Tidgy

Best way to get 350bhp, sell the car and buy an sti, vf35, exhaust and map. There are alot of below the surface difference between a n/a and even a wrx which makes it not cost viable to do. Prob not what you want to hear, but buying the turbo'd car is a better starting point than a sport and modding it.

1st thing is are you sure its a wrx-s? i know it sounds daft to ask but people rebadge/modify and sell cars as something they arnt to bumpt he price up (wrx sold as sti is a very common one although alot easier to spot) Second, which is my guess as to whats happened, has it ever been modified? If its been moded and then returned to stock it may have a stock wrx map applied to it instead of a wrx-s

The non turbo engines seem pretty bullet proof. removing the turbo removes alot of the strain on the engine and rest of the components.

welcome

Proh rocker cover gasket, pretty common but get it done asap

if thats the case then you unlikley to see anythign with an endoscope. WIll need a strip and inspect

hmm, tbh does sound very dodgy, but if he has opffered to fix it then that might be your cheapest option

hard to tell, it will need a leak down test at least. But i suspect so https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-general-1/1060804-has-ra-motorsport-in-perth-closed.html

Looks like Ra motorsport who went bust.

just be aware you may need the map looking at if returning it to stock. Cobra do track friendly quieter systems, also sports cat systems which may be more to your taste, so might be worth looking at that as an option if you have no luck finding one

yeah can always be removed if needs be. May be worth seeing what your banks policy is on faulty goods.

how did you pay for the car by the way?

hmm, not sure what options you ahve them if im honest. I suspect its gonna be a case of get it up to him to get fixed. What garage is it?

Was it a trade deal or a personal deal? engine ol grade sounds ok, varys depending who you ask but 10/60 isnt uncommon

Welcome, 1, as above 2, picture looks standard to me, what do you think is missing? 3, as above, anti corrosion stuff, nerwer cars seem the get dipped in them they chuck that much on them haha 4, mpg depends how you drive it, but 12 seems low, Are you running it on vpower/99? does it have any mods bar the dumpvalve? can you get it on a rolling road to find out whats going on? 5, rusty bits are pretty normal 6, Regular oil changes, 3k or 5k depending on how you drive it, if hard more regular changes. Always keep on top of maintenance, running it on decent fuel 99 ron. If theres an issue (eg stutters on power, check engine light etc etc) dont try to drive through it, get it checked out.

I would always make sure you balance out changes you make if upgrading, so if you put uprated on the front then do the same on the rear as it will change the balance of the car. Unless of course your planning to change the balance like with roll bars. Whiteline are pretty good as a brand.

Scoobyclinic up at chesterfield can supply parts new for all models so give em a bell, bear in mind if you do a full decat and downpipe you may well need a map to cover the change.

As a starter, Right car is always worth traveling for tbh i would ask for a full refund, get the car back to them and go on your way, i've seen lots of situations like this and they never seem to work out well. Untill its assessed you wont know the extent of the damage, but given what i can only assume is extremly high oil consumption (4L in 1000 is a mega problem even for a forged engine), then i suspect the engine is not in a good way at all, so i would expect a bill well into a few thousands to put it right. This of course assumes its not something as simple as wrong grade oil or something like that. But either way i'd get it back to them and get your money back 😞

As said, just not worth the hassel, will cost more than just buying a wrx or uk turbo

Look after it properly, 3 or 5k oil changes depending on how you drive it, do bits that need doing and it will be as good as it can be, don't look after it and it will fail. its the ring lands that fail rather than the rings so new pistons needed, problem is how catastrophic it is, if your lucky then just ne pistons, rehone etc and rebuild, if your unlucky then whole engine is a right off

if you can find a 2,5 thats been rebuilt then it will be fine, the 2,5's when they are built right make an epic road engine

Meat ware issues, aka the meat behind the wheel haha, are the same across the models tbh no mater the brand your gonna get that. The 2.5 issue is a % problem, aka the failure % on them is alot higher than any other engine in the range. The faults are well documented, head gakets and ring lands, but the cuases of the failure is the unknown. I know of some 2.5's that get beaten with a big stick repetedly and dont fail, then others that get kid gloves and fail. What i can tell you is do the pistons, headgaskets and headstuds and you wont have any issues after that, asssuming your not going big power of course

yeah, at the time would have had to have pretty much sold everything bar the mrs haha. At that time they had been bombing in price with no signs of going back up again, the one that was up for sale sold for 23k 12 months before so 5k drop in 12 months 😮

it's a 2.5 so its pot luck. People say alot of things about the cause of the failures, but i know cars that have everything done to try to stop it and they still fail. drive it, enjoy it and if problem comes up just get it sorted.

seems to be hit and miss if it works, also if you use the wrong chemical then will damage it.