Who here owns a Subaru?

Soldato
Joined
27 Aug 2003
Posts
9,808
Location
West Midlands
Hi and welcome to the band wagon. There's a lot fewer Subaru owners on this forum than anything else, but why not?

Let's use this as a general discussion area like the others where questions can be asked from prospective owners to current/past owners and we can all have a common ground of conversation.

So, hello, I am ScoobyDoo69, I am a self certified Subaru fan boy, with a love for all other Japanese motors too.

My first car was a 1999 Subaru Impreza Sport. Started off standard, then when I was done with it I had fitted a Borla unequal length manifold (for the turbo burble ennit) both decat pipes, a Prodrive backbox, K&N induction kit, turbo interior, turbo rear spoiler, 2001 WRX alloys, STi V6 front lip and STi rear lights.

As standard it made 123bhp on the rollers, and then when modded it made 142bhp.

When I first bought it:
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When I was finished messing around with it:
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Then I bought as my 2nd car, a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX. It came with a Collins dumpvalve, Blitz turbo timer, centre decat, and Blitz Nur Spec R cat back. I smoothed the boot, fit Defi gauges (boost, oil temp and pressure) fully 3" decatted it, ported the manifold and fit a stainless up pipe, and had an Exedy clutch and lightweight flywheel fitted.

No idea what power it had as it never saw the dyno. But it did run 13.2 @ 102mph at Santa Pod.

Pics:

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How it went:

Then I bought my current Subaru Impreza WRX STi Type UK Prodrive which I have had for over 4 years. It came as standard with the prodrive performance pack (springs, exhaust, remap.) I then put everything from my gauges and exhaust from the WRX on it. It made 330bhp on the rollers, and ran a 12.9 @ 103mph at Santa Pod (so not much quicker than the WRX which definitely had much less power.) I then fit an oil cooler, shaved the front grille, partly debadged the boot, fit an oil cooler, fit a Roger Clarke Motorsport induction kit, and changed the fog light covers for inlets for my air filter and oil cooler. Then had it mapped.

It makes 373bhp and it now runs 12.1 @ 113mph quarter mile (much better :D)

When I bought it:
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Now:
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How it goes :)


Now show us yours :)
 
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Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
12,303
Location
Vvardenfell
Well, er, it looked like this when I bought it:

sti_new_engine.jpg



Now it looks more like this:

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And it goes like this (unless you put it on PowerStation's rollers, which always knock 20bhp off...):

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More than you ever could possible want to know about what has been done to it can be found here. Although I really need to get a good shot of the outside at some point.


M
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Mar 2012
Posts
4,284
Been looking at blob eye WRX's, around £4000.

How can I confirm one has the PPP?

Also anything to check or look out for when looking at them or test driving one?

Would a 215bhp WRX push me back in my seat too, I kinda like that :)
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
27 Aug 2003
Posts
9,808
Location
West Midlands
Been looking at blob eye WRX's, around £4000.

How can I confirm one has the PPP?

Also anything to check or look out for when looking at them or test driving one?

Would a 215bhp WRX push me back in my seat too, I kinda like that :)

A true PPP car has a certificate from Prodrive to say the car has been done. If the certificate is missing I believe it can be checked by the Subaru dealers.

The WRX PPPs consist of:

Silicone intercooler hose
Centre decat pipe (cat after the downpipe)
Prodrive exhaust backbox
ECU remap

A WRX as standard is a bit mundane to be honest. That's why when people drive them they tend be disappointed as most expect more. A decat and remap really wake them up, and a set of lowering springs drastically change how the car feels.

The things to look for are usual suspects like service history etc. Clutches are more expensive than most, and check for any excessive whining from the diffs and gearbox (drive a few to get a feel.) Cold starts can reveal piston slap which goes once warm. Make sure any dodgy modifications have been catered for with a remap. Especially keep away from cars that have had big air filter cones and no mapping. This is really bad on Imprezas. Messes with the MAF (air flow sensor) readings big time. No "chips" on the ECU or anything. Make sure if it's been played with it's had a full custom map. Generic maps are bad on Imprezas.

There are a few other things like moisture in the boot from leaking rear lights and such things. But they're pretty much what any other car would have.

If in doubt find a local Subaru specialist to drop into for a check over.
 
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Soldato
Joined
11 Nov 2004
Posts
8,182
Location
Couvains, France
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Leather STI interior, Newage WRX wheels, 4 pots, TD05, Chipped for 97 octane fuel, making approximately 250 bhp on major sarcasm_chip, newage coilpack conversion.

Next change is ESL daughterboard and proper mapping.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 May 2008
Posts
3,761
Location
North Wales
I've got a STI Type UK, owned it for just over a year now.

Its the very last of the 2.0 engines but has the benefits of wider track and DCCD from the later hawkeyes.

Was standard bar a bigger bore back box when i got it, did a few track days in it

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then after the common knocking from the suspension struts i decided to go for these

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also did a bit of a DIY refurb of my road wheels

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Now got a set of godspeed grooved discs, kevlar pads and braided lines sat by my desk ready to get fitted this coming thursday. I did try to fit them myself but coulnd't get the sodding calipair bolts off the front brembos :mad: was worried i was gonna end up sheering the bolts so as its due a service anyway im gonna get the garage to fit them.

Future plans are to do a few more track days and get it remapped with a decat downpipe to get me over the 300bhp barrier.
 
Associate
Joined
1 Oct 2007
Posts
932
Location
Hawkes Bay , NZ
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My Subaru Hatch.Had it nearly two years now,standard apart from a K&N pannel filter.
Tax is a ball ache,but insurance was only £387 this year for me and the wife.
Has only done just over 6000 miles since new and does about 28mpg on average.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,298
Location
Pembrokeshire
I've had 2 in the past. UK Turbo and Type RA WRC

Missed the UK terribly. Never really gelled with the RA.

Would love a Prodrive Bugeye. I have this plan of a black Prodrive bug with big offset Rota wheels in white and the calipers repainted in Kawasaki green. Think that would look awesome.

I've always had the expensive the run cars whilst the misses has had the family diesel abuse mobile. Now I've been lumbered with an oil burner she is now looking at quickish petrol stuff. Cupra R is top (managed to talk her out of a TT but she is hairdresser) but even she wouldn't say no to another scooby :)
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Aug 2007
Posts
28,597
Location
Auckland
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2002 Legacy GTB E-tune (JDM). A very nice mix of practical yet fun. 260bhp from the factory for the auto and all I've added is a 21" rear swaybar and the WRX wheels. I really, really enjoy driving this car :)
 
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Soldato
Joined
17 Feb 2003
Posts
5,153
Location
Northampton
I've owned 3 Subaru

1st was a Uk Turbo 2000 MY99 car in DBM loved that car and sold it to my brother who wrote it off :(

2nd was a Legacy Tourer 3.0 RN that was ok, drove nicely and was huge inside but was not a quick car

3rd was a Blobeye STI Type UK with the PPP pack liked the car and it was pretty quick just didn't gel with it like the Turbo 2000.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,621
Location
Worcestershire
I bought my 1999 Turbo 2000 in October 2009, at the time it was virtually stock - the only mods were a cone filter (which was promptly swapped for the stock airbox/filter setup as a friend was having a fmic fitted to his Impreza), backbox and an aftermarket strut brace. This is how it looked when I first bought it:
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I fitted a Blitz Nur Spec R catback system and the car made 237bhp on the Powerstation RR in May 2010. Since then I've spent far more cash than I ever planned on the car and it's totally transformed the way it drives. It's now running the following spec:

VF39 Turbo
STI V5 TMIC
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
Hayward and Scott 3" catback system with 3.5" exit
Fujitsubo 2.5" sports cat downpipe
Green Cotton Panel Filter
Prodrive 3 port boost solenoid
Bob Rawle Custom Remap
17" Finichi Milano Wheels with 215/40/17 Bridgestone RE50a tyres
KSport 8 pot Calipers with 330mm Discs
2005 WRX 2 pot rear calipers with 290mm Discs
Braided brake lines all round
EBC Bluestuff NDX pads
Eibach P1 lowering springs
Whiteline 24mm adjustable rear ARB with alloy droplinks
Whiteline 22mm adjustable front ARB with steel droplinks
Whiteline ALK
(All Whiteline stuff was powdercoated before fitting)
'Fast road' suspension geo setup
Canward racing Intercooler Spray Kit
Prosport Boost Gauge
Mocal 13 row oil cooler

It was remapped on the road by Bob Rawle and I haven't run it on a dyno since the changes so I'm not sure how much power it makes, Bob estimated something between 300 and 320bhp. However powerful it actually is it's a quick car and with the recent suspension changes the handling has been dramatically transformed. I do the occasional trackday hence spending a fair amount upgrading the brakes, they really are excellent and fade has never been an issue for me. My car is now on 102k and is still running the stock engine/gearbox - the TY754 gearbox on the later classics is stronger than the earlier TY752 but still nowehere near as strong as a 6 speed/ppg setup. I don't launch the car and am not interested in 1/4 mile times so I'm hoping the car will not need a new gearbox or engine rebuild for the couple of years that I plan to own it. It's virtually worthless to sell now so with the cash I've spent on it I feel like I should just use it for a couple more years and if it's still in one piece perhaps break it for parts to make a bit of cash towards a new car at the time.
It's my daily driver and has been a fantasically reliable car for the time I've owned it, it's never broken down and always starts first time. 18mpg average is hard to live with if you cover big mileage but I only cover 6k a year so fuel economy is not an issue. I haven't got many decent quality recent photos of it but here are a couple I do have:
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