opinions please
 

Hi, i used to own a MY99 uk turbo and loved every minute of the 2years i had it!

Now i borrowed my grandads 51 plate WRX today so i could have a good drive of it as im looking at getting one, however, i was really dissapointed with it, loads of lag, rolls like a barge in the bends and the brakes were useless!!! His car is a 30k miles mint standard example but to be honest i think i enjoy driving my current car 206 GTI more!!

its not a patch on my old scoob, what happened to the bugeyes????

My MY03 WRX blobeye did exactly that. LOL.
I wouldnt say loads of lag but i didnt have anything to compare it to though.
But yes it used to feel like it was rolling like a barge :)
Then i got the modding bug didnt I!
But if you wanna another, get an STI imho. Plenty about at sensible prices.
For subarus its a buyers market if you ask me.

yeah, i think the STI is the only way i can go, i dont see the point in buying the WRX knowing that i will have to mod the suspension, brakes and engine just to make it an enjoyable experiance!!

anyone else have opinions on the performance side of the bugeyes???

Drive an STI !

They're heavier and have more emmissions restriction bits in, so the acceleration is slower as standard than a classic, and it blunts the spool up too, so you definitely lose out there. The brakes are the same up front as the latest classic turbos, but with a much stiffer bulkhead to give better pedal feel and less slop, i.e overall a little better (but still nothing to write home about for performance car brakes). The body/chassis is stiffer which tends to mean the handling is ultimately a little better. They are also much more refined so tend to feel less impressive at a given rate of progress than the old "rawer" cars.

Get rid of one or two of the 3 catalysts and remap it, the late spool up goes away, the performance becomes impressive again.

If the handling and brakes were awful compared to a 206 GTi, something wasn't right with the car. Geometry would be the first thing to check, particularly for the handling; a lot of cars are set up horribly by Subaru main dealers! The brakes, given braided hoses, decent pads and fluid will be really quite reasonable (unless you're doing track work) and a noticable improvement on any standard UK classic.

And yes, the STi is a bit of a different beast. Much sharper handling, better brakes, more acceleration and (in non PPP form) a stupid narrow power band as not a lot happens until 4,000rpm and then it's all over by 6,500.

hahahah, wasnt comparing the performance to the 206 just saying it was more fun to drive!!!! The grip was good but the car just rolled an awful lot into the bends when pushing on a bit!!

Agree mate. I had a UK 97 (320 bjp) and drove my friends 2001 bug eye on a few occasions. The handling was shocking and the power delivery was pretty poor. I initially though he had a bad one and was always glad to get back in my Classic.

I test drove a new Blob WRX when they came out and realised my friends car wasn't actually that bad in the end.........they were all a little poor ;).

I now have a Blob sti but its taken me several thousands (suspension and a shade under 400 bhp) to get it close to the feel of my old turbo.