Advice needed for classic subarus

eggy790

looking at getting a subaru in the next few months, just has a few questions. is it worth gettin g an import? as insurance on the uk turbo is a lot cheaper ..

how hard is it to get a uk turbo to sti power? what mods would need to be done and what coist roughly?

also a lot of the classics are now hitting high milages.. how much would a new engine cost and cost to fit? if something happens such as timing belt snaps?

or how much would a refurb be?

cheers
p.s. my friend has just bought a v6 sti estate.. how hard would it be for him to get about 340 out of his engine? and how much can these engine internals take before they need rebuilding#?

adzer

as far as i know the only difference between uk and jap imports is the ecu's
(could be wrong tho)

just buy a impreza which looks like its been looked after and service history and give it a full service once you buy it and you cant go wrong

eggy790

o rite didnt know that about the ecu's

what ecu does the uk model have and what do the imports have?

as my ffriend has an sti and his leaves uk turbos quite easily.. so wanting something similar to his power wise...if its just the ecu.. who would you recommend to fiut them? or replace it? it west yorkshire areas

adzer

as far as i know it is just the maps on the ecu's that is different, also depends what age of impreza you buy, put i have a z4 ecu which are rated at 260ps and a u8 which is rated at 240ps.

do it yourself it sits under the carpet on the passenger footwell, couple bolts and the wires unclip.

other than that the engines are the same

Ninja_Motors

The WRX import was different from the uk in a few ways i believe, a slightly bigger turbo, larger intercooler, different engine management set up and slightly higher compression ratio and slightly different gear ratios. If you are looking at tuning in my opinion you are best to get an import as your 30bhp ahead straught away then.

DaOne

there is a very lot more different between the uk, and lets say a jap import sti.

some parts are made of ally, not steel, blue printed engine, etc etc

some info here about what car you have by the vin number

Do You Know The Exact Model Of Impreza You Have

there is alot more info on the sidc about the different types of classic

adzer

as far as i was aware the only difference in power was down to the mapping?

i know sti's have forged pistons but doesn't add bhp???
early impreza's was fitted with td05 turbo's upto 96 i think then fitted with td04's or pre 96's wagons was fitted with a td04 turbo.

i agree that different models have different ratios making take off quicker than others.

thats just my penny's worth but i may be far wrong

eggy790

ok so basically its the wrx or sti import i want to begin with .. ok what bout engine replacing/rebuilding? as some of these are high milers..how much can these engines take and whats to look out for in high milage subs?

kylejennings05

standard build between £1500-£2000 forged build anything from £3000-£6000 depending on the spec you want.

subaruturbo_18

you shouldnt really aim to buy one with high mileage. go by how good its current condition is and how much service history it has got. any mods, makesure it has history on where it was done etc.

if its an import makesure its full service history so you know more about the car.

also with an older engine your more likely to have big ends go wrong not timing belt as you should buy one thats been well serviced

DJ_Jon

I bought a UK car with full dealer history & 70k on the clock & the engine went bang (well the big-ends did, although not specatularly), the point being, owning one of these cars can be an expensive thing, just be prepared for the inevitable! and if you want it to last longer, keep it standard or get spending on forged internals.

My best advice would be spend as much as you can on a decent low mileage UK car, if you buy an STi then you realistically will need it remapping unless you want to run it on V-Power all the time.

hodgy0_2

i too recently bought a UK MY99 with 94000 on the clock

and although I have done about 3k (trouble free miles -- albeit with a high oil consumption) in it in the last 4 weeks -- I am half expecting it to go bang

and untill I have had a specialist look at it -- i dont think i,ve been over 5k in revs

rbaz

There is a big difference between a classic UK car and a Jap STI.
Use the search button loads of threads about it.
It is not just a case of different ECU and pistons the heads, turbo, suspension, steering, brakes, gearbox and trim are all different.
Cost you a fortune to get a UK car to the same spec only downside is the insurance. If you go for a V4 STI or older you don’t have such an issue with UK fuel as the later ones as the higher octane fuel was not used in Japan until after then.

scoobynutta555

Buy one with a blown engine or with a recent rebuild from a proper garage, like what I did Speccing up to 320 bhp is not that expensive at all.

Slick81

As above try and look for one that has been looked after. Iv got a 98 UK which was at 58000 when I picked it up. There is a fair bit of difference in the year you buy on a UK.

One of the main difference is the ECU and injectors that come in the car. Pre 99 will come with 380cc injectors which will probably max out running 270+BHP. Also, replacement ECU is the way to go i.e Apexi Power FC.

However, if you get hold of a 99UK Turbo, your injectors will be 440cc and you can go for a ECU tek remap. Both cars will come with a TD04 Turbo which should get you to about 280BHP, but will be pushing its limit.

Entirely depends on how much you want to spend. Above, are all examples and approximations, but Im sure Im not too far off. Just to give you and idea, I was thinking about P/X my car for an STI, my ins wanted to charge me and extra £750 on top of what I had paid for the year

At the moment, mine keeps up with a standard STI without too much trouble, and Iv spend about £1500 to get it there.

Hope that helps!
Iv found that modding is a very, very bad habit!!

markietay

My uk 97 has done 140000 miles and is still on the original engine and clutch and uses no oil at all.
Mileage means nothing Its all down to how the car is looked after.ie warmed up correctley and not thrashed all the time.

rbaz

140000miles on original clutch that must be some sort of a record. You must be very gentle with it

mr hat