I know it's not a good idea to ask other people how I should spend my money but I'm going to do it anyway. Right now I have an 02 Wrx that I use as a daily driver. I have had the car for three years now and the only mods on it are aftermarket springs and a cat back exhaust (love that boxer sound!). The problem I'm having is whether or not I should begin doing some more serious mods or just trade it in on an STi and be done with it. I have been considering trading it in on the STi for a while now but I'm not sure that the STi would be the greatest as a daily driver. The other problem I'm having is that I have already test driven an STi and it is AMAZING, I can't seem to stop thinking about it. Give me your opinions because I am driving myself crazy thinking about this.

 

There have been a couple of threads about this already. The collective voice says that as a daily driver, the STi is more difficult to live with because the seats are less forgiving. This depends on the length of your commute, of course. The common reccomendation is that if you want to go to something else, go with the Legacy GT, or just keep your existing vehicle.

 

If it wasn't going to cost me a ton of money, I'd get the STi, no doubt. In fact, if it wasn't going to cost me a ton of money, I'd already have an STi.

 

STi seats are horrid!

 

assuming that financial differences won't bother you(like higher insurance, more $$ on gas, and higher price)

if you are not "upside down" on your car... meaning owing more than what its worth... then you should be fine.

the STi for me is fine as a daily driver. its a very fun car to drive. but then again, i live 5 miles from my job. i can honestly say that i've compared the 2 since i drive my wifes wrx maybe once a week. i appreciate it but it doesn't "do it" for me anymore... probably the only drawback fo the STi, is the road noise, rattles more often, suspension feel, and seats... but then again i don't have stock seats anymore.



aloha from the summit of *-^-mauna Kea-^-*

 

IMHO it depends on what level of mods you're thinking about for your WRX. If you're looking at money pitting $10K into the car, and you honestly think getting a stock STi will fill your performance needs, then obviously, get the STi. If you feel like a few thousand in performance mods will make the WRX what you want it to be, then you may be better off that way. With a few thousand dollars of well chosen and researched suspension and performance mods, you can have a stock WRX within 95% of an STi, and it will be a better daily car.
If you're somewhere in between, consider your equity situation in your WRX, if you're upside down in it, it's probably not the greatest idea to sell it, since you'll end up with a lot of car payment on the STi between higher insurance, maintence (fuel, tires, etc), and a more expensive car

 

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to end up keeping my WRX until it is paid off. After that I might get an '07 STi to drive on the weekends !

 

.. bah 07 .. that grill's gotta go >< ..

 

okay, i guess im in the same situation. so i guess instead of making a new thread i'll post it here. i commute about 60 miles a day, 3 days a week. i have spend close to 4000 on my 04 rex, it's paid off. Im wondering if i should put all the stock parts back on and go trade it in for a sti .. for the longest time i was thinking of getting a jdm sti swap. ( gotta love that 8k redline) buh now im thinking of a vf34, with FMIC, then 6 spd swap, then after awhile swap to the JDM motor. and after recondisdering that, (and test driving the 05 sti again, and thx to a certain sti project thread in the ongoing project section). sti is on the top of my list. ... im just really looking into a good track car, that's gonna be very streetable. So what do you all think? Thumbs up or down for sti.

 

in your case, it kinda depends on how much you'd do the STi once you got it. It seems like your plans basically call for turning your WRX into an STi, and once you figure the cost of an engine and tranny swap alone, you're WAAY over the cost of trading in on an STi. Of course, you have to consider that you probably won't even be able to get half for the $4K in mods that you've done on your WRX.

It seems like you've got a lot of $$ though (seeing as your 04 car is paid off, and you've got 4K of mods on it). Have you considered leaving your WRX as is, and getting a track car. The idea of a great track car that's very streetable, is, in theory, wonderful, but let's face it, it ain't gonna happen. The closest I've seen have been heavily built supras and RX-7's, and while they were lauded by their owners as "great daily drivers", they're usually not daily driven, especially not in high mileage situations. Especially if you're talking drag racing, the WRX isn't even a great car for that. For what it would cost you to make a WRX an 11 second car, you can get several other cars into the high 9's.