Bazil

Hi, I've been looking at late (T, V, W or X reg) Imprezas for a bit now. It would be my main car although I have another car for dry summer weekends so it would have to be a 5 door and a UK turbo, I've got a budget of £5k including car, insurance and any immediate work it needs.

I've been test driving a few lately and not found 'the one' yet. Two things are bothering me;

1. Prices seem to still be dropping and I don't see the point in buying when the same car will be alot less in a few weeks, are we near an end to the drop?

2. The ones I've test driven haven't been all that quick. OK, I know its a 1270kg car with a 4wd system but I still expected a little more given the performance specs. I'm wondering if the dealers are only sticking 95RON in them and will performance drop off slightly as a result, if so what sort of power would it go down to on 95?

El Cat

what are you comparing them too when saying not that quick??
remember that the late uk turbo's are 215bhp so if u have driven imports models they will be slower
you can get a lot for £3000 in that market these days
try this for something a bit different but still uk model!

1997 SUBARU IMPREZA TURBO CATALUNYA BLACK on eBay, also, Subaru, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 24-Sep-08 22:11:31 BST)

scoobynutta555

I wouldn't buy from a dealer and I'd try something with more power if you're after something with more 'go'. You won't find many standard and the ones you do will probably be overpriced. Sensible mods should be of no concern. I'd be more worried about when the engine was rebuilt.

If you're that hung up about mods try a Uk car with ppp, which is the official Subaru upgrade and well within tolerences and should see bhp up to an easy 245.

Prices of all cars drop all the time

Bazil

I've never driven any impreza before this spate of test driving. I know the last one I drove was on 95 for definite as I saw him putting it in across the road from his forecourt. I suppose I mostly expected it to be a little quicker than the other 2.0 turbo cars I've driven recently (Rover 220t and 820 Vitesse sport) and my friends 2.4t V70.
I don't really want any substantial mods, insurance will be about £450 as it is for a standard UK turbo but PPP or equivalent is under consideration.
I know that cars depreciate constantly, but Impreza prices have been dipping substantially recently which is the reason I've decided they are now affordable.

I should add, I want something different from front wheel drive, so all out speed isn't the end of the world. I just wanted an opinion as to whether a car test driven on 95RON will be quicker when run on V-power?
I'm confused as to whether original UK turbos were mean to be able to run on 95 or should they be super only?

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

UK cars are fine on normal unleaded, unless they've been mapped otherwise.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

If they don't feel quick enough in a straight line, look elsewhere. If the 2.4T felt quick, go for one of those or a T5 for even more straight line speed. The Impreza is about using all or as much of its power as is safe to use all, or most of the time.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

why would you want to buy a uk impreza ?

you will only be trying to mod it later on as you say already they aint that quick,the yare, but once youget beat by other motors you will be near WRX bhp after spending x amount.

bite the bullet and get the wrx

also,using 95 ron compared to v power aint gonna suddenly lose you those 50 horses your missing from the wrx

Bazil

That wasn't the point of me asking the question. Hence me saying

Most of where I drive is on country lanes where bigger cars are too soft, I'm not into racing other cars, I suppose I just expected 215bhp to feel a little quicker.

Maybe I've just tried a couple of bad ones, the first had a bit of smoke on startup and no service recorded between 2003 and feb this year and the second did have a piston slappy kind of noise at startup.

I'll keep trying until I find a better one.

El Cat

if you have a uk turbo and you shop around for the right bits and are a dab hand wit ha spanner then you could have 320bhp from it piece of cake for about £1000

rich67

I have a T plate turbo wagon, have had it for about 16 months now, am well impressed with the perfomance I get, only mods I have is a centre decat and back box, make not know as was fitted when bought and I have added an uprated panel filter, has done 93500 ish miles with full service history, run it on 95 ron and use semi synthetic oil as recomended by Subaru. Will say I did look at loads before I found the right one for me and there are some rough/abused ones out there. It all comes down to what you want from it, I just wanted a car that was practical but could have a bit of fun in now and again, am not looking at upping the power, just enjoying the drive

Bazil

rich67, I'm probably looking for about the same as you. I'll just keep looking until I find the right one.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

Man you sound boring, buy a clio

T1000

I have a T Reg Impreza Classic which I bought this year for a similar budget to you. If it doesn't feel quick to you there must be something wrong with the cars you're looking at because by anyone's standards they're quick. Unless you're only revving it to 3000rpm?
There will be a power difference in using higher octane fuel but probably not enough for you to notice a difference, as the cars were mapped to run fine on 95 anyway.

Ricky

I have a 2001 (last of the registered classic shape Impreza's) in sonic blue/rallye blue (47F paint code) 5 door turbo which I intend to sell. The only mods it has are :

Full TSL motorsport decatted exhaust system
Walbro uprated fuel pump
K&N Induction
Mapped to approx. 275 bhp by the famous Bob Rawle
Towbar also fitted

Car in good shape, apart from stone chips on the bonnet. High 80K's miles, mapped for and always run on 97 Octane. I'm in Japan at the moment and will be home again in 3 weeks time. If you have no luck in finding the right car and are interested to view mine, your very welcome too. Would be inside your budget too.

Cheers !

Ricky !

tolster

iTrader: (2)

Hi mate,
I have a uk turbo 2000 my00 which i am thinking of selling as i have a new born on the way. Has always been run on V power serviced every 4500 miles and is a very quick uk car. View my profile if your interested.

Cheers,
Si

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Thing is, and this may offend a few on here, the classic UK Imprezas aren't all that quick by today's standards. What they still do have is a great all round performance per pound ratio and by performance I don't just mean speed.

A UK car has less power in stock trim than an import. That's a fact. Yes they are mapped to run on 95RON but that isn't the whole story as many of us know. The advantage of a UK car is it will have full history (or the rgiht one will) and hence you know exactly what you are buying.

Imports tend on the whole to have less history (although not all obviously) and have been bought by enthusiasts hence will have been modded more often than UK cars. They are a wee bit more expensive to run and will cost more on insurance.

I think you are on the right track for what you want. If you find a good UK 5 door with an exhaust, induction and a re-map you will have exactly what you need I think.

T1000

Even the standard UK Imprezas with 215bhp had 0-60mph of 5.3 seconds, 143mph top speed and a quarter mile time of 14.2 seconds which is quicker than a lot of the current breed of hot hatches. I'd say that's pretty quick for today's standards unless you're comparing them to Porsche's and M3's.

El Cat

plus the sound of a scooby is second to none!

phil739

iTrader: (30)

i have a my00 uk classic , which is well quick

o yeah forgot its been mapped to 326 / 318

not much help i know ,

another thing you cant beat the sound of a flat four