Monkeybone

After afew years of hankering after an Impreza I'm now in a position where I will be able to get one in 2008

Originally thought about a 2005 WRX, but when looking at purchase price for the spec I wanted, and insurance, it's hardly any mroe to go for the STi instead.

My family have had WRXs from new for the last few years but just wondered about a couple of really simple things.

Firstly, am I right in saying the tyre sizes for the 2005 sti are 215/45/17? What is a popular tyre people go for that gives good all round performance (i.e. decent dry + wet and doesn't wear out in 4k!). Am used to Michelin PE2 on my current car and they are a good jack of all trades, master of none, and last quite a while. Also with just general motorway type driving I guess they don't chew through tyres? My folks seem to last ages on their cars!

Can see from someone like litchfield I think it was what to expect for servicing costs.

Also struggling to find out a cost for a standard set of pads and discs, am guessing about £500 from a stealer?

Can't think of anything else atm, but are there any other things I should be wary of?

I'm well aware this won't be a cheap car to run, but I've always wanted one!

And with 4 doors it's kind of practical....

Cheers, and sorry for the questions that have probably been asked a million times before...

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

No the tyre size on an 05 STi is 235/45/17 or 225s on STi Type UK

Monkeybone

Cool, cheers, will be a uk sti, hopefully...

Marx Mcrae

iTrader: (4)

Goodyear eagle F1's are what I use and would highly recommend them, but then the standard car comes with Bridgestones I think, so there must be a reason that Subaru chose them over others.

Dealers will always rip you off so why not try an independant subaru specialist, there are loads about.
Try ScoobyBits | Subaru Specialists // New & Used Parts // Repairs & Servicing
Scooby Clinic | The UK's Largest Independent Subaru Specialists | 01246 590 807 - Chesterfield S42 6QX

Monkeybone

Cheers, prices for things not as bad as I was expecting.

As for getting an STi over a WRX, would people say they are worth the extra?

Marx Mcrae

iTrader: (4)

I would get an STi over a WRX

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

For an STI your looking at a bit more on top of that... for your fronts. Rears extra

If it gives you an idea - the previous owner of my car had the 50k service done (about £500-ish?), and got them to replace discs and pads all around (genuine Brembo) - £1800 in total.

I personally don't think servicing costs for the Impreza, even at a dealership, are *that* bad considering the performance.

Chelspeed

Discs and pads are a really simple DIY job. Pads are a 1 spanner job (ie your gran could do it using only kitchen implements), discs are a 2 spanner job (ie your three year old niece could do it with only meccano tools). So don't throw money at the stealers, DIY. Also means you can buy non-OEM parts which can either be much cheaper or better quality and probably both.

If you're buying an STi then think seriously about PPP, cost the first owner £2k, but will probably not add anywhere near that much second hand, and totally transforms the car. Without PPP it won't pull until 4k and runs out of revs at 6k, you're forever changing gear. With PPP it pulls from 2.5k and revs out to the red line. Just so much better, it should have been like that from new. Quick caveat, the above applies to the 2 litre cars, mine was MY02, could be different for the later cars.

wolfie28

Hi mate. As mentioned tyres on a UK 05 STI are 225/45/17. The average life of a tyre for me was approx 15,000-20,000 miles and I found Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's 91Y to be the best (however I've not tried all tyres). Vedrestien (spelling ) do some very good tyres as well.

Servicing costs aren't too bad with the 60,000 the most expensive at approx £500. Servicing intervals are every 10,000 miles or yearly however alot of folks get an oil change every 5,000 miles.

Brakes again as mentioned are a doddle to do yourself. I've found Camskill and AS performance very competitive priced.

If you can stretch to a car that has PPP fitted go for it because it transforms the car . PPP'd cars have to be run on Super unleaded but most folks use super anyway in their scoobs. On my PPP'd car I get approx 250 miles to a tank of V-power this however can drop to 150 miles with continuous sprited driving .

Enjoy, Wolfie.

Monkeybone

I'm coming from a 172 and whilst it's not supercar the servicing costs actually look pretty similar! i.e. a major with a belt change is £500 notes.

I'll just miss the dirt cheap tyres and decent mpg

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

The WRX cambelt (03 so 2.0 rather than 2.5 engine) was just £300 at the main dealer. Some seem to charge less than others! If you have had new WRX's for a while then i presume you trust your dealer so they might well do you some good deals.

5t.

Monkeybone

Local dealer is Ashburton Motor Works, my folks know the owners and they've always been nice. Not sure what kind of reputation they have though here.