scooby_kow

Alright lads (and lasses lol)

Signed up recently as I'm after some proper advice off people who know these cars. I need some help and advice as I'm seriously considering getting a Scooby in next few months. Wanted one for so long and finally decided to just go for it.

Righto, sorry if this has been discussed already.

I've got around 6k to spend. Ideally want a 2004 onwards.

Right questions are, I'd ideally love an STI but fuel/insurance costs might sway towards a wrx.

Right, what really is the difference between the two? And on the road general driving, will I need the extra oomph and gears and bells and whistles etc?

Ideally after a blob eye, but what about the hawkeyes? After reading so many horror stories is it a safe car to choose?

I know in myself, that if its a blob eye sti that I want, why don't I just get it? But then again, is it really needed? Or would a ppp wrx be just as good? Would I buy a wrx and regret it? Would I regret not getting a hawk eye?

I know some of these questions only I can answer. But I'm after advice from people who've been there. Hope you all know what I'm going on about.

Thanks in advance, cheers.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

Yes....job done

MattyB1983

iTrader: (51)

If its a blob sti that you really want then yes, you'll be disappointed with a wrx. A PPP wrx is a great car and in the real world its only a whisker behind the sti but the sti is the better car. Better engine, better gearbox, better brakes, better interior and in most peoples eyes better styling.
Many wrx owners wish they had bought an sti, very few sti owners wish they bought a wrx.

StevieL81

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the UK cars are cheaper to insure?

AzzDSM

For the price sti's are going for now you may aswel just go for the sti. always going to be a better base if you ever want to modify in the future also

AzzDSM

it used to be uk turbo 2000 were group 17 and wrx's were group 20.. not too sure on the newage

StevieL81

Just checked insurance on a comparison website and a UK shark eye STi is £60 cheaper to insure than my 98 WRX import

scooby_kow

Thanks so far for input.

I'm not being a ***** here but would I really need the extra power, extra gears, extra attention and noise? Is the sti really that much better or that much more 'needed' than a wrx? I appreciate your input massively, but really don't wana hear stuff like its faster and you'll get more ***** lol.

Funnily enough right, at the moment the insurance for the sti is actually far less than a wrx?!?

Also a bit of info on pros and cons for both models and specs please lads. Cheers.

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

the sti has better brakes gearbox,suspension,more power
and can be tuned easier.

if you can afford an sti over a wrx get one

scooby_kow

To be honest, money isn't THAT much of a factor. It's the car. I know ideally I do want the blob sti, comon who wouldn't really. But my question is, I would never have it on track and don't race around much anymore. So is the wrx all I need? It will I seriously regret it so bad? I'd regret the boring interior for sure, but sti interior is easy to get a hold of.

In real life, does anyone have real experience of the differences of the wrx against the sti?

Rab555

iTrader: (2)

I wish I'd bought an STI over my WRX, don't get me wrong it's fantastic and a massive leap from what I had before....being only 24 at the time with very little no claims made the insurance not viable, just wish I'd waited.

I doubt you'd be disappointed with the WRX, just the STI is so much better in many ways and if you can afford to (which with 6K you can) it's really a no brainer!

B4D HK

iTrader: (15)

Get the Sti if possible. I can almost gaurantee if you get a Wrx, in time you will upgrade the brakes, suspension, power etc. Once you see what is available you will just spend spend spend.

it will be cheaper (and better) in the long run if you get the Sti

scooby_kow

I think your right. All I want is around a safe 300bhp mate. Nothing crazy. Rest of car fairly standard. I know in myself that I want an sti, but I just needed to know really if its worth it? If similar performance can be achieved from a wrx and it's also cheaper to run etc, then why bother spending the extra few grand on an STI. one problem now is a nice clean sti is hard to find. Wrx's can be found at the drop of a hat. What about the 300's and other models?

Also, nobody had yet commented on the hawk eye. Is that just a no go?

Rab555

iTrader: (2)

I don't think you'd get a decent enough hawkeye sti in that price bracket mate although I might be wrong, you'd definitely be spending more getting a WRX of any sort up to that power....a lot of us have been there and done it, I'm currently doing it lol.

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

hawkeye has the 2.5 engine (expect jdm) and the 2.5 is sh1te

richyprodrive1988

I bought a 2005 blob eye sti for 8 grand in October and strongly recommend it. It also has the ppp fitted so it is already 300bhp. I'm 24 and insurance is reasonable. And whatever the car, if ur running 300bhp fuel consumption will be very similar. I'd say Deffo go for sti. It's awesome!

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

This is true, but i don't like the STI interior with the blue everywhere, i prefer the black of the WRX.

I have a WRX Wagon with PPP so as near as damm it the same power as a standard STI, with uprated front brakes and a couple of handling mods.

I prefer it to an STI as a daily because it doesn't shout look at me, and the suspension is kinder to my kidneys.

If you want 300 ish a simple remap will get you just about there, and the spool of the standard turbo is great for road use, if you want a bit more you'll need to upgrade the turbo, plenty running almost 350 bhp with no problems, so 300 should be fine.

If you were going to mod or track it then STI all the way, but if you want a discrete daily with loads of umph then the WRX PPP is not a poor mans STI, i can afford an STI but prefer the WRX as i don't hoon about the place, and have a classic STI type r in the garage for track days when i get round to putting it back together.

SRSport

Have you test driven any yet? Go and have a drive and let us know as I think that first impressions say a lot.

I surprised myself with my Impreza which was a Hawkeye R Sport. I was concerned with the lower power output (160BHP) compared to the WRXs but as soon as I got in it I knew that I could not justify the additional expense as it was 80% of a WRX but at the time £40% cheaper to buy and considerably cheaper to run.

adz556

iTrader: (5)

I have a WRX blob. Mine now runs 350 bhp but a lot of work has gone into it. To be honest, the sti would have been a better starting point for me personally but I bought it as a 21st bday present to myself and it used to be my daily......I could not justify the fuel bill or the insurance then. Now looking back, I'd have preferred to start with an sti but I know why I did what I did so don't regret it....but if your in the position to get an sti, I'd get one! (Also take the quoted mpg from the wrx as a pinch of salt, from what I've seen there's not much in it......and I drove mine very sensible when it was my daily trying to use the least amount of fuel possible lol)

trails

iTrader: (41)

not being facetious but if those things don't bother you why buy a scoob?

romford-boy

Personally I would say that a if you go down the WRX route expect to have a fair chunk of change. There is a good reason the STI sells for a fair amount more.

The WRX is a great car, but has some good competitors worth considering like the Focus ST, but the STI is a step above the WRX and it's competitors at this price range.

I think you may regret not going for an STI, especially when you see one in traffic and think, "Damn my car doesn't have this, that, those etc etc"

The Pink Ninja

iTrader: (23)

Insurance is not that much difference either, Do a quote on similar cars ie same years you will be suprised.

scooby_kow

Why buy a scoob? Because I've always wanted one and I think their awsome mate lol.

I think your right I do need to test drive both and see what's what.

A lot of good feedback here thanks. I kinda think I got the answers I was expecting. STI all the way. Just needed to see if it was defiantly worth it over say a ppp wrx. I know the better styling, engine, brakes etc. but as a daily driver I thought maybe the wrx would do a similar job.

Looks like ill test drive the two, and probably still go down the STI route lol.

Thanks for input. Can I just ask what kind of mpg etc yous lot are getting from STI's?

SRSport

May I recommend this page

A wise investment for any Impreza owner

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

if your worried about mpg a scooby is not for you, normal everday driving is less than 20mpg
someone will pop up in a minute and tell you he can get 30 mpg if he does ten miles on a straight road at 45 mph.

if you use it as intended you wont get over 20, this is about 70 miles to £20 of fuel and an sti only uses 99 ron fuel

SRSport

I was going to post something similar but then decided not to as I think in this day and age asking what MPG you get is a valid question for owning any car. It doesnt have to be a deciding factor but still wise to ask and have an idea.

A Blobeye STI would be on average 10mpg worse off than my B200 Turbo but it should also be infinitely more reliable. When buying a car MPG is often regarded as the most important figure but in reality the running costs of my car which has been in the thousands in repairs alone would be more. Still nice to know how much MPG you get though as if there is any positive reports that is a plus...its just you wont find any unfortunately.

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

agreed but if mpg is a worry avoid an impreza at all costs the turbo charged ones are horrendous.
even supercars nowadays get better mpg than imprezas.
but that said my blob sti has been ultra reliable in the 3 and a bit years i have owned it but i service it myself and am handy with the spanners,but parts etc are reasonable.

scooby_kow

Haha that's pretty much answered my question then!!

Under 20mpg on daily driving? That's terrible! Saying that, if I expected 50mpg I wouldn't be in the market for a Scooby lol. But under 20 does get me thinking!

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

thats normal driving, give it a blast on the b roads and its worse or do a few short journeys

heres an example of my fuel costs in normal driving.

i put in £30 of super unleaded (tesco 99 as thats what my car is mapped for)

and i got about 100 miles and this included 2 runs of 35 miles.

i have used it for short journeys in the past and if i do this expect about 50 miles for £20

SRSport

The non Turbo ones are bad as well. In fact I would say their consumption/power are worse. My R sport was a 2.0 N/A that did a good enough job most of the time but it needed to be kept in higher rev ranges to get the sort of performance close to what you would be happy with. This had a big impact on economy with 19mpg in cold winter months and 34mpg eco driving on the motorways and that was on V power - which of course was a luxury for it. Overall I averaged 24mpg. At one stage I took it to a Subaru specialist to see if anything was wrong with it but everything was fine. At least with a Turbo you can use lower revs and ride on oodles of torque.