YoungOne

I mean you'd probably want to compare a 08-14 Hatchback STI to one not an SGT for a more fair comparison if it had a EJ207 but yes in my experience they're more engaging and 'feel' faster than the later cars. But they're less sophisticated in the suspension department, brake department, engine department, monocoque department, safety department, drivetrain department and more. ...but they are heaps of fun V5/6 STI's came with a 207, WRX's came with a 205

Entered ruapuna track attack, lots of fun but was the only subaru there out of 40 odd cars!

vanished when stolen, was never seen or recovered.

Always had great service from Crowes for 10 years

Drove to Manfeild from Christchurch. Drove around track. Drove back.

Yep are good to deal with, thou they basically always have "25-40%" off everything so don't get too sucked in with the sales, they'll have another one in 2 days

Ah yeah I was also watching the auction for this on trademe while it was closing, you did well very well sir

S-gt's have twin scroll turbos, you won't be able to get classic rumble without a single scroll turbo and unequal length exhaust manifold

Supply and demand, so many old wrx's have been crashed or stolen that the numbers are dwindling with demand just as high or increasing (people have a lot of money atm), price will go up accordingly. I have noticed when I compare NZ prices to the UK or Japan they are slightly inflated though, probably asking 15-20% higher on average, even ignoring shipping prices here are high

Badge on the front fenders is usually a good give away. Quite a few Sti's did come factory with fog lights so don't go off them. My type R is registered as a Subaru Impreza on carjam so wouldn't worry about that

Personally used the stock ones for 4-5 trackdays with semi slick tires, never had any issues. Main reason I got the whiteline mounts is because they look bling, justification factor was I didn't want anything to break mid corner on track. Note that LVVTA's regulations say you don't need cert for aftermarket sway bars or links but you technically do for sway bar mounts. You can get pulled up on it at a WOF and end up needing a full cert costing $500, ask me how I know...

225 on a 9.5" rim yeah that ain't ideal You'd get better road handling out of a 18x8 or 18x8.5 wheel if you're chasing ultimate cornering, 9.5 is unnecessarily wide, even better would be 17x8 as that'll fit over stock wrx brakes, reduce a heap of weight + lower the gearing. Obviously won't look as sicKo though.

Yeah 8/6k on mine, be interested to see what you think

Got the Street Ultimate Elites from RSS in my car, ride is very good considering the spring rates. Damping range is pretty incredible, can crank it up to very stiff, build quality is great, much better than older Japanese Tein/Cusco coilovers Imo (if this stuff is Chinese its the good Chinese stuff). Pretty much live up to the name I suppose? On full soft they're very very close to a stock STi for comfort imo (get a bit upset by massive bumps obviously, they are a coilover). On full stiff they're very firm, too much for the road. I didn't go for the Reds because of the cost and the fact that I'm not competitively tracking the car, quite happy to be more comfortable and slightly slower/richer. I also don't plan on using a slick or full race tire on the car. Didn't get the option of the Primes through RSS.

Yeah I find this hard to believe as well, sway bar thing I understand but look at any S201-204 impreza and generally one of the main differences is they have the whole STi catalogue of pillowball lateral links/trailing arms/sway bar links in the back.