RB320?? Help Needed - Your Opinion!!
 

Guys,

Have been to the dealer today and very close to putting my deposit on a RB320 (see here)http://www.imprezarb320.co.uk/:eek2:

But and its a big but, I am kinda reluctant to do so. I am currently in a 2003 WRX with PPP and its just fantastic apart from the v-power thirst!
Until this week my ideal next car would have been someting like this....
Subaru : Subaru STI PPP (gorgeous car but I need to trade in against it so a private sale is unlikely)
A big gap between the two really one is an £18kish car and the other £30k !!

So whats prompting me to think of spending the thick end of £30k?? It just says a whole lot to me. I grew up watching the RAC rally and had massive respect for RB, never met him but always came across as a very talented and humble guy. The car looks great and I know it will lose money but even if it depreciates at the same rate as a new sti then so what?

Must be some exclusivity in it and would be interested to know what the RB5 and WR1 owners think re residuals, even though thats a lower priority for me.

I run my car most days 60 miles to commute and have always looked after my stuff, the '03 wrx is in great shape having been hand waxed religiously with Colinite and poorboys wax's and it wants for nothing, would it be a shame to get a RB320 and treat it like any other car?

Really would like your views guys, good bad or indifferent, I'm man enough to hear them!!!:)

Thanks

Graeme

If you going to spend 30k your better off buying my spec c type ra will beat the rb230 in every area.........performance,exclusivity,handling and looks.
It will hold its value far better then any rb320,wr1 or rb5.

Performance Centre Manchester

i think the residual value isd a major factor to you mate, im not having a pop at you hear, but the very fact your post is centered around it suggests that there is at very least, an underlying worry.

My advice to you is work out what the cars worth to you. How long will you keep it. Mod it and you will start to loose the future value. serious miles and the value will rapidly decline.

BUT, think about all that, if say your going to keep the car 5 years or more, i really wouldnt let it bother you. No one else will convince you to buy it, if they do, its not the car for you really mate.

I would love one, simply due to the fact that its an RB special eddition, but theres no way im going to take the hit on another brand new imprezza, me personally, i cant afford to. But there are many that can.


question is, can you?

the rb edition looks the bollocks it ticks all the right boxes for me.

i also like the colour of your sti you have now, you dont see many of them about.

Fair play to your comments mate, but i see no reason why a spec C will hold value better that this car, all will take a serious hiding. At the end of the day, i would suggest there are far more people out there who would want an RB 320 than a spec C. and as there are far more spec C's out there, prices wont fall AS MUCH IMO. But fall they most definatly will. Is there a glasses or parkers expected futer value guide for this model yet?

Totally agree, however I would see Litchfields first mate (sorry PCM):)

Theres only 320 RB320's - Thats the bonus,

but it is just a marketing ploy.

Personally, with 30k to spend on a car, it wouldnt be the rb320, it would have to be a type 25

But the Spec C that PCM is selling is a Spec C Type RA, not the standard Spec C. Only 350 ever made and a much rarer car. Much more exclusive and sought after IMO and should hold it's money better than the RB320.

i think you need to do a little research before posting comments like that lol


but to save you a little time, there are 320 RB320's that will be realeased for UK registration.

and there are 350 spec C RA's available.

Whaich one is the rarer car?


and thats the RA we were talking about, PCM only have one of them anyway which might i add, has been for sale for a while now


great car, as a trackday animal yes, an everyday to live with car, not really, and i dont know about you, but i dont have 30K to start flogging round the track

Evolution thats kinda hitting the nail on the head for me, I dont really have to buy a new car and take a hit no matter how exclusive it is, it just wont make sense. Longest I ever keept a car was 3yrs and I am just lining myself up for a 12-18 month massive hit in depreciation amn't I? Should just listen to sense rather than the marketing and go for the cheaper option.

The STI PPP in the pic is not mine BTW its the type/colour I would buy next. I only have a WRX PPP on and 03. The one in my post is my ideal car due to colour / spec and low miles, looks a minter.

So the balance of opinion is for an import every time?, better spec, better handling on the spec C and RA? makes more sense?

as said mate, if your not fussed about the money, go for it, i would love one, but i couldnt justify it,

for me, spending 30k id be off to the porsche 996 turbo market, will hold its value and on the roads, (which is where i would be using it) you wont get left behind by any standard imprezza model. A real supercar lol

still stick with the flat series engine too lol, oh, and you will get some money back when you decide to sell it

Sorry mate but you just can’t compare an rb230 to a spec c it's not even in the same league.

The rb320 is uk sti with a few tweaks there’s nothing exclusive about it and there’s probably only 100 of the new my06 spec c in the country if not less.

Yes it’s been up for sale for a while, but that’s because i am in no rush to sell . O yeh i was offered 27k cash in the first four weeks but walked away and laughed.

I have owned a few nice motors mate and i can honestly say none even come close to the performance and grin factor of this spec c type ra !!

JDM every day of the week for me ;)

Evolution, are you currently in a STI? if so I would be intersted in your choice of next car?

The £30k is a stretch and I can just about justify it. But I think proportionally spending less and getting a STI like in the link on my post would be a better option.

That said I did drive a 996 a while ago when my friend owned one. Had never thought about that for an alternative flat rumble!!!!!!!!

See if this website helps to persuade you...

The RB320 Owners Club

well first off mate, i didnt set the cmparison, you did, and yes, one car is a track animal as i have previously posted in this thread.

Nothing exclusive about the RB320, can i ask how long you have been incolved in the impreza scene, may have been longer than me, but you appear to have not taken anything in about the cars at all. The car may well be a tweaked STI, what i think you meant to say, is that there is no real great difference between the 2 technically than that compared to a spec c let alone the RA. The RB320 will always be a ledgend in the scooby world, nor you or i can change that, and this car will sell out because there is a demand for it even if it is just down to the name and badging


Granted, 100 RA's will only ever hit UK shores, but at the end of the day, a spec c is primerily aimed at the motorsport world is it not, similar to the RS range offered by mitsubishi. A much better plattform than the STI to turn into a real prepped rally car.

on a final point, if you laughed at 27k for that RA, your a very silly person, its up for £28,995 and you sniffed at 2K, are you mad. How much is it costing to have sat on the forecort? please do tell. My guess is that even at 27k, that car will be hard to sell, your looking for the buyer, where as the RB has hundreds of thousands of fans out there that would love a car that was dedicated to this rallying hero


john

Hoping I haven't got this wrong. I see it as Subaru UK will give the proceeds of the first RB320 car to the RB Foundation. This means that each owner is basically paying 1/320 of their £30k car to the RBF. This means Subaru is passing on £93.75 (ninety three pounds and seventy-five pence) per car. That leaves quite a chunk of cash between the cost of an STi and the RB320 to cover the extras and a substantial profit margin for Subaru.

My view would be to spend £29k on the best STi you can buy for that money. Then pass the remaining £1,000 on to the RB Foundation. This would mean a lot more than buying an RB320 itself.

No mate, im in a poverty spec WRX MY05 PPP


im torn between a few cars for my next choice. I bought mine new and its worth nothing now, so, a new STI (MY06) is out the question. The MY08 hatch if it looks the way it dos is possible, the new evo is also possible as it mean keeping my car for nearly 3 years, therefore the hit doesnt seem as painful. loosing 20K on 2 cars in 6 years i could probably just about cope with.


That said, im now also considering going down the 996 route and buying a classic as a daily runner. Talking to a mate of mine that owns a well known tuning company known here, he has pointed out a good few points that seem to make sense.

Buy the 996, and tune fook out the classic whilts spending a fortune with him pmsl.



The STI would be a good step up if you could get the good money for yours, but in this day and age, its very hard to get. If i ended up with the STI PPP, i would only end up getting it remapped so you may want to consider that, the STI PPP is faster than what you have now, but its not in another class so to speak, a few well choosen mods mind and it could well be. PPP IMO is there for performance upgrades for those that want warranty, also bear this in mind, how much power do you want, if its loads, then PPP is a waste of money if its at a premium which on the example you posted, it would seem it is.

john

one way of looking at it i suppose

I'll second that :thumb: take a look at it, it's gorgeous!! I've also been a passenger in it & it's a monster ...

TX.

:cuckoo: I'd suggest that not many people have £30k to spend as to why this is.

TX.

If you were considering buying a RB320 it would be worth bearing in mind that the leather/alcantara interior is another £1400/£1500 taking it up to £31.5k.When it comes to getting shot of the car one with the RB interior is always going to be more desireable and probably worth more than one with the blue STI interior.I know that if I was looking for one second hand I would got for the higher spec every time.

First of all you don’t have to be in the impreza scene that long to understand the spec c is the daddy let alone the type ra /type ra-r.
And secondly Richards is the legend not the car.
Thirdly there’s only 3 type ra’s on uk shores mine, gussy’s and the one at litchfields.
Fourthly the spec c is a fair compromise between motor sport and street.
Fiftly the spec c 16” is primarily aimed at motor sport and in my opinion a better platform to start your rally car with.(far better then any mitsi)

And last but not least

I’d rather have it sat on my forecourt then let it go for 27k.Its just a stunning car to look at, the only bad thing about the car is the amount of attention it attracts.

Who ?;)

RB320 is a nice looking car but IMO not worth the £30K asking price, it's bacisally a black STI PPP and few prodrive extras with a couple of badges and different wheels. The optional leather should of been including in that price aswell i think.

If i was going to spend £30k on a scoob i'd buy a JDM Spec C for £27.5 and spend the rest on a Miltek exhaust and Re-map ECU.

Although i have no doubt that the RB320 will sell well and have good residual values.

I think the RB320 will hold it's value better than any other Impreza. Why?

A) It's an exclusive model (only 320 being built)
B) The WR1 hold it's value better than any STI

Also, comparing the RB320 and a Type RA cannot be fair. For a start no one has driven the RB320 yet. Prodrive have fitted different suspension to it, so it's going to handle differently to any other STI.
You could wait for the likes of EVO magazine to test drive it, and see from there. You could be to late by then to get one though.

Example. My old man was considering ordering the new R8 (delivery August 2007) he waited to think about it for a couple weeks, decided to get one, and has now been told delivery of late 2008/early 2009.

Why not put a deposit down and wait and see if the reviews are favorable. With the new suspension parts fitted, it might well out handle every other Impreza on the road.

Plus, unless on a track, no Type RA would pull out any advantage on a STI PPP. On UK roads.

I have to admit that the RB320 is a fine looking motor :thumb: It may not be a better car to drive then the Spec C - but that depends on what YOU want from the car. Spec C is better for track, etc, but if you want it as an everyday road car and not bothered about modding and like the security of an official Subaru UK Warranty then you can't go far worng with an RB320. You will be the envy of most at meets/ events/ etc and you will belong to a small club of owners, in just the same way as the RB5 owners are, etc.

> RB320 is a nice looking car but IMO not worth the £30K asking price, it's
> bacisally a black STI PPP and few prodrive extras with a couple of badges
> and different wheels. The optional leather should of been including in that
> price aswell i think.

Thats exactly the same b*ll*cks as was posted about the WR1, probably mostly by the same people.

I bought one and three years later I'm still pleased with it. Loads more exclusive than a sonic blue STi with a few prodrive extras. Still get people saying is that a WR1? Residuals look better than "a STi with a few prodrive extras", not hugely, but significantly.

Never crossed my mind to buy a JDM car either. Mines a daily driver and I couldn't have put up with all the hassle of insurance, warrantly, servicing and I only lived 1/2 mile from Litchfield at the time. For what, another few fractions of a tenth off 0-60mph if you're lucky and "improved handling" you need to be Jason Plato to notice.

If you fancy a RB320 then just do it.

Eh? You can't compare a modded STI (it's got PPP) to a standard Type RA :cuckoo: Once modded the Type RA will be 350bhp so will p*ss on a PPP'd STi.

TX.

Evolution I will just put my 10 pennys worth in.As juggers says there are only 3 spec-c type ra's in the country as for not been an everyday driving car thats a load of bollocks I can throw the wife and kids in it and go shopping no problem then at weekends take it on track you get the best of both worlds with it.

Richard Burns:D