Ok, so say I wanted to buy an STI that was a few years old and start a project car...

What year should I look for?
Does it need to be an STI? If not, then what year WRX?
What are major wear issues with older STIs?
How many miles are reasonable for a given year?
Any way to tell if its been beaten on too much?

Not saying I'm ready to do this, but just curious...

 

Well want do you mean by "project"? Do you mean that you'll rip the motor out an build it? Or a car that you'll mod more and more as times goes on but not as a dd?

If you like the bug-I. Get a nice cheap one 5-8 grand and build it!

Or get and sti(04-05) and do some nice mods without breaking any banks.

 

I want a decent starter project. I've never done anything automotive before. Wouldn't be my dd.

 

04-05 sti would be perfect.

Great tranny
Great motor
Great platform to start from

my .02

 

I gotta plug the bugeyes here, too nice not too.

Bugeye wrx with sti swap =sexy

However, if you really want that 6 speed sti tranny and dccd, go with a full sti, you'll have to swap axles and, if i'm not mistaken, knuckles as well. As for the motor it bolts up (go figure) and i don't think the ecu is a huge issue, but i'm not too in tune with the electronic stuff. Ill also plug gf's here, because the one i'm posting a pic of is full sti swap, a color i like, and the rims i want, hehe.

Image copywrite of its respective owner etc. Not trying to cause problems here, lol.

 

^ I doubt the owner of that GF will be offended.

I'd say go for a GC coupe because they're lighter than the GD models. You can find a 2.5RS or a cheap Impreza L for like 4 to 6k. Then buy a wrecked STI and swap the engine, transmission, and center console into the soon-to-be-2.5RSTi. Look at GST's "L" That thing is just amazing.



I'll just leave this https://www.i-club.com/forums/show-shine-212/gst-impreza-l-2010-a-214161/

 

The blob eye stis are good to start with, the trannys are solid. Bug eyes are cheap and they are dime a dozen for sale. Just swap a sti engine/tranny and it'll be real nice! Im also saying bug eye cause I love mine lol. It also depends on how much you want to spend as well. Buying the blob eye sti will be the best bet w/out having to swap anything and just have a good car/platform to start with.

 

i love my bugeye! Matt, if you don't want to do a swap, just buy an older sti and rebuild the motor and start bolting on for performance/suspension/safety

 

Ryan, that's what I was thinking. Don't really have the skills, tools or time for a swap like that.

 

a sti is the best for you if those are your cases to building up a car. It also depends on what you wanna do with the car. Depends on if you seek dirt and go rally then theres some things you gotta think of, but if its staying on the tarmac then you got way more choices for upgrades!

 

If you don't use the sti six-speed, it all bolts up to the wrx 5 speed fine and does not require swaping anything, even the same motor mounts. You have to change the axles, hubs etc only if you get the sti six speed, cause the sti has a different ratio in the rear, but the motor bolts up to a 5 speed wrx quite well, and to the best of my knowledge, no major ecu problems, both low compression motors, both turbo, both dohc, a basic tune will set you up well

There are of course a few basic vacuum line splices etc you might have to do, but thats usually on hybrid motors, not on complete sets.

If you want to do some research, just look at rs25.com, you will find a boat load of info on gc/gf and gd work, lots of good info including jdm sti swaps, hehe. Be warned though, search is your friend on that site, they are not too fond of people who ask about things without searching, most of the questions you can have are well covered already.

Im am by no means an expert, but i gotta push for more bugeyes, never see enough, hehe.

 

^^ This!!