Valiante

Hi all!

I've always been a bit of a petrol head, and have always admired the Impreza from afar (especially the sound of the boxer engine).. but I've never owned one, so I know nothing about them.

On a total whim, I just bought a rather cheap first gen 5-door turbo. It's a little rough around the edges cosmetically, but as far as I can tell it's totally standard and doesn't appear to have ever been abused. It's only had 3 owners, the last one being for 9 years as a family car making annual jaunts to France. The only non-standard thing on it is an LPG conversion.

I'd like to have a bit of fun with it and my first port of call is always owners forums. I've had various cars over the years and always find these places an invaluable source of information.

So first off I guess I'd like to see if I can find out as much as possible about what I've bought, and how I can make this thing "sing" a little louder as the drive home was entirely too quiet! There's definitely a hint of that boxer noise in there, but the standard little exhaust muffles it wayyyy too much. I don't want to spend a fortune, as this is literally a third car I've bought to have some fun with, so any DIY mods & tips & tricks would be extremely welcome.

So, I guess that's my intro combined with a couple of questions - I look forward to delving into this community as I have with previous enthusiast cars.

Brun

Second hand back box from the for sale pages for a few £££ will release the noise! Depends how loud you want really! Some are way too loud. For me, a Ninja exhaust was perfect.

Valiante

Should a back box from a saloon fit straight onto the hatchback / wagon, or are they different lengths? Also please correct my terminology as I'm still learning the scooby lingo.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

There was no such thing as a five-door until around 2010 when the hatch appeared. You have a four-door saloon.

If you give us the VIN number (under the bonnet, near side on a plate along with co,lour code etc), we'll tell you what you have.

Exhaust for saloon and wagon are the same in all ways.

Welcome.

Valiante

I see. It's listed as a "hatchback" on the logbook and looks like an estate or wagon. I'm at work at the mo but will grab the VIN tonight.

Thanks!

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

It's definitely a wagon. The Applied model code will identify it correctly. It'll start with GF8.

Possibly GF8C58D?

Scooby-Mark

Welcome on board

You have what is commonly know as a wagon within the Subaru community.

Although wagon is and American term for estate there would be many arguments from within the industry to support the "hatch back" statement on the V5.

Having never worked on the Impreza lines I can only pass opinion from pictures but knowing other saloon / hatch / estate models I have worked on it would tend to lean towards a hatch rather than an estate.

Either way enjoy your ownership and welcome to the slippery slope of modding

Valiante

Ha! I don't doubt it.. I'm led to believe it's an import so it's very probable the logbook is wrong, as it's whatever they registered it as back in '95. It also makes me wonder if it's truly a 1995 model, as that's just when it was "first registered" in the UK, so could be even older? Didn't think they would be imported brand new, but I could be wrong..

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

The 'Applied Model Code' on the plate on the nearside strut top will reveal all.

Steve001

iTrader: (7)

The LG conversion sounds interesting you could ??? Look into a duel map one for the good stuff and the other for LPG/economy

Valiante

To be honest I'm not massively worried about economy and actually switched the LPG system off on the drive home so I could get the full picture of just how quick it is on proper go-juice. Answer: quicker than I expected! Just needs more noise...

I don't think I'll go as far as removing the LPG system though, as it might come in handy for a trip to Germany I have planned in July. (Did someone say Nurburgring?) Unless I find out it's restricting the engine when it's on petrol in some way, I'll probably leave it alone as it's literally a button the dash to turn it off and back to petrol.

A dual map sounds interesting though..

Valiante

So I forgot to get the VIN last night, but thankfully remembered before I left for work this morning. Here's the plate in question;


Link to full-size version

I'm not being lazy, I know I can look this up myself but I'm on mobile until I get to work so thought I'd post it now and see what y'all come back with before I research it.

Edit: Here are the numbers for ease of copy & paste;

VIN: JF1GF8KD3SG011611
Applied Model: GF8CK8D
Option Code: EE
Trim Code: 510
Color Code: 307
Engine Type: EJ20GNW4HD
Transmission Type: TY752VN3BA

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

I don't think that's an import as it has the long VIN number. Welcome to the world of Subaru ownership!

Edit: I've noticed yours has the letter K in the applied model code. Mine does too and I can't find any info on the usual places. Then I googled the actual model code, the results mostly appear on cars in Australia! Mine is a 1997 UK Turbo 2000 and it's been here from new so I suppose it's possible there were parallel imports back then to keep up with demand.

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

That's an MY95 (I think?) UK Tubby 2000 wagon.

Valiante

Ok, so far as I can ascertain from wikibooks.org, this is what I have;

J = Japan
F = Fuji Heavy Industries
1 = Passenger Vehicle
G = Impreza
F = 1st gen. Wagon
8 = 2700cc FWD / 1200cc 4WD 1991 / 1200cc AWD 1992-94
K = STI WRX
D = Class D (GVWR 5001-6000 lbs.)
3 = Check Digit
S = Model Year
G = FHI - Full-time AWD 5MT

The only thing which doesn't quite add up is the engine-type (8) from the 6th digit as I don't think it's any of those. cars101.com suggests it's a 3.0L 6 cyl, while vindecoderz.com tells me it's a 2.5L, but the engine type itself (EJ20GNW4HD) tells me it's an EJ20 (1994cc) so I'm a little confused about this.

Edit: At least the colour-code's right as 307 = Metallic Deep Green, from 1993 onwards.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

I can confirm that mine has the K in the same position and it's certainly not a WRX or STI.

taylor85

iTrader: (5)

welcome to the fun of wagon ownership! Pretty much everything fits off a saloon onto a wagon its just the interiors wont i think

Valiante

So the Applied Model would also suggest it's a WRX, according to Catherine & Ken;

G = Impreza
F = Wagon
8 = 2.0L Turbo
C = MY95 & 96
K = Should be 5 (wagon)?
8 = WRX
D = 5 Speed Manual

Although the "K" in position 5 doesn't exist - apparently only signifies number of doors, so mine should really be a 5. If I search for the "corrected" Applied Model Code of GF8C58D this shows up many more results as being a WRX with 275 PS. Could be totally wrong, but the K doesn't seem to exist in any list!

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

It's a UK car.

http://www.iwoc.co.uk/ukcode.html

That list isn't complete and has gaps.

Valiante

Is that site up? It looks down from here.

Did a quick search of just the first part of the VIN (JF1GF8K) and showed up this scoobycity thread which says he reckons it's a "jap import wrx wagon". So many conflicting bits of information.

Edit: I'm not suggesting you're wrong, by any stretch of the imagination, just pointing out how this seems to be a slightly unusual VIN / Applied Model which others have tried and failed to identify before.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

Exactly as I said before. Mine is the same.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

That site is spot on.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Take a few pics of the car from both sides front and back and the engine bay and the eagle eyed amongst us may be able to tell you what it is.

Valiante

Oddly enough I took a shot of the engine bay this morning, but I'll need to pull it back out of the garage to get better exterior shots, unless I can find the photos from the now removed classified ad.


Link to full-size original

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

The amount of numbers and letters in the VIN gives it away as a UK car. A JDM car only has a VIN with 6 numbers.

Valiante

Understood, thanks.

I managed to find the photos from the AutoTrader ad cached in my phone's file-system. Have uploaded to an Imgur album.

EOEUMC

iTrader: (5)

You can also contact Subaru UK for more info, well at least a Subaru dealer who could contact them. I have a jap WRX and there's no data on dvla when it comes to its mot and emissions. Which means that I can run it without any cats and as long as the co2 is within its limits for a non cat, you can get it tested under the non cat test. So you could not only let that flat 4 burble loose but free up some extra bhp too
Check it for sure to start with though

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

http://www.motuk.co.uk/images/730_newp9.pdf

EOEUMC

iTrader: (5)

I printed this off and left it in the car when it went back for its re-test as it failed on emissions and bulbs. The tester wasn't sure what it was and after I explained that I had spoken to DVLA and told him what they said he understood and it passed Just with an advisory of "The exhaust is loud" lol

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

Happy to help.