Soldato
- Joined
- 5 Sep 2011
- Posts
- 12,883
- Location
- Surrey
Excuse the essay but I feel it's been a long time coming so needs a bit of backstory!
TLDR; I bought one of the best Evo 5s in the country
After regretting selling my FQ340 MR back in 2018 the hunt has been long and dull to find a worthy replacement that ticked all the right boxes. I'd spent a small fortune on getting it to a standard I was comfortable with, including a full exterior respray. I had the car for 3 years and absolutely loved it, just didn't drive it enough and it became more of a pet project.
It was running an Evo IX 80 Series hybrid Owen Developments turbo and full bolt-ons making around 406BHP and 400ftlbs of torque on standard internals. The turbo was the perfect balance of power and response for this car, it was an absolute joy to drive. Sadly, in 2018 circumstances meant I had to let go of the car.
I was also recently contacted by a chap over in Poland asking me if I still had a few parts to hand for it. It turned out that the gentleman that bought it off me crashed it late last year and it was sold at auction, which left me with a fairly sickening feeling as I'd put a lot of love into it.
Last year, I spent 4 months in an A45 AMG. It was, by all means, a really nice car. It was mapped to around 430BHP and was highly spec'd by the original owner. Almost every extra besides the aero kit costing 55,000 off the showroom floor. Within a few months, I grew bored. Insanely fast, unfortunately just not that special, and I ended up trading it back in.
In January this year, I tried my hand on the dark side and went back to what I loved.
2008 Subaru WRX STI hatch that had been fully rebuilt with Cosworth internals pumping out 380bhp.
I had the car for two months. Having always been more keen on Lancers, the first thing that struck me was how heavy the car felt. The steering and response felt very planted, and you could feel the weight of the car. Although as heritage will tell you these cars were up against each other, the hatch was nothing like an Evo, which are always very light at the front.
The 2.5ltr had amazing torque and sounded truly epic with the full Cobra turbo-back system on the car, which had many of the 330 Edition perks installed from the factory, just without being an actual 330 lol.
For how little I paid it was an amazing car. I think what truly drew me towards the hatch is how much the purists truly hated it, and as an Evo fan at heart, I loved it lol.
Before COVID19 took its grasp on the UK, I decided I truly just wanted to get back in an Evo. Having gone through the ups and downs of owning one that went through the years of abuse that our UK roads expel onto these cars, I decided this time it would definitely have to be an import. A week before lockdown commenced, I'd sold the Impreza, and the hunt commenced.
Anyone that knows Evos will know that 9/10 cars that come up for sale are either dogs, or bordering dog-ish levels. One was hoping the right car would come up given certain people's financial situations, but nothing did. I decided that for what I was looking for, perhaps my budget was a little too low.
Then, this appeared on PH.
The car was imported by Guy Francis in the West Midlands in 2018, and is a one Japanese owner car. The key still has the original Ralliart leather strap with the gentleman's name on it. It's yet to be registered in the UK.
Guy then went about fully stripping the car down completely and replacing almost every single nut and bolt you can imagine. Most of the work being carried out by Ian Tromans formally of Ralliart. Beyond the front end, the paint is original and in remarkable condition for a 22-year-old car, with only minor age-related / storage marks. Due to personal reasons Guy, unfortunately, had to sell the car and I was lucky enough to get in there. I think if it weren't for the current pandemic, I wouldn't have been so lucky.
The car has some super rare parts, too. The ARC spoiler blade is incredibly hard to find now. As is the OMP limited edition steering wheel signed by Tommi Makinen. In terms of plans, the car just needs to be mapped and is running on standard internals with a full set of HKS bolt-ons and Fujitsubo turbo-back exhaust. I have an Evo IX 80 series turbo to go on, but no other plans to go big power, this one is too special to ruin.
I'm back in my happy place. I'll let the pics speak for themselves!
TLDR; I bought one of the best Evo 5s in the country
After regretting selling my FQ340 MR back in 2018 the hunt has been long and dull to find a worthy replacement that ticked all the right boxes. I'd spent a small fortune on getting it to a standard I was comfortable with, including a full exterior respray. I had the car for 3 years and absolutely loved it, just didn't drive it enough and it became more of a pet project.
It was running an Evo IX 80 Series hybrid Owen Developments turbo and full bolt-ons making around 406BHP and 400ftlbs of torque on standard internals. The turbo was the perfect balance of power and response for this car, it was an absolute joy to drive. Sadly, in 2018 circumstances meant I had to let go of the car.
I was also recently contacted by a chap over in Poland asking me if I still had a few parts to hand for it. It turned out that the gentleman that bought it off me crashed it late last year and it was sold at auction, which left me with a fairly sickening feeling as I'd put a lot of love into it.
Last year, I spent 4 months in an A45 AMG. It was, by all means, a really nice car. It was mapped to around 430BHP and was highly spec'd by the original owner. Almost every extra besides the aero kit costing 55,000 off the showroom floor. Within a few months, I grew bored. Insanely fast, unfortunately just not that special, and I ended up trading it back in.
In January this year, I tried my hand on the dark side and went back to what I loved.
2008 Subaru WRX STI hatch that had been fully rebuilt with Cosworth internals pumping out 380bhp.
I had the car for two months. Having always been more keen on Lancers, the first thing that struck me was how heavy the car felt. The steering and response felt very planted, and you could feel the weight of the car. Although as heritage will tell you these cars were up against each other, the hatch was nothing like an Evo, which are always very light at the front.
The 2.5ltr had amazing torque and sounded truly epic with the full Cobra turbo-back system on the car, which had many of the 330 Edition perks installed from the factory, just without being an actual 330 lol.
For how little I paid it was an amazing car. I think what truly drew me towards the hatch is how much the purists truly hated it, and as an Evo fan at heart, I loved it lol.
Before COVID19 took its grasp on the UK, I decided I truly just wanted to get back in an Evo. Having gone through the ups and downs of owning one that went through the years of abuse that our UK roads expel onto these cars, I decided this time it would definitely have to be an import. A week before lockdown commenced, I'd sold the Impreza, and the hunt commenced.
Anyone that knows Evos will know that 9/10 cars that come up for sale are either dogs, or bordering dog-ish levels. One was hoping the right car would come up given certain people's financial situations, but nothing did. I decided that for what I was looking for, perhaps my budget was a little too low.
Then, this appeared on PH.
The car was imported by Guy Francis in the West Midlands in 2018, and is a one Japanese owner car. The key still has the original Ralliart leather strap with the gentleman's name on it. It's yet to be registered in the UK.
Guy then went about fully stripping the car down completely and replacing almost every single nut and bolt you can imagine. Most of the work being carried out by Ian Tromans formally of Ralliart. Beyond the front end, the paint is original and in remarkable condition for a 22-year-old car, with only minor age-related / storage marks. Due to personal reasons Guy, unfortunately, had to sell the car and I was lucky enough to get in there. I think if it weren't for the current pandemic, I wouldn't have been so lucky.
The car has some super rare parts, too. The ARC spoiler blade is incredibly hard to find now. As is the OMP limited edition steering wheel signed by Tommi Makinen. In terms of plans, the car just needs to be mapped and is running on standard internals with a full set of HKS bolt-ons and Fujitsubo turbo-back exhaust. I have an Evo IX 80 series turbo to go on, but no other plans to go big power, this one is too special to ruin.
I'm back in my happy place. I'll let the pics speak for themselves!
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You've had some very nice cars mate 
