Im thinking about not getting the WRX swap anymore. It costs about $7000+. Instead i might just use that $7000 to upgrade my car and get a turbo. Im not sure if they sell the VF34 as turbo kit for my 2.5RS. When buying the VF34 it just comes as a turbocharger right? If it does come as a turbocharger what would i need to make it a full complete turbo kit for my 00 2.5RS? With the right tuning i know i could get it to at least 230hp.

who said it had to cost 7000+ you can get it done cheaper.

what he said ^

it should not cost that much for the swap. shop around....you should be able to find a cheaper swap.....

josh

Damn $7000 sounds seriously too high. Is that for a new model STI drivetrain and the install?

Where else can i get WRX Conversion for a cheap price?

OR maybe i can wait for a 04 STi swap.

You can wait if you want but its probably gonne end up costing more.

Originally posted by STiSuBiEwRx
Where else can i get WRX Conversion for a cheap price?

www.spomotorsports.com check SPO for 2.5 turbo kit
www.i-speedusa.com wrx conversions

-pj

How much do you think the STi engine is going to cost? To me i think its probably going to be around $8,000-$15,000.

you can debate between 2.5turbo or swap, ect... for all of your life. Pick which one you like and do it, dont look back. The only way you can fid your mistake in your choices is by making a choice.
good luck in what you decide to do.
most of all have fun doing it.

When putting in a 04 STi engine are you suppose to convert your 2.5RS 5spd. to a 6spd.? Or can you just leave it as a 5spd.?

Im pretty sure you can leave it as 5 speed but why not just put in the 6 speed? its so much better from what everyone says.

If there is a possibility in making a 04 STi engine work properly into my 00 2.5RS and also the 04 STi tranny i would look forward in getting it. But my question is what are the advantages in having a 6spd on my RS? I know that you can leave the 5spd but does the 6spd do any better in improving performance in my RS? Disadvantages? Thanks!

You should ask BADWRX. He has the sixer on his car.

I posted up some pics of the side by side comparison Options Mag did of the old 5spd and the new 6spd. Totally different setup and from the results people have had so far its a vast improvement over the old design.

7000.. yeah thats about right if your goign to have some one do it

but that is what a well managed (aftermarket ecu) turbo kit is going to cost

I must have just been spoiled by the cheap prices of donor cars in Japan. Luckily I bought Shivs old SCC kit and a Link2. Total cost $3500. If I was still in Japan it would have been $2K for a wrecked STI for a swap.

It is so hard to let go of 7.5k

Truth be told, we at I-Speed USA own two swaps (a rs and OBS) and a turbo RS.

When you really want to choose one of these projects think about this...
#1. Do you want a hassle free car to drive a lot? (wrx conversion)
#2. Do you want to learn A LOT about your car (turbo kit)

Believe it or not a WELL MANAGED turboed RS will end up costing about the SAME as a swap.

Well said...

I would also like to add, do you guys know what it takes to get the WRX engine running once in the GC body?

I mean think about it how much wiring that has to be gone through. I dunno about you people but I have see up how much wiring the I-Speed guys deal with. I would have to say that the amount of time and labor it takes to do all the wiring, putting in the new engine, and returning the car back to you in a factory appearence is worth the 7.5k.

Yes I do have a conversion and it is the white JDM car on the I-Speed website.

A well managed turbo setup will cost about the same because I remember Cobb quoting me a price of about that when I was originally going to turbo an RS.

Originally posted by ImprezaRSDriver


Yes I do have a conversion and it is the white JDM car on the I-Speed website.




show off!!! lol ;) j/k

Here are some price comparisons we have created:

WRX Conversion:
http://www.i-speedusa.com/motor/wrx_conv.pdf

RS-T Proven Setup:
http://www.i-speedusa.com/motor/rs-t_conv.pdf

a well manged rs-t should cost well more than a swap.
anybody disagree?

I agree and disagree.

If you do the RS-T setup the correct way the first time, then the well managed RS-T will be equal to that of a modified WRX swap.

On the other hand if it is done half ass and over time then the RS-T will cost far more then a WRX swap, no doubt.

The key is to do everything right the first time and not many people do that, I will admit I didn't either the first time and spent far more in the end. Though I have done the RS-T (well managed) setup on many cars since and it has cost in the end about the same as a WRX swap.

You can see the breakdown of parts and pricing between the two options and notice the prices are pretty similiar.

The key is what do you want to get out of your car.

I got my turbo kit cheap so I can't say much about the $4K for a kit and install. The Link2 or other standalone ECU is pretty much mandatory. Now if only there was a good group buy on the Link2.

after working in a shop for a year, for us to do a swap it would cost around 4000. A fully built RS-t would cost about 6000. I think that the people that are able to do swaps charge way to much do to the fact that a swap is more common. Weather it be a pre 02 motor or not.

with a swap not much is needed but wanted in aftermarket parts.
In a RS-T many high price aftermarket parts are needed. Since columbus doesnt have e-checks it makes things easier.

WRC STYL,

A lot depends on how much you can get the engine for and that is also dependant on where you live in the country. California is not exactly a cheap place to live and in order to survive prices need to be higher.

If we (I-Speed USA) could get engines cheaper then what we do, with a warranty on the engine for any problems, then our prices would drop quite a bit.

Though I am glad to hear other parts of the country are getting engines cheaper, hopefully we will be able to get them cheaper also, as our suppliers will have to compete.

I know I have seen JDM swaps completed for about 3.5k. But a usdm swap for 4k ?! Now that's cheap.
I wonder what the labor rate and parts cost there?

yeah everybody has to make a living somehow. Just wish this damn hobby wasnt so expensive.
usdm motor swap runs a little more than 4k.
I have no doubts that i-speed charges what they do for reasons, glad to see you guys building awesome subbies.

If I had to do it all over agian, I would go with a swap. But now that I am beyond return, I am nearly happy with what I have. I will have to say, to do it the right way costs way more than 7k. Do the math.

Turbo (in prefab kit form)...............................$3000-4500
PEMS (link, Tech, Wof...)................................$1200-2800
Built up block (the right way to do it).............$3500-5000
Built up heads for better top end flow/HP......$3000-4000
Hella strong clutch..........................................$6 00-1500
Labor for install if you don't DYI.....................$1500-2500
New gear box to handle gobs of torque........$2000-3500
Dyno tuning is optional but usually needed...$200-400

So, to do it the right way means to do it all the way. Of course, I mean to have a really reliable streetable and track worthy car. I am well over 10k and I still need the head work and new gear box to go where I want to with horse power and torque. I can never fully experience my built up block to it's full potential with stock heads and tranny. I feel once you get the boost bug you always want to get more. It's the norm for any car buff.

Yeah, boost can be addicting:)

Originally posted by christoph1371
Yeah, boost can be addicting:)

Tell me about it. :D

I was wondering if i-speed can get hands on STi engines from japan for a swap. or any other place. Rallispec does it but $$$$$ ! I would still spend a bit more $$$$ if i were to spend that much on swap and get JDM parts.

How much would u guys charge on labor if i were to grab a STi front clip.

I guess finding reliable source would be *****y......

JDMs do have less wires to solder into your stock setup = less time/labor
however, the harnesses typically come all hacked up and with missings parts = more time/labor
The truth is that you never know how long the job will take until you see all the parts you have or don't have.
Now, if there were a kit constructed...hmmmmm;)
chris
ps. yes we can get jdm engines. no we don't like to. It's very hard to determine the condition of unseen motors. This fact alone bothers me an should worry unsuspecting buyers.

Alot of work for the engine swaps. You have to change the engine crossmember also to clear the up-pipe. Is there something wrong with the engine in the car now? I don't understand why someone wouldn't just get a bolt on kit and do it in a day instead of going through a custom engine swap. When it is all said and done you will probably spend more $$ on the swap.
Remember to get a new ecu to go along with that new motor.



Turbo (in prefab kit form)...............................$3000-4500
PEMS (link, Tech, Wof...)................................$1200-2800
Built up block (the right way to do it).............$3500-5000
Built up heads for better top end flow/HP......$3000-4000
Hella strong clutch..........................................$6 00-1500
Labor for install if you don't DYI.....................$1500-2500
New gear box to handle gobs of torque........$2000-3500
Dyno tuning is optional but usually needed...$200-400

AVO turbo kit comes with PEMS and is dyno tuned, no need for internals or gear box(unless you want more power than kit provides) The clutch is required. AVO cost $4180.

Sean

[http://www.rallitek.com]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news sean. A well built/tuned turbo kit will cost the same if not MORE than swap.
Here are som price breakdowns
http://www.i-speedusa.com/motor/rs-t_conv.pdf
http://www.i-speedusa.com/motor/wrx_conv.pdf
chris

I have to agree that the prices are the same because when I was supposed to get my RS, I had originally asked Cobb to put together a turbo kit for me and he said that it would have cost me around 5K. And that did not include installation or engine mangement. So with adding engine managment it would run like 6k. And then I would assume that there would be more things along the way like injectors and other stuff. So when you think about it. They both cost about the same.

Also, think of it this way. Do you think it is cheaper to do a complete comversion of a normal WRX to an STI and it is to buy and STI brand new?

Do you guys at i-Speed buy the cores from customers getting a swap? If so, that's a healthy chunk of change back to the swap customers.

Also, this debate seems to be a little bit apples-to-oranges. Most (but not all) swap buyers have the installation done professionally. Most (but not all) turbo kit buyers do their own work, albeit the smarter ones buy dyno/tuning time when they are done. This accounts for most of the difference between the $4300 cost of a stage III kit and the $7500 being tossed around as an accepted estimate for a swap in this thread. It seems there is a general consensus that getting to power level X requires Z money, regardless of how. The 'how' is more of your personal statement than an advantage or disadvantage.

Well we have done both the Turbo Kits and the WRX engine swaps. We try to help people out by telling them what we think is the best solution becasue we have been working on Subarus for years now.

I-Speed USA is NOT our full time job, why? Because we barely make any money and do it for the fun of it. So what we try to do is get across that we are actually are helping people not trying to divert them into a direction appealing to us. We could care less what you do with your money, but in the end we want the customer to be happy. If you would prefer to go through someone else than that is fine with us.

So BAN SUVS, we want to get the customer to horsepower Z, and we will help you out with whatever way you want. Though we try to get to know you a little first to figure out what it is you really want.

Outstanding philosophy. One size most definitely does not fit all in the rarified world of the Subaru after-market. Can't wait til I have a reason to pay you a business visit. ;)

Originally posted by skywalker
So BAN SUVS, we want to get the customer to horsepower Z, and we will help you out with whatever way you want. Though we try to get to know you a little first to figure out what it is you really want.

Bump for i-Speed. That's why they deserve your business.

a well built rs-t will cost a little more but will always make more power than a ej20 its called displacment :D

Originally posted by ds baruuuuu
a well built rs-t will cost a little more but will always make more power than a ej20 its called displacment :D

Welllllll.... not exactly. A 14.5 psi EJ20 has a few advantages over a 7 psi RS-T... namely durability. You boost your RS, you're gonna break something sometime, and it's gonna suck. Still, that's not gonna stop me from doing it. :D