Alright, so just like the title I'm trying to decide if I should keep my 2004 WRX or sell it and get an STi. Theres a bit of history though. I bought my WRX about a year ago, before I really knew anything about these cars, and paid $17,500 for it (I obviously got jipped) and to make it worse i find out the engine was shot. After a lot of pain in the ***, thousands of dollars later (3-5 thousand) and some good work by Equilibrium Tuning, I find out it was a bad 2.5 liter block swap with 2.0 heads. So basically now I have a "hybrid" sti engine thats finally running good. It also has a full invidia turbo-back exhaust, boost controller, walbro fuel pump and a custom tune running 220 to the wheelson the stock td04. the sti has so much more to offer, but at this point after everything is it worth the swap or should i just keep upgrading the rex

thanks in advance for the help

 

Nothing wrong with a hybrid build... And new to cars or not you can still see what 2004's are selling for. Also check the kbb value. If your happy with the car and it runs well then keep it.

 

yea i know man i messed up I was just desperate at the time, had stuff going on in life. I see what you mean I know It has potential I just kinda want that 6 speed tranny and I love STi interior. just not sure if those reasons alone are worth the trade after everything Ive already done to this

 

I'd say just keep it, at least for the time being.

Did you get the heads matched to the block?

 

I would go stage 3 first and see if you still want to swap. Throw a vf39 and injectors on. Should be a pretty solid jump in performance.

 

yea the heads n block are matched the engine is running strong now. My thing is by early next year I'll come on some good money and basically my decision is either put the money into modding the wrx or use it to go toward the sti after selling the wrx, decisions, decisions.

 

Would you be getting a new year sti? or a older used one?

 

it would be an 04-07 sti

 

also after doing a little research i found it would be somewhere in the 3-4 thousand dollar range to swap a 6 speed in the wrx. that would leave little to no room for a trubo upgrade or any other upgrade really for that matter, where as if i got the sti it would be on a car loan, which would leave me money to upgrade

 

keep it and drop in a bigger turbo like a 18g or the vf34 turbo and the supporting mods (inject, tmic, and another tune) you'll be happy with it.

 

3-4k for a 6 speed with dccd installed is pretty cheap. but i would'nt worry about tranny swaps at this moment. Just treat your tranny good and it will treat you good. you wouldn't really need a tranny upgrade until after 280 awhp.

 

Heres the thing.

Think about it like this
-What if the replacement STi has issues like you did
-You now know your car's motor is good as the build gets
-You will not get the worth of your motor back

 

damn you guys make some good points. i appreciate it, when i look at it like that i think ill keep mine and worry about upgrades n save for the 6 speed later. thanks all, big help

 

I'd say get an sti 04-07, they make the same power as you are now stock, but you get the 6 speed (not so much needing the power handling but the superior and more fun shifting). Also you get big brakes and more torque. With tbe/tune you can easily make 50 more whp than you are making now. As far as the condition i'd just get a leakdown/compression and have the car checked out before I wrote a check.

 

im the only one saying go with the sti. i feel like if you really want an sti a turbo upgrade or tranny swap isnt gonna satisfy you. and by the time you spend all that money trying to make your car an sti you could have already been in one the whole time. theres also a lot of little things the sti has that are nice. i say stop modding the wrx. save up money and search patiently for a mint sti that fits your requirement and do your research and get everything checked out. i feel like youll be a lot happier that way.