Japanese export tax, they may charge you for deregistering the car? then the people who you use will charge you a fee on top of the costs no doubt, shipping, insurance (a must), import fee's and vat into the uk, registration (after the esva), so it all adds up

Tony

 

it certainly does!

 

As Shaun stated because of the exchange rate you would be insane to import one when there are cars already to be bought here which work out cheaper.

IIRC the yen was something like 188 in 2003 when I got my JDN Sti and it is now something like 135

 

yeah,that is the way forward i know,and would be ideal for me,ive been looking around for a while and i have not seen one jdm hawk sti for sale anywhere in uk privately. how many are there over here? cant be manywhen i have the funds i dont mind waiting for however long it takes to get the right car at the right price.but like i say how often do they come up privately?

 

JDM hawkeyes are like rocking horse ****, whether they be a STI or SPEC C.

 

exactly my point!

 

just keep looking i wanted a jdm my05 blob in wr blue near standard and preferably on plg road tax took about 6 months but one came up. A couple of small faults that can be sorted and price adjusted to suit. I almost gave up and bought a uk car but so glad i didn´t. I would have never been happy with a uk car as i would have still looked for a jdm. I thought about either 03 spec c or 05 jdm sti but i wanted the extras on an sti and wanted the later interior and wider track. Dont think a spec c would have suited me as an everyday car and in reality not much difference for what i use my car for. Good luck in your hunt and dont compromise on what you want else you will regret it later.

Out of interest i wondered how rare a my05 jdm sti is as they also rarely come up for sale there appears more my03 ones when i was looking.

 

yeah i agree,ive seen a good few jdm blobs,no 05s tho. ive not seen 1 jdm hawk?(apart from the one at keighly!!!) but time is on my hands so hopefully ill be lucky like u,i know deep down i will regret the uk car,ive not driven either,but from all reviews and many comments ive read,the jdm is what i want,the insurance is fine.my budget will be tight for a hawkeye but if one does come up in the uk,i think it will be just in budget,worse case scenario,(budget permitting)i will get one imported.the most likely place to find a jdm hawk sti privately is probably on here.litchfield etc do have nice cars,but always over my budget!

 

I picked up a JDM Hawkeye (well will be picking up shortly after it has been registered etc) the other week, so they are around, even if they do come up once in a blue moon.

How much you looking to push on the finances side?

 

where did u see it advertised?

 

It wasn't.... I was just in the right place at the right time when it was mentioned to me by a tuner that I know, that one was available.

 

 

The car at KTC is'nt a jdm it has a UK rear light and UK seats in it.

 

typical. ill be in touch mate!

 

i thought the jdm and uk seats were the same blue sti ones,apart fom the spec c had charcoal?

 

Jap spec cars dont have hight adjustment on them like UK cars as you can see the handle on the pic. Don't get me wrong KTC do actually sell some nice clean examples aswell so don't knock it untill you see.

Immy

 

ive read some reviews,i wont be wasting my time and money travelling up there.why are they advertising the car as 380bhp jdm?

 

Just to further highlight about the big issues made about the reduced weight of the Spec C over it's equivalent JDM STI.....

Weights and power are lost to a degree, as it all comes down to how quick a car is on the road that REALLY counts.

I had previously completed a lot of datalogging in the Spec C when it was going through it's initial power upgrades on the standard 2ltr engine. At the end of Stage 1 it was producing circa 370bhp. John's wide track Blobeye is now more or less at the same level of tune and he has also completed some datalogging, so we can compare like for like.

In-Gear acceleration times are a good way of seeing how quick a car is and we both used the same software (EcuTEK's Deltadash) to log information. Although these would of been done on different pieces of road, John states his location was flat and I know mine certainly is.

Both cars Deltadash - RoadDyno - power graphs are virtually the same when overlaid, so you can say that both levels of tune are truly comparable.

Both cars were also weighed.

MY03 Spec C as it was at the time, with me, laptop and fully fuelled came in at 1450kgs.

John's MY05 JDM STI with the same variables came in at 1575kgs.

JDM STI complete as tested was 125kgs heavier.

Now for the interesting bit. In-gear 4th acceleration times.

My Spec C
40 - 60mph = 2.0 seconds
50 - 70mph = 1.9 seconds
60 - 80mph = 2.1 seconds
70 - 90mph = 2.4 seconds

John's JDM STI
40 - 60mph = 2.1 seconds
50 - 70mph = 2.1 seconds
60 - 80mph = 2.2 seconds
70 - 90mph = 2.5 seconds

Remember this is comparing a stripped out Spec C and the lightest, earliest one at that. Whilst the Spec C was quicker, it is hardly *that* much quicker in reality.

40 - 80mph = 4.1 Spec C
40 - 80mph = 4.3 STI

50 - 90mph = 4.3 Spec C
50 - 90mph = 4.6 STI

Weight will be important when "chasing the tenths", but in the real world.... I suspect you won't get the benefit.

 

Good work to Shaun and John that really puts it all in perspective, just I am sure for some the badge is the main reason people buy the spec c

 

The data is quite conclusive over many laps or many miles the spec c will be faster. It might not be much in road terms, but in motorsport each 10th of a second counts. By the time you've added all that up it's a cars length in a straight line.

No disrespect to the data Shaun and John ,but it's hardly back to back testing in the same conditions at the nurburgring.

Immy

 

Immy,
I have never and will never under estimate how quick a Spec C "can" be. You seem to forget I owned one of the quickest ones around up until recently!

BUT..... for 90% of the people who will buy or own a Spec C in this community, the difference that the "Spec C will be faster" relates to in the "Real World" is neglible.

As I clearly said "Weight will be important when "chasing the tenths", but in the real world.... I suspect you won't get the benefit.", so of course I don't disagree with what you say as regards to motorsport. Since I don't drive to work via the 'Ring, it don't mean squat to me, as it won't for 90% of the population.

If you want a car that has completed (by someone else) the ring in x secs and that is a big deal to you then fine. OK... I am being over the top there, but SOME people think like that.

There is NOTHING wrong with a Spec C and yes it is quicker than the STI equivalent, but the difference is negliable for normal road use. Since that is where people within this community spend most of their time, it is representative.

All of this "x car is faster than y car" gets further skewed when you take in to account average joes driving ability. So does any of this mean much in the real world..... probably not!

This thread is about whether a Spec C is worth the extra.... In my opinion, as a road car, probably not. That in itself does not detract from how good a Spec C is, but is my opinion after owning one and now reverting to a JDM Hawkeye for the purpose of road use mainly.

 

makes alot of sense and i would totally agree.....for road use its not worth the extra(extra being quite alot of money),as for track use,it probably is worth every penny extra.

 

I understand Shaun and you do make the most valid point tbh that in the real world there ain't much in it.
However from my experience the spec c just feels so much better then a standard JDM from what i can remember as it's been a long time since i jumped out of a standard JDM STI in to a SPEC C.

Some of us just like to live and die by the "spec c"

Immy

 

Immy,
And you know what.... there is nothing wrong with that as regards to loving the Spec C for what it is, a great car!

Anyway.... you have always said the S204 is the best road going Newage (something I would not disagree with!). So you best forget the Spec C and start talking about your great S204!

I apologise for being a "Spec C Judas" , but since the boot is now on the other foot I thought it only fair to change my tune!

 

Ok bog STD jdm sti and bog STD spec c, both out of the box no extra mods. What feels more planted, more stable, feels like its n rails, when pointed into the corner which goes in better, faster, holds better?

Ok so Shaun and John figures show how little difference round a track etc but and this is where I come from which one out of the two would be the better out of the above question?

We have agreed that the weight makes very little difference, we agreed that the engines are able to run the same power but for me its about the handling, for me that will give me extra confidence within the car and then myself. If your not looking to rip off the STD setup and fit coilovers and a bunch of whiteline goodies what is best out of the box

So all who have owned or driven both (back to back If possible) which answers the question

 

We both agreed when you come down and drove the S204 that we thought the damping was spot on for UK roads. For me the S204 is the ultimate impreza as it tick's my boxes apart from the brakes so I've just put aloncs on it all round 6 at the front and 4 on the rear. The only thing left to do is call litcho up and order one of his LM420 .


Steve from my experience with both i can honestly say that the spec c feels much more planted and nimble compared to the STI.

Ideally I wanted to keep an RA-R and the only reason i didn't go for the RA-R is because i have a lot of meetings during the week in regards to my other business (i did have a 997 turbo for work ,but i only buy a super car in april for the summer and get rid before it ends). I deal with a lot of toffs who drive Mercs and M5's etc. With the S204 being silver and not in your face as much as the RA-R I opted for the S204. If RA-R had the S204 interior and come in black then it would of been a no brainer for me.

Immy

 

Steve,
On track or road?

 

Shaun are you stripping yours out again and going down the moding route?

 

Stripping no, modding yes.

New project thread has already been started.

 

Shaun for road and track

Got a feeling i know what your going to say