coolangatta

Hi all,
I'm an ex pat. Englishman living in Japan who is about to take delivery of a year old Impreza WRX STi.
I know very little about this car! What should I expect? What should I know up front? The car is A1 with less than 2k miles on the clock.
Come on you scooby experts, am I in for a good time or what??

AJbaseBloke

Misawa? Englishman? You lost at an American base by any chance?

You need to tell us which type is is. It'll be a GDB, but is it a B or C type? The C type is the one to go for as it has the twinscroll turbo, DCCD-A (optional, so I hope you got that one) and RE070 rubber.

When are you coming down to Tokyo to visit? There are a few of us about down here - not SNers, but my mates have a mixture of modded STis, Legacys etc.

BTW, if your car is a C type GDB, then get ready for some fun. They are well quick indeed.

Cheers

coolangatta

Help me out here AJ or anyone else,
How do I know if I got the right one. I didn't even realise there was an option.
I thought they all had the twin scroll turbo's.
The only info I can find on my deposit receipt doc is GH-GDB 016234
Can tell you that the car has ACCD-A, I think , little wheel switch with C Dif. L situated under the handbrake lever.
Also has Bridgestone Potenza boots. RE070's ???
No I'm not on the base but the noisy &^^%£$'S wake me early in their F16's.
Would love to meet in Tokyo when I have the car. Or perhaps you guys could make the run 'UP North'

AJbaseBloke

No, no, don't get in a huff m8. The optional bit is the DCCD-A (see where the brackets are?). If DCCD-A is on it, then you likely have bought a "GL" spec car - and that, IMHO, is THE one to go for

All it needs now of course is an ALK Hope you like "taught" suspension, coz that is certainly gonna hold the road (sometimes using the occupants as liquid damping IMHO ). Doesn't take anything away from the devastating speed of the car

Just be sure to keep a good grip of the wheel early on as you may get a fright on some crummy road surfaces with a bit of torque steer, esp when pulling away from a junction with lock on, decent welly and truck ruts (or wet).

If you've never had an Impreza before, one other thing to remember IMHO is never lift off in corner. Cautious entry, humongously fast exits are the rule, coz if you have to lift off in corner, as in any car, unbalancing the thing badly can result in fast jaunts through the scenery. Do a search on this phenomena, and you'll find quite a few cases varying from disastrous to "tank slapper" status, to very little (and all points between).

Oh, and the RE070s are quite distinctive Look like a cut slick on the outside edges

HTH

coolangatta

No sweat m8,
The boots are definitely destinctive, as you say like a cut slick. Caught my eye straight away.
So do U think the evidence stacks up to a C-Type car??? 'Do I have twin scrolls?'. Sounds like a complaint of the nether regions .
Not sure about the DCCD-A, but certaintly has the switch near handbrake.
Definitely is a 'GL' model, have confirmed with dealer.

Thanks again.
Coolangatta.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

OK you lost me
What do you mean by a c type car?
Do you mean a Spec c?
Is the car twin scroll or not? easy to tell, just check to see which turbo your running, if the car has a manufacture date after sept 02 with the upgraded headlights then your looking promising, you need a vf 36 turbo (Spec C) or a vf 37 turbo (GL/EL) of which both are twin scroll (it should be on the front of the turbo if you look down the engine bay).
You should also feel the difference, virtually no lag in fast gear changes, if any actually but if your looking at a spec c then you will have a vary sparce car indeed (no boot lining and a roof vent).

Tony

coolangatta

[Tony,
Definitely not a spec-c. Have test driven a spec-c and as you say is very devoid of comforts
Definitely is a GL model.
Can't look at the turbo as the car has not been delivered yet.
AJ asks about the rubber and I can now confirm RE070's
The car was registered just over a year ago, but cannot say when manufactured at this time. The headlamps are the HID units (new shape not bugeye)
What do you think??

Regards. Collangatta.