Just bought a nice sexy blue wrx and wondering if anyone on here knows the car at all? I had a standard WRX before but this one feels noticeably quicker so wasn't sure if it had been tuned or anything at some point (or whether the old one was just a pile of dog crap lol).

 

mot history is quite good , mileage not too high , i would change the grill look , it’s probably been mapped , no rust issues mentioned on the mot , just see when it was last serviced cam belt wise , looks like a nice car enjoy 👍

 

Thanks for the repsonse. Yeah MOT history was really clean, was the main reason i went to look at it. Booked in for cam belt on monday and a full service as despite being advertised with a "full service history" all it has it a fully stamped service book, I have no idea what was done on each service or when the cambelt was done. All the stamps are subaru specialists so im hoping it's been serviced properly but you never know.

......what's wrong with the grille , i like it. the red makes it look like it has something evil under the bonnet.... hopefully not mechanical gremlins lol.

 

Back box isn’t standard, looks like a prodrive (it’ll be stamped on the tail pipe) so may well be a ppp equipped car. Pull the carpet back in the front passenger footwell and look at the ecu, if it’s got prodrive sticker on it then you have ppp, which is around 40 brake more than standard.

 

Plus a blue silicon Prodrive turbo hose sitting under the intercooler.
I agree, that exhaust at a glance looks like PPP

 

Thanks for the replies, yeah the exhaust is a prodrive but i was told this was added afterwards. I'll have a check of the ECU when i get a chance, all the hoses under the bonnet are swanky looking blue samco's so not sure if the original prodrive hose would be on it if it is. I would have thought it would have been sold as a prodrive if it was one but would be a bit of a result if it is.

Car has been in for service and the cambelt looks brand new and all the pulleys etc were replaced so at the advice of the garage i'm leaving it for a year, they also said everything underneath looks mint, no rust, fresh brake discs and pads, brake lines all good, sills good... makes me a bit nervous as I got it for pretty cheap compared to the prices people seem to be listing these for at the minute (I paid £4750).

I have the car booked in with TDR next week for a remap for piece of mind and to make sure it's mapped correctly regardless of whether it was done previously or not. I don't want to go mad with it, I'll be happy with 260bhp but won'tsay no to a couple of extra ponies if they manage to get them.

I've been tempted to get the suspension set up as well as it has swanky adjustable BC coilovers and the ride is pretty back breaking at the minute... but then i gave it the beans round a roundabout and it seemed to defy the laws of physics and stuck to the road like it was on rails so I might leave it as it is for the time being.

 

It’s sounding like a good buy , suspension is always a compromise , better handling will involve a bit of a firmer ride v standard suspension , but you dont want it too firm as it makes the handling worse , and uncomfortable , at the top of each shock you have the little adjuster , it can be toggled left or right , only do it a few clicks at a time and take it for a drive , i assume it’s not really low ? , on the bc it’s written on the top softer left turn it’s very easy to change

 

I've had a lot of bad luck with cars in the past so hoping this one turns out to be a good car, reckon I'm due a decent one for once. TDR should be able to confirm whether the engine is good which is the last thing i'm a bit nervous about so looking forward to getting that moment of truth over and done with. The car drives great and there's no smoke or anything so hoping the engine's good, the check engine light is on which I was told was a result of changing the exhaust, obviously this could be a lie which is why i'm trying to get everything sorted ASAP whilst I'm still within 30 days of purchasing it.

Yeah the garage told me I'd be ok to soften the suspnsion a small amount without having to get the tracking done so I might give that a go, my old impreza used to stick to the road well and that was just standard so I can probably afford a bit more comfort. I'm not planning on doing track days or anything in it, just drive a lot of quiet, bendy backroads and it would be nice to enjoy them.

 

buy a cheap code reader around 15£ on ebay , i assume they de catted it and the light went on ? if it’s not pushing coolant into the non pressured plastic tank on the rad , and the coolant is returning to the engine and the level in the tank is back to normal when cold then hg should be fine , if you have no engine rattle then the engine should be fine , hopefully a cel is what they say it is , i think you can get 02 sensor extensions and the light will go out or it can be mapped out ? , hopefully it’s just the exhaust and an easy fix

 

Managed to find someone who can lend me a code reader so will check the codes this afternoon and see what's what.

 

Scanned multiple times but no code found, not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. The OBD reader was only a cheapy one so might be that. I'll probably have to wait until next week to find out by the sounds of it.

 

Has it been decatted as part of the exhaust change? If the up pipe has been changed then you'll need to stick a resistor in the plug that would normally go to the sensor in the up pipe so the ECU gets the reading it's expecting. A mapper *can* map it out but the downside of this is that the light is then off for everything else that might crop up. Alternatively, if you go WOT in 5th at say 50mph and let it run up to 80-90mph, do you get any pulsing? That can also be a cause of the ECU light as it's the Neutral Position Switch keeps telling the ECU that the car is in neutral. Essentially it's a little plastic plunger that activates a circuit and tells the car it's in gear - and the 5spd box seems to go through them pretty regularly. They're only a fifteen minute job to replace though and not particularly expensive to buy either. If you're getting it mapped next week your mapper should be able to see if that's causing the issue.

As for the suspension and geometry, you'll only need a geometry check if you're adjusting the height of the coilovers, adjusting the settings of the damper is only going to change the ride quality and balance rather than the height which then in turn will change the geometry at static ride height. What I would say for the BC's though is that you should get them sprayed with wax such as Bilt Hamber Dynax UB to protect them and prevent corrosion which will give you the opportunity to adjust them in future should you wish. Otherwise there's a risk they'll be locked solid.

I wouldn't worry too much about the price you paid, they do seem to be going up a bit but the prices are all over the place. I paid £3.8k for mine 8 years ago and some were down at £3k and others up at £6k and the price was not dictated by the condition!

 

Thanks for the detailed response. I'm not sure if any cats were removed from the exhaust change, I bought it off a trader ho just told me the engine light was a result of the exhaust change. Annoyingly he didnt tell me the light was on and I'd driven 3 hours to look at it so I've taken his word for the time being, if it's anything serious I should be able to take the car back as I bought it 1st Jan.

I'll try Neutral Position Switch test on the way to the mappers tomorrow, by pulsing do you mean pulsing of the check engine light or pulsing of power from the car?

Ah it's good to know I can adjust the dampers without worrying about geometry, I'm starting to get used to the ride now but it might be nice to soften it for long journeys. I'm probably going to look at doing some undersealing when the weather gets better so i'll wax the coilovers at the same time.

The price seemed reasonable to me but I keep looking on ebay and I'm not seeing any others for a similar price without loads of miles on them so I am a bit nervous there's going to end up being something wrong. It's going to the mappers tomorrow so not too long to wait for the moment of truth. It does drive and run really well, idle speed is steady, temp is steady, starts on the button with no rattles, no smoke on idle or boost so I'm hoping there's nothing seriously wrong with the car. I did phone the guy up the same day the advert went up so I might have just been on ebay at the right time and got a good deal but fingers crossed.

 

EML - probably not a major issue if it's running okay. The mapper will be able to give you peace of mind on that though.

NPS - Yeah, you'll feel the pulsing on boost as it effectively cuts boost a little because the engine thinks it's in neutral. It'll then build up again before cutting back. You can sometimes save replacing the NPS by running the washer in a figure of 8 on some 240 grit paper to thin it out a little. Essentially the plunger becomes slight worn so reducing the washer thickness allows it to sit back where it should. It really doesn't take much, we're probably talking less than 0.25mm. If it's really bad you'll find the EML blinking at you slowly before returning to a solid light. Sometimes though it doesn't cause this. Most cheap code readers don't pull this code up so it can't easily be cancelled. It will however go off of its own accord after a certain number of restarts. In 8 years and 55k miles I've been through 3 or 4 of them. They really aren't a problem to fit, just make sure you replace the right one as there's another switch that looks identical bar a different connector that is your reverse sensor!

Suspension - best thing is to just play around with it and see how it changes the balance and handling. Personally I can't stand coilovers because most of the roads I drive on are so rough but when I had BC's fitted they were actually pretty good on smoother roads.

Underseal - Definitely do this, particularly if it's currently in good condition under there. If you have the time/ability/inclination I'd suggest taking the bumpers off and the front arch liners out, as well as the little rear plastic spats so you can do the job properly. Most of the plastic on these cars seems designed to hold mud and moisture against the paintwork. If you check out 'The Red Blob Thread' on Detailing World you'll be able to have a look and see what I did on mine and what proved to be problem areas. Bilt Hamber stuff is great but I was also looking at Lanoguard for doing my new BMW, my dad's Evoque and redoing the Impreza. It's based on lanolin rather than petrochemicals and so from an environmental POV it appeals. The BH wax is great but on high abuse areas like wheel arches and the underside of the chassis directly behind the wheels it'll still need doing reasonably regularly. The BH S50 cavity wax is really impressive though so I'll probably continue using that for inside box sections, sills and chassis legs. Be warned though, these things do rust so the sooner you get it done the better, and don't let things fester! If you want specific pointers on stuff then I'm happy to give them, either on here or on the thread over on DW.

If it was a dealer that doesn't particular 'do' this sort of car you may just find he'd taken it in PX because it was too nice a car to go to auction but equally just had it up at reasonable money to move it on as it didn't fit with the rest of his stock. I picked up mine from a car supermarket in Stockport and it was basically priced at book rather than with any forum or scene tax on it pretty much for that same reason. Nice car but very much not a fiesta or focus that seemed to be their mainstay. It's a 17/18 year old car now (the same as mine) so if it's still looking and driving well now then it's probably a good one. Hopefully the mapper paints a similar story for you tomorrow!

 

Yeah I don't see it being anything major but I've had a run of bad luck so i'll feel better once the mapper's looked and made sure everything engine wise is set up and running properly.

I've not felt any pulsing, power seems smooth and constant (once the turbo kicks in). I've been a bit careful not to drive too fast yet until everything's been looked at but i have given it a good run and a couple of cheeky boosts and not noticed any hesitance, pulsing or anything. It does seem a bit starnge the code reader's not picking anything up, my mate i borrowed it off tested it on his astra a couple of weeks ago and it was able to read his fault code. I'm taking it to a scoobaroo specialist tomorrow for the mapping so I'm pretty sure they should be able to get to the bottom of it. 3 or 4 in 8 years! Sounds like they were well designed lol.

I'll check out your thread, I've got some ability with mechanics and I have a pit in my garage so I will definitely have a look at taking the arches and bumpers off and doing a proper job of it. I've not taken bumpers off before and I can imagine there's lots of irritatingly easy to break obscure plastic clips that cost £200 for a set so I'll have to be a bit careful with that one. My mechanical abilities is mostly just servicing and brakes although I did replace the shocks and coils on my old sierra a few years back kwhich was the most advanced thing I've done, I'm not the most patient person in the world so I try and avoid anything too frustrating or fiddly.

Thanks for the offer of pointers, I'll probbaly need them so will probably message you when I get round to it. The logistics of getting my car in the garage are a bit tricky (it requires wooden ramps and getting the neighbor to move his sodding van out the way) plus my pit fills with water out of dry season (which is vey short in wales lol) so I need to wait until I've got a good clear weekend and evrything I need to do the job. Would be good timiing to do it over lockdown I guess so might pull my finger out and get it done.

That's kind of what i'm hoping is that he just priced from the book and wanted a quick sale, he did keep phoning me to make sure I was still coming because he was getting calls from people trying to buy the car whilst I was on my way so I'm hoping I was just lucky. Tomorrow will reveal all i think but so far i'm really happy with the car and I have a small amount of cash in reserve if there is anything needs to be done.

 

The bumpers are actually okay to take off - I'd get the replacement two piece clips but they're pretty cheap to buy in packs of twenty, and then I'd go genuine for the side clips on the front bumper but they're only a few quid each too. This is a link to them. Oh, and get yourself one of the clip removal tools, they make life so much easier.

It all depends on how deep into it you want to get. I've had mine for 8 years now and have no intention of selling it so doing stuff that will keep it running well for years to come was important, and I'll continue to do more as and when. But if you want to just keep it in reasonable nick then there probably isn't the reason to start taking wings off etc as you can get most of that treated by just pulling the arch liners out. If you're scraping loose paint off etc from the arches and end up back at metal then I'd certainly recommend using BH Epoxy Mastic to seal it before you put more stone chip and wax on. The stone chip in the rear arches stops about 3" from the edge which means this point gets hammered with grit and salt and ends up with very thin metal if not holes (as in my case).

 

Car went in for mapping, turned out cel was a faulty lambda sensor so had that replaced first.

First run on Dyno gave 256 hp so at least I didn't look like an idiot when I said I thought it had more power than standard. After remap the car got 279 hp and 292 ft lbs which is great because it's 3hp more than my old twinscroll legacy lol.

So it turns out I think I got a good deal on the car, really enjoyed the drive home.

 

Haha, I remember those sodding clips when I serviced my old WRX. Thanks for the link, I'll be surprised if this one has a full set of those on the belly pan.

I would really like to keep the car but I have a habit of chopping and changing so it's not guaranteed I will. I'll definitely want to do under the arches and bumpers but I don't think I'll go as far as taking wings off. I

 

Top people at TDR. I went there for mapping and drove home with 480 bhp. Happy Days.
Why did i sell it ??

 

Yeah they were really nice blokes down there and new their stuff. Had fun looking at all the other scoobs in their car park.

480bhp must have been a beast. Fastest car I ever had was 320bhp and that went like stink, 480 must be another league

 

Nice one, that's healthy numbers, particularly the torque curve. The TD04 isn't really ever going to do much more than that no matter what else you do to the car. Was he able to elaborate on what level of decatting it's had? Either way it seems you've found a good one.

When you're doing the sealing, I'd also suggest taking the side skirts off. They hide all multitude of sins! The wings are probably overkill. Mine were beginning to rust from the inside around the rear edge of the arch so I took them off to clean them up around the lip and get it all protected properly. If yours hasn't got to that point then taking the liners out and cleaning them from the inside before cavity waxing should be absolutely fine.

 

All three cats in place, he was surprised it made the power it did but it all ran spot on. I wonder if it has sports cat or something, either way I'm chuffed with the results. I don't really want any more power from the car, I'm more than happy with what I've got so won't be messing around with anything else. TDR said it looked a good clean car so I think I was just lucky.

Thanks for all the advice on undersealing, yeah those side skirts look like the sort of thing which could hide all-sorts. I'll probably look at doing it Feb/march, car seems worth putting a bit of effort into.

 

Wow, that's really impressive if all the cats are in place. I'd be tempted to decat the up pipe as the cat can have a tendency to break up and then lunch the turbo. The same for the EGT probe which would disappear if you decatted that part. I'm fully decatted and it's about 295bhp/305lb/ft but for only a 15bhp dip it's probably worth keeping the cats in there for all the hassle I have o MOTing every year.

Definitely, it looks and sounds like a really tidy example. I pulled so much mud and grit out of my skirts it was ridiculous. Unfortunately 6 years of driving it up here in all weathers had taken their toll so the rear jacking points needed welding so if you can get in and sort it before that becomes an issue then it'll definitely be worth it.

 

My mot tester told me I'm not allowed to get any cats removed (which personally I think is a bit mean) so I'd rather keep them in place if I can to avoid the hassle.

It could be possible that one of the cats has either fallen apart or been gutted or something. Am I likely to have issues taking the cat off the up pipe with MOT's? Not sure how the mot works, do they just have to flag up if the car has no cats or will they know if I have one of three removed?

​​​​

 

It was built by AS Performance. 2.5 forged and mapped by Mark at TDR.
It went like a stabbed rat. It’s story is in projects,have a read when you have a spare 10 minutes.

 

Strictly speaking you're not supposed to remove anything from the emissions system to pass the MOT. However, the car will pass the test with the up pipe cat removed as long as the engine's warm. Most mechanics aren't going to know there should be a cat in there anyway, particularly if you still have the under tray in place. One way to get around the slight risk of a mechanic failing it for the up pipe being changed (very low risk IMO) is to use the non-catted OEM Subaru pipe from either an STI or a 2.5 WRX (they replaced the up pipe cat with the secondary air pump system that regularly fails). That way anyone looking sees a genuine Subaru pipe in there so won't question it - this is what I've got but only because it was the right pipe for the right money at the right time. You can of course find a friendly tester who'll pass it without any cats but they're a lot harder to find than they used to be with the newer MOT legislation.

 

I'll take a look, what was the name of the thread?

 

Yeah I was thinking that one might be easy enough to get away with swapping and you made me nervous about my turbo now lol. It will have to wait for now anyway as my finances been totalled for the next couple of months now but will probably have a look at it later in the year.

 

Prodriverules...work your magic

 

The Prodrive 260 bhp = exactly where it should be. , Your mapped 280 bhp now is also exactly where it should be, Enjoy it as it is.
A warning about going higher / new turbo etc , the engine will not last for long if you go for big gains. I have 3 T shirts.

If you are a fan of good low down torque , and want more power later,
sell it and buy an Sti with avcs best are on rebuilt 2.1 stroker or go for a rebuilt 2.5 ltr with Forged pistons.
Your torque figures make this easy to drive , On a bigger turbo I don't catch yours until 3800rpm.
Do not spend a great deal on this car.

If you do anything to the engine get the up pipe replaced with a decat one from Harvey (search Harvey trick up pipe)
tell him you have a WRX do not buy a another "big one" elsewhere you will loose spool instead of gaining it.
Its an important item to do preventing the cat disintegrating into the turbo blades , without a lift to work standing
under the car its a full days work and skinned knuckles. Remap is not essential.