Please help...Subaru Impreza...STI vs WRX - 2003- ...

GinG

GinG

GinG

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Morning All,

The time is coming closer where me and the gf will again need 2 cars. A few weeks ago we joint purchased a Fiat Punto Grande Sporting (1.9 multijet).

We both love the car and the girlfriend will be getting this as her car.

I have always wanted an Evo, however as my milage can change from month to month however I would say milage would be 12k - 14k per annum & the service intervals on these things put me off.

I also love the subarus & can handle the slightly longer service intervals on these.

I guess what I am after is the pro's & con's of the 2 different models, running costs of them both & what I should be prepared to shell out for.

Budget would be £8k so STI looks almost out of the question, however depending on wether I get the pay rise I am waiting on my budget could probabally be increased to £10k.

So Men & Women of Motors, can you shed some light?!

Edit - I would love something like this to give you an idea....http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1877503.htm

Thanks

Graham
 
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I have however forwarded the link on to the gf, it looks to be a stunning example!

Ideally though wanted to wait till the house was built and we had the keys before forking out on another car, however I think I have fallen in love with the one linked :p
 
Sti or WRX - biggest issues are tyres and brakes, neither tend to last long.

Clutches don't last forever on either car, as you'd expect.

Fuel economy is of course lol on both cars (better in the WRX though), but no doubt you're prepared for that.

Sti will cost more to run and feed consumables and insure than the WRX, but it is the better car and it'll respond better to tuning. This said - there's not that much from A to B between a stock Sti and a PPP WRX, then again PPP the Sti (to make it fair) and the gap would be plain to see.

Looks to me you need to factor in cost of a full set of tyres every year as a starting point - it gets worse than that as you then factor in scheduled servicing/discs/pads etc per your estimated annual mileage.

WRX - 220bhp or 260bhp with PPP
STi - 260bhp or 300bhp with PPP

Both models have various Prodrive upgrades - handling/springs etc.

The KEY differences between the cars are: -

Turbo's
Gearbox
Steering
Suspension
Brakes
 
Purely IMO - unless you purchase late 54 plate onwards STI your better off saving a bit of moeny and buying a prodrive bugeye STI.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1736861.htm Probably get it for 5.5K if not lower. Leaves you with a decent amount left over for mods/repairs/servicing.

Apart from the front which personally in Prodrive form I like more than the blobeye there is no mechanical difference (to speak of anyway).

If you can't stand the bugeye shape then save some more for the late 54 onwards as this will have DCCD-A. Only JDM imports had DCCD previous to this point.

Personally if you can comfortably afford a WRX then you may as well buy the STI. Its all a bit more expensive but not hugely so.

Another idea if your doing a number of miles a year would be to get something that will do miles for day to day and get a classic shape STI impreza for weekend fun. Being about 200kg lighter than a newage you don't need much in the way of mods to see off lightly modded newage cars.
 
Cheers for the above Merlin, any ideas on mpg figures I should expect?

Also how much needs budgeting for tyres & servicing?

Also the Legacy has caught my eye, 3.0 R Spec looks quite tasty, we are looking to get a dog so a Estate is not out the question.
 
Looking around I've found the cost of tyres to be about the same for each, if anything the 225s on the STi come out cheaper some places than the 215s of the WRX! That said I'm sure you would go through them quicker on the STi :p

Brakes are massively cheaper on the WRX, but obviously not as good (I'm finding them perfectly adequate though, even though people really slate them).

Personally on a budget of 8k I'd be looking at a nice 05- WRX as whichever I'd choose I'd be wanting an MY05 model with all the little revisions they made. This pushes the STi just out of budget I think.

I'm getting between 260 and 300 miles to a tank, which is 50 litres@ approx £56 at the moment, on a WRX.
 
Go for STI if you have the Money

Also with the STI its looks more hardcore with the bigger spolier, brakes, lower, colour coded side skirts, slighly different bumper, scoop, seats the WRX has a softer look.

Saying that an exhaust and remap on a WRX can take you upto 285bhp / 300tq - £500 / 600 which is better than the STI Standard power but then you could do the same to the STI and get 320bhp +

I have the WRX and am happy with it, got the standard turbo maxed out and its fast enough! :eek::D (when the turbo goes i will get a TD05 or something)
 
Im going to be in a similar boat soon as well, for me it'll be either a Hawkeye WRX PPP or a Hawkeye WRX STi Spec D.

Like the Op, im quite interested in what the difference in consumables costs between the cars. Are brake discs and pads, suspension components etc siginificantly more expensive on the STi than the WRX. Is servicing much the same ?
 
Pulsar_GTI said:
colour coded side skirts
Click to expand...

Another reason to go for an 05 model :p

The plan was to keep the WRX for a year or so then move up to a Hawkeye STi (I too would like a Spec D), but due to stuff at work I reckon that'll be put on hold for a while. Hopefully not too long (and it's ok to spend all your redundancy on a car right? :) ).

As for servicing they are pretty much the same, here's the Litchfield/Powerstation servicing guide. It says the STi with DCCD needs the gear oil changing every 10k, WRX and non DCCD cars can leave it util every 30k saving a few quid.

http://www.litchfieldimports.co.uk/pdf/imprezaservicing.pdf

Prices for things like brakes are easy to look up online and compare, the STi is pricey on the brakes.
 
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Thanks for that Ev0, to be honest the servicing is not as expensive as I expected. The belt change especially at 50K isn't too bad considering what I paid for the belts alone on the 182. Im assuming dealer prices won't be all that different.

Is the 5K oil change needed for the WRX as well ?
 
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I was quoted £400 for the 60k service at a main dealer, so not far off their prices. I got it done somewhere I always go though and paid just under £300.

Wouldn't say the 5k change is needed, but people like to treat these cars in their own way it seems. Some like really regular/quick oil changes, which can't hurt, some will stick to the Subaru schedule. Would have thought the more you modify the more you need to look after bits like that.
 
melchy said:
Thanks for that Ev0, to be honest the servicing is not as expensive as I expected. The belt change especially at 50K isn't too bad considering what I paid for the belts alone on the 182. Im assuming dealer prices won't be all that different.

Is the 5K oil change needed for the WRX as well ?
Click to expand...

I found a list of servicing charges for a Guy in Scotland 'Roger Clarke motor sport' http://www.rogerclarkmotorsport.co.uk/servicing_impreza_pricelist.asp


Fluids
Unless otherwise specified, the following lubrication / fluids will be used:


Engine oil: Silkolene 15W50 Pro 'R' Ester Synthetic

Gearbox Oil: Castrol Syntrax 75W90 fully Synthetic gear oil

Differential Oil: Silkolene 75W90 Syn5 fully Synthetic

Brake fluid: Dot 5.1




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sundries

•The sundries charge relates to valeting products, screen wash and specialist lubricants etc.
•Owners manuals are available on request, and cost £9.95.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*A* service
•Oil filter £11.01
•Sump plug washer £1.05
•Engine oil (5 litres @ £8.87 / litre) £44.35
•Labour (1 hour @ £49.95 / hour) £49.95
•Environmental charge £3.95
•Sundries £3.95

Sub-Total £114.26

VAT £20.00

Total £134.26



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*B* service
•Oil filter £ 11.01
•Sump plug washer £ 1.05
•Engine oil (5 litres @ £8.87 / litre) £44.35
•Labour (2 hours @ £49.95 / hours) £99.90
•Environmental charge £3.95
•Sundries £3.95

Sub-Total £164.21

VAT £28.74

Total £192.95



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*C* service - to be carried out every 18000 miles or every 1.5 years
•Air filter £26.26
•Spark plugs (x4 @ £8.10 each) £32.40
•Oil filter £11.01
•Sump plug washer £1.05
•Engine oil (5 litres @ £8.87 / litre) £44.35
•Labour (2 hours @ £49.95 / hour) £99.90
•Environmental charge £3.95
•Sundries £3.95

Sub-Total £222.87

VAT £39.00

Total £261.87



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*D* service - to be carried out every 30000 miles or every 2.5 years
•Oil filter £11.01
•Sump plug washer £1.05
•Fuel filter £23.97
•Engine oil (5 litres @ £8.87 / litre) £44.35
•Rear differential oil (1 litre @ £9.95 / litre) £9.95
•Gearbox oil (3.5 litres @ £9.95 / litre) £34.82
•Brake fluid (1.5 litres @ £4.91 / 500ml) £14.75
•Labour (3 hours @ £49.95 / hour) £149.85
•Environmental charge £3.95
•Sundries £3.95

Sub-Total £297.65

VAT £52.09

Total £349.74



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*E* service to be carried out every 42000 miles or every 4 years
•Timing belt £100.69
•Coolant fluid (3 litres @ £4.75 / litre) £14.25
•Oil filter £11.01
•Sump plug washer £1.05
•Engine oil (5 litres @ £8.87 / litre) £44.35
•Labour (3.5 hours @ £49.95 / hour) £174.82
•Environmental charge £3.95
•Sundries £3.95

Sub-Total £354.07

VAT £61.96

Total £416.03



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Servicing:
Alignment check: performed as required = £60.00 + VAT

Alignment correction: £49.95/hour + VAT

Under bonnet Steam Clean and Treatment: £45.00 + VAT

Diagnostic plug and ECU Reset: £35.00 + VAT

Engine Cylinder leakage check: £60.00 + VAT

Prices aint bad :D
 
Sti you're going to need VERY roughly £1k a year to run it assuming 14k a year mileage.

Plus fuel plus insurance plus cost of fixing anything that breaks.
 
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