yammer5

Hi Guys

Ive owned Renault 5 GT Turbo's for years now, but i want to move away from a little hot hatch and get something a little bigger and hopefully better.

Ive got about £3200 to spend and have been looking into many different cars, my main goal is something that has a fast 0-60 and that handles well.
Ive been looking at:

MR2 Turbo 0-60 5.5
300 ZX Twin Turbo 0-60 5
Evo 4 0-60 5
GTO Twin Turbo 0-60 5

All of the above are nice cars but are quite old and quite hard to find without really high milage for the money i have to spend.
So i have been looking into Impreza's, ive seen some nice WRX Turbo 2000's for sale, but the only thing im worried about is the 0-60 times ive seen have been quoted around 6.2 - 6.5 which is alot slower than i expected.

Does anyone know of a factory standard Subaru that has a 0-60 time below 6 that i can get a nice one for around £3200?


Thanks in advance for any help

Jay

juniorc

Think most roadtesters got the classic to 60 in less than 6secs when tey were new

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

Are you basing the time on a UK turbo or a JDM car?

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Jdm sti ra, you my well find one close to your budget, someone on here picked up a really sweet one a couple or three weeks ago in white for close to that money.

And that will hit 60 in around 4.5 / 5.5 depending on how hard you launch it, id suggest you don't do it too often though as it's a big strain on the drive train and clutch.

These cars are more about mid range punch and drivability as in 30 to 130 if you want it to last.

Anyone can be first off the lights, it's what happens after that which really counts.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

get a classic sti jap spec 97 onwards 0-60 4.5 ish 280hp the uk are only 210 ish

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Performance Car mag I think it was got a standard UK Turbo 2000 99MY from 0-60 in 5.2secs.

Having said that I wouldn't base the 0-60 for a reason to buy a car over another. Remember a Subaru is better off the mark than most two wheele drive vehicles so you also need to look at the in gear times.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

and saying that you could by a wrx import from 97 -2000 and there all 276hp but the sti is a better base for tunning and handling

yammer5

Im new to Subaru's and theres so many different types of Impreza's its hard to know whats what.
The last thing i want to do is buy one and find out its a bad year or it looks fast but its slow.
These are some examples of what ive been looking at :

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...rs?logcode=flp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...59jr?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...59jr?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...s/60?logcode=p

Could anyone give me any info on what im looking at please?

Thanks

Jay

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

If your looking for a good starting block in the power stakes then try and find a JDM car. They ranged from 240ps to 280ps where as the UK cars were under 220bhp unless fitted with the prodrive pack.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

right the best thing to do if your want a classic by a jap spec they will state wrx or wrx sti by on from the year 97-2000 all jap spec motors are easy to spot they have fog lights under the rear bumper, they have stickers on the boot instead of badges they also have rear windscreen wippers and and when your run a hpi check or somthing like that they will come up as subaru and not much else i.e no model spec also they have i think shorter vin numbers or is it longer some one will be able to clear that up, the uk classic never come as a wrx or a wrx sti as they were all called uk turbo, this only goes for the classic shape after 2001 the jap wrx went back down in power so if in doubt by and sti jap spec

FurballPhil

If its off the mark acceleration you`re after, then a Scooby is what you want...

But I would be looking more at the Import Scooby`s, in particular the Type-RA`s

I have owned a Scooby in many of it`s guises.. A Sport, a WRX, an STi and now I have a Type-RA.

Out of them all, the Type-RA has been the most brutish on acceleration, but you do sacrifice your top end speed due to its gearing. But for me, probably like you, I prefer acceleration.

Mine is running 300.3bhp at the moment, but I`m away to have her mapped properly on Monday @ Andy Forrest and hoping for 360bhp+

Well, thats my opinion.............. Have a look into a Type-RA

PS - Just to add to HappyDude303............... The Type-RA is the exception when it comes to Imports..
The Type-RA is a stripped down Import.......... It doesn`t have the rear windscreen wiper, doesn`t (As A Norm) have electric windows or air-con. No ABS. Manual wing mirrors... All it`s wings, panels, doors, boot and bonnet are lightweight......... It`s an Import Scooby that`s produced to it`s requires little work for it to enter Grp N Rallying.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

has above the type ra are good for that but if i was you i would still by a late 1997 one onward as the interior is better then the old shapes type ra, sti ra ytpe r sti ra there good dude just make sure you buy a tidy one make sure its cold when you started and let it warm up in front of you for five minutes, listen for piston slap bottom end knocking and then get the onwer to take it out for a good 20-30 minute drive and listen again, check the oil see if nice or is it dirty as hell, if its dirty then the onwer probally dont look after it that well check all fluids to see if there dirty

yammer5

Thanks for all the help guys, im learning lots!

Ive just had a little look on pistonheads and have seen this :

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2839869.htm

Which looks like the type car that alot of you have described, is this more like it?

Thanks loads

Jay

Brun

Tuning that car will require an aftermarket ecu. Late 98 S reg onwards can have the OE ECU mapped

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

yeah your on the right track now but i would be a bit carfull with that one has im sure ralliart would not put adds like that in

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

yeah this is true if you get a late 98 -2001 you can have the standard ecu mapped

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

these are pearls of wisdom your getting here i wish i new what i know now four years ago :>

yammer5

I may have hit a slight bump in the road, i have been quoted about £770 with 1st central, for insurance on a uk spec SUBARU IMPREZA TURBO 2000, i changed it to an import type RA and it went to £1050! eeks this is looking like a no go for the import
£770 i can just about do but i cant manage a grand.

Damn

yammer5

Im gonna have to get to sleep, ive got to do a stock take early tmrw in work.

Ill give keith michaels a bell tmrw and see if i can get insured on the import for a similar price ive been quoted on the uk model *fingers crossed*

Thanks for all the replys guys

mit

iTrader: (10)

I don't know, my RA is 16 years old, and people still get it wrong!! They share the same panels as the other imports, no light weight ones, just the ally bonnet, same as the rest. The weight saving is due to lack of extras, not replacement of panels.
Rear fogs are wherever you put them, mines in the rear lights. No aircon? That tends to be the one extra they do have!
As for in gear power, the scoobs often loose out due to the transmission losses over 2wd cars with similar power, but make up for it in traction. That is, of course until you tune them up, given the right budget they can be insane. Mine has 350bhp, 0-60 under 4sec.
If it were my choice, i'd go for the latest, standard classic sti i could get my hands on, RA's are not great as daily drivers. And be prepared to have much bigger fuel bills over the R5 you have.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

OK here's my two penneth.

There is no doubt about it that the JDM cars offer more bang for your buck, but unless you can get one from a enthuiast owner who has had it in the UK since it was imported you may want to be careful.

The reason is the UK cars can run on 95 RON whereas the imports need 99 RON unless they have been remapped for 95. This means that if they have not been regularly fed with the right stuff they can have engine issues.

A lot of people will take that chance and just rebuild the engine if something goes wrong taling the opportunity to go for more power, but you sound like you may be on a bit of a budget. In that case you maybe best looking for a 99/00 MY UK car that has had some sensible mods done to it. You still get a lot of car and slightly cheaper insurance too as well as the fact you ar emore likley to get a service history.

This isn't a cast iron rule as there are good JDM cars out there with plenty of history and some tatty UK cars with none, but overall there are probably more good UK cars than good JDM available.

FurballPhil

Aye, fuel bills can be quite steep on Scooby`s and inparticular the RA`s, and long runs on the motorway can be droning with constant higher revs in 5th than a normal Scooby gearbox. As for the aircon, mine has aircon too. A previous owner also removed the window winders, blanked their holes and fitted electric windows all round.

My Type-RA is 1993 V1... 18 Years old... She`s a good old girl... So, if you chose well, you can find yourself a reliable one that just keeps going (As long as You Look After Her)...

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Go for it, thats a nice car looks like mine although mine is not 300bhp

Pink_Floyd

Insurance on an Impreza is never going to be cheap. Ball park figure that people seem to give on here after getting a quote is £600 - 1000. Not many seem to get below £550 sadly.

That said they are worth it

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

That always makes me laugh. No they don't, they are the same as any other Impreza. Ok, the bonnet is aluminum, but that's also fitted to lots of other Impreza's too.

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

+1 There isn a week that goes by where the infamous lightweight panels of the RA pop up in thread.

kj200sx

iTrader: (7)

I would stay away from the evo 4 as they suffer from crank probs and are very expensive to maintain but are great cars that said as is the gto tt I have owned both I can't comment on the 300 as never had or been in one mr2 are great little cars but are only 2 seats if I were you I would get a Sti import will easily get one for your budget if you look around and are similar in performance to the evo but alot cheaper to maintain imo

kj200sx

iTrader: (7)

will cost you way more than the little extra insurance to bring a uk upto a Jdm Sti spec alot more and there alot better base to start modding with just pay the insurance and save in the long run

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Noticed your location is Chester
Near to you ,you have some great clubs
CADs Cheshire and district
NWS north Wales Scoobies
The LADS Lancashire club
Between those 3 clubs you could go along to their meetings and they would all be keen to talk to you
Sand by checking out their forums ,someone will have one for sale which will be a good honest club car unlike an unknown on eBay,piston heads etc


Also the NBO is only a month away where there will be 12 owners clubs ,traders and 300 Scoobies to view and talk to owners and. There is always some for sale there too

Details on northern site

RS_Matt

Don't get an Evo IV!!! Been there done that.