Impreza P1 Big End bang!
Discussion
I must be a bit ignorant but wifey's nephew just bought Jap import '99 P1 'Prezza & now thinks big
end(s) have gone. I always believed Scoobys were pretty reliable but he reckons some owners expect them to go anytime after 20K miles!! Anybody out there with knowledge or history. Who's right me or him??:confused:
end(s) have gone. I always believed Scoobys were pretty reliable but he reckons some owners expect them to go anytime after 20K miles!! Anybody out there with knowledge or history. Who's right me or him??:confused:
P1s are Prodrive modified STi (or was it WRX?) type Rs. They aren't grey imports as such as they were imported by Subaru UK (International Motors).
However they do seem to suffer from the same problems regarding being mapped for a higher fuel quality than the UK has. (Prodrive went some way to addressing this, but it wasn't enough)
Big ends should last a lot longer than 20k. IMHO, if people are expecting only 20k, then they either need a better engine builder or a better mapper. (or they need to lower their power expectation from the engine...)
Usually Scoobs are reliable - I've had 50k miles of good motoring out of mine (I'm on my 2nd one now) but, the MAF sensor on 99 and 00 Imprezas that is prone to breaking - this is a gradual thing which causes the engine to run leaner and leaner until it pops... It's difficult to spot unless you know what you're looking for. I have a knock detector in the car to try to spot this as early as possible. My current car (a '99 STi RA) is on its 3rd MAF sensor...
>> Edited by dnb on Monday 31st October 15:43
However they do seem to suffer from the same problems regarding being mapped for a higher fuel quality than the UK has. (Prodrive went some way to addressing this, but it wasn't enough)
Big ends should last a lot longer than 20k. IMHO, if people are expecting only 20k, then they either need a better engine builder or a better mapper. (or they need to lower their power expectation from the engine...)
Usually Scoobs are reliable - I've had 50k miles of good motoring out of mine (I'm on my 2nd one now) but, the MAF sensor on 99 and 00 Imprezas that is prone to breaking - this is a gradual thing which causes the engine to run leaner and leaner until it pops... It's difficult to spot unless you know what you're looking for. I have a knock detector in the car to try to spot this as early as possible. My current car (a '99 STi RA) is on its 3rd MAF sensor...
>> Edited by dnb on Monday 31st October 15:43
yeah mine went just over a month ago, apparently its a bit more common on the p1 than regular Scoobs but as canam said luckily I got it sorted for free otherwise expect £5-6000 for the repair! (my old WRX STI 2 type RA one went) and that has managed about 40,000 miles and 15 trackdays without falling apart.
Thanks to all for helpful comments. Interested to hear about conflict of P1 "Jap import". Owner tells me it IS an import & he knows P1s can be prone. Obviously NOT a P1 I guess. If so then a bit unusual for ordinary STi to have gone. I haven't heard it run- be interesting to find out if it is Big ends. Feel sorry for the kid-it just came back from £3500 service & essential maintenance at Scooby specialists (un-named) in Chesterfield!! AND he's only had it less than 2 mths.
RB Will said:
yeah mine went just over a month ago, apparently its a bit more common on the p1 than regular Scoobs but as canam said luckily I got it sorted for free otherwise expect £5-6000 for the repair! (my old WRX STI 2 type RA one went) and that has managed about 40,000 miles and 15 trackdays without falling apart.
Shorly a replacement engine is cheaper than £5-6,000!
all jap cars should have their fueling and timing checked when they come into this country. they are set up as standard for 100ron, and as many are played with out in japan. my car had a daugherboard on the ecu i knew nothing about until it started detting when i upped the boost slightly.
its not surprising that so many go bang, get them set up and serivced before even thinking about giving it any abuse.
its not surprising that so many go bang, get them set up and serivced before even thinking about giving it any abuse.
Gazboy said:Yes - oh & they ripped out a perfectly good climate control & replaced it with air-con, cos the buttons on the climate control didn't meet EU standards.
Wasn't the P1 imported to Prodrive by Fuji Heavy Industries, as a 3 door STI Type R, which Prodrive then converted for our shit roads and crap fuel, a smidge of cosmetics, then sold by Subaru UK as a UK car????
Also had ABS instead of adjustable diff
A replacement short engine should cost around £2-3K all in. At least that was the cost that Gatwick Subaru charged to the warranty company when mine was replaced and I was told this was about right.
Not sure why the P1 is more prone to this than other imported Scoobies, however the P1 was only ever a UK released car. 1000 3 door brand new scoobs were imported by Subaru and handed over to Prodrive who did the necessary work to convert to UK roads and a bit more.
Subaru then registered them and sold them as UK cars.
Annoyingly Subaru have recently dropped the warranty limit on the P1 to 60k miles instead of the usual 80k miles. This has pissed me, and countless other scooby owners, off. But hey, this is a performance car and so you live with it.
If you're buying a P1, ensure it has already had a new short engine. (many have).
Not sure why the P1 is more prone to this than other imported Scoobies, however the P1 was only ever a UK released car. 1000 3 door brand new scoobs were imported by Subaru and handed over to Prodrive who did the necessary work to convert to UK roads and a bit more.
Subaru then registered them and sold them as UK cars.
Annoyingly Subaru have recently dropped the warranty limit on the P1 to 60k miles instead of the usual 80k miles. This has pissed me, and countless other scooby owners, off. But hey, this is a performance car and so you live with it.
If you're buying a P1, ensure it has already had a new short engine. (many have).
Spot on Gazboy 
It's one reason why I bought my STi RA limited and not a P1... 
(Well, other than I couldn't afford a P1)
The P1 is more prone because Prodrive increased the sensitivity of the knock sensor (or something in that part of the electronics) as a way of compensating for the fuel differences. What they DIDN'T do was remap the car properly (mainly because ECUTek wasn't available back in 98/99...) There is no difference between the map in an STi 5 and a P1 in terms of boost targets and ignition advance as far as I remember.
Prices for engines seem right to me - but I'd hope the £5/6k one was a complete unit!! (Remember a short engine doesn't have heads or anything.)
>> Edited by dnb on Wednesday 2nd November 11:50
It's one reason why I bought my STi RA limited and not a P1... (Well, other than I couldn't afford a P1) The P1 is more prone because Prodrive increased the sensitivity of the knock sensor (or something in that part of the electronics) as a way of compensating for the fuel differences. What they DIDN'T do was remap the car properly (mainly because ECUTek wasn't available back in 98/99...) There is no difference between the map in an STi 5 and a P1 in terms of boost targets and ignition advance as far as I remember.
Prices for engines seem right to me - but I'd hope the £5/6k one was a complete unit!! (Remember a short engine doesn't have heads or anything.)
>> Edited by dnb on Wednesday 2nd November 11:50
smifffy said:?? Mine was always 60K miles. Which was annoying because quite a few things wore out at 62K miles
Annoyingly Subaru have recently dropped the warranty limit on the P1 to 60k miles instead of the usual 80k miles. This has pissed me, and countless other scooby owners, off.
Also, I don't think it is more (or less) prone to going pop than STi imports of the same time period - I am aware of a few imports breaking in the same way...
>> Edited by CraigAlsop on Wednesday 2nd November 22:13
Gassing Station | Japanese Chat | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff