Evo or Impreza?

I had to choose between an STI and an Evo 8. Ended up going with the STI for the looks, interior, noise, plus the STI with the PPP was very rapid, more rapid I felt than the Evo 8 FQ300 I drove. Plus it was much easier to live with day to day. Miss it.

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Depends on what you're planning to do with it.

If you care about track lap times... and you know how to drive... the Evo will likely be slightly quicker round a track.

Personally... I think the Subaru is the better all-round road car (and why I chose scoob over evo for my daily driver)... plus I love the boxer engine sound (albeit without a silly 4.5" exit!).

However, if you were looking at something a bit newer... it would have to be an Evo. IMO, no scoob even comes close to the 9s/10s... especially the diffs on the 10s, they're amazing!

You generally get a better ride quality in a scoob and I personally prefer scoob seats... but obviously those are changeable on both cars.
 
Basically the bottom line of this thread is that you win either way.

True.

Just beware there are a lot of crap/barried scoobs out there... probably quite a few nasty Evos too... so you need to be careful when choosing the right one. Even more so than an 'average' car...

Drive a few before making your decision, don't fall in love with the first one you see... I know how hard that can be sometimes... but it's really worth the effort of searching around when you're looking for a car like this!

I settled on number 7... and am happy with my choice despite the big-end giving up, get it back this saturday...

A lot have had silly exhaust mods that fart and/or lose a noticeable amount of low-end torque for a high-end peak... while the latter is great if you're on track staying in boost all the time... it's not so nice for road driving unless you really want to be screaming the ******** off it everywhere you go.
 
finding an unfettled one will be quite tough I think and may carry a bit of a premium as a result, most tend to get tweaked a little (it's hard not to! :p)

I've always been an Evo fan, but I do like scoobs and would happily have either!
 
finding an unfettled one will be quite tough I think and may carry a bit of a premium as a result, most tend to get tweaked a little (it's hard not to! :p)

I've always been an Evo fan, but I do like scoobs and would happily have either!

Very true... I managed to find one very close to stock. But with the right kind of mods...

It had a full replacement exhaust system (mainfold to exit)... but it's the HKS (or H&S, I forget) system that's very similar to the prodrive system... so good for performance rather than flatulence. Yet still sounds great... but it's the right kind of noise and not one that you can hear from miles away.

And a re-map to go with it...

Other than that, service intervals far-exceeded etc etc.

I could have got a more barried thing of similar age and mileage for £4.5-5k... this one was worth £6k due to it's immaculate condition and generally being un-molested.

The problem with the other ones... most of them were in such shoddy condition... even the £4.5k price was usually way too much for them. There is A LOT of chaff out there in the scoob world unfortunately :(
 
Just beware there are a lot of crap/barried scoobs out there... probably quite a few nasty Evos too... so you need to be careful when choosing the right one. Even more so than an 'average' car...

This is true, check owners clubs typically for the best examples.

It's a total buyers market at the moment though and this should mitigate the risk somewhat. No one wants a potential big bill throwing petrol pit in these economic conditions.
 
This is true, check owners clubs typically for the best examples.

It's a total buyers market at the moment though and this should mitigate the risk somewhat. No one wants a potential big bill throwing petrol pit in these economic conditions.

Yeah... I saw some (sure, high mileage)... but reasonable condition early classic STIs for £3k... nothing for such a good car
 
You mention that you dont want a modified motor, those two links are about as modified as you can get away from standard! Scoobynet would be the best forum for subarus.
 
I like these two imprezas: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3029507.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3047456.htm

Not too far from me but in opposite directions. Any websites to check cars on owners clubs?

That first one... looks pretty good (white one)... decent conversion and the ej257 short engine is less prone to death.

The other mods look good (ie, not stupid and not done without consideration), would be worth checking out IMO.

The second one on the other hand, appearance wise... gorgeous... but I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!

Another thing to look out for... most front mounted intercoolers cause an horrific amount of lag. It is possible to do them properly, but not easy and not cheap. So avoid unless you like power delivery to come and age after you hit the right pedal.
 
Whats special about this edition?

Is it any better/faster than the RS versions ?

From the top of my head: Limited run, different front bumper, titanium turbo core with faster spool, different wheels, custom seats and maybe interior, handling adjustments and I think it had a slightly quicker rack.

Regarded as many as the best all round Evo, although it's difficult to know how much of it is fanboyism, I've never driven one and so I can't comment.

Scene tax applies.

Probably not quicker than an RS as it wasn't weight reduced I don't think, but it's no doubt easier to live with.
 
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That first one... looks pretty good (white one)... decent conversion and the ej257 short engine is less prone to death.

The other mods look good (ie, not stupid and not done without consideration), would be worth checking out IMO.

The second one on the other hand, appearance wise... gorgeous... but I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!

Another thing to look out for... most front mounted intercoolers cause an horrific amount of lag. It is possible to do them properly, but not easy and not cheap. So avoid unless you like power delivery to come and age after you hit the right pedal.
What's wrong with the second one, it looks even better than the first to me. It's had a forged 2.1 stroker rebuild by scooby projects (who are top guys and know what they're doing) along with a bob rawle remap (he is a subaru mapping guru!) Also the D2 8 pots are excellent (I know as I have the ksport 8 pots on mine which are identical) and the only mods I would get rid of is the HID kit and OTT I.C.E. setup. With a bigger turbo (peraps an sc46 or md321) and a £150 remap tweak (what bob rawle charges for a map tweak) you could be looking at 400bhp + which is going to be pretty rapid in a classic scoob. Also the fmic lag thing, I think you're overstating it I've been in a number of fmic-equipped Impreza's with no noticeably increased lag over a tmic-equipped car.
 
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