pip

Hi.
Until three months ago I had a R plate 98MY 4 door Impreza Turbo which I loved but decided that the mileage was getting high and I fancied a newer one...so I plumped for a 2kMY x plate 5 door turbo with only 9k on the clock..so far so good.

But I hate it. Why? For a few reasons...
1. It seems slower at motorway speeds...the other day I put my foot down in fifth and failed to lose a Mondeo LX. Not good. (it's had an ecu reset and runs on standard 95 ron fuel)
2. It flexes more..to be expected I guess
3. It doesn't go round corners as well, feeling very top and rear heavy.
4. It keeps trying to kill me! It is SOOOOO nervous. It's almost put both me and my girlfriend into the armco twice and on country roads it's impossible to overtake because it has a tendancy to veer into the bank, and changing gear has to be done only when on a completely flat, non cambered, non pot holed bit of tarmac...(virtually impossible in Lincolnshire!) because of the impossibility of keeping it on the straight and narrow with one hand!

As far as I know it's a bog standard scooby still on the original Potenzas. So..my questions are
1. Is this likely to be a suspension set up issue, the nature of these particular boots or just the newer model handling characteristics?
2. Is a 2kMY 5 door really going to be that much slower than my 4 door?

I'm starting to regret buying it and that's not good...especially as I have to have it for 18 months before finance will let me sell it!

Can any one help?!
Cheers
Pip

LG John

This really doesn't sound like a scooby you are describing

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

I would get Powerstation (Cheltenham)to look at it and put Goddyear F1s on it.
Hope you get it sorted
Steve

rhybeck

dont sound to good m8, possibly been in a crash ???
old shape rules!

Flat4-Chris

My MY00 did exactly the same and would follow every rut and pothole in the road meaning I had to hang on or back off and it was getting worse.

But, I got rid of the Potenzas and put Toyos on and now its

Much more stable and doesn't tramline at all any more.

Seems the more the Potenzas wore down the worse the handling and tramlining got.

Give it a try and see if it sorts yours out.

Ian E

iTrader: (1)

Went from an 'R' reg to a 'W' reg myself.

You need:-

1/ MY 99 ECU - AE800/AE801
2/ Toyos (or GoodYear Eagle F1's) - OEM Bridgestones are well known for tramlining
3/ Four Wheel alignment (TSL did mine)

Scratch

iTrader: (1)

Currently got a 5 door MY98.

My car exhibits the same rear end nrevousness.

From my experience, I can make two true statements :

1. I had the geometry checked at the Scooby dealer it was a mile out, cost £60 car improved greatly from this.

2. I have Avon ZZR3 tyres on the rear - they're poor to say the least. In the dry they're good, in the wet, the back end of the car is still nervous, but, only when pushed, but because of these tyres the limit is low. Now the front with Goodyear F1's on it just sticks like glue wet or dry. (As soon as I get back from my holiday in a couple of weeks, it will be getting another pair of Goodyears.)

I would suggest having your geometry checked, from my experience, the car still drove in a straight line, but felt nervous, had it checked and set back to factory standard and it made a wonderful difference. You don't have to use the cooby dealer for the geometry, TSL, Scoobysport etc can all do it as well (I think) if any of those are more convenient.

markpm

Hmmm...my 99 Sti Type RA is a bit like that too.
Very jittery when the foot is put down, and difficult to keep in straight line when one handed, fast overtake, gear changing...
Does tramline a bit, and pulls to one side a bit too.

I just put it down to awesome power and sh1te British roads!

Is it worth getting the tracking checked then?
Would somewhere like (gulp...) ATS be able to do a good enough job on tracking?

(edited to uncensor the swear word! )

[Edited by markpm - 1/20/2003 11:23:09 PM]

ash1

iTrader: (2)

95 Ron ? Sounds like you are killing the Scoob to me, only fair for the car to bite back....

Huffer

I'm no pro, but I'd get a total alignment done - the wheels checked, the camber, the whole shebang. Check the tyres too - they may have had a puncture repair and it might be bulging (you should feel that though...).

Get the wheel alignment to suit your driving style and usual load. A 5 door is going to be harder to accelerate due to it's bigger mass, and it will handle differently - your back end is much longer!

I had a full alignment done to correct a tendency to drift to the left (RHD). The tech guy balanced the car for my driving style and also for the fact that I drive usually alone, with a small load in the back.

Brun

Drop the 95ron. Whack in some super. It's cheaper for me to run Super as the increased mpg out weighs the exta outlay. I worked it all out a while ago, if memory serves, i save £1.70 a tank. Smoother running too

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I agree with the other comments - get your suspension and alignment checked out. Also, you'd do well to junk the original tyres (or keep them for track days); those particular Bridgestones have a tendency to follow every rut and camber regardless of the direction you want to go in. I now have 17" wheels and Bridgestone S-02 PP's, and they're a vast improvement. Sadly they're all but unavailable now, but you could also look at Goodyear Eagle F1 or Toyo Proxes T1-S. Yokohama have some decent tyres too but the names escape me for now.

A.

carl

Although an AE800/801 ECU is ideal, a free flowing exhaust seems to get rid of a lot of the hesitation even when retaining the existing AE802 ECU.

pip

Thanks all...some very useful informaiton here and glad to here that mine isn't the only one and it can be remedied! I did put Toyo T1's on my 98MY and they were great. I'll get a full allignment check done and start with the Superplus.

Interesting about the ECU...what's the difference between this and the ECU in it?
Cheers...what a fab bunch you are!
Pip

stanmo

iTrader: (1)

I found my 5dr was twitchy with same pressures all round (32 I think). The back end kept jumping round bumpy corners.

Lowering the rear pressures slightly helped; as did a 50 litre bag of compost that was in the boot.

A catless downpipe will also smooth out the power / torque delivery; which might help under certain conditions; though I find controllable breakaway much more frequent now.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Part of your problem is the 16" wheels and the ****e tyres, the car is tramlining change the tyres and this will stop better still put 17" wheels on it and Bridgstone SO2 / SO3 tyres, I did this to mine and it made an immediate difference. As for the car being slow not sure there maybe it needs a good thrashing to blow the crap out of it, was it previously owned by a granny? seems to have amazingly low mileage for a MY00.

pip

Yup...middle aged well to do farmers wife from Essex apparently!! I thought it was a bit slow when I test drove it and Lancasters of Pangbourne (the dealer) said "It's just a bit tight but we'll reset the ECU anyway" (after my insistence). It's now done 14k and hasn't got any better. Having said that my 98MY got faster and faster as the miles went on so perhaps there is a grain of truth.

The www.ecutek website was very interesting.

Got it booked in for some Toyos and allignment and Chandlers of Belton are going to look at the performance for me on Friday...weee...might be a faster safer weekend!

carl

You should also remember that the 99/00 MYs have a smaller turbo, but actually (theoretically) deliver more power (218 bhp vs 208). But the way the power is delivered means you won't get so much of a 'shove in the back' so it may seem slower.

pip

Yeah I've noticed that...it felt much smoother and across country much quicker and more responsive which would make sense if the turbo is smaller, but at motorway speeds it feels underpowered.

mista weava

i too have suffered at the hands of pontenzas. and suffered all the things you have mentioned.

not nice in the wet - not nice at all!

i ditched them pronto - f1's made it a different car, i joke not.

THE most important factor in handling is tyre choice. crap tyres just will not stick like good'uns - simple!

i defy anyone to challenge me on that - although judging by the responses on here -i doubt it...

gald you have noticed an improvement.
weava

[Edited by mista weava - 1/21/2003 4:19:25 PM]

Phil Harrison

I also had a MY00 x-plate 5Dr Turbo. It was absolutely fine in all the matters which concern you (it had other problems, but that's a different story). I'm very clear that there's summat wrong with yours, and you should follow the advice given here. Tho RE040s are undoubtedly livelier than other tyres, but they alone should not give you the degree of problem you're reporting, IMHO.

Phil

Echo

Hi Pip!

I know what you're talking about, I was starting to wonder if I'd done the wrong thing getting my WRX. The standard tyres are c@$p and the geometry needs to be set right.

Power wise, I find that I'm in 4th half the time on motorways for passing stuff, 5th seems way too tall at sensible motorway speeds!

:-)

Mike

Re-Bitten Hero

1) Get rid of the RE-010s, put on Eagle F1s or Toyo Proxes (I've used both)
2) Get TSL or Powerstation to sort out the geometry

5th at 70mph in a (new) WRX is going to be a bit slow - no problem in my MY00 PPP which develops full boost (around 17psi) from about 2700 rpm

Also, for the Mundaneo: it was probably a V6 with around 170bhp, in which case it won't be too far behind a standard MY00 from 70mph (better aerodynamics and lower transmission losses from 2wd instead of 4wd).

Hope this helps!
Richard

pip

Latest update is that I've had the geometry checked (it was slightly out) and had a new set of Toyo proxies stuffed on it...what a difference!!! It's totally changed the feel of the car and feels like my old Scoob...safe, fun, progressive, bags of grip.

Also took the car to Chandlers of Belton and they couldn't find anything wrong with the way the car was going (checked the ECU too). Said there's not much they can do....so I'm going to get it rolling roaded to check once and for all!!!

Incidentally, coming home from Chandlers a stupid old bint in a VW Polo GTI refused to move over on a single track lane and we smashed wing mirrors...her's completely disintegrated and there isn't even a scratch on mine!!! VW build quality? Pah! Nothing compared to Subaru!!! ;-)