WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Having owned our blobeye WRX for 5 and a half years, the wife and I are thinking of changing, and ideally would like to go for a hatch STI, but we are put off by the weak engine. Unless we can find one that has had a forged engine rebuild and from a dealer as would probably be looking at finance, however, we have seen a 59 plate WRX-S hatch at a local car dealer.
I have read on here that the WRX doesn't suffer the problems that the STI does? and we also like the GB270, anyone know if this suffers the same problems?

tubbytommy

iTrader: (20)

all 2.5's are sh1te

Wayne STI

iTrader: (1)

Hi mate,

The 2.5 is indeed a "weaker" engine than the 2.0 but it depends on what you are going to do with it. My hatch is currently running in the region of 380 bhp with a standard engine. It's not ragged about or bounced of the rev limited and is currently very happily running with over 101k on the clock (modded to this power for the last 20k miles and showing no signed of any problems).

If you keep an eye on the oil levels, maintanence etc. and don't abuse it then it's one of the best all round engines for a daily driver with a bit of fun thrown in.

By the way.... Mine is currently up for sale on here for £9495 so if you are budgeting for a hatch then there could still be scope to forge it if you wanted to go for more power.

Just a thought

Kedlestone

iTrader: (9)

Straight to the point as usual

To be fair me and my missus are in the same boat all be it we've tracked down a mid mileage STI hatch and should be picking it up Sunday We are keeping the blob WRX as its more my toy at the weekends.

I did a lot of read up before deciding on a hatch, it's all a bit hit and miss IMO when it comes to finding a good one but what seemed to stand out was most hatches that had been modified tended to go bang first where as the factory standard ones seem to have a better chance.

We were lucky enough to get ours cheap enough so that if anything did happen then there was enough left in the kitty for forging. Ours has a FSH and only a couple of owners so for piece of mind its booked in for a oil service and compression test.

If I was you I'd look for something with low miles, FSH and un-modified as a starting point.

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

The wife would be the daily driver, so no it wouldn't be ragged much, only when I get my hands on it lol.
Unfortunately, your car has more miles on the clock than our blob, and the WRX-S we have seen only has 25k, the same garage also has a 39k STI hatch as well, its just that I have read on here in the engine failures section that it is not uncommon to see 60k mile examples that are on their 3rd engine, which is a little worrying.

Tidgy

in standard form they are pretty pants, as above some cars get away with high 300's but they tend to let go before then. once rebuilt and forged the 2.5 makes an excelent road engine, makes way more torque than the 2.0 will.

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

Speak to the guys at cross Road subaru. They often have cars with forged blocks but don't advertise them as having so. Drop James or Ben a call and let them know what you are after. They have been known to back them up with the normal used approved warranty to

Norman Dog

iTrader: (1)

Let's put it this way, you need a bloody good warranty with one.

After I'd bought it, I learned mine had £8k of engine/gearbox work less than 18k ago.

When the sales guy offered to extend the warranty to 2 years for £350, let's just say I nearly took his hand off.

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Thread update.

About a month or so back, the missus and I took a very tidy GB270 out for a test drive.
Nice car but, considering it was a 57 plate with half the mileage of our 52 plate 03 model, and supposedly running 40 or so more horses, just didn't feel any better than our car.

Yes, it had more torque, but it didn't feel any quicker than ours when on full boost, if anything ours seems to pull a little stronger, although that may well be psychological.

The steering and suspension felt no tighter, ours could do with a full geometry check but otherwise felt just as good, and our wheels are buckled on the inside of the rims due to the amount of potholes in our area, but I have a set of oz in the garage waiting to go on it any way, so for now we will be keeping ours for a while longer.

Tidgy

you'll prob find in reality the 2.5 is faster than the 2.0, due to the low down grunt it doesn't tend to kick you in the backside as hard when you floor it.