Drew

Haven't had an opportunity to take any good ones yet... 😉 Here's one snap from the weekend.

For completeness I should finish off this thread! I actually purchased the second one that I went to look at. 2003 JDM STi - fresh import. Blue with Gold wheels. I picked it up last Monday and have covered just over 200 miles in it so far. I'm very pleased with it. I couldn't find much fault at all with it when I viewed and tested it. The engine and gearbox felt really strong and it had had a full cambelt service & compression test carried out by the garage - Pole Position in Wolverhampton. It is reasonably high mileage though, so it's not immaculate. The paint on the bumper and the spoiler are not 100% which is bothering me a little. I thought I'd inspected it closely, but find you can never really get to know a car completely until you clean it. I just gave it a bit of a quick wipe down and noticed some of the paint niggles. I'm hoping it just needs a good thorough detail, which I'm going to get to asap. Hopefully a clay bar, polish and wax will have it back to it's best. You really have to have your nose to it to notice, it looks pretty clean from a normal distance. It is unmodified, which must be pretty rare. Original exhaust and everything. I'm not a stickler for originality though, so on my list to do in the near future is a full exhaust system, mudflaps and a change of wheels perhaps. I will keep it standard for a few months though, get to know the car and see if any more pressing upgrades or mods are needed. Getting used to driving it has been interesting! Not owned anything 4 wheel drive before, which does have quite a unique feel to it. I was also getting some bad tramlining and a real unstable feel at times which had me worried there might be some issues with it. I took the DCCD out of auto and put it into full open, also upped the front tyre pressures - running 35f/32r which has improved the feel a lot. Tyres are Yokohama ad08r's. The speed and cornering ability is awesome! It's so eager to full you round the bends. Far faster than my ability or bravery is capable of at the moment. Another slight niggle is a high pitched whurring sound that I get a certain revs. Most noticeable between 1500 - 3000 rpm in 4th gear. It is under acceleration, so something engine related rather than suspension or drivetrain (I think). Having a Toad - Thatcham 1 alarm fitted this weekend as it is a requirement for my insurance. I didn't actually realise imports didn't have alarms as standard, so was an unexpected expense, but probably a good thing to have anyway! I'm also going to get new plates for it - a smaller front plate and an import style rear. Really enjoying the car so far! 😀

Yeah, I have kind of resigned myself to not getting a widetrack without upping the budget. However, I'm more than happy with an earlier JDM model.

Hi all, Just checking in as I'm currently on the hunt for a dream car of mine - a Blobeye STi. I've only just started properly hunting for the one, but have lusted over them for quite a few years, so have a good idea of what I want. Looking for a JDM spec car, in white or blue, DCCD & widetrack preferable but not essential, under 100k miles. budget £10k. Went to view one yesterday in Burton, white with gold wheels, imported last summer. There were some good points to it, but just a few too many things putting me off I think: Knocking from the rear suspension (quite common I understand, new suspension to be included with sale, but unsure of condition. I guess it would be cured by fitting some coilovers, but not an extra expense I'd want right away). A few cosmetic niggles - finish on the rear quarter window was not great and missing a wind deflector from one side. It needed a good clean and polish, so not sure how well it would shine up. Front lights needed restored - again this seems to be quite common. Interior plastics a little tatty in places. Needed a service and the MOT is up in the summer. Owned for a few months by a 19 year old who fitted an exhaust, BOV and then sold it back to the dealer. Good points: The engine and gearbox appeared to be strong from admittedly a short test drive. No visible corrosion, the underside looked pretty clean. Nice sounding exhaust, bit of a naff sounding BOV, but original included. Still has a Japanese head unit, which I kind of like for the JDMness 😛, even though I can't understand it! Low mileage - 62k miles / 101km. So overall I didn't really love it and I think it's perhaps a bit expensive for the condition. I guess the mileage is the biggest factor pushing up the price. It's up for £10,250 but I'm sure he'd let it go for £10k. The next one on my list to view is a blue one for sale by Pole Position in Wolverhampton. I'd hoped to view at the weekend but it didn't work out. Being a Subaru specialist I expect it will be presented well for sale. It's also been serviced & under-sealed which is nice. This is good and bad of course, the shine can be deceiving and in a way I liked the "honest" presentation of the white one. However, it needed too much doing to have it in the condition I want it straight away. The blue one however is quite a bit higher mileage - 99k miles. I know one should buy on condition and not mileage, but it is still somewhat a negative in my mind. I've also contacted the guys at Torque-GT to see about importing one myself and will be keeping an eye on the Japanese auctions. Quite a lengthy post, but good to get my thoughts out on paper and will update as the hunt continues. Any thoughts and comments welcome!

Well I thought I'd resurrect my old thread! I never did buy an Impreza back in 2016. I looked at a number of them and was very close to buying a nice 2003 UK spec Blobeye but didn't go through with it. New relationship meant I was doing more miles and spending a lot more money, so felt a Subaru would bankrupt me. I may have been right. Opted instead later that year to go for the cheap runaround daily + a nice Eunos Roadster for weekend fun etc. That's been great and I've had a blast driving it, doing a few track days, modifying it and learning to do some of my own spannering. That car has taught me a lot. Now the Eunos has got a pretty aggressive set up, very low and stiff, bucket seats, harness etc. and it's not so much fun on the road! Certainly a bit of a ball-ache for a weekend away for example. So I'm finding myself driving the cheap crappy daily more often - no fun! So I'm back in the market for a car I've lusted over for far too long. Going to view a JDM spec, 2003 Blob this weekend. I have more of an idea of what I want now and know a bit more about them from reading and chatting to owners over the years. Ideal spec I'm looking is a JDM one with DCCD. Widetrack would be nice but they seem to be a little over my budget for a JDM one, so don't mind an earlier one. Ideal colour is white with gold wheels. Blue is a very close second though, so wouldn't mind if I found a good one not in white. c.£10k budget. Hopefully be able to check back in soon with a nice car to show off. Wanted one for too long! Now is the time... 🤗

Good morning fellow Subaru enthusiasts, In the market for an Impreza Sti at moment. Going to view a few this weekend. I'm mad meticulous with lists, checks etc lol. Thought it would be good to go armed with a picture of the stock engine bay of a Hawkeye and Blobeye. Found a few images by just doing a Google search, but thought maybe you guys might have a pic you could share? Or is there anything particular that would ring alarm bells for you when looking under the bonnet? Also on the subject of buying a used Sti, if you could give your number one piece of advice or warning what would it be? I've been reading the buying guides online etc. so just really wondering your own personal experience of owning one. Just a little more info for you - I'm looking for a Blobeye or Hawkeye, budget of c.9k, less than 100k on the clock and would prefer one without too many mods and obviously as well looked after as I can get. Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Many thanks! Drew

I'm looking at I believe second gen models, around 04 - 06, blobeye or hawkeye is what I understand they're referred to as.. :) More drawn towards the hawkeye at the min.

Hey all, Just joined up to the forum as I'm currently in the market for Impreza STI. Trying to soak up as much info as possible to have the best chance of getting a good one. I've got a budget of around £9k. Long time lover of Subaru's, but never owned one. I'll probably start another topic in time with some advice on what to look for etc. But in the meantime any advice welcome! Thanks Drew