What would you do?
26 September 2013, 09:47 PM
#1
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What would you do?
Some of you may know Im selling my 2005 WRX, failing that I was going to break it. Scoobs have been my dream since I was young and am on my 3rd. I really do not want to get rid of it, but will think it a waste just to sit there.
The cars had lots of monet spent on it, it should be on 320bhp with the mods it has but myself and Simon at JGM think it could be a bad remap or RR session as its only producing 291bhp.
I have bought myself a 2.2 dti Vectra as a run around car and now do not know what to do with the scoob. Im 22 next month so I cannot afford to have two lots of insurance and use the scoob as a weekend toy. I also cant justify spending £650 every month and a half on fuel alone. Being my age my only option is to turn it into a track car, but I would need a trailer towing license because I passed my test after 1991.
My question is would you turn your scoob into a track car and get a trailer license in my situation? Would you sell it and buy a classic and strip it out? Or would you go for something completely different?
The cars had lots of monet spent on it, it should be on 320bhp with the mods it has but myself and Simon at JGM think it could be a bad remap or RR session as its only producing 291bhp.
I have bought myself a 2.2 dti Vectra as a run around car and now do not know what to do with the scoob. Im 22 next month so I cannot afford to have two lots of insurance and use the scoob as a weekend toy. I also cant justify spending £650 every month and a half on fuel alone. Being my age my only option is to turn it into a track car, but I would need a trailer towing license because I passed my test after 1991.
My question is would you turn your scoob into a track car and get a trailer license in my situation? Would you sell it and buy a classic and strip it out? Or would you go for something completely different?
26 September 2013, 10:03 PM
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Why don't you put it away till you can afford to run it again. I don't know what mods you have but most people want sti parts to upgrade parts so I see less value in breaking a wrx. Why does it cost so much in fuel? How far do you have to travel? Why strip a classic rather than a newage?.
26 September 2013, 10:08 PM
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Most of the mods on it are STi upgrades. I worked out I do around 250m a week. I always keep my fuel receipts and worked it out over a month and a half and came up with that figure.
Just figured a classic would be a better track toy as they are lighter anyway, always prefered the classics for performance.
Yes it could go away, I have the space, just dont know how long that will be.
Just figured a classic would be a better track toy as they are lighter anyway, always prefered the classics for performance.
Yes it could go away, I have the space, just dont know how long that will be.
26 September 2013, 10:16 PM
#7
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Worked out roughly I make that to be 15-17mpg, what on earth are you doing with it? Ok, you're not going to double that easily, but 30mpg on a run is easily achievable with these cars if you're not tramping it 110% of the time. If you're going to be able to shift it without losing fistfuls of cash then you're probably going to be best doing that, given your current pre-occupation with the fuel bills. Keep the Vectra, get your trailer licence (not too difficult), buy a BJT trailer and then sort yourself out with a nice classic for tracking.
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26 September 2013, 10:22 PM
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Funily enough my dads bought an LPG kit for his car (not a scoob) and we are fitting it. Just never thought of one for the scoob.
I was quick on accelaration but never went over 70mph. It was always around towns and most of the time when I go out Im stuck in traffic.
To be honest your last sentence is the most appealing... sell the scoob, with the cash get a classic and do my trailer license. Can always hire a trailer for a day.
Worked out roughly I make that to be 15-17mpg, what on earth are you doing with it? Ok, you're not going to double that easily, but 30mpg on a run is easily achievable with these cars if you're not tramping it 110% of the time. If you're going to be able to shift it without losing fistfuls of cash then you're probably going to be best doing that, given your current pre-occupation with the fuel bills. Keep the Vectra, get your trailer licence (not too difficult), buy a BJT trailer and then sort yourself out with a nice classic for tracking.
To be honest your last sentence is the most appealing... sell the scoob, with the cash get a classic and do my trailer license. Can always hire a trailer for a day.
26 September 2013, 10:25 PM
#9
30mpg isn't achievable on warm up juice mate. By the time you get to a point of decent mpg you're there. I do 250 miles a week over 20 trips and it's impossible to get more than 16mpg in a 320bhp scoob 
Best thing to do is sell it tbh and get a clio 182 for track. Classics don't mate cheap track cars and your WRX would need more money to make is a reliable track car 
Best thing to do is sell it tbh and get a clio 182 for track. Classics don't mate cheap track cars and your WRX would need more money to make is a reliable track car
26 September 2013, 10:29 PM
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30mpg isn't achievable on warm up juice mate. By the time you get to a point of decent mpg you're there. I do 250 miles a week over 20 trips and it's impossible to get more than 16mpg in a 320bhp scoob Best thing to do is sell it tbh and get a clio 182 for track. Classics don't mate cheap track cars and your WRX would need more money to make is a reliable track car
Best thing to do is sell it tbh and get a clio 182 for track. Classics don't mate cheap track cars and your WRX would need more money to make is a reliable track car 
27 September 2013, 07:45 AM
#17
Yep the dream and the reality are two very different things.
You need pretty deep pockets to run a scoob of any description, fuel being probably the biggest cost, doing 250 per week I still think you have a heavy right foot as you should be able to get that from one tank full around town, but hey your 22 and in a scoob so to be expected really.
As for the track toy if I had my time again i'd go for a Mazda MX5, may not be the fastest thing on track but it will give you a very big smile and be uber reliable, forget scoobs as a track car, you really need to know them VERY well and be a decent mechanic too, and have deep pockets or VERY deep pockets if someone else does the work, I should know I spent close on £20k on mine in total for about 15 track days, and it's in bits again.
I'd avoid Clio's mostly because they are front wheel drive, but also reliability can be an issue and the last thing you want to be doing is fixing things all the time when your just out for some fun.
You need pretty deep pockets to run a scoob of any description, fuel being probably the biggest cost, doing 250 per week I still think you have a heavy right foot as you should be able to get that from one tank full around town, but hey your 22 and in a scoob so to be expected really.
As for the track toy if I had my time again i'd go for a Mazda MX5, may not be the fastest thing on track but it will give you a very big smile and be uber reliable, forget scoobs as a track car, you really need to know them VERY well and be a decent mechanic too, and have deep pockets or VERY deep pockets if someone else does the work, I should know I spent close on £20k on mine in total for about 15 track days, and it's in bits again.
I'd avoid Clio's mostly because they are front wheel drive, but also reliability can be an issue and the last thing you want to be doing is fixing things all the time when your just out for some fun.
27 September 2013, 08:43 AM
#18
As above, unless you have deep pockets dont buy a scooby, as you are now finding out!
My classic track car cost me over 2k last month. That was just buying and changing an exhaust manifold with the ecu upgrade and remap. I got the map tweaked yesterday and now I have an oil leak to fix today, now if you dont have the skills to do most of the work yourself you are going to be in for a whole world of pain.
Personally having a subaru and been conscious about money are mutually exclusive partners
My classic track car cost me over 2k last month. That was just buying and changing an exhaust manifold with the ecu upgrade and remap. I got the map tweaked yesterday and now I have an oil leak to fix today, now if you dont have the skills to do most of the work yourself you are going to be in for a whole world of pain.
Personally having a subaru and been conscious about money are mutually exclusive partners
27 September 2013, 11:42 AM
#19
Personally I would either sell it or swap it! If you can't sell it then look to swap for something you quite fancy, either a big project or something you can drive straight away. If you was to get a road going car from the start, I would then look at selling the Vectra for some spare cash 
27 September 2013, 01:13 PM
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You don't need a towing licence as long as total weight is less than 3.5ton and tow vehicle weight is more than what's being towed
I.e. 1.8ton van can pull 1.7ton trailer
I.e. 1.8ton van can pull 1.7ton trailer
27 September 2013, 02:27 PM
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There was alot of confusion over this, and I thought exactly the same as you for years.
The rules have been re-worded for clarity, check towing government website for details, but I'm confident you can tow if you passed after 1990 without needing to do another test. Just have to be within the weight limit, which towing a 1.2t scoob can get tricky wen trailers are about 3-400kgs, spares, wheels, tyres etc all adds up, my rally rig is going to be right on the limit.....
The rules have been re-worded for clarity, check towing government website for details, but I'm confident you can tow if you passed after 1990 without needing to do another test. Just have to be within the weight limit, which towing a 1.2t scoob can get tricky wen trailers are about 3-400kgs, spares, wheels, tyres etc all adds up, my rally rig is going to be right on the limit.....
27 September 2013, 02:33 PM
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Now on top of this law. Every vehicle has a max tow capacity which is normally abit less than the kerb weight of the vehicle, so the statement 'less than the kerb weight of the tow vehicle' is not strictly true......
27 September 2013, 04:04 PM
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Good find. However the tow limit on my scoob is zero! Even though I fitted a removable tow bar: because it's an import there is no limit on it, or more importantly the limit is zero. I think that this also applies to a P1 should you wish to tow with one!!!
27 September 2013, 06:34 PM
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Personally I would either sell it or swap it! If you can't sell it then look to swap for something you quite fancy, either a big project or something you can drive straight away. If you was to get a road going car from the start, I would then look at selling the Vectra for some spare cash
28 September 2013, 12:06 AM
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The key is that the MAM of the trailer cannot be over the kerbweight of the towing car. What this really means is that even with 1500kg (the vectra) available you're going to struggle to get a car and proper trailer within that limit, assuming c500kg for the trailer and c1000kg for the car on it. Of course if you're towing the scoob then the loadweight will be higher still. The best option is definitely to do your B+E as then it's the max towing of the towing car that counts.
28 September 2013, 08:40 AM
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