Wrx Sti Type R V5

[Ben]

Yep, 4/5 mm aswell.

[Tk]

Not bad, they are only about 5mm from new aren't they

[Ben]

Few more parts sourced today too i.e. spare wheel, fibre board for the boot - the current one has split.

[RX7]

Well, young Benjamin popped by my neck of the woods to give me a run out in the Impreza. First of all I will start by stating that I could hear it a while before I saw it but the noise of the exhaust droning when pootling around was soon forgotten when unleashing all the power and the incredibly sound of the Impreza burble.

We drove down the road and out into a country lane bit where of course we saw a Subaru coming the other way and of course there was a flash and wave. This is the best part of owning a performance car and I had forgotten it after driving a 'normal' everyday car for so long. After that he put his foot down and I was thrown back into my seat by the turbo powered beast. It certainly felt quick and shot through the gears. Something again I had forgotten since driving all the power of my 55bhp 1.2 Polo
It certainly felt quick despite only running only 0.6 bar, such a different power delivery than both his old Skyline and my RX7. So yep, to vouch for Ben...it is quick !

What did shock me when sitting inside though was two things......firstly how nice, comfy and figure hugging the seats were and secondly how much lack of interest the Manufacturer showed when designing the black featureless dash. Nothing that couldnt be rectified with a rummage through the Japanese parts catalogues no doubt. But the interior was certainly in better condition that I thought it would be and the cockpit isnt as cramped as in the RX7.

Moving onto the bodywork it was hard not to appreciate the glistening white paintwork against the snowy pavements, the distinctive gold alloys and the dark colour of the windows all backed up nicely with 'that' rear wing that defines it being an Impreza. A bit of minor work to be done on the outside before concourse condition but as a massive fan of white cars it was hard not to be impressed.

Certainly a very different car than the Skyline or the RX7 but no means less, definitely equal.

So to sum up, it sounds great, it goes great, it looks great and can only mean one thing.....it is great. Definitely a great car that when Ben waves his creative touches over will only get better.

[Ben]

I think some lovely alacantra may have to find it self on to the dash and roof lining .. but once I've done all the little important bits. i.e. oil temp / oil pressure, relocated the boost gauge.

Popped upto imprezabreakers in brooke today - damn they have a lot of stock !! ..
whole engines for a grand! ... plenty of cars to get trim bits from.

[Stuart]

.. but once I've done all the little important bits.

and get the boost pressure checked
timing belt changed
air/fuel ratio checked

Nice to read Gareth's review and get his perspective

[Ben]

Yeh, gotta to be mis-reading, seems way too low.

It's actually a greddy boost gauge too.

[Stuart]

Actuator pressure is 0.7 according to Scabbynet, not 1.1 like we thought. It may be right after all

[Ben]

For interest, how is the boost adjusted?

[Tk]

sti's should be running 1 bar minimum i think possibly 1,1 bar but definatly not under that
my ra runs 0.8 bar standard
if you only have 0.6 and it feels quick wait till you hit full boost