Hi. I'm new here, looking to buy a scooby in the near future. (preferably an 05 sti)

I have a few questions though.

1 - why are sti's seemingly so hard to find for sale in the UK, yet you see quite a few in driveways?

2 - the kid inside me would like to get that nice sound you get in some performance cars when changing gear, is this a blow off valve or wastegate?

 

There's plenty of STi's about mate, Finding a good one is going to be your issue though.

I'd start by looking in the for sale sections on here then look on pistonheads, autotrader and ebay as a last resort.

The noise you're referring to is the blow off "Dump" valve - fitting a loud aftermarket one is pretty frowned upon on here lol, The best option is to stick with the standard Recirc valve

 

Hi Wayne, and welcome to the madhouse (since you mentioned dump valves)

When owning a car people almost always start low down the range, then gradually over the years up-grade and end up with the car of their choice.

I'd say that - limited editions aside - STi's are that level for a lot of people, so they'll tend to hold on to them. Hence you see a lot about but less advertised.

And of course it's not a massed produced car in the volumes of a Ford, Renault, Fiat etc. etc. etc.

Ste's advice is good advice imo.

 

A lot of the STi's you see are in fact not STi's. Most are stickered up that way.

 

Good point