Hey guys, new guy here, was wondering what would be a better deal for me a used wrx stock, or a used RS and install a turbo in it? Which one would have the best performance, lets say i'd spend about 3 grand on a turbo.
THANKS!

 

buy the WRX.
1) Warranty
2) resale
3) it would still outperform an RS with any turbo you can put on for 3K. To really DO a turbo install, that's worthwhile (IMO), and will get you significantly more than 227HP, you're talking at LEAST 5K in mods, not counting labor.
4) you don't have to install a turbo, and deal with any associated problems
5) this doesn't even consider all the other upgrades on the WRX vs the RS

 

Buy the WRX. I'm upgrading the turbo on my WRX and doing the supporting mods..it's costing me over $3k with used parts (+install). Taking a N/A car to turbo is much more difficult than upgrading an existing turbo..

 

the wrx motor swap isn't a bad idea if you're looking for something to do on a budget, and can do all the work yourself, and plan on modding anyway (no warranty either way). But, like SonicSuby points out, there's a lot more to messing with turbos than is immediately apparent. It's also worth considering that very few people WON't be scared of a car that someone installed a turbo kit on by themselves, whereas light mods (exhaust, ECU, suspension) don't really scare most people (at least on these forums). You'll have a much easier time selling a lightly modded car and getting a reasonable amount of money for it, than selling a heavily modded one. I wouldn't want to say for 100% certain, but it would be my guess that if there were 2 cars for sale in the for sale section here, same year, same miles, and one was bone stock, and the other had a 5K turbo kit, and 2K of other mods on it, the turbo one would sell for MAYBE 2K more, Maximum. When you look at listings in the for sale sections, you have to look at who has actually SOLD their cars. I've seen tons of modded WRX's listed for 28K in the for sale section, but I'm not aware of any that have actually sold for this price. I could be wrong though.....

 

well thanks for all the replies, but i'll probably will get a new RS, (later this year) instead, (wish i had enough money for wrx though, and i'm not really sure if i'd want to get a used wrx, especially with the types of things some people do with them). And maybe i'd get a turbo installed later, depends on my needs. How about this plan?

 

G_Impreza: what's the point of getting a 12K Impreza, and doing a 5K motor swap, when you can get a NICE used WRX for 17K private party easily (they're all over here and NASIOC). Sure, it might be a LITTLE faster, but that doesn't even consider all the work and time of doing a motor swap, plus the fact that your chassis will be close to 10 years old, so you're going to end up with all sorts of little pain in the A$$ issues....

A new RS is an OK option because incentives make them very affordable, but he's right about the fact that you're likely to buy it, and a week later wish you hadn't because it's not fast enough. If you mod it right away, you're wasting the warranty, because Subaru WON'T honor if there's any significant mods, and if you try to trade out of it after 1 or 2 years, you'll lose your shirt.

I still think you're better off waiting out a nice used 03 or 04 WRX for the same 16K-17K you'd spend on the RS

 

well, okay, but you guys are going to have to help me find a good deal on a wrx in 7-8 months, once i have enough money.
BTW i'm in Minnesota

 

Hmm, autotrader is a good place to look, newspapers, call up dealerships.

And I actually wore a Boba Fett t-shirt today. Hah.