ascender

I am looking to sell my Boxster and have been driving various cars over the last few weeks. Today I drove the new WRX and also a UK300. To cut a long story short I was very impressed by them both and am seriously considering going for one of them. SO, my questions are:

1. Which one should I go for from an expert's point of view?
2. Is the performance upgrade worthwhile?
3. Are there any other things I should add to the car at the start as opposed to later on?

Apologies if any of this is basic, but I am a newcomer to the whole Japanese car thing! I am looking through the old mesages, but there are a lot of them to get through.

Anyway, thanks in advance, and any advice would be much appreciated.


Mike.

Chris L

Mike

Take a look at this thread

polarbearit

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by ascender:
<B>I am looking to sell my Boxster and have been driving various cars over the last few weeks. Today I drove the new WRX and also a UK300[/quote]

Firstly any UK car will not have good meduim term residuals, compared with a boxter, if this is a considuration stick with the boxter or go to Belgium and by the same car for just over £15k (for a standard WRX).

It is really a matter of personal taste about the UK300 - I don't like the way it looks, so I won't be buying one. I would look at putting morrette headlights and big wheels on a standard WRX (tip join SIDC for a 10% discount on accessories at a many dealers).

The Prodrive performance pack will be available for any car soon and if the standard performance isn't enought then £1600 will give you hugely better midrange, if not much more outright speed. The other option is to wait until the begining of next year when the UK WRX STI is going to be launched with between 260 and 276bhp in standard trim and possible a Prodrive pack to improve it further. UK prices are belived to be £26k-£30k, but more details willl be available in October/November (according to my dealer). Again price savings will be possible buying in Belgium / Holland.

Good luck

Jon

Edward

Mike, as Jon says firstly consider an import, I have one on order at the moment @ over £5.5k below list.

If you can't wait 5 -6 months shop around for the best deal, a local dealer offered me £1k off any WRX he had in stock.

Edward.

[This message has been edited by Edward (edited 28 July 2001).]

ascender

Thanks for the info. Any recommendations for good import companies?

Also, how are Subaru dealers for servicing imports?

ascender

OK, so from my research this far I think it is probably better to go for a standard WRX and then do some upgrades myself. I really like the look of the car at Cheam, especially compared to the UK300.

Thanks,


Mike.

Nathan L

Mike
I bought an import MY01 wrx from Belgium saving £5500. I ordered it through

polarbearit

Speak to Chiark on the BBS if you can, he runs an importing imprezas mailing list, so should be able to point you in the right direction...

Keyring and Litchfield Imports (

Andy W

john banks

Just curious, as an Impreza owner (MY00)...

Why lose the Boxster for a car which is slower - what I am saying is that based on EVO figures of bhp/ton, 0-60, 0-100

Impreza (MY01) 158, 6.0, 18.3
Impreza (UK300) 178, 5.8, 16.6
Impreza (MY00) 177, 5.4, 14.6
Boxster (non-S) 175, 6.5, 16.9

In other words, from a rolling start, even a non-S Boxster is quicker, e.g. from 60-100 (10.4s) than any of the new Imprezas. That combined with the universally acclaimed finesse of Boxster handling just makes me wonder. Scoobies feel quick because of the wizz-bang power delivery, but I'd go for the Boxster if the budget was no issue. I think the MY01 is boring in standard form, and palpably slower than the old one.

Gastro

I'm inclined to agree with JB with regards to Boxster and the new WRX.
Having owned a boxster myself and recently test driven a new WRX I would have to say there is little in the 2 performance wise.

Why not go for a used P1 - then you'd be getting a significant upgrade in performance etc... - Shame I sold mine recently - I could have given you a spin in it, since we are both live in the same area.....

Good luck,

Gastro

ascender

Couple of reasons for selling the Boxster which I've had for about 2.5 years now. You are right in saying it is a fantastic car - not the fastest in a straight line, but on A&B roads in the dry, very little can keep up with it on the bends.

Anyway, I am looking to buy a sports car next year which I will only use for weekends and nice days. So, I am looking for something practical but still with a bit of grunt to use all year round - living in Scotland this has to include excellent road-handling in the wet and snow.

The downsides of the Boxster have been the build quality, Porsche servicing costs and using it as a daily car you get a bit fed up of the abuse from other drivers, the extremely harsh ride and as a result the novelty of owning it has worn off a bit. I have had much faster cars before it, but all that taught me was that speed isn't necessarily that important to have fun.

As I know I will be getting something else as a thrills-only car, I was very impressed by the '01 WRX. I know its not the fastest or most powerful Scooby, but it strikes me as a great all-rounder. If I then "get into" the car I know that I can start tuning it up, adding mods etc. As it is, it is a great A-B car which seems to have been made for our british roads and conditions.

Its a bit of a strange thing to explain, but unless you've been there you probably won't understand all my reasons for selling the porker.

Hope I explained myself, but if not, just ask any more questions you feel like.

Thanks,


Mike.

Gastro

Mike,

OK - I understand - pretty much same reasons why I got rid of mine too - but BE WARNED - build quality of Scooby's aint premier league stuff and inferior to the Boxster - I promise you ! However, servicing is a walk in the park compared to the boars head in Edinburgh

Get a test drive in a P1 at Nobles - I promise you - you will really understand what all the hype is about - they are fantastic !!!!!!!

Gastro

e-mail if you want more info......

ascender

Gastro,

I take it that Gelnvarigill's reputation precedes them! I don't think you can go in there for a chat without getting charged for something!

The other reason for just going for a new WRX was that I am looking for a hassle-free (as much as possible) car at the moment - i.e 3 year warranty, 1st owner etc. I have been looking at the P1 as well, but with my track-record it won't stop there and I'll keep on looking at more expensive cars and then more! I'm very weak minded you see.

The UK300 thing has confused things for me as it contains some of the upgrades I would probably go for like the front and side spoilers, but I don't know about the gold alloys for example - maybe I'm better off going for a WRX and speccing up silver 18" alloys if possible?

As for Nobles, I was very impressed by their service indeed. What are their techie bods like?

So what car are you driving now?


M.

ascender

Wall - I have driven a Focus 2.0 with the ESP system and found it to be excellent in all conditions with the ESP as a safety net for when the tyres lose traction. I had planned to go for a Focus RS but it kept getting put back and I got a bit fed up waiting.

As for the WRX, its looks have definitely grown on me and when you add some of the pieces like alloys, morettes, body kit etc. I think it looks quite menacing.

Gastro

Sales at Nobles is very good - as you have found........ I'm not sure I'm the person to give you an opinion on regarding their servicing/warranty claims area - e-mail me if you want to know - but I wasnt terribly impressed !!!!

My car days at the moment are on hold (career/possible house move) - I can be found tootling around in a Lupo Gti
But I've had my fair share of cars (proper!) before that!!!!!

I'll be back !

Gastro

- IMHO the MY01 WRX is an awful looking vehicle in standard trim - but as you say with the right mods - it's looks can be transformed..........

john banks

Glacial depreciation of the Boxster will not be matched by "bugzilla". Nor dare I say it would be build quality or reliability.

Missing Details

nothing wrong wiv a tastefully modified bugzilla!! I put the old one vs new one on my screen....the old impreza looked like a car my grandad would drive!!! th front on the old impreza now looks old & outdated with its rectangle lights compared to a WRX with morettes!!

ascender

So, it is now looking like a standard 2.0 WRX with possibly the following upgrades:

Subaru bodykit - front, rear & side skirts
Morettes
18" Oz Alloys in silver
White indicators

This seems like a good start with possibly the WR Performance UPgrade later in the year. Is it best to get these things ordered and fitted when buying the car initially or done by someone else later? Really the alloys will be the most expensive thing so I might get a cheaper deal buying them from the dealer as an upgrade?

Also, one more question (for now!) - what is the difference between sports seats and bucket seats? I always thought they were the same thing.


M&gt;

Silent Monkey

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by ascender:
<B>Also, one more question (for now!) - what is the difference between sports seats and bucket seats? I always thought they were the same thing.

M&gt;[/quote]
No they're not the same. Sports have a separate headrest, buckets don't. You don't get side airbags with the buckets, you do with the sports.

Some people, with a self confessed addiction to pies , have found the buckets a little too snug.

I found the buckets far better than the sports but you should at least try them both at the dealers before deciding.

Barry

wall

Hi,

I'm currently shopping for a similar 4 seater motor, having sold an Elise.
Have you considered a Focus RS and the new Integra R. Both should be in Europe by the end of the year, and although fwd should be easily capable of keeping up (or more) with a wrx on anything but snow. I just can't find the new wrx appealing (to the eye mostly), and the Evo VII is a little too expensive, for my current budget anyway.
Read up on both if you are not set on 4wd.
Good luck with your purchase,

Wall

ascender

Latest info from dealer on imports:

1. You cannot extend the warranty over 1 year.
2. No alarm/immobiliser.
3. The bottom of the car is not sealed and as a result you don't get the anti-corrosion warranty.

So, you pays your money you take your choice - is the above worth an extra 5K on the price of an import alongwith the piece of mind?

polarbearit

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by ascender:
<B>Latest info from dealer on imports:

1. You cannot extend the warranty over 1 year.
2. No alarm/immobiliser.
3. The bottom of the car is not sealed and as a result you don't get the anti-corrosion warranty.

So, you pays your money you take your choice - is the above worth an extra 5K on the price of an import alongwith the piece of mind?[/quote]

If the dealer was right maybe...

1 - Many importers can supply cars with full 3 year warranties (see litchfield) -
Belgium supplied cars all have a 3 year warranty, IM stated that they would try to reclaim the warranty cost from the belgium importers.

2 - CAT 1 alarm £275ish, often fitted by importers, having a choice of alarm means you can fit one with extra features - eg clifford concept 300-600 with built in Turbo Timer.

3 - European cars are undersealed, Japanese ones are not!

Seems the dealers maintain there usual high standard!

Example of import prices are available @