2002 Subaru Impreza WRX *22.03.2014 - NOW WITH ADDED BOOOST!!!*...

Willis

The Gatekeeper
Platinum Member
I'll call this tale ''An Itch That Needed Scratching''. :thumbup:

So after the sale of Nicole for almost sensible reasons, it was time to unleash my inner ten year old and tick another thing off my list. Time for a cartoon car!!!

25 February 2014;


It was an early start to get into Manchester Piccadily to board the 0915 to Glasgow Central!!! We got to the station early and loaded up with drinks, snacks and car magazines then set about kicking some student birds out of our reserved seats. It turned out they were also heading to Glasgow and to be fair to them we ended up having a good laugh on the way. Got to Glasgow bang on time, managed to resist the urge to buy a kilt and instead set about mostering a burrito from Pinto (well worth a fiver if you're ever in Glasgow). Had a bit of time to kill before the new girl was back from her MOT so off we went to watch Robocop, very good film, left me wanting a bionic suit. Anyway, back to the car... So I'd already spoke with the dealers earlier in the week (Port Dundas Car Sales) and they had her ready and waiting by the time the film had finished. For the record, when a Scotsman says ''five minute walk'', what they actually mean is ''twenty minute uphill expedition''.

She only had fumes in the tank so unfortunately I had to stick 30L of Esso ''95'' in to get her back to a Shell or at least a BP motorway services. No problem, running relatively sweelty although a little hesitant under acceleration in fifth from 50MPH. Not something Nicole ever struggled with and not really something my Dad's old Impreza T2000 had struggled with, not unduly worried I put it down to getting the cobwebs out. Dived in at the first BP we came to and knowing that there was a Shell about half an hour further down the motorway I just stuck 20L of Ultimate in and grabbed a Monster. Within a few miles she felt smoother and when asked to pull in fifth she felt less hesitant. Was it the cobwebs or was it the fuel??? Hmmm... We got to Shell, by this time she was down to a quarter of a tank so I did the decent thing and brimmed her with V-Power. A quick p!ss and a ciggie for my sisters boyfriend and we were off again. Now again, with a few miles she was a different car. It looks like somebody had woken up and was enjoying the nice expensive fuel hahaha!!! It was only when we got home that I started faffing with the history and handbook and found a little note from her last owner stating that she only likes 98/99 RON. That'd explain it, luckily we have three Shell and two Tesco within a few miles of home...

We got back to Altrincham around 2200 with the new girl having averaged around 28MPG on the motorway. Not too shabby for a, erm, ''hybrid''. A bit of investigation through the history saw that she'd lived in Scotland all her life. Originally being owned by a lady doctor for two years, before being registered to ''Evolution Performance Cars'' for a year and then being owned by a Mr.Lally for five years. The first three years had seen main dealer servicing and then during the ownership of Mr.Lally she'd only ever been looked after by Performance HQ in Fife with my sources telling me she'll have been in good hands there given that the main man Russ is/was the guy behind the Wallace Performance Time Attack cars. After that she spent three years being owned by the Stark family (invoices to two different Starks), which my inner ten year old tells me was the same Stark family to which Iron Man belongs. The healthy stack of invoices totalled up at £9234.16 with a further £1001.93 having been spent on oil changes and general servicing!!! There was me thinking I'd spent a lot on Nicole!!!

February 26 2014;

Woke up to nice blue skies, so there was only one thing for it with not being back in work until tomorrow... KARCHERTIME!!!

No before photos as such, she'd been valeted before collection but the rain on the motorway had undone that on the way home. It wasn't a full detail by any stretch, today was just a case of looking for blemishes to put on the to-do list and getting the motorway grime off and sticking a bit of wax on to help protect everything until I've got the time to break the DA and gazebo out (or take her to Robo) for a bit of correction and refinement. Being realistic, she's a twelve year old car so I was open minded about rust/dings/scratches as long as there was nothing terminal looking going on. There's a few problem areas and water traps on these cars and having had a few in the household before I knew pretty much where to look already anyway.

Within minutes I'd cleared half of Fife out of the rear wheelarches...

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Then whipped off the moist-catching but neatly done ''seam protectors'', cheers Subaru...

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Blasted the wheels with ''IronBerry X'', my bespoke wheel cleaner, bespoke to me, which is bespoke. Made a bit of a mess...

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Got my cannon out and showered her with THE FOAM OF CLEANLINESS a couple of times, also covered the porch and drive with it...

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This was followed up with some foamy Sonus action using the usual two bucket method and half a sheep strapped around my fist. Left her au naturale...

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After that it was time for a brew (not photographed). Then it was time to play ''Spot The Stone Chip'' and ''Hunt The TinWorm''. All things considered she's not bad at all. The usual stone chips in the usual problem areas and one or two that are starting to show signs of oxidation but certainly nothing that isn't treatbale or easily fixed, however the rear wheelarches do have a little bubble (thanks to the ''seam protectors'' ability to retain dirt and moisture) which will be treated in due course. It's no worse than the bubbles on Nicole's tailgate (thanks Renault), just easier to spot when not hidden by glass. But to be honest from more than a few feet away you can't see any of them and I've tried to capture all of the blemishes in the worse light possible as well so that it'll annoy me into sorting them before spending money on performance related goodies. Method in the madness, see. :wink:

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Once they were all found it was time to break out the JDM wax. YO!!! I'd actually been using this on Nicole for the last two years and it's a great product...

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And so this is how she stands now, no claying or polishing, just a quick wash and wax. I've a few things on the to-do list, most of which is preventative maintenance to be honest. Beside sorting the paint blemishes I'd like to have the underseal redone and beyond that the suspension will be getting a full overhaul of all bushes, ARBs, linkages and dampers (most likely BC or K-sport coilovers) and then it'll be a case of just adding fuel/tyres/brake bits as and when needed and keeping her serviced nice and regularly. As you'll have probably guessed, she isn't standard but that's a good thing in my book really because it means I don't need to add anything engine-wise so I can focus my efforts on the other bits instead. It should be a nice little project, made up of smaller projects, I've no intention of going down the WRC sticker route or sticking wings/bumpers/sideskirts on etc., as I think she looks more than cartoon enough already as she is. And before anybody asks, I'm not sure if she's faster than Nicole or not to be honest, very different drive and very different delivery. But one thing's for sure, she's a lot quieter!!! :smiley:

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Just about to leave work, so I'm only looking at pics. You know I love the new motor anyway.

But judging by the wax your JDM fetish is already getting out of hand.
 
But judging by the wax your JDM fetish is already getting out of hand.

I've been suffering for some time hahaha!!!

Looks in fair nick for the age soon have them bits sorted out on the paint work.

Cheers mate, hopefully get them sorted through the ''summer'' before the sh!t weather has a chance to worsen them.

I think it's an itch I'll have to scratch one day as well!

You know it makes sense. I'd been looking at Evo's as well but with Dad having had a few Subaru's it's what I'm more used to and DAT NOIZE!!! :smiley:
 
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Looks good. I've had a classic WRX (Sti engine though) and unfortunately never drove it the way it should've been. Became pampered then hidden away and 2 years and 4000 miles later it was sold on :worried: It was a fresh import from SVA. I'd love to have another one but I have a child as a partner so can't get her insured on one......yet :wink:
 
id love one of these just maintaining them puts me off and knowing my luck id blow it to bits in no time (just wish i would of drove robbos when he offered me a chance to) :biggrin:
 
Hahaha cheers gents!!! :thumbup:

The colour is so strange. I didn't want the usual WR Blue and I did favour white (RARE) but this just looks right I think. It's almost purple in some lights.

Everyone should drive one once in their life. It's ace, I feel like a little kid, big daft scoop right in front of you and then that wing in the rear view as well. It's an occasion just moving it off the drive hahaha!!! Of course it's got the offbeat burble as well and it smells so very Subaru (anybody who's been in one before will know this smell), it sounds strange but they all have the same musk wether they're new or a few years old. Must be the materials they use!!! :smiley:

To be honest the servicing costs are comparable to the Clio, oil changes are what they are really and officially the service interval is 12M/10,000Miles. Although this one has been done 6M/6,000Miles looking through the invoices so I'll keep it at that. Belt change is 48M/48,000Miles and was last done in November 2012 (inlcuding A/C delete) and she's only covered 7,000Miles since then so plenty of time left on that one. Brakes will be more costly as she's running K-Sport 8Pots on the front and the rotors are ~£300 a pair but pads are similarly priced to the Clio. Tyres are the same size but it'll use them faster I'd guess. Fuel costs are yet to be determined but what I have noticed right off the bat is that on normal fuel she absolutely chews through it, but didn't seem to anywhere near as bad once I stuck the V-Power in. I've always used the good stuff in every car I've had anyway but I've never seen one behave so differently as this one does, could just have been a case of needing to get the cobwebs out though as she'd been at the dealers for about ten weeks.
 
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I had a feeling about this after seeing your dad post something on FB!!!
Looks great :smile:

Hope you both will still attend track days!
 
Awesome - miss mine - most reliable car I have ever owned. In 5 years all I did was service her and put fuel in. Amazing machine.

Lol - MPG - not even worth thinking about! on a French fishing trip following my mates dad doing 60 all the way I managed to get 300 miles out of a full tank of Optimax. On a play day, mostly motorway she drank a full tank in 70 miles.

Get a HKS SSQ dump valve for the summer - makes you grin every time :lol:
 
Love scoobies not so keen on the model youhave got but I have no doubt it will be very quick and fun to drive hope youenjoy your new motor pal:thumbsup:
 
any reason you went for a WRX over an STi?

I have had 2 Impreza's and would like to own another one day.

MPG wise, I managed to get 3 and a half laps of the Nurburgring out of a tank of fuel! lol
 
I had a feeling about this after seeing your dad post something on FB!!! Hope you both will still attend track days!

Oh you know it, no danger of me giving those up anytime soon!!! Dad is in the market for another one now as well hahaha!!! :smiley:

Love scoobies not so keen on the model youhave got but I have no doubt it will be very quick and fun to drive hope youenjoy your new motor pal:thumbsup:

Yeah the Bugeye is an acquired taste that's for sure. Personally it's my favourite one, mainly due to how evil the WRC cars of this model looked!!! :smiley:

any reason you went for a WRX over an STi?

No real reason to be honest mate, I had a maximum figure in mind and it was enough to go for either WRX or STi. I also looked at EVO IV's and Celica GT-Four's. But the Impreza kept dragging me back, it was always going to be one of these next really but it would have been rude not to look at the classifieds for similar 90's/00's WRC-esque toys. At the moment the Impreza offers the best bang per buck in terms of prices and also parts and insurance costs etc., plus the sheer size of the aftermarket scene for these is ridiculous as I'm sure you already know. There was a pair of Blobeye and a pair of Bugeye WRX's and a Type-RA and V.5 STi Coupe on my shortlist. I crossed off the two imports because they were both near on twenty years old now and I couldn't justify paying that much when newer ones were available for less or similar. Then from what was left, this had the most comprehensive history and some very choice parts already on it, albeit there's a few blemishes to sort but the sum of the parts outweighed the niggles for me. :thumbsup:
 
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