Ved

Afternoon all, hope your Chirstmas' have been good!

I'm pondering an old Scooby to replace my partners hopefully soon-to-be-sold Eunos Roadster (S-Special in brilliant black, if you ask!) and having owned a Hawkeye for a couple of years not so long ago I'm keen to have a bit of flat four back in the garrage.

I've searched without much success for bugeye advice, particularly on the STI models, so I'm posting up as a last resort.

I'm aware of the rear knocking as I had that on my own MY07 but aside from that aren't these pretty much the same platform up to the revised MY55s?

Being a RBF member I've always had a thing for the bugs with their Burns connection and there is a particularly nice looking selection at Graham Walker's with this one being my fave:

7k, 54,000 miles
£6,999, black STI PPP

So, what are the other weak points and what other advice or ownership stories do you guys have?

Also, I've heard a few +ves and -ves about Graham Walker so any impartial advice on them would be great too. If I do go up there I'll be sure to look at No.13 to see what else is falling off it


Cheers,



David

Stevesbluewrx

iTrader: (4)

To be honest a Bug STi you cannot go wrong with.

Bang for buck. A few come up for sale on here.

Long as the majors have been done like belts etc nothing to worry about. Mine hasn't had a stamp in the booklet since 2007 but have reciepts to prove all fluids etc have all been changed and the car check on a very regular basis. Depends what the seller is like I am guessing?

Steve

yellowsierra

I've just bought my bug eye
2002 sti Prodrive and very happy so far
The link you posted does seam to be top money so wants to be gooden

dunx

iTrader: (3)

It's a Prodrive Style model, check whether it actually has the PPP kit added !

You know about the rear shocks...

So that leaves, the synchros and clutch to be wary of. IMHO.

Drive it from cold, and watch out for crunching as you shift gears, fully load the car and give WOT in top gear on the steepest hill you can find, to check the clutch isn't slipping.

dunx

P.S. OEM Discs and pads aren't cheap, beware of noisy engines at start-up, and try to enjoy it... they aren't all bad. Mine's been here nearly 9 years now, and is currently at around 400 bhp !

Ved

The insurance on these is mental even compared to a final year MY07! LVE want nearly £800 compared to just over 500 for me on a Hawkeye.

Will have to do some digging around I think.

Is mileage any concern at all?


Thanks for the advice so far, keep it coming!

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Call Gary at Keith micheals mate or pm Moley_wrx and he will sort you out

b11fyn

iTrader: (1)

well iv had mine for 5yrs,,,,,,apart from servicin & a pair of rear shocks thas all iv had to spend......dnt get me wrong they r a back of **** first thing in tha morn,,,but once they av warmed up or left to warm up,,they r a pleasure to drive.....after 5 yrs it still puts a smile on my face......



regards

shaun

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

When you say it runs poor in the morning, how do you mean?

My bugeye sti runs rocky from cold start until it's got a bit of heat then it smooths out and feels fine. I spent ages trying to get to the bottom of it but in my searching I've come accross some people saying the same thing but others saying theirs are smooth from cold. I've compression checked it (fine) changed coolant sensor, cleaned iscv, new plugs, coil packs etc. It used to run lumpy all the time until I found the cambelt was fitted wrongly (1 tooth out on n/s inlet cam) and since sorting that it's smooth when warm but still rocky when cold.

I'm convinced it's something to do with the avcs but just don't know what, all I know is it got better when I removed the oil filters from the avcs oil control lines. My avcs advance at idle values also point to it being related to that. O/S is 0 deg at idle (as it should be) and N/S is circa 4 deg. As you rev it it matches up the same and smooths out.

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

The pistons will be noisey in the cold weather when they are first started and will take a couple of miles to quieten down due to them being forged so keep that in mind when going to view ok

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

got some great looking cars in that graham walker ,wouldnt mind a visit
anyone know what they are like ie hopefully not like keighley trade centre

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Mine's very quiet even after it's been standing for weeks. It sounds just the same as my mrs' 47k mile UK turbo. Infact out of all the imprezas I've driven the only one that was noisy from cold (piston wise) was a 1998 UK turbo.

The Veteran

They imported a new Hawkeye Sti from Cyprus in 2007 for me, and I found them to be really good and helpfull throughout the sale.
They also offered a good px on my 05 Civic type R at the time.

Ved

Didn't know the bugs were forged so that's a bonus! Did this lovely extra carry over into the early blobs as well?

Pink_Floyd

As others have said, be wary about the gearbox. My advice (for what it's worth ) is to get in it cold (obviously) and give it a really good run on A and B roads. Syncros with show up as notchy gear selections that can progress right through to full on crunching. I've found on mine they are worse going down the box than going up, probably due to it trying to match things in.

Another thing to consider is things on the selector side, that can appear to be syncro related but is less crunchy and more notchy and vague feeling. I'm no expert, so I can only relate my experiences to you, but if you keep your eye and ear open for those two it will save heartache later,

trust me

Ved

Thanks, Floyd. I know how much boxes can be so if it isn't super smooth and accurate then I'll walk away...or try one of the others there As this will be for the missus it does need to be ultra reliable and without any nasty surprises.

yellowsierra

The link to the black one looks like it could do with new discs on the front

Ved

Well spotted. They do have a lot of use on them. Probably crappy pads knackering the disks. A nice way to get £500 off and a trip to Scoobyparts for some lovely Brembos.

steve sti-7

Ive had a MY02 STI from new. It's done 56000 miles and Ive had two rear shocks, a battery and two front wheel bearings. its a great car. The tracker might run down your battery if the car is not used for over a week or more.

Steve