Thinking of buying a Suburu
 

Hello, just joined! Currently a near enough stock EP3 owner considering a Suburu. Never had boost before so interested. Going to hopefully test drive one soon. I'm 23 in August and have had a good insurance quote for a 2004 Uk STi, which I believe is the blob eye 260 version?

I'd like a UK STi at minimum, perhaps if insurance allows a PPP. Joined up to learn about them and maybe look for some for sale, since pistonheads is a bit rubbish of late. I don't think the 260Uk STi will be that much quicker than my Civic based on power to weight, so PPP looks like a good idea.

Has anyone else made this jump? I'm a little concerned about turbo power delivery and whether it's fun and can you feel it. I went out as a passenger in a friends so called 300bhp+ Supra, and while fast, felt a bit dull in truth.

The car in some pictures can look bad, and in real life, I think it depends. I saw one a few days ago, black, low, with a splitter, and it looked amazing. It seems some do look quite worn and unloved.

I will search through the forums of course, but if anyone fancies giving me any information about buying, what to look for, reliability issues etc, this would be very much appreciated. I'd be very interested in knowing whether turbo jap cars are as unreliable, and expensive to fix, as rumours say.

Just an excited post really, any info will be appreciated. :D

when u get a subaru u wont go back only fuel is a bad thing

i went from a ep3 type r to a impreza,did i regret it?.....................hell no

and my scoob is just as reliable as my civic was,subaru's are tough cars-look after them and they look after you

Welcome, CTR's are awesome cars. Get a Sti and then mapped by a reputable mapper (320-340bhp with simmilar torque). You will soon forget your v-tec days :)

i think best 1s 2 buy are the 2 door type r subaru

When I had my first impreza from a punto GT I loved it :)

I'm thinking of a hawk eye impreza next to go with my 8MR

I also came from a civic type r, to be honest don't worry about ppp figures are never correct get an sti stick a full exhaust and panel filter on it get it mapped and you looking at roughly 330bhp now that will leave the civic

Thanks for the replies. Main worry is if it breaks, will I be given something stupid like a £2k bill.

Are servicing and repair costs ridiculous with these?

Far from it mate i pay less for servicing on this than on my civic, repairs I have no idea as touch wood have had no problems

stop being a pussy and do it :D

if your timing chain fails on your civic you will be looking at £2k+

i used to worry about buying a scoob...............what if this happens and what if that happens....................blah-blah-blah

buy from a enthusiast who has looked after it like i did and you shall be fine

there is loads of traders on here who break imprezas so finding parts is easy

dont thrash from cold

dont bounce off the rev limiter (its not a honda remember)

dont use ****ty oil and change it when it needs changing and it should be fine

You think servicing is bad on a impreza, don't buy an evo like I have :)

Impreza's are not that bad :)

+1

also when i had my honda i remember the parts prices being sky high,not nearly as many places offering parts as in the subaru world

Well just had a full service using Motul oils and that was mega bucks!
I must say i haven't had not one problem with it

I do love it but I still got a itch for another impreza

Sounds good. Looking at auto trader and it seems I should be able to get a good decent mileage blob eye STi for under £8K with any luck, maybe £7500? Insurance quote was about £1K so 8.5K all in. Sounds OK.

Problem is, finding a mint one with an honest history that has not been ragged from cold.

i got my crystal grey my05 sti for 7300 full history etc 45k needed new discs and pads though. They are out there just need to search high and low

In the real world a standard STi would beat the Civic hands down. The power to weight may be similar but the big difference is that the Civic has around 145 lbs/ft torque and the STi has nearly double that. ;)

A standard Type R is still slightly behind a standard WRX in most of the stats. :)

Need to find an STi to drive. I may find the power delivery boring. Or I may think boost is awesome. Going to take a look for one to see next weekend.

Ideally i'd like one with the splitter on, maybe even some different wheels.

my mates got a ctr,ive got a 320bhp blobeye, he loved the way the power came in at low revs, the type r was a great handler but felt gutless unless in vtec mode, i love the seats on the civic though, also, it costs alot of money to get anymore power from the ep3, scooby gets remapped and its like a different car

Problem with these is, most of the blob eyes on the pictures look a bit shoddy. If you look at a very clean, lowered on darker wheels, STi, with a splitter, it looks awesome.

Look better in real life than pictures too.

What rough price am I looking at for a UK260 STi would you think? Can one be had for 7K, on say, under 65-70K miles. How expensive is the big service and when is it? If there is one. I imagine clutches to be expensive to change on these. I think these will be a belt driven as opposed to chain also?

If it was me then i'd save up a bit more and get a hawkeye, you get more torque being a 2.5 engine and in my opinion their better looking than the blobeyes. Or possibly get a WR1 ?

Scoobyclinic supplyed and fitted a clutch and cambelt on my hawkeye early last year for £750 :hjtwofing

If you get a Hawkeye or any of the later models with the 2.5 engine, get one that has been forged. Head gaskets have been known to fail even on standard cars at relatively low miles.

The blobeyes 2003-2005 are fine though.

You'll easy get a 2003 or 2004 blobeye for 7k, much less than 70k miles too. The 2005 had some revisions in the interior (nicer heater controls, red dials) and also has DCCD. It's also a wider wheelbase. Unfortunately that means they are a bit more expensive, think more 7-8k but they're more sought after.

I have a 2003 STi. Suits me fine and only cost me 5k. Couldn't justify the premium for a 2005 personally.

Where abouts are you? Happy to take you out in mine if you're from around my way.

fuel is a bad thing? Dont remind me, was messing around with an AMG the other night brand new 62 plate aswell for about 70 miles up the M1 ... yeah i regretted that when i came off the M1 and saw my fuel gauge from half to almost light coming on :'(

I went from an FN2 CTR with LSD to a 315bhp blob sti.

Seriously, you won't look back.

First of all, are you sure your mates supra is turo'd lol being serious though, the supras are a very heavy car, so it will take a lot of boost for you to get a proper kick (hense why alot of supra owners go single turbo conversion and stick like a T66 on it! lol)

But yes you can feel the boost on the impreza, I went from a 2009 focus Rs to a 1999 Sti type r and kind of regret it, but learnign to live with it haha

Im sure comapred to the civic you wont be disapointed ;)

Oh dear.

If you want to modify one the car to have IS the 2005 Widetrack Blob. All the benefits of the Hawk without the weak 2.5. ? It cost me £3K+ to forge mine and rebuild fully (Engine Tuner was fantastic as usual)

You will not only feel the boost but probably utter some choice words too....The STi comes on boost at just under 3,000rpm and you need to change up at 6,500 or so so loads of power range and standard cars are 280bhp anyway. Power comes from swapping the restrictive turbo out downpipe and noise from the back box. (no faster just makes coppers follow you and neighbours hate you).

Best way to describe a scooby in 3rd gear on twisty roads is RABID!

I wil probably keep mine forever.....I just love the rush of giving it the berries....but I also have a boost/temp/oil pressure triple gauge and it takes 15 minute to get the oil warm before fun commences.....

Ive always regretted selling my scoob , after having 400+BHP nothing has come close :( now after a few years scoobless im thinking of getting another at the end of the year. Do it mate you wont regret it.
This one is for sale on here WRX STI Type R 500+BHP Monster haha

https://www.scoobynet.com/subaru-444...00-type-r.html Needs a good home!!!

Repair costs can be eyewatering, yes. But if you take care, get hold of a looked after, or unmolested car, and have it modded by a KNOWLEDGEABLE specialist, there's not much to worry about.

Unfortunately, the lower price of earlier cars now means that lots have been unsympathetically modded by the "Stick a dumpvalve on it if you want, it worked OK on my RS Turbo," brigade.

Those sort of cars are to be avoided.

Do lots of research on here, read and listen to what people say, sift the bad advice from the good and then take the plunge.

But always keep in mind two things:
1. Whenever you take advice, remember that your adviser won't be paying any bills you incur....

2. Remember that these are powerful and quite complicated cars. They aren't dead easy to maintain, nor to repair, so they need to be looked after properly. if you can't do that, walk away...or suffer the consequences:(

You forgot 3.

3. Under no circumstances put a chav trumpet on your Impreza. Or a fake roof vent, or stickers :thumb:

Hello dude

I made the same jump nearly a year ago, you will NOT regret it ... I got a 2006 WRX sti remapped running @ 350BHP with nearly as much torque ... it is insane compared to the EP3, I never get bored of the boost, @ approx 3000rpm it sucks me in my seat lol :)

lovely motors

as with regards for insurance, try greenlight, you may need to be 25 though but I cant remember

cheers