Driven: E92 M3 vs RB320
 

Wow, what a day of test driving. Two E92 M3's, a GT86 Aero and an RB320. The result?

The RB320 won by miles. What a drive.

http://www.churchsperformancecars.co...dekyAVbtBC8SZ1

It's years since I've had that much fun on the road. Great power delivery, wonderful sound. The car felt alive on the road. By comparison the M3 felt like an old man's car. Heavy and sluggish.

I'm defo returning to the fold now. It's been 8 years. Thing is, 17.5k is a lot to ask for a UK Scooby. Obviously, it's had Prodrive all over it and it's a limited edition, but that's still a lot of money. I'm guessing they hold their values well?

Next up, JDM WRX STi test. Similar money should get me a very tasty JDM car. Forged 2.0L engines gotta be a safer bet than the 2.5L? I'm a bit worried about how the JDM cars will sound. I've always liked the burble.

Sounds like a rather fun day.

Dumb question but why would it sound any different? Only thing really would be exhaust, so budget for a replacement.

Why would it sound different? easy peasy!

Twinscroll equal length headers on the JDM, its a performance car, no compromise to keep a silly tractor sound at the expense of drivability and power.... How a car should sound the JDM one! :)

Oh and that is dreamers money!

Would get a spec C hawk for that.... Infact for 2.5k extra you could have had Fuds 700hp Blawk....

Still learning, cheers :)

So don't budget for an exhaust. Enjoy the performance advantage and not the burble.

Agreed,that's ridiculous money for an RB320. The spec C is a far better buy.

17.5K for a RB320 is just rediculous unless it's got a proper built motor and a mega spec.

Yeah. The main reason for the RB320 drive was it was local and I'd not driven a newage car before. However, thanks for the comments on the price. I'm not on the Spec C though. I like my creature comforts. Thinner glass, sound deadening removed, no C/Locking? I want that stuff. :-)

Would never pay that kinda money, yeh its a rare car but it need to have a proper built engine for that kinda money the fact its plastic engine may let go at anytime would need to budget another 5k put aside just in case so overall way over priced.

I'd rather go with a nice low mile JDM hawk STI and keep a few K in the bank for a few tweaks.

Why is 17.5k ridiculous money for an RB320? You don't know what mileage / condition etc it is. RB's are commanding good money at the moment, personally I think they're going to be a good investment for the future.

I cannot deny that the JDM is technically a better car and has some nice extras on it, but the sound of a JDM ruins it for me (I have owned a blob JDM so am qualified to make that statement). A JDM does not sound like a rally car FFS, it sounds like any other car with an exhaust IMO. The burble is a big part of Subaru ownership for me.

As already said previously, I'd deffo factor in for a rebuild though.

If you liked the RB320 you will love a JDM. Better car for less money...twinscroll 2.0, quick rack...decat it and remove the resonator and although you lose some burble you gain an incredible thoroughbred howl that sounds like no other four-pot.

The one advantage the RB320 does have is that its suspension is better tuned for UK roads, but RB320 suspension can be retrofitted.

No one ever said it sounds like a rally car?

It does however perform better, sound better, look better, handle better etc etc.

Id rather have a car that performs well and revs quicker etc than a car that sounds like another council estate touring car.

Not on this thread, but numerous times folk on this forum have said it.....makes me laugh every time!

Again, I cannot argue that the JDM is technically better, there's no question about that, and god I wish my Type UK had a rear windscreen wiper, but after owning both, I genuinely prefer the UK car. I just find it more 'fun'. I think I put it down to the combination of the sound and the power delivery of the single scroll setup. It's all personal preference of course.

I love a burble as much as the next man, but I suspect you may have had the wrong exhaust. I think I have some understanding as my new hawk sounds slightly ordinary (am looking at exhaust options now) but I defy anyone so truly admit they'd want to back to single-scroll after hearing my old blob, not mention the other benefits that twin-scroll brings.

I wouldn't class an RB320 as 'a seriously fast car' as it says in the review.

No slouch, but no faster than a lot of modern cars. :)

With decatting, what's the MoT situation?

never understood why someone would prefer a uk over a jdm based on exhaust note only lol
I've owned one uk impreza had it a full 2 months and got bored of it. twin scroll does not sound like a rally car, more like an r1 on full chat :)

It won't pass.

You have to refit the cat before the MOT. Unless you know a 'friendly' MOT tester, that is. ;)

The cat's in the downpipe? Sounds like a PITA!

Your the first person on the forum who said they prefer the Uk over the JDM, to be be honest I might agree with you although I have only owned a UK Blob, the sound of the JDM cars kinda ruins it for me too, not something that puts a smile of my face compared to the burble.

I always wanted a hawk in white however due to the "chocolate engine", it pushed me away. Did think of getting hawk jdm but not sure if I may be satisfied with the sound and linear power delivery.

The price of that RB320 is about the going rate from a Dealer with low miles, full history in excellent condition.

If you are interested in an RB320 have a look on the owners club site http://www.rb320ownersclub.co.uk/

I can't see me buying a UK car over a JDM car, purely on the strength of the engine internals. It's obvious a major issue. However, there are lots of UK cars out there that have had engine rebuilds with uprated turbos that can be had for similar money as a JDM STi. As an example:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...08RJ&logcode=p

I wouldn't buy a car from these people, just on the strength of the comments on this forum. But the question stands, how would such a car fall short of the JDM STi?

The only thing that is worrying is whether such a machine can be used as a daily (low mileage) drive and what about reliability?

Here's another with less power. Could be a safer bet. Nice price. Leaves me 4k in the bank for adjustments as desired:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...reza&logcode=p

Garage in your opening post is near me. Clueless b@stards. Check out the hawk STI that is apparently spec'd like an RB320, just a stock STI. They sell enough Subarus but are clueless about them. Test drove a gb270 from them a couple of years back, felt no quicker or any tighter than our blob that had twice the mileage and a good few years on it. Offered an insulting part ex price for ours as well.

LOL. Yeah, I saw the "look alike RB320", which, er, didn't look alike...

To be fair to them, the RB320 they have is a very tidy example. Drove beautifully. Tis over priced somewhat, but you have to remember they're south of Guildford, not in Scotland. It's an area where people have lots of money and there are lots of nice cars around. Saw an F40 parked outside a newsagents a while ago.:eek: So, they can get away with asking a little over the odds for the cars they sell. Had quite a long chat with the owner of the business. He used to run classics, so we reminisced. He was far from clueless. Trouble was, he wasn't going to accept there was anything wrong with the stock 2.5L engine internals. I said nothing, but the owners stories tell us otherwise.

Don't know if it was the owner that I spoke to, but yeh, had the chat about the stock 2.5 and they were none the wiser about any piston or hg issues with them, and that rb320 ad speaks enough to me. Also, where is the privacy glass that it is advertised as having. Anyone that knows these cars would advertise important spec like dccd etc, not the fact it has cosmetic crap on it that it doesn't have.

This one sold fairly quickly, they're starting to command good money again

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Immaculate...MAAOSwa-dWl8h2

I may be getting rid of mine in the near future in time for the new RS delivery, but mine has a built motor in it not the chocolate one it came with from new.

I need to go drive some other stuff for comparison, but I did like the 320. Could be interested, yes.