martyndavison

hi thanks for taking the time to read this, i am looking at buying either a uk turbo or a wrx turbo(have 8-10000 grand to spend) so far the wrx looks to be the favourite but the cheapest i can get the insurance is £1170 for just myself to drive without my wife being insured to drive,but on a uk model i can get insurance for £708 including my wife! my questions are this:
1,will i notice a big difference in power between an import and a uk model?
2,how different in percentage of parts is an import to a uk model?
3,is it easy enough to get the parts for an import(heard stories of waiting 6 months)
4,can you reccomend an insure that deals with imports at a realistic price(have been quoted upto £3500 off adrian flux)i am 25 7yrs NCD no convictions my wife is 23 with 5yrs NCD and no convictions.
5, if you think i should stick with a uk model wich one do you think i should get? are there any nice limited editions etc? and also most seem to have 70-80000 on the clock when i was messing around with cossies this was quite high milage but how does the subaru fair?
thanks once again for your time and help

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Welcome
OK, 8-10k will get you a MY00 car (uk 2000 turbo), there was only one special edition in 2000 for uk cars and that was the P1 (a bit above your price bracket im afraid )
You can look at either an MY98 special edition (Terzo) or if you can find a cheapish one, an RB5 but these hold their value slightly above that of an MY00 car.
(check out www.sidc.co.uk and look under FAQ for models etc).
Power is the biggest difference between a uk and JDM car (japanese domestic market) and you should be able to find a 99 (MY99, my stands for model year if you didnt already know that ) with around 40k on the clock (a wrx) or you may even find an STi version 4 for around 10k (98 car).
You do get more in the JDM cars but you need to run them (note NEED) on 100 ron fuel, so you need either optimax or super unleaded and octane booster.
Check out a few of these places if you want a JDM car, normally 60+bhp more than its uk counterpart (year dependent) and better spec'd

www.just-sports.org
www.litimports.co.uk
www.wickedkit.co.uk
(not sure about the next one)
www.park-lane.co.uk (could have a mistake in there).

JDM normally are better cars but need more tlc as they dont like bad uk fuel, a knocklink (available here>> www.jap-innovations.co.uk) is very advisable, but the downside is that if you dont know what they were run on before you had the car you dont know if there is any damage to the engine (unless its a new import)
FSH a must, standard safer in most cases than modified on JDM cars, uk cars can and do still suffer if modified badly.

Hope this helps

Tony

PS, ensure you check out insurance as much as you can as quite a few companies are not insuring JDM cars for under 30's (good job im over 30! )

martyndavison

thanks for the help tony, i think i will stick with a uk model as unfortunatley there are no garages close to me that seem to do super unleaded anymore and by the time i found a shell garage with optimax i would need to refuel again:-0. are the uk cars able to acheive the power of the JDM cars with mods and how much would it cost?
once again thanx 4 the help

StiX

iTrader: (4)

Firstly, you are looking at a classic of 98-00.

Something like this:

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=344503

Which looks gorgeous IMO. Trying to answer questions in order, all answers to the best of my knowledge:

1. Quite a big difference, which is why so many UK are modded or have PPP to close the gap. Import - 280bhp, UK 215bhp.

2. Not a lot different.

3. Pretty easy as most parts the same, however some difficult to source e.g. rear window as imports have a rear wiper.

4. If you were over 30 I'd say Liverpool & Victoria, £700 for me with a modded MY95 import (but I'm 35 with 7 yrs NCB). As you are 25 perhaps try Tesco, Admiral, Norwich Union? Some however (like Tesco) will insist on a tracker.

5. I would stick with a UK at your age, if you are concerned about insurance cost that is. I like RB5s, but don't think you'll be able to get one for 8-10k. Also depends on whether you want to mod or not. Scoobs are pretty damn reliable as long as looked after - warm-up, cool down and right fuel etc.

Another nice one for you here:

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=344488

Ian.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

The MY99/00 JDM cars can be remapped to run unleaded, costs around 7-800 quid
UK cars can be modified upto around 270/280bhp which is about as much as the turbo can take, you will probably need a panel filter (STi ones are the only one id recommend as my99/00 cars have a very sensitive MAF sensor which can lead to engine failure if an oil filled filter is used), these cost around 50 quid (and need to be changed every year/15k service) but there are group buys going on , exhausts will be next on your list, around 400-600 quid depending what you go for, then a remap for safety, 7-800 quid again, you will probably need to do something with the brakes, either a bigger kit or better pads/discs so look at that also.

Tony

StiX

iTrader: (4)

Its still recommended you use super/optimax btw on UK cars, but not essential.

Full de-cat, change filter and a remap should get you another 50bhp or so, nearing the gap on the imports and probably cost you less than a grand.

StiX

iTrader: (4)

Just read Tonys post above, and hes right of course with a 99/00 car remap more than I was thinking - more like £1500 rather than a grand

martyndavison

well it looks like i will try the uk model and then once the novelty of the power has worn off i will start to modify it(standard will feel fast as **** at the moment as i am currently driving a 4x4 and have really been missing a performance car!)stix u say that it is not essential to run super/optimax but it is reccomended what would happen if i just ran it on normal unleaded?

StiX

iTrader: (4)

Nothing hopefully, as UK cars are mapped to UK fuels, whereas JDM are not (I use Optimax and Octane Booster).

Its just to minimise the risk of pre-detonation, I think you'll find a lot of UK Scooby owners use Super/Optimax.

Normal unleaded is 95 RON, Super 97 and Optimax 98.

A good Octane booster boosts by about 2 RON, and JDM cars are mapped to 100 RON which is why most JDM owners use Optimax plus Booster.

I'm sure for UK cars normal unleaded is fine, but for the sake of a few pence more p/litre a lot of UK owners use the better stuff for peace of mind.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Hi Martyn

I bought a MY99 UK Turbo in December and went through the same "dilemma" as you.
I got insured through Tesco and Im paying £650 with 4 yrs protected NCB (28 yrs old tho), parked in a garage at night, NO tracker was required (thats not to say I havent put one on tho!). UK MY99 onwards have Sigma, Cat 1 alarm & immobiliser fitted as standard. Cant get my GF on the insurance cos she is under 25.

I always try put super unleaded in (BP Ultimate/Esso Super/Optimax) and have only every put normal unleaded in a couple of times. It does actually say on the inside of the filler flap "Super".

As for the novelty of the power, mine was completely untouched - totally standard. I planned on leaving it that way... which lasted all of about 3 days. That was the 3 days before I found SN. You're knackered m8
It did take me a while to get used to it though. You certainly wont be dissapointed, even with a standard UK turbo. They're a good place to start.

So far, I have bought Magnex decat centre section and H&S backbox and a Baileys Evo dumpvalve (all secondhand).
Put it on the rolling road at ProSport and got 240BHP and 232lbs/ft of torque. Not bad at all really. Funnily enough, im getting a decat downpipe tonight (secondhand). So, the point Im trying to get to, is that you can get good results for not a massive amount of cash. The full decat exhaust system will stand me at a very reasonable £280.

Get a UK model (try and get a MY99 if you can, IIRC they're best spec), dont worry about the power difference, you'll love it.

J

wideybrook

We have the perfect car for you:-

2000X reg (December)
UK suppled with full Dealer UK service history from new
warranted 37,000 miles
totally original
CD multidisc
Subaru Cat 1 alarm
mint.

nuff said

except the price, below book at 9995.

http://www.wrx.co.uk