and too many were built.

Has anyone compared the 320 to the 330, as it seems a lot of money for the bigger engine ?. I'm considering both myself, so should go and have a drive in the next week or so. I want the 330, but my dealership having it on its least wanted list is putting me off. However with 7 in stock, ownership would come soon

Jonathan

GaryC

I had a drive of a new 320d. Very impressive, performance isn't a million miles away from the 330d, although noticeable, but it is far less refined (4-pot Vs 6-pot)

I suspect one reason of the 330d deals is the new engine which is in the wings - 220hp and 330lb/ft need to offload old stock, and the UK is the only real RHD market for them!