i have a 2002 wrx but i was thinking about swaping a 04 sti engine in it to make a bit of a sleeper or i was just thinking about buying a new sti and working with that......your opinions please.

If you are going to keep your WRX, I say get an STi shortblock. No one would know....sneeky, sneeky. ;)

-scu

I guess it would depend on a few things like:
-which body style you like better
-Can your tranny hold up to the increased power
-How much money you have
-You will need to upgrade your brakes
-You will save on insurance costs tho...
-Uniquenessof the STi engine in a WRX

A new STi EJ25T (or whatever it is) will run around $6,000 if your lucky. The problem is like WRXPRESS said can your tranny take it. We all know how weak the WRX's tranny is, and that's with 227hp. Now drop the STi engine into that mix and one bad launch and bye bye gear teeth. Personaly I would not hesitate to take the STi, you get a lot more for the price. Stronger and better... well everything. If you're going for stealth, trade your trunk, side skirts, and fog covers with another WRX, there an exact match.

I think you better off selling your wrx and get the new STi than any engine swaps. ;)

Why you may ask? because your wrx is already 2 years old.. even if you swap in a newer engine or powerful engine, the value of your current car stays the same.. it just doesn't add up that way. Where as if you just sell your car as is right now, you probably will be able have payment for the new STi, and some cash left over to work with. plus the car is NEW! the depreciation value doesn't decline as fast.

take this from a guy who had a RS/WRX conversion..I had almost very thing done except the engine internals.. sold it for pretty decent value but I still took a huge loss.

Now I drive an EVO! ;) ahh.. the new car smell makes me feel great!

Oh yeah...New Car Smell....

Decision made....

What I was going to do (still might), was to pick up a new STi, swap the front bumper, fenders, headligts, grill, hood, rear taillights, rear bumper cover over from a WRX, then install a large hood scoop, and paint the Java Black Pearl STi back to Midnight Black Pearl, IMHO a superior colour.

I would keep the WRX and get an STi shortblock and mod the sh!t outta the rex. The shorblock is 1500$, a new tranny is what? 4000$ or you could just get stronger gears for 1 and 2(right?). Then a turbo, intercooler and tuning-4000$
Total: 9500$+ for a shortblock, tranny, and upgraded turbo/intercooler/tuning = Owned STi
oh and you can always give the 20,000$ you save to me :)(im not kidding, you bastard, i want your money)

still not sure what im gunna do but thanks for the opinions :)

I have an friend who has an STi shortblock in his car and he is using the stock tranny without any problems. He teels me that he runs the car in 4th gear most of the time and it runs fine. He has not broken the tranny and he is doing about 250whp. In addition to the STi shortblock, he has a VF30, full turboback and I believe STi injectors, but not sure.

I have a swap also and I know that right now I enjoy it more than the STi. Take it from a guy who has both. I have no internals done on my swap and neither do a few of the other conversions running around in the Bay Area and one is doing almost 300whp in a conversion.

Check with Chris at I-Speed. www.i-speedusa.com

In the end it is all up to you.

Why don't you just buy an sti take off the rear wing, badging, ect.?

Engine swaps are a waste of time, especially in a 2 year old car when you can just sell it and buy the total package. You and nobody else will care if you have a STI motor in a WRX when the real thing is motoring around the streets.

Just buy an STi. You get more than just the engine. There's the 6-speed, DCCD, STi intercooler w/water spray, STi interior/gauges, Brembo brakes, better wheels/tires, etc. Plus the STi is pretty rare itself. If you really want a sleeper, just debadge it and sell the huge scoop, STi body panels, STi interior to someone with a '04 WRX and keep theirs. Then you actually end up with some extra cash.

but if he gets an STi bottom end and a turbo and stuff i mentioned before he can have a car thats better than the STi for less $ than actually buying one now

It would not be better. He would have to spend about $4-5000 in engine upgrades to match the STi power, and he still wouldn't have the gearbox, the brakes, the wheels, the suspension, the chassis bracing... it's just not worth it to build a sleeper WRX with an STi short block when the perforance is right there for the taking with a new STi. All you have to do to stay a 'sleeper' is swap trunklids with another 04 (easy to do) and change the wheels. You can then just say that you got the brakes for a good deal, I wouldn't sell those. :p

Well i see what you're saying. If he buys the STi hes out 32000$ - trade in ....15-18000$? is that correct? or would you not tradeit in or sell it evohunter? say he does and gets 16k for it...hes out 16000 and has a 300hp/torque STi...(YAY!) ...he can do that...or....spend 2-3k on a (vishnu) stage 1 which would give him 300 hp, right? then brakes, wheels, suspension, tranny = 9000$
total = 11-12k, if you decide to upgrade everythign w/ the best parts...i dont know...for me its not a black and white situation...i guess i jsut see things differently...

I think I'll just engine swap an EJ257 into my 2001, and drive it till one of us is dead.
:D :D :D

i think that too much people price the STi too high. much of it is just a bling bling factor. but if concentrate on the things that really matter, then i think you could make a WRX just as good as an STi. i remember seen a STi V7 engine/tranny used combo for like 8 grand or so. actually, there was a guy selling his WRX for like 25 grand and this included: PE1820, 6-speed, 17 inch volk rims (CE-28's), brembo 4-pot fronts, JDM lights, STi interior, tein suspension and some other small stuff. now, take that 25 grand car, put about 7 grand more for the shortblock, and there you have it, a pure STi killer and for the same price as an STi.

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18718

Hmm..I agree with..Forgot who but yea..I would just trade in and get an Sti..Doing an engine swap could result in havin a faster car then the sti, but it could also result to some type of failures(which you will have to spend extra on) also if you dont have another car layin around, the money you spend on rental and just the time overall that you spend on it..When you can just buy an sti9which wouldn't be that much cuz you could trade in) and Mod ur sti from there..It would obviously be way faster then ur hardwork and long ass hours u spend on engine mods just to maybe keep up with the sti or be just alittle bit faster..I would be pissed if i did the engine mod and all and lost to a sti..ok im done lol

I say get the STI........Bottom line is you really get so much more for your money......Brembos, 17" rims, strong 6 spd, Stronger Diff, Better Suspension, Bigger Turbo, Really if you think about it when you really start putting money into parts for your rex.....You need to look at what parts your getting.......If all your doing is JUST ADDING sti parts to your car......Just buy the real deal.....If you would just replace EVERYTHING on the sti anyway......Then.....I guess it doesn't matter........And remember that with the sti MAJOR HP is easier to come by......IE you would already have bigger turbo, injectors, ETC.............Anyway I have an 02 rex.......and after seeing what subaru did.....I kinda wish that I would've waited for the sti.....But hind sight is 20/20......And as for me I'm saving my pennies now!!!!:D

Of course sometimes I think I'd darn near do anything not to deal with a car salesman again!!!:monkey:

Just do what you want :D

Well at least if you get an STi, you can tell people you have an STi when they ask, instead of saying that you have a wrx with an STi engine in it and having to explain to them why you didn't just get an STi in the first place :D

Number 1 reason to do the swap is the STI doesn't come in a wagon anymore!:(

Thats if you own a wagon!:p

Mitch

This is my take...


If you wanna finance 25k and then have about 10k plus sitting in the bank to dump into the car more power to you.

Bottom line- Most people finance the car, and dont have 10k + just sitting in the bank account to dump on your brand new car out of the showroom. If you did then there are plenty of other options...


Buy the STI- Put down 10k + Make very low payments and use the extra cash to get mods. In the end your way ahead of the game.

Or you can...

Buy the WRX for 25k financed. Put 10k + into mods out of the showroom and you now own a WRX that will do STI performance.


So.... In the end its the same payment and the same car. But if you buy the STI you will have a car pushing 400hp and the WRX will be pushing about 320hp.

STI with 10k down- Same payment as WRX with mods already installed.

WRX- Same payment as above option. Put 10k in mods in and you have an STI

The choice is pretty simple if you have that kinda money to throw around.

Just buy the new STI or go with aftermarket part for performance increase. Whatever you do, don't do the swap. Sure it cool, but my god is it a pain in the ass. Just the time needed alone out weights the price difference. Take it from a person who hase been there, don't do the engine swap.

Insurance won't cover all your mods if you do a swap, unless you shell out more $$$ to them anyways.

Doesn't make sense to me, which is why I will trade my WRX in for an STi in a year (hopefully less!)

I think there is a big misconception that faster than the STi=Better. I appreciate the higher power and almost unnoticable lag to be sure, but what i really love about it is that i am able to go harder in the STi than i did in the WRX. You can ofcourse deal with the handling issues by modding, but again, the bottom line is if you're willing to go through all the trouble of doing so when there's a nicely factory tuned car thats available.

I would have modded the wrx myself, but the STi came at the right time and i've never been happier.

Just curious...How many of you have driven a STi and or a conversion car (RS to usdm ej20)? I am sure that there are a very few people that have done so.

It's no secret that we do conversions. But it's also no secret that I can buy an STi. I just will not do it. It is not because I don't have the finances but because I can build a way better car for less.

For those that say Insurance will not cover your conversion...well, they are full of poo-poo. I had my OBS /wrx conversion insured for $20k. FYI, I only put 14k into it (including the price of the car). It ended up at 245whp with an ECUtek and Ion turbo, 3”exhaust and samco ic hoses.

Lastly, I know not everyone can do what we do and we are quite fortunate. However, I get tired of people saying which is better a STi or a Conversion. Everyone is entitled to their preference, right? But at least give BOTH a drive before you critic. I am sure that you will be surprised :)

So you wanna drive one? We will be in SEMA Nov 3-8th.

Chris
I-Speed USA
cescamilla@i-speedusa.com

Originally posted by I-Speed USA
Just curious...How many of you have driven a STi and or a conversion car (RS to usdm ej20)? I am sure that there are a very few people that have done so.

It's no secret that we do conversions. But it's also no secret that I can buy an STi. I just will not do it. It is not because I don't have the finances but because I can build a way better car for less.

For those that say Insurance will not cover your conversion...well, they are full of poo-poo. I had my OBS /wrx conversion insured for $20k. FYI, I only put 14k into it (including the price of the car). It ended up at 245whp with an ECUtek and Ion turbo, 3”exhaust and samco ic hoses.

Lastly, I know not everyone can do what we do and we are quite fortunate. However, I get tired of people saying which is better a STi or a Conversion. Everyone is entitled to their preference, right? But at least give BOTH a drive before you critic. I am sure that you will be surprised :)

So you wanna drive one? We will be in SEMA Nov 3-8th.

Chris
I-Speed USA
cescamilla@i-speedusa.com

i agree.