Bigpower

ok ok! i have sucumbed to POSSIBLY consider the impreza for next year. ( can't belive i'm writing this! )

can you scooby's and scrappy's give me the lowdown on the better models out there? or maybe the skyline owners to tell me why i should go nissan?

uk or import?

wrx or sti?

which ones are known as the "glass engines" ? ( i was told that don't hate me )

why is it better than an evo etc?

good points and bad points too please.

the budget would be an optimistic 5 grand.

jungle-jim wrote:ok ok! i have sucumbed to POSSIBLY consider the impreza for next year. ( can't belive i'm writing this! ) Why not??

can you scooby's and scrappy's give me the lowdown on the better models out there? or maybe the skyline owners to tell me why i should go nissan?

uk or import?

wrx or sti?

which ones are known as the "glass engines" ? ( i was told that don't hate me )

why is it better than an evo etc? That's asking for trouble!

good points and bad points too please.

the budget would be an optimistic 5 grand.

What sort of budget do you have for repairs and servicing?


Once you've answered those I'll be able to chip in with my two penneth, my own gut feeling would be to go for something like an EVO 3 or 4, or a WRX classic Impreza~ either with light mods. No one will try and teach you to suck eggs with the running costs thing but you will have to allow for clutch replacements, cambelts etc. Whatever you do make sure it is set up to run on UK fuel.

not sure how to ask that question stuart?

as far as i know, all "performance" jap cars cost a good dollop to run?

i am expecting to work within walking distance so running to the shops and meets/events etc.

i am more thinking about the "stresses" to a relatively small engine?

i don't expect to have a 350bhp + car without high costs.

i expect to do most of the servicing myself.

i've done all the brakes myself and fitted the turbo, reconed the g/box with some friendly help and experience so quite used to that stuff.

i should re-phrase the 350 bhp bit.

what i mean is i am aware that scoobys struggle attain these sort of figure without a lot of money thrown at them.

but the thought of an evo 2 or 3 or a pulsar will give a slight advantage over the skylines?

i have been reading too many crash threads on the soc.com this past few weeks!!

i would prefer 4wd but the costs of fluid changes are a bit of a mystery to me?

jungle-jim wrote:
why is it better than an evo etc?

They aren't

jungle-jim wrote:uk or import?

I had the same decision a few years back and plumpt for the import as they had more power and extra goodies,i paid

lol. cheers for that buff.

any other things about the imprezas?

i know the evo's can suffer crank walk and noisy tappets for example

before i had this one, I had a modded 95 WRX that had STI power, it was a awesome car, had it 2 yrs and it never missed a beat.

If I was in your shoes I would try and find a mint WRX STI Version 2 Type RA. It will be a better car out of the box than a Evo 3, and a Evo 4 is i think over your budget.

The RA has the adjustable diff, close ratio box, its lighter than a normal one, and has more tunablity than an Evo 3 (coz they have higher compression ratio so you are limited on teh bosst you can run on them) And a standard WRX needs more mods to get it to the stage.

if you bought a good STI Version 2 Type Ra, stick some 4 pot brakes from a later model and go and enjoy it, I think it would be muchos relaible, then once you get bored it relatively easy to get to300bhp on tehm with teh TDo5 turbo they have, all thats needed is uprated injectors and maybe a Power FC or something

To answer the transmission servicing, its not a hassle, just get all teh oils done when you buy it for piece of mind and then just enjoy, if you use godd quailty oil it shouldn't need re-done for a good couple of years dependant on use. i recentlyu had my cars oils all done at a specialist, and it costs circa

jungle-jim wrote:
i know the evo's can suffer crank walk and noisy tappets for example

I think the crank walk is on earlier evos and the tappets can be easily cured by uprated lash adjusters(

buff wrote:

jungle-jim wrote:
i know the evo's can suffer crank walk and noisy tappets for example

I think the crank walk is on earlier evos and the tappets can be easily cured by uprated lash adjusters(

Best thing to do is go drive a few examples of both..then decide which one you like best.

other things to consider are:

What are you using it for, road only, road and a couple track days, lots of track days???

This could make yor decision easier?? due to servcing, and parts availability etc.