Sticky Stuff

I don't want this thread to turn into a two sided battle, 'cos I'm looking for some valuable feedback from it, please...

I'm in the fortunate position of being able to afford a new / nearly new motor, and the choice has come down to the two obvious ones. Spec-C and Evo 8 (either FQ300 or FQ330).

Having never really 'driven' either, I'm looking for opinions from those who have, and some answers to the following questions.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here goes...

What differences are there between the fq300 and fq330 in real world driving conditions, is there a £3k plus difference?

What rear spoiler does the spec-c come with as standard, as I've seen some with STi8, some with carbon adjustables, and some with nothing.

Will main dealers service a spec-c?

Will I need to insure a Spec-c through a specialist import ins. co?

Will the Spec-c need to be run on Opti plus octane booster, and if so, will a re-map sort this out without too much power loss?

Will a knocklink be necessary?

How much sould I be looking to pay for either car? Both new and about 6-12 months old with low miles?

and finally, with as little bias as possible, which is best. It will be probably be used for my daily commute (10 miles either way, quiet, twisty roads), the odd weekend run out, and the odd track day, but the latter is not really supposed to be a deciding factor.

I currently own a MY00 classic UK spec Impreza, and love the Scooby brand, but have always secrelty yearned for an Evo.

Tough choice, eh.

S.B.

Try test driving both and see what you think of them

Bobby Peru

Personally I'd go for the FQ330

Sticky Stuff

Have you tried walking into a dealer's and getting a test drive without them wanting some sort of commitment on paper before they'll even get the car out of the showroom?

Was looking at an Evo this week, the salesman said 'The only time you're gonna get to drive the car is when you drive away in it, having bought it'

Needless to say I told him where he could stick his FQ300, it would probably fit too, *******.

Maybe it's my appearance, but I don't see why I should have to go home and get changed into some 'decent' clothes just so they'll entertain the notion of taking the best part of £30k from me.

ScoobyTal

-----What differences are there between the fq300 and fq330 in real world driving conditions, is there a £3k plus difference?----

3k for 30bhp hmmmmmm

-------What rear spoiler does the spec-c come with as standard, as I've seen some with STi8, some with carbon adjustables, and some with nothing.----

Horrible carbon adjustable max power thing


--------Will main dealers service a spec-c?-------

No

------Will I need to insure a Spec-c through a specialist import ins. co?-----

No people like Tesco's and liverpool victoria insure them


-----Will the Spec-c need to be run on Opti plus octane booster, and if so, will a re-map sort this out without too much power loss?----

You should run it on optimax and octane booster (millers plus) as standard but you can get it remaped to run just on optimax and it will also be slightly more economical and as a bonus it will have MORE performance (which is nice)

-----Will a knocklink be necessary?---

Not necessary but it is good thing to have for safety


-----How much sould I be looking to pay for either car? Both new and about 6-12 months old with low miles?---

Spec C new in the 17" ltd edition (the one to have) £27500, six months old no idea


-----and finally, with as little bias as possible, which is best. It will be probably be used for my daily commute (10 miles either way, quiet, twisty roads), the odd weekend run out, and the odd track day, but the latter is not really supposed to be a deciding factor.-----

Subjective, Have you thought about a JDM STI they are very similar to the spec c but have all the kit ( the spec c is a striped down JDM sti gl with oil cooler slightly different turbo and revised suspension set up)

The spec c is the ultimate but I think the JDM STI is a better allround car with 99% of the performance and in gl spec has nice things like HID lights ect

I bought my MY03 JDM STI with 800 miles on it for a song but they are commonly available in top spec for about 25-26K after exhaust / filter / BRD remap and a few other mods I think it will have about 360bhp 350lbs/ft so it wont be slow !!

Evo well a nice car but I didnt even think about one .....


Tal

Daz34

No it doesn't

I think you will get all your questions answered by Iain at http://www.litimports.co.uk/

He can supply both cars & you should be able to test drive a Spec C & the new Type 25

Darren

Jiggerypokery

Hmm, I had no trouble getting a test drive of the FQ300. I was expecting it to be difficult, but I phoned just to get some info and a test drive was offered, so I wasn't going to turn it down! The sales pitch was very low key, absolutely no hard sell at all.

ST AYE

What rear spoiler does the spec-c come with as standard, as I've seen some with STi8, some with carbon adjustables, and some with nothing.

Nothing they are optional


Will main dealers service a spec-c?

You will be lucky (pm me)


Will I need to insure a Spec-c through a specialist import ins. co?

Tesco for me


Will the Spec-c need to be run on Opti plus octane booster, and if so, will a re-map sort this out without too much power loss?

I run mine on optimax
"edited to say" mapped by Bob Rawle (well worth it)


Will a knocklink be necessary?

A good idea to fit one, I got a tankfull of dodgy fuel a couple of months ago, the knocklink lit up like a christmas tree.



and finally, with as little bias as possible, which is best. It will be probably be used for my daily commute (10 miles either way, quiet, twisty roads), the odd weekend run out, and the odd track day, but the latter is not really supposed to be a deciding factor.

Test drove an Evo8 b4 driving spec C. Evo is "softer" all round, not as sharp. I liked both cars but prefered the Scoob.
Twisty roads set the DCCD to manual wheel right back. Absolutley fantastic fun. 10 mile commutes in either car a pain in the ars*. mine takes 5 or 6 miles to warm up (oil 85°C).

mbc

dunno about the subaru but would advise against buying an 'FQ' car new, buy the base model gsr £26999 (not the new low level spoiler 260bhp one) throw 5k at it and you will easily have well over 360bhp and similar amounts of tq for the same money as an fq330

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Let me enlighten some of you

Spoiler:-
The limited comes with a carbon fibre spoiler, the 17 inch comes with the same spoiler as you see on the wrx and the 16 inch version doesnt have one (all standard features, not options).

Fuel:-
The Spec C runs well on optimax and octane booster, my knocklink hasnt lit up once running this (havnt taken her over 5k yet as still running in for the next 500ish miles, have 1150 miles on the clock so far).

Insurance wise, yup you will have to shop around, age dependent mostly.

Driving wise, alot firmer than your MY00 (i had an MY00 PPP'd car before the Spec C) and its not to everyones taste, its a lot harder work to drive and you need 2 hands on the steering wheel most of the time, in the wet she will squirm over white lines in the road due to the tyres, but they have the firmest tyre walls ive ever seen on a road going tyre, excellent grip in the dry though but if you like comforts like electrics, a/c etc then this isnt the car for you (NO central locking, NO electric mirrors, NO electric windows, NO radio as standard, this includes speakers, well basically, you get a steering wheel and brakes )

Servicing:- Speciallists will service this car without a problem, UK Subaru dealers wont touch it.
Cost of one new... second hand.
Well, new will set you back around the 26k mark or 27.5k for the limited, second hand cars will be between 22-24k for upto 1 year old.

Now for the last question, the best for your daily commute.... a ford mondeo, no seriously, this shouldnt be used as a daily driver, its a fun car but you will find both the evo fq and the Spec C tiring as it makes you work hard (im happy with it because i knew what i was getting into and i have a mondeo for work).

Tony

Nathan L

My local combined Subaru/Mitsi dealer say my JDM STi with decent exhaust and UK fuel map is quicker than the new FQ330.

The gearing and power delivery is simply sublime.

DCCD-A is awesome.

Edited to add mine is not a Spec C and still has leccy windows etc.

Beware the FQ330 makes chocolate out of the diff apparently.

Nathan..

Danny B

I'd go for the EVO everytime, they hold there value far more than imported Impreza's (spec C or not) and now the FQ-330 is an official UK car.
You get more toys, it looks better, handles better, and it is fecking quick across B roads, perfect for your daily commute
If you can afford the FQ300 I'm sure you can stretch to the 330.
I can't

<Flame suit on>

Nathan L

Not sure on that Dan.

Nathan..

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Was it EVO mag that stated that the fq300 was good but the Spec C was better, and when they tried the FQ330 they said it was quicker but still as flawed as the 300 due to them not doing anything to fix the original problems?
Oh and i agee with Nathan about the handling, the Spec C is better than the evo

Tony

Markus

nice to be able to have the choice. If I was in your position I'd be looking at Spec-C, Type 25, JDM STi, or possibly a WR1. From the sounds of it you want ***** out performance, with a fair ammount of liveability and in my personal opinion that isn't going to come from the FQ cars. Service intervals are something like 6000 miles, I think, and the engines are slightly more stressed than the scooby equiv.

I'm no expert, and no, not driven any of the aforementioned cars, however, I know the odd bit here and there. Evo's have never really been my thing, seem to be more hardcore than the scoob, but if that is what you're after, well go for it.

As for the test drive, blooming typical, many years ago when I wanted to test drive a MY00 UK spec turbo the dealer basically wanted me to put down money before he'd let me out. I asked if he'd give me a full refund if purchased one then did not like how it drove, he laughed at me, at which point I told him that he'd lost my current and any future business, also mentioned the words "internet" and "unsatisfactory dealer experience", he laughing stopped and he hurridly tried to explain that he might be able to make some special exception, told him it was too late, first impressions and all that. Thing that narked me off the most was I walked down the road to the Aston dealer and managed to get a test drive of a DB7! no pressure, no signing anything in blood.

Nathan L

Tony YHM, or you will in a minute

Markus

When are you next over? Make sure you drop me a line and I'll take you for a spin in the STi.

Nathan..

Danny B

LOL, I thought that would you get you going Nathan !
In all seriousness if I had £30k I would want the Evo, purely and simply because in the last 3 months I have only ever seen 2 on the roads and they appear to be more sought after than the Impreza, I just wish to God they sounded like one.
Having said that I have never seen a Spec C on the roads but you know what I mean.

Have you spoke to Dan lately, how is my car doing

Nathan L

Lol cheeky git

All I will say is that the DCCD-A is a work of art and it's also more Q car-ish than the EVO. I've put the Subaru letters back on and moved the foglight up into the O/S revering light holder. Lol. Looks like a UK car goes and handles like a bar-steward

Not spoken to Danbo since he picked it up he's too busy driving around probably LOL. But he is coming to our local meet next weekend.

I'm probably off up to Cheltenham in a few weeks so I'll be passing you I'll give you a shout if I do so you can take a peek at this car

Nathan..

Silver Knight

3k price difference gives you full leather and suedey middles, smartnav and 30bhp.
add a decat and blitz sonic filter and get 361bhp proven at power engineering

There has been no problems with the diffs at all on the 8.

Nathan L

Not what I've heard from a Ralliart dealer, who had an FQ300 in bits sorting it.

Nathan..

EvoCarl

Perhaps wait for a Evo 8 MR?

argue all day about which car handles better.

But being a Best motoring fan I thought I would post the latest times round there test track.

Tsukuba lap times:

Evo8 RS 1.04.15
Spec C 1.04.49
Evo8 GSR 1.05.23

Evo 8 and Spec c where done on empty track with same driver
GSR was in a normal 5 lap battle they do I think
as you can see nothing between the E8 RS and Spec c

Obvioulsy this is just the base Evo8 fq330 etc.

If I was lucky enough to have money for new car then MR for me

APJ

Im looking at a similar choice - 1 year old FQ300 or new STi. Drove a 300 last week, dealer very hepful, and a very very nice car. Looing to test an STi this week. However, it must be said the Evos are fantastic looking cars, and fairly rare on the roads.

Silver Knight

The cars in japan at Tsukuba are std 280bhp from the factory,
The FQ upgrades are only made in the UK for the uk market.
1 diff from 700 cars is not what I would call a problem

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

All.

FYI some Subaru dealers will now service Jap imports; two of my local ones have no problem with servicing my STi V.

X.

Daz34

As you say, a lot of the Subaru dealers who got ditched by IM recently, are free to continue servicing Subarus (inc imports) & can even supply new cars (via a friendly IM approved Subaru dealer)

Rasher

Spec C new in the 17" ltd edition (the one to have) £27500,

£25995 from Wicked Kit

Rasher

Horrible carbon adjustable max power thing


each to there own

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Rasher,
That one at wicked kit isnt a limited, its a normal Spec C but in WR blue (the standard car is available in both white and wr blue)

Carl, im still very dubious about those times, there are no conditions given, no temps, no time of day, just a time, and its pretty amazing that both beat a Maclaren F1 in the time stakes so me thinks there is something amiss, now give it some on the likes of the ring and you will find out that the Spec C is quicker than alot of cars, and tbh it would be quicker than the Evo 8 RS, just because it now is a better all round car, remembering that the evo rs hasnt really changed much from the gsr (except they have taken all the weight and the ayc out) the spec c is different in more ways than one over the standard model
Re diffs on the evo, i think this is the reason they are not making the fq380, high failure rate of the rear diff, the MR version.... well lets wait and see shall we, but its not an out of the factory car, so like for like tuning, the spec c will still be the better of the 2

Tony

Danny B

That isn't what the ad says
http://www.wickedkit.com/shop/index.php?p_mfr=1

Rasher

Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec C Limited

Very rare Spec C ltd in WR Blue, Brand new , delivery miles only, Electric windows, Air con , Twin diffs, Water Tank in boot, BBs alloys, safari Roof vent, 320 Bhp, twin scroll turbo, said by EVO magazine to be " The best Impreza ever", fantastic performance and handling , could be a future classic.................Delivered free any where in the UK
Price: £25995


that's what I thought?????