hello every one.
im in the market to pick up a beautiful 02 wrx, by the end of the week

i was just wondering what areas the wrx lacks in, or what componats would need the most attention and modifacation?

my last car a 03 si had a weak transmission and i had to raplace the hole thing at 38,ooo miles. which was a waste of money and my time.
i am just looking for some heads up on my new ride

thanks guys-

The "Bugeye" WRX transaxle is weak as well.

Yeah, transmission is the biggest weak point, but generally only with a decent amount of power. The stock turbo does not push to much power. The uppipe has a cat in it unlike later models which can be swapped out pretty cheaply and easily. Mid 200whp is pretty easy, but above that, a number of items need to be swapped out.

In general, they are pretty strong cars with few big problem areas

cool thanks guys.

so what upgrades would you recomend if i needed to replace them?
sti tranny, or custom gear set, custome up-pipe :confused:

Gearset or tranny both work fine. Just depends on if you like 6 or 5spd. Just use an STI uppide. Its not a big upgrade, but it helps. Sti turbo is a nice simple upgrade too

cool thanks guys.

so what upgrades would you recomend if i needed to replace them?
sti tranny, or custom gear set, custome up-pipe :confused:

On a car with little or no mods, the 04-05 WRX transaxle is an economical upgrade over the Bugeye version. The gears in the later transaxle are about 2mm wider than the original design.

If you intend to go up the power chain, a set of JDM Type-RA gears work well, as do straight-cut (and NOISEY) PPG gears.

However, I understand that you can get PPG's with only 1st and 2nd straight-cut, with the remaining gears being the much quieter helical-cut design. Hope this helps.

thanks guy you really hepled me out

I highly recommend the STi RA gearset and get it cryo treated (thats what makes it stronger) as an STi 6-speed swap is a lot more expensive