Mr_White

iTrader: (1)

Hi there, I've been searching google and this forum to find out what I need, so don't shout at me for posting a noob thread, but I need a little comfirmation and further advice

I'm looking for some advice on a 2002 Bugeye WRX Wagon Import.

It's up for £6,995

70k miles.

It has a momo steering wheel with an airbag, is that any indication of a JDM car?

From what I've found out, I believe the JDM WRXs have 240bhp vs our 220, so JDM would be nice.

It also appears to have a MPH speedo, I read that a conversion to MPH will raise the limiter to 180mph instead of 180kph, is that true?

That's about it until I see the car, then I'll know more.

Any advice or tips to distinguish whether it's JDM and what to look out for on import WRXs?

The licence plate recess looks like JDM to me, UK cars appear to be exactly the right size for a UK plate, this one seems to be 15-20% higher, but just as wide, I've been doing some searching and other JDMs seem to be the same.

So I think it's JDM, I assume a euro car would have the same plate recess as a UK car?

I assume they need undersealing if it's JDM, euro I assume won't need it?

That is something I was going to check, but apart from that, I'm not familiar with WRX imports.

Thanks for your help, from an appreciative noob.

Pictures:




Interior:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7014/picture3zx5.png
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8561/picture4ab8.png

escott

iTrader: (1)

I'm not an expert on JDM cars, but that looks identical to my 02 WRX Wagon, which is UK. Certainly an airbag Momo wheel is standard on the UK car.

Only way to be sure is to get history on the car, if it's missing either way, walk away! UK model will have service history, import should have the auction report (I think - have a search on here).

FYI, I'm sure you can get a UK Wagon similar for £6k-ish, so it's worth having a search on here, Pistonheads etc. I think the JDM will have more power as standard (certainly the STi does), but you can quite easily improve it yourself anyway. The JDM will probably cost more to insure.

There are loads to choose from for good prices at the moment, so don't just buy the first one you see.

speedking

Momo steering wheel is standard.

UK WRX = 220PS = 215bhp.

A 180mph limiter would be useless, the fuel doesn't last long enough to reach that speed.

Licence plate recess is taller than UK plate.

If a parallel euro import then the vendor should have proof of payment of VAT (must be kept for 10 years IIRC).

Mr_White

iTrader: (1)

There's no way to tell if it's JDM from those pictures then?

Is there any different equipment on JDM? since I have a basic equipment list.

I'll found out tomorrow either way

It's from a franchised subaru dealer and it's listed as an import, but they don't say where from.

Can anyone confirm if the JDM bugeye is up on power? most people say it is, but I've seen a few say it's not.

I would expect it to be up on power compared to the UK car, there isn't many performance JDMs that aren't

As with the limiter, naturally it's not going to reach 180mph at stock, however I'd read that a conversion to mph would raise the limiter to 180, which makes sense, as 180kph would be 111.8mph, which is the sort of area a lot of JDMs are restricted to, so I thought it might just be a simple restricter that restricts it to the value of 180, and once you've converted it to mph then the limit would still be to the value of 180, so it's basically destricted.

It makes sense, but can anyone confirm it?

Cheers

Mr_White

iTrader: (1)

Any advice on what to check out before tomorrow afternoon would be appreciated.