Paul the 6th

just written this post a minute ago and then my computer decided to bin it. C*ck it!

Anywho, new to the forum guys (great job btw). I'll do the short version of my last post. £3-4k for an impreza either late gen 1 (98 on) or a gen 2 hawk eye.. Purely for 3-4 months of ownership and in particular for a 10 day euro road trip (spa, nurburgring, munich, northern italy) I couldn't afford to run one long term as I drive a lot for work.. I just want to have known the joy of a holiday romance with one of my hero cars from being a teenager to a fully grown adult sized boy.

Had conflicting advice from friends, any this is where my problem lies..

One lad said:
Just get a common garden hawk eye WRX with an exhaust for about £3k and sell it when you get back. Not the biggest loss if you smash it at the ring and the WRX's are still a hoot, plus the hawk eye's are a bit younger, hopefully a bit more reliable for a 2000 mile road trip. (apologies to any WRX owners out there, I love them all equally)

The other lad said:
If you're gonna have a fling do it with a supermodel, spend a bit more, get an STi import or something else a bit special near £4k. There's a few late gen 1 STI's in budget between £3-4k which would do the job perfectly.

What would you guys recommend? Thanks in advance guys

BBB3

iTrader: (7)

Hawk wrx for 3k good luck

You're at good classic money at 4k, you cold buy a well spec'd classic.

Chances are what ever you decided to get it probably will die if it's going to be tracked near everyday
Especially if it ain't got a baffled sump and bits

That would be my way...

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

Surely for holiday romance you'd get a waggon

Rourkeysti

Good 5 speed bugeye or blobeye wrx for 4 grand.
Must have up to date service history. Timing belt in last 5 years or 60000 miles, which ever comes first. Check the clutch. Impreza's love clutches ! Usually you won't get more than 50000 miles out of a clutch.
Classic import impreza, will most likely die on a track if it's not been mapped and set up to suit euro fuel.

If your going to do this. Buy an early 2000 ep3 civic type r. The engines are bomb proof. Just check the gear box. They can have synchro problems.

If you insist on doing this.
Bugeye or blobeye wrx. Catback exhaust, panel filter and updated fuel pump.
Oh, and hope for the best !

Good luck

Paul

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

£4k won't touch a hawk eye, and even if you had a bigger budget I certainly wouldn't waste it on a WRX hawk eye.....

£4k you could get a nice standard classic or a slightly modified one. The best thing to do is to browse our 'for sale' section to gauge an idea of prices and spec's. By the way, a classic Impreza is a brilliant car so don't be put off.

Markfey

iTrader: (7)

I think you may be a little confused with your models. Have a search for subarus through the years. Keeping it basic it went

Classic
Face lift classic
Bug
Blob
Wide blob
Hawk
And bore off (only joking rich people)

There are also uk/euro models and Jdm imports

In my opinion your hardest problem could be selling after a short period of ownership. The search button is your friend!!!!

Try doing a few days research on here and also join up to your closest club.

Good luck!

XDevil666

4k WRX hawk eye!!

Hell I will buy them off you all day if you can get them at that price

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

You guys are looking in the wrong place if you can't pick up a Hawk WRX for 4k!

XDevil666

Hell your right just seen one for £4.5 the £4k ones seem to hatch though

Look at this for £4.9
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201407185913365/sort/atcustom/postcode/la117ha/radius/1500/make/SUBARU/model/impreza/price-from/3500/price-to/7000/page/1/usedcars

Surely must be ready to pop!

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

You can get a hawk for 4k but would be high miles. I'd get blob wrx, why don't you lpg convert it then you can keep long term

Paul the 6th

I may have been misinformed at some point lads - sorry I meant blob eye when I said hawk eye (thanks for putting me right markfey).. Thank you for the advice regarding what to look at, the most hammer the scooby will get is probably at cadwell once before the trip, at spa, and then steady away round the nurburgring as I don't wanna end up on YouTube lol..

I've realised my original post my sound like some numpty teenage kid dreaming about a fantasy gran turismo world. Just a bit of background info, I've been on fast bikes for about 7 years, done various trackdays and been to the ring twice.. I'm the first to hold my hands up and tell anyone who'll listen that I'm not especially quick or talented, and I'm not into ***** waving, so I've got my head screwed on in terms of speed/safety/mechanical sympathy etc. I'll do some research based on your guidance

And yes I've considered selling the car after a short time might look bad.. I'll have a think about how I can deal with that (who knows I may end up falling completely in love with it and end up keeping it for years )

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I think the Civic is a much better option for this trip.

Doing this as a novice Subaru owner is a bit of a big risk and you may find it lets you down and spoils the trip, not because they are unreliable but because it really is a car that you need to know how to treat them, otherwise it get's very expensive extremely quickly.

With something like a Civic you get decent handling out of the box, where as Subaru's are pretty **** way before you get close to the limit of what the engine can do.

But if you insist on a Subaru I'd be looking at a very well spec'ed Classic STI, you've just missed one saloon that was perfect by about a month and a wagon that would have done the job too a couple of months back.

I don't think a standard £4k Blob WRX is going to be up to the job unless your going to be taking it very very easy, they are slow, brakes are crap, they understeer like a b!tch and wallow about the place when pushed.

So your looking at modified WRX's and that's going to need a whole list of goodies to make it stop and handle as it should, then there's the fuel issue because it will most likely be mapped so your going to have to plan your route via shell stations or tweak the map for 95 ron and stick 97 ron in where you can find it, or like I did buy a box of octane booster which is still a bit of a ball ache and expensive.

You could up your budget to £5/6k and get a Bug STI which would be more up to the job but good ones are getting difficult to find much like the classic's.

What ever you decide I suggest you have it for a few months and get to know it and make sure it's tip top before you go, oh and stick around and do **** loads of research, I'd also avoid the Hawk WRX with the 2.5 engine.

thenewgalaxy

My vote would go for a civic too. You can spank the **** out of one on track and it'll take it all day. S2000 would be a good shout too.

The problem with a WRX is that the brakes are crap and they're not particularly quick except off the line. They're also not particularly great to drive either. Many of these older cars haven't been maintained too brilliantly as well and probably wouldn't cope with a car breaker like the 'ring.

If it's got to be an Impreza and you're low on budget, I'd get a Bugeye STI and get it looked over before you go on your trip. Cracking motors and a good turn of pace even by 2014 standards.

JGlanzaV

iTrader: (3)

Give me 4k and you can hire my 500hp classic for a week, crash it/break it you buy it

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

You don't need to thrash a car to have fun on track which ever subaru you take just make sure it has a good brake setup!