Contemplating replacing my Hawkeye STI for a brand new STI. Went to my local dealer recently and there was a year-old car in the workshop with its engine out so I asked the salesman about it, he said the owner had ruined his engine "because he drove at 130mph". Now, I fully expect to use the full performance of my new car and probably keep it as long as I have the hawk (from new), so this does not fill me with confidence! Trips to Germany (autobahn) and the Ring and track days mean I WILL be doing >130mph, just as I have many times in mine. Keen to hear from any other owners, I was hoping the hatch era engine issues are a thing of the past now...

Note: I do not want this to become a 2.5 bashing thread!! OWNERS opinions please. If you do not OWN a new model, thanks for looking but please don't troll! And yes I have searched and trawled this site but I haven't seen much on the latest model cars.

Ta,
Pete.

 

I saw a thread a while back where someone said scooby clinic had 2 in with the same failure as the other 2.5s

 

Passing thought, does anyone else think the change in bonnet scoop design may contribute to the engine issues with the post hawkeye 2.5? It just struck me that the mouth on the scoop on later cars is much smaller than it used to be and that wouldn't help with inlet temperatures, especially at speed.

 

It was also suggested that the shape of the bonnet "fired" the air above the scoop at high speed, again just something mentioned before, I have no proof of this.

 

No issues here, Owned my old 2015 for a year & a half 13,000 miles driven pretty hard considering but very well maintained, No issues & no oil usage. Just sold it yesterday for another Brand new one special ordered. Also any others we have sold have never had any issues.

I think if they are having troubles you may need to looking to what fuel they use and how they maintain there cars.

The older scoop design of the hawk etc was firing air above the scoop above 120mph.

 

Have you ever seen a hatch and hawk sti side by side? Hatch scoop is far bigger and deeper, also runs a larger intercooler.

Failures are more map related as they went bonkers for mpg increase hatch onwards

Subaru must look at wind tunnels as blob massive bird catcher scoop wasnt needed on hawk due to more profiled nose on a hawk i assume, there is a wind tunnel video kicking about of a hawk in a wind tunnel

Id say all top mounts become inefficent in high 100mph numbers due aerodynamics but subaru will argue the car was never designed to go at high mph, high rpm for long durations

 

So your selling your Hawk Pete.

 

Thanks for the replies. Quiet in here these days. Or maybe not so many replies to my question is a good thing.

 

My understanding is that they revised things from the 11/12 MY onwards. My 2012 saloon is actually nearing 100k now and it's spot on (touch wood). I know it's not exactly the same model you asked about, but thought maybe a positive experience would be welcome

 

TBH I've heard of a few suffering engine failure here in the UK and a few over in the USA too. BUT it's like 3-5% of cars compared to the 2008 Sti epidemic which was more like + 30% imho.

It's still the same 2.5 but with a slightly diff turbo.. It's got the same part number as previous but the cast housing has been measured as v slightly bigger. Providing better power but a little later again. Less stress for the 2.5

NB. The Perrin website has some good info on the slight turbo spec change.


Really if you were wise you'd wait for the new direct injection 2.0 to come out in Sti form. The twin scroll new WRX is good but an Sti would be superb. The 2.5 technology is over ten years old now and really an embarrassment considering how the other Marquez have moved on.

Saying that - I bought a MY16 Sti and swapped in my 2.33 stroker - great car now. The suspension revisions and current standard set up are a revelation from past sloppiness and the interior a much nicer place to be.

If you were offered an amazing deal maybe you'd get on okay. But if you can wait - buy a car that'll be so much better under the bonnet.

Just my thoughts ... A


PS. And yes I had a 2008 Sti that blew @16,000 completely standard and cared for.

 

Jay - good news, thanks for sharing.

Apostle - I can see where you are coming from, the WRX gets good reviews in the US with the 2.0. Actually rather like the current model though, and i always got the feeling Subaru models start a bit pants and then improve lots through the model cycles so would rather go for the car now than wait for the all-new model next year. Also don't want to risk that the next STI has electric steering!!

 

TBH if you want one - then get one ✅. I REALLY like mine. Compared to the MY08 it's a v diff ride. Enjoy