1997 Subaru Impreza WRX STi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

Quite simply, this car is the pups nuts.

It feels safe at speed, corners amazing - STi suspension and brakes are phenomenal.

I test drove pure 2 seater sports cars such as a TVR or Lotus, but this car beats those for pure fun and it's 4 wheel drive.

Only problem is - now I want the Impreza P1.

Regarding grey Imprezas, having owned an STi manual, two WRX autos and a 1.8 HX (Japanese model designation), it's my view that there's really no point having anything much under 200bhp. With the 1.6-, 1.8 and cooking 2.0-litre engines, the handling far exceeds engine performance, so unless you are on snow much of the year, it's hardly worth it. The extra weight and transmission drag of 4WD gives unjustified poor fuel economy and borderline mediocre straight-line performance with a 100~150bhp engine. The smaller ones even have drum rear brakes, which may explain why it's the only Subaru I could fade out the brakes. However, changing the plugs is far easier. In Japan, Subaru have a 220bhp (from memory) non-turbo version, which would be perfect for keeping UK insurance cost down. Female insurance clerks obviously don't spend their free time reading "Hot Chicks and Hot Metal" type auto magazines, so non-turbo would make the difference between insurable and non-insurable. Be advised, if you touch the electrics it's liable to bring the warning lights on. But believe your senses and the dipstick. Try switching off and on with the central locking key to clear it. Also, it's easy to get tyres up to 16-inch, above that and you are paying retail. At auction in Japan, it's not unusual for the car to come with a spare set of wheels and tyres. No, straight up. Ideal: Japanese performance cars at Japanese prices, low population density, no speed cameras and the plods in Rovers.

The European sti are not bad, but if you want to get as close to the rally edition as possible you'd want to check out the 2 door sti type r they say standard there sittin at 280 bhp butim nearly sure its up at 300 and with adjustAible 4 wheel drive and intercooler water mist control you can get this bad boy to do most anything you want. only the other day I took a chap from my work for a run and I can honoestly say I never seen a man grip onto a seat as much before so that kinda tells you you pulling some serious g's.