camcap

iTrader: (1)

well at the moment i have a Toyota celica GT4 1995 as much as i love the car its getting on in age now, but as i love the 4WD and the power im thinking of getting a wrx sti ppp 2003 model was looking at evo's but seem to be to much work and cost more £££ to run and have always loved the impreza since i was younger so what am i looking out for when buying one, good and bad stuff thanks for any help

davedipster

Good choice!
Bought my 03sti new in sept 2003 and it's been the best car I've ever had. Only issue was knocking rear suspension struts replaced Twice under warrantee and now fitted BC coilovers.
Try and find a clean one with no silly mods like atmos dump valves, bleed valves, intake kits. Just like mine infact



dipster

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

What is your budget? depending on what that is will depend on what you can buy, sometimes its best to see what is in your price range as the models are slightly different (JDM STI etc are very different to the UK cars and all STI's were revised for the MY05 model year).

Tony

camcap

iTrader: (1)

ill have around £8-£10000 to spend

scooby 17

Best car i have ever had just love it , even better after its first map ppp is good but u will do well to have a good map and fuel pump done


Enjoy here is mine



Now has black wheels and tein coilovers

TingTongPJ

iTrader: (24)

i got one a couple of weeks ago moving on from a classic and have to say i love it

completely different from the one i had before due to the fact it's so much newer



mine is more or less standard apart from a td05 18g turbo and the centre cat removed, of course with a remap

one thing i will say is though the new age is so so slow compared with the classic

TingTongPJ

iTrader: (24)

double post again

camcap

iTrader: (1)

so would i be better to go for a ppp or normal and then have it remaped ??

davedipster

A ppp'd 300hp car already has a sports cat, decat center pipe and higher flow fuel pump, remap this for £500odd and get 330hp easy.

A non ppp'd car you would need to buy all of the above bits then remap.

dipster

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

10k drops you into MY05 money, its a better car, has the Spec C geometry setup and A-DCCD (both improve the handling).

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1725428.htm

Not overkeen on dodgy dump valves but...
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1764003.htm

Avoid things like this>>>
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1824955.htm
Decatting and not remapping one of these is a recipe for disaster (mainly engine failure due to det and boost spikes)

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1866948.htm

A few to look at plus the MY05 cars (look for the flair on the rear arches) has the uprated interior and steering wheel
JDM ones are better though

Tony

seddomyster

iTrader: (9)

tingtong is it actually noticible the power difference between a newage an classic even with the 18g? if classic an newage had same power/torque would there be a clear difference in straight line performance? ive been thinking of a 03> blobeye but id have to fit an md series turbo

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Newage is 200kg+ heavier so yes!

TX.

camcap

iTrader: (1)

just another quick question how much do you lot pay for tax for the 03's ??

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

But has shorter gearing (most of the time ) plus pushes more torque and has a better cd value (and wont blow up or put a piston through the block at 350bhp )

The extra weight is all in the parts people complained about with the classics, so better gearbox, uprated clutch, uprated brakes, stiffer shell (better handling), and the performance difference isnt as much as people make it out to be a new age JDM STI twin scroll for example is as quick as a classic JDM STI, if not slightly quicker (and thats not the spec c im talking about either )

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Mine is £205 per year, but its an import

Tony

TingTongPJ

iTrader: (24)

yes massive difference in feeling but it's not really a like for like comparrison

as said above the wieght difference is a major factor and i will always be a classic fan

the newage suits my needs much better at this moment in time, ok you don't get the same connected feeling when your driving but it's a lot sturdier to drive, suits family life (with car sick child), more comfortable on the motorway etc

i hindsight my classic was running quite a way over 400bhp (with a uk 6 speed + a 2.1) so i don't know on a like for like basis, once i have had my sc46 fitted and a 3" exhaust plus remap i will have a better idea

topman2180

03 = £245 a year

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

This is the question I answered though Tony

"is it actually noticible the power difference between a newage an classic even with the 18g? if classic an newage had same power/torque would there be a clear difference in straight line performance"

I'd rather own a hawkeye of course (best looking scoobs to date IMHO) but they need serious power over a classic to be faster ...

TX.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

They dont thats the main point, they are smoother and more planted, that on its own makes them feel slower, where as they are actually not, its all about power delivery, the new age cars do that far better and more linear than the classics did, I had a P1 (slightly modded) go up against my old spec c, mine had a panel filter, he wasnt as quick yet my car was heavier but I had more torque and more aerodynamic, so the point is, what is quicker? something that "feels" quicker, or something that is quicker but doesnt feel it

I could give you the autobahn story, where I had my classic up at 150+mph, and it was scary, in the Spec C on another autobahn, I looked down at the speedo and was doing 155mph and went "ooops, didnt think I was going that quickly", as you didnt notice it (felt like 80mph!)

Tony

camcap

iTrader: (1)

well i defo want one so will look at the ppp ones i think just gotta start saving now lol what are part prices like ??

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Depends on the parts
If you buy pads and discs from a dealer for instance, its like 550 quid (front), buy them from elsewhere and its less than 300 quid (350ish for uprated 2 part discs), cambelts are quite expensive but they are also quite long, you wont save much for a decent quality one (Gates/Subaru), then tyres are down to what you like, decent ones will cost you around 85-125 quid a corner, but these are not the cheapest cars to run, just be aware of that (fuel mainly as they require 97+ ron standard).

Tony

camcap

iTrader: (1)

well thats the same if not better than my GT4 so ill be ok then lol and ye im used to the petrol lol as my GT4 is a import i only use the good stuff

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Er ... a 460hp hawkeye was 2.5s slower to 130 than me at Marham earlier this year

TX.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Drive both, you cannot compare one driver in one car to another, if you drove both and gave both the same treatment, you would probably be quicker in the new age

Tony

camcap

iTrader: (1)

so apart from the normal stuff to look out for when buying is there anything i should be looking for on these cars ???

TingTongPJ

iTrader: (24)

knocking rear suspension is a common fault on the sti8 model

Jamie120182

As above mate (things to avoid)

Dump valve (annoying)
aftermarket air intake (most increase intake temps on these models)
these and any other engine mods without a remap after they might not necassarily damage the engine in the short term but they will not help the life span of the engine or the performance.

cat back exhuasts are ok but i dont think they actually offer much of a performance improvement.

and the old knocking rear suspension.

Its also worth checking the cambelt has been changed with a receipt, most of these are carried out within the recommended mileages due to the extra strain and the low miles these cars normally do.



Incidentally there is a really nice one in the for sale section with 6 months tax and mot and the rear suspension was changed in september 2008


Whatever you choose i am sure you will be well chuffed with it, the cars are not as raw as the classics but as stated above that doesnt mean they are not going just as fast, just much smoother at speed in my opinion.



Good luck with the search