robinH20MRV

hi all,

i am thinking of trading my wrx for a wrx type r v ltd, (276 bhp) though its not as fast as my wrx! but its a 98, and v nice! who can tell the pros and cons of them?

thanks, robin.

Ross Taylor

Robin,

I'm not as well qualified as some on the list to advise on this one, but I sold my '98 STi V4 Type R in January after a years ownership...

Fantastic car, bonkers fast (It made 297bhp on the r/r before it was decatted), and obviously had all the nice STi bits...

Advantages over a WRX?

Engine is far higher spec - Bigger intercooler,stronger closed deck block on the V Ltd (I think?), forged pistons, different turbo...Better basis to tune than the WRX...

Gearing is very short (Althought not Type RA short!) - 20mph per 1000rpm in top, means a noisy 4000rpm at motorway speeds...

Adjustable diff - Makes a *big* difference to the handling...

Suspension is stiffer, and it has lighter alu wishbones...

Bigger brakes (4 pot calipers), although later WRX's had the same...The rear brake discs on the '98 Type R are fairly unique - Kind of Group N Spec I think....

I loved the rarity of the 2 doors - And the insane acceleration the short 'box gave...

However when the diff was fully open, it was a real handful - Very easy to unstick the back end coming off roundabouts...(Also worried about the electronic diff in question breaking - It's a small unit and around £600 to fix if it goes !??)

The suspension was so stiff, that all rattles were exaggerated...And the std STi 4 pots are rubbish...

In all, a great car - I throughly enjoyed owning it, but I wasn't a skilled enough driver to fully exploit its capabilities...

Cheers,

Ross.

robinH20MRV

hi ross,

heres the twist! the car (for sale at mackays in edinburgh) has NOT got the ajustable diffs or the water spray system! it also has abs, but the cars straight from nippon! it has got the roof vent and is fitted with a roll cage! very strange, it also has power windows and air con (with a roof vent?????????)

acording to the info it a wrx type r v ltd "gc8e2dd"
must just be a rare beast!!!

cheers, robin.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Robin,

the WRX Type-R v-ltd models are indedd very rare. I've only ever seen one other like it in the flesh. The V-Ltd specs vary from year to year, and sometimes it seemed like it was very much a case of what's left in the parts bin at the end of the year at times, with some very strange combinations of parts. It's not always the case that tou can say the V-Ltd models will come fitted with X, Y and Z, becuase when built, they could still be ordered with a variety of options from the factory.

I'd be wary about buying a car with a roll-cage, as chances are it's seen some competition work in Japan. On the other hand, if it has, then it could well be fitted with some other nice bits (suspension/brakes etc).

I would guess that it has the WRX engine, as opposed to the STi spec engine, and as already mentioned it doesn't have the electronic diff (handy at times) or waterspray (of limited use anyway), but does have ABS (could be very handy at times!).

Overall, it's probably got a very good mix of parts on it, but being rare, it could mean there are problems tracking down some parts if anything ever broke or wore out. I have heard of some V-Ltd models having different rear brakes (similar to the ones that Ross had on his Type-R), but this may not be the case if it has ABS.

The only way to check what the car has, would be to have a full inspection done on it. Being a 98 car, I would also check for piston slap on first start-up from cold (ie overnight), as even WRXs suffered from this, and not just the UK cars.

John

kart_man

It sounds like the model you're looking at may be the non-sti version, as John mentions. I'm fairly sure they brought out a slightly cheaper version of the type R, without some of the tweaks of the sti, but it looked very similar. Check it's got red manifolds, as that can be a give away (although not a guarantee either way).
I'd be dubious whether it's putting out 276 bhp if it's not the sti (and in fact may not be much more than your wrx), so make sure you take it for a propper blast before parting with the pennies !!

My last car was a '98 wrx sti type r and it was a lot of fun, although I did miss the reassurance of ABS at times !! You'll be ok though, as it sounds like it's a bit of a hybrid !! I'm curious about the cage aswell, so may be worth having a poke around the car to see if anything else has been modified. Haven't heard much about McKae, except that he never seems to know much about the history of the cars he brings in. Fair enough if he's buying at auction I guess, but it would still be nice to have some idea what the car did before you bought it !!

Good luck !

robinH20MRV

thanks guys,

i was very dissapointed the way it went! road tested, buy my light foot! NO RED INLET MANIFOLDS, hmmmmmmmmmmmm,
though its not been hammerd, have been under it! and "kye mackay" only offered me 7k for my car..................hmmmmmmmmmmmm
think i will just spend a few grand on "h20 mrv" as i do love it!!
thanks for all, beers to be bought next meet,

cheers robin.

Dave Brown

Robin

Time for stage 2 now then

Dave

robinH20MRV

stage two at the end of the month!!!!!