jonnyesse

forgive me if this thread has been done , but there is a huge article in this months 'Japanese'car mag testing the above two cars.
incredibly with the sti being 40bhp down in bhp and down in torque plus 40 kg heavier they couldn't find a real difference in speed in a straight line and the evo couldn't lose the sti in the country roads.
although in the end they say the evo feels slightly more focused the reviewer would pick the sti and have £5k change left over.
the jist is that they cannot believe in the improvements of the 2005 model. makes you think; what would the 2005 sti spec c type ra do to a mr340? and if anyone knows please tell me because until now my next car was going to be an evo, but now i dont know!

rizzy

spec c is lighter and the power to weight ratio makes the car 330bhp,so it would probally pan the mr340.

Gutmann pug

the power to weight ratio makes the car 330bhp !!!! explain please???

Gary

rizzy

well correct me if you know better,but i was told by litchfield imports,because it is lighter it kicks around 330bhp.

ThrustSSC

I would imagine he actually said: "it has a power/weight ratio which is the equivalent of the heavier standard car kicking out 330bhp". In other words to match the power/weight ratio of the Spec C, an STi would have to have 330bhp.

lem0ncurd

LOL Rizzy,

Power and weight are totally unrelated mate! Think about it, if you take all the seats out of your car it becomes lighter, but the power remains the same. What changes is the performance, as the car is now lighter.

LC

harrymonk

Sowhy get ppp on a sti then

compshack

So let me get this right, a new Sti is what £26k maybe you get one for 25, then you add ppp another £2k, making £27 or £28k. A pre reg MR340 you can get for £28,500.
With leather, sat nav, and leave the Sti standing. I have owned both and driven them more than a day to evaluate.

DJ140

Maybe your STi is down on power, get it checked out. Is it an 05 model?

Boyakasha

iTrader: (2)

Yes but the MR340 is second hand and the STi is brand new. Take a second hand STi for 20k and spend the £8.5k difference and let me know which will be faster

spec-cie

I drove an FQ-340 before I decided to buy a Spec C. Power-to-weight is pretty much the same ... if you go for a LTD with air con, etc., the FQ is about 10-15kg heavier, if you go for a raw Spec C, the weight difference is more like 40kg. Power of the 340 is a bit up on the Spec C (345bhp vs. 330-340bhp) but they basically feel as fast as each other in a straight line.

Personally I didn't like the handling of the 340 ... much more twitchy than the the Spec C in the wet (I can predictably drift the scooby where as the Mitsu switched between understeer and oversteer a little too quickly for me). Also didn't like the slightly 'clinical' feel of the Mitsu, for me the Spec C has a lot more character. In the end it came down to:

1. I love Subarus, always have. The Spec C is the best I've driven.
2. Scooby was cheaper by about £3k (although a guy at work who's just bought a 320 said he managed to get the dealer to take £1k off list, which I certainly couldn't manage when I tried)
3. Scooby has much better servicing intervals (5/10k as oppposed to 4.5k)
4. With an import I feel less bad about modifying it from day one ... who wants a manufacturers warranty anyway ?
Whichever you choose you wont be dissapointed. If you'd rather stick with a Scoob, the Spec C is easily the FQ-340's equal ... any real difference is going to be 99% down to the skill of the driver.

Dazza's-STi

Litcho must have meant 230bhp Per tonne... or around that figure...

rallycodriver

To be honest I think it would take a very good driver to really see a big difference in the two. I don't rate my driving very highly but a have about 18 years experience of competing in rally's all over the world in group n to WRC cars. I myself have a new Sti 05 (with DCCD) and I can never see me getting the absolute max from this car! Thats just being honest. I see the same talk with regard to motorcycles, again I don't have a bike bigger than a 600cc as my riding doesn't warrent a 750 or 1000. (I was riding bikes from the age of 9). Digressing, I think both the EVO and the STI are excellent choices. I choose the Sti because I couldn't afford the running costs of an EVO..... (And of course because the Sti is just alot better-he he)

compshack

I agree with all of it. I test drove a STi 05 last weekend, which I posted earlier. Absolute blinding car. Really spot on handling and with PPP should be superb.
The MR340 is more powerful, 40bhp and yes you can feel it big time. Yes it is a bit twitchy in the wet but of the 2 I think I would still go for the MR340.
Also depreciation I beleve isn't as bad. I've had my fingers burnt on more than one occasion with STi's.

Danny B

The main reason IMHO why people buy Lancer's instead of Impreza's is that the Lancer engine can easily be tuned to produce 370bhp with correct mapping, new exhaust & air filter and still be a reliable daily driver.
The same cannot be said of a MY05 with PPP without purchasing bigger turbos, injectors, FMIC etc etc

lem0ncurd

Not so Danny,

Speak to Bob Rawle - he safely mapped his '03 STI to similar figures with an exhaust and induction kit.

Voila..

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=283364

LC

Danny B

Yes but that is a JDM Impreza with a different turbo, not a UK version with PPP that I was comparing.

lem0ncurd

Yep, my mistake! Sorry.

LC

jonnyesse

have any of the above doubters read the article in the magazine?the first subaru they have driven where understeer has not been an issue.
we must applaud subaru for this car, as i believe its the first time a subaru has been reviewed very favourably to the top spec evo (which i love apart from the understated looks and cheap interior).
Now onto the spec c type ra which is the so called car to lap nurburgring in under 8 mins. must be something extremely special! even has a logo of the track on the side of the car! this is the car i would like to know more on as it is a totally track minded striped out version. has anyone bhp/toque values for this car or driven one? i believe they are around 30k, is this car an import? andd if so are they a limited run?

Danny B

There is only one that has made it to the UK at the moment, it is waiting to get a model report and SVA'd.
Price is a fiver below £30k and is for sale here http://www.just-sports.org/car_detai...d=200505dflgsd

rizzy

sorry my mistake

spec-cie

The Spec C has ~330bhp and ~330 lb/foot torque with a Miltek exhaust and UK fuel re-map (the 'standard' Litchfield configuration). There are two main Spec C variants: the limited (of which the 'Nurburging' special and the WR Limited are two examples) and the 'straight' Spec C. All Spec C's are lighweight compared to standard STis ... lightweight glass, lightweight boot, less sound deadening and so on. The 'limiteds' have air con, electric windows and central locking as standard where as the 'straight' Spec C does not ... limiteds are about 30kgs heavier than 'straights'. All Spec C's are JDM imports only.

To confuse matters even more you can buy a 16" wheel version of the 'straight' Spec C which is even more stripped out and a bit lighter but is really intended as a base car for competition use.

I bought an MY05 WR Limited and know of one other in the country. These weren't limited in number but were only sold for the year of the inaugral Japanese rally. So the MY05 Spec C WR Limited was only available from July 05 to September 05 (I have no idea how many were actually sold ... at least two!). I've heard from someone who already has a Nurburgring special which, IIRC, is a limited run of 300.

jonnyesse

cheers for the info, alot to digest. one last question. have you owned an sti b4 your spec c and if so how vast a difference is there? just trying to convince myself i need one!

spec-cie

I had an MY00 PPP UK Turbo before the spec c. Drove UK STi7 and STi8 demonstrators and decided not to buy either as the classic was faster and had much better handling on the B roads I like to drive. The Spec C makes the classic seem totally primitive ... the difference is massive.

When the STi9 was released I drove a JDM model (I've not tried the UK version). Difference to the Spec C is not so marked ... power on the C is up a bit and the lighter weight is noticeable (I weigh 65kg so I effectively get to ride 'for free' in a Spec C compared to an STi) but both are great cars. Personally I decided to cough up the extra cash because the difference was there even though it was slight and this was the one chance I may ever have to buy the best new scooby around. In the end I spent about £3k extra (compared to the JDM STI) getting the Spec C and I felt it was worth it ... not everyone will agree.

Boyakasha

iTrader: (2)

Danny close but no cigar, the first Spec C RA 'Nurburging special Edition' in the country is owned by my other half's brother. I believe that there are a couple more in the country already. The car looks the dogz in white

PS If you look at the photo of the car that justsports is selling it is missing the STi Lip Spolier. This part is standard on the car so my guess is it was either damaged or they are trying their luck and have taken it off

Danny B

That is very interesting as all the importers I have spoken to swear blind that a model report doesn't exist for the new MY05 RA model yet.
Who did your Brother-in-law import his car through? The people that did the model report for him stand to make a packet in rental charges
Ask him to post some pics for us please

rizzy

they took it off so it dint snap when comming of the ship.

Boyakasha

iTrader: (2)

Danny he got his from Litchfield about 3 weeks ago, but the car had been in the country before Christmas. Not sure about the whole model report thing so never thought about it.

rizzy he has pictures of his car at dock going on the boat and his car has the splitter on it. They never took his off so I can't see why they would have taken the other one off just to go on the boat.

DBY

I was at dock gate 4 in Southampton couple of weeks ago and a 05RA was having it's SVA test.

John