JDM WRX STI 'Hawkeye'

Sonny

RMS Photographer
Messages
7,146
A couple of months ago I got the itch to change again despite the Mini being absolutely awesome fun. Everything I needed in a car and quick to boot. Perfect daily, much better than them GTIs :p

Started to check the likes of UCNI, Autotrader & Pistonheads every other day. Then daily. Then hourly. Completing these multiple times a day. Then I remembered eBay motors/classifieds and there was a much larger selection of cars. Couple of cars stood out but didn't have the 2.5 engine rebuilt or didn't have the history to back it up. Then I spotted an advert and this photo just stood out to me the below being a terrible screenshot):

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Message sent, I had to have it. Mini was up for sale/raffle. Few enquiries but no one concrete. Had already floated the trade in idea but seller was only into Japanese motors so it wasn't an option (then at least, Nov/Dec).

Kept completing UCNI, Autotrader, Pistonheads, eBay, FB marketplace & Gumtree every day but nothing coming through. Frustrated by a few dealers just typing the reg into AT and firing out a stupid low offer without actually looking at the car.

Couple of weeks ago I decided to send another message to the seller of the Impreza "Hey, my original offer of a trade is still there" basically. Couple of minutes later a reply "Ok". Few details ironed out, fresh MOT on it, sort a date for collection and some more info on the Mini for him.

Car was MOT'd on the 7th. Boat provisionally the 8th, Storm Ciara would see to that... 2:15 was the one I had hoped for but it was cancelled early enough. 6:15 however was still a go so alarm was set. Woke up, booked the boat and headed for Dublin. Bit of a queue, couple of trucks heading through, all good... Nah, they were then being sent back out and it was cancelled.

Rearranged it for the following Friday. Seller happy enough to wait. Then Storm Dennis decides he is visiting..

Friday left the house at 23:30, picked up my brother and headed for Dublin. Quick stop for snacks. Boat is on.

Landed in Holyhead around 6 and headed towards Chester for a break. Ended up hanging around here for 2 hours, which was too long in the end but lack of sleep meant I needed the break.

Back on the road, originally ETA to Leicester is now 1pm instead of 10am. Few signs of Dennis but nothing too major. Arrived to be greeted with this beauty.

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Boat home is 23:00 from Cairnryan so a good 6 hours away. (Decided on this as Dennis would likely cancel Holyhead departures, didn't fancy 8 hours on the Liverpool crossing either) Seller wants his cousin to look over the Mini as he is more familiar with them so 10 minute drive away to sort that. He's happy enough and on the way back we stop off to look at a car he is restoring at the minute.

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Time to take the Impreza for a test drive, brutal power delivery compared to the Mini, wee bit of rear end movement on a particularly slippy bend. All good, time to go back and do the paperwork. Paperwork done, I check the time and it's now 16:00. Leicester to Cairnryan is 6 hours. Last check in for the boat is 22:30. I need petrol and food, oops.

First fill under my ownership, V Power to the tune of £75 odd. They know how to charge for it.

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I'd decided there was no time to stop for a proper feed as originally planned so some more snacks bought and on the road. Storm Dennis properly kicked in once on the M6, torrential rain combined with people swerving over all 4 lanes & majority with no lights on meant I just took it easy, 55-60 mph. Arrival time at the boat was 22:15, not too bad...

Half a tank used, so a quick stop to top up and toilet break in Scotland.
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Another few hours driving and arrived at the boat with 15 minutes to spare.
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Overview of the trip.
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Home (photo the following morning). However once I stopped at the port I could smell some coolant (LOL Impreza headgasket), levels ok, temps didn't rise either.

Had planned to get an oil change done before heading off to Sligo on Wednesday past there so thankfully @Wild Thing was able to squeeze me in beforehand and able to diagnose the coolant leak to the radiator. Replacement ordered up and fitted along with the oil change (Fuchs Titan Race Pro S). Whilst it was on the ramp I had a good nosey underneath, previously I was only able to do this lying at the side of the road.

Well pleased with it.

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Collected and back to work. Still covered in bits of Storm Dennis however.

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Now it was time for it's first road trip down to Mullaghmore. Some fun roads and the car was great craic to drive. Fuel gauge dropping hilariously fast on any sort of extended blast. Still managed to get about 300 odd miles in before a small top up to get back to the North and some 97 again.

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Just gave it a proper wash for the first time but the light had gone when I finished so hopefully get some photos of it before/after work.

Spec:

2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 'hawkeye'
Aspen White / Pure White
80k miles
2.0 litre EJ20 engine
Twin scroll turbo
DCCD - (Driver Control Centre Differential with Auto mode)
17" original gold STI alloys
Brembo brakes front and rear
HID headlights
Quick rack steering
8000 rev limit
Equal length exhaust manifolds
Close ratio gearbox
STI strut brace
Automatic (with manual also) intercooler water spray
Orange illuminated dash with variable dimmer
Clutch only start
Dark tinted rear door windows and back window
Climate control
JDMyo stereo which likes to shout in Japanese at random intervals

Plans:
Front splitter
Exhaust
Stereo that doesn't shout in Japanese
Tyres
Serviced regularly
Invest in Super unleaded


Tidy up a few things:
Rear STI badge could be replaced
Stone chip repairs
Front wheels refurbed and rebalanced, weights are on the outside edge....

I have tortured @Gambit & @bludgod over the past while so shoutout to them for putting up with it (y)
 
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southsky sunrise

RMS Regular
Messages
10,966
Drives
Old skool
Very nice. Another one will be landing here shortly I didn’t know you were looking one 8o| Seams dead on underneath, get it well waxoiled be & weary of the chocolate engines.... but health to enjoy tho;)
 

Deleted member 13907

D
Awesome! Really like that. The gold wheels on white is an unusual combination but I definitely think it works!
 

Burt2000

RMS Regular
Messages
11,227
Drives
Type RA Ltd
Looks great and a much better engine choice with the the JDM 2.0. As said get the underneath steam cleaned, dried and some clear wax oil (UPOL Dynax UC) on it 👌. Health to enjoy the burble.
 

quattro Rick

RMS Regular
Messages
5,217
Drives
quattro / M796
😱😱😱😱 who kills the burble of a flat 4 with equal headers!!!!

Aside from that it looks the part and I'm sure she's very rapid and handles like no one's business
 

redanni

RMS Regular
Messages
4,385
Location
Earth
Drives
MK7 R / MK2 RS
Must be honest and say im not usually a fan of these but in this colour I’m happy to admit I love it.
Enjoy
 

Carson

RMS Regular
Messages
7,815
Location
......
Drives
R53 JCW/A4 B8.5
That’s awesome in white ! Looks like a good great example. Road trip collection is the best bit !
 

Burt2000

RMS Regular
Messages
11,227
Drives
Type RA Ltd
It gets driven alright but just stays off the road from Oct-April 😜

This is the clear wax @Sonny, means you can keep an eye on everything as well being clear

 
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Chris tii

RMS Regular
Messages
1,542
Drives
BMW 2002tii
They look good in white. I spotted this on your Instagram and was happily surprised you swapped your mini for a Subaru.
I look forward to seeing it in the flesh. Hopefully I’ll have my own JDM Subaru in a couple of weeks too. My Forester STI is still waiting for its registration to get sorted. Seeing this car has only got me even more excited!
How far did you get with the raffle idea? Did you not get enough interest? I thought it was a quirky but potentially genius way to sell a car.
 

MarkP

RMS Regular
Messages
4,345
Location
Strabane
Drives
zafira :-(
Beautiful car. Set of Ultraleggeras now would set it off. For a HT front splitter check hta-subaru on eBay as when i bought mine it was a bit cheaper than direct website.
 

Sonny

RMS Photographer
OP
Sonny
Messages
7,146
😱😱😱😱 who kills the burble of a flat 4 with equal headers!!!!

Aside from that it looks the part and I'm sure she's very rapid and handles like no one's business

It does sound great from 4-8k, it's just too quiet.

It gets driven alright but just stays off the road from Oct-April 😜

This is the clear wax @Sonny, means you can keep an eye on everything as well being clear


Website says they don't post to NI?

Your gonna regret even looking under there, now begins the constant struggle to keep it looking as good as it does.
Welcome to the club:laughing:

It's a daily so it'll get dirty I'm sure but will try to keep on top of it, set of ramps as suggested may help!

They look good in white. I spotted this on your Instagram and was happily surprised you swapped your mini for a Subaru.
I look forward to seeing it in the flesh. Hopefully I’ll have my own JDM Subaru in a couple of weeks too. My Forester STI is still waiting for its registration to get sorted. Seeing this car has only got me even more excited!
How far did you get with the raffle idea? Did you not get enough interest? I thought it was a quirky but potentially genius way to sell a car.

I have always wanted one, hasn't really sunk in yet that it's mine. Raffle got up to around 100+ tickets. Just fizzed out in the end. I think it's grand if you only need a few k to shift a car but anything 10k+ will be a struggle unless you're R Kings.

Look forward to seeing the FSTI,
 
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