First, sorry I am posting this here. But between the Tahoe forum, weak, and the several Subi forums I've looked at, I'm lost, and would like a little guidance from people who speak my language.

I am interested in purchasing a Subaru WRX STI and am wondering what year has the best value, considering iron block or aluminum, styling, least problems, and money. The new STI that Ken Block uses, is retarded looking. A friend of mine had an 02 about five years ago, that I really liked the styling, atleast more than the current line.

What year should I look into, and what are the best mods to try and get with the purchase. Ultimately, I think I'd be happy with a 7 second or maybe 6.5 second 60-130, so thats the goal I'm going for, but mainly just a cheap fast daily driver is what I'm after.

Many thanks, and again sorry for posting in the wrong section.

Ryan

 

Ryan,

Give Dan @ Vivid a call. If my memory serves me he started out in Evo's and Subi's.

 

edit

 

Mods,

Let's leave this in the 996TT section. The OP is looking for car advice from people in his home forum. Thx.

 

Ryan just likes to break the rules.j/k Ryan just get a busa & be done with it.

What is the fastest 60-130 a subby has ever done?

 

I'm not sure. I can't seem to find a Subaru forum I like.

Thanks Scott.

Ryan

 

+1 on Calling Dan. Those little suckers can really move if you build em right... I though that EVo X at cars and coffee last month was sick.. Good luck fuzzy man!

 

Good Luck.

 

Damn, I was just going to offer up mine ('08), which is for sale.

The new hatchback version ('08+) is polarizing, but it's arguably an improvement in some areas over the prior versions - I understand that it has a much higher chassis stiffness than the sedan models that preceded it.

 

Are you looking for a wrx or an sti?

02-05 wrx (sedan and wagon) came with the 2.0L ej205
06-07 wrx (sedan and wagon) came with the 2.5L ej255
08+wrx/sti (hatch and camry look-a-like sedan)
04-07 sti (sedan only) came with the 2.5L ej257

Having owned a couple and driven dozens (on the street, rallyx, autox, 1/4 mile, and road course), the differences between the wrx and the sti are more than the sum of the parts imho. I'd recommend the sti over the wrx, and the 2.5L wrx over the 2.0L wrx. If you need the space, I would suggest an 06-07 wrx over an 04-07 sti. You said you don't like the 08+ sti hatch, so I won't reccommend that or write about that body style.

The 02-05 wrx 5-speed trannys are hard to shift into 1st from 2nd or from a roll unless you rev match. The dual coned synchro revision in the 06 tranny helped this issue quite a bit from what I've noticed. The revised gearing also matces up to the torquier motor quite nicely imo.

All wrx (5-speed) trannys are thought to only hold about 300whp/300wtq safely. The only shattered gears I've seen are from stock transmission wrx's with fpgreens (49lb/min) and bigger. The sti 6-speed on the otherhand is considered "bullet-proof." The axles and stock clutch are much more likely to fail before the 6-speed.

My personal favorite wrx is the 06 wrx sedan. The motor is similar to the sti (same with the 07 wrx)and it's the only year and style wrx to receive the sti aluminum control arms. However, after $20k in mods in my 06 wrx(which buys a ton of parts compared to a 996tt as I'm finding out), my 07 sti still felt (and was) faster around a track out of the box.

The major differences between the sti's are as follows:

04 - 5x100 bolt pattern, raw factory ecu tuning, much more raw feeling than any other year (factory stereo was an option)
05 - switched to 5x114 bolt pattern. Considered to be the most "reliable"
06 - added rear diffuser, under-body panels, and rear roof vane (made the rear park bench spoiler more functional)
07 - revised gearing (makes a world of difference around town and at the track) and switch to torsen rear diff. Only year with a rear pass-through (actually makes the trunk functional).

All of the sti motors are poorly designed imho. Too large of a bore with too short of a stroke and high revs make for a bobbly-head piston effect. Cracked stock ringlands are a fairly common failure on the ej257 (seen it on a couple ej255's as well). The 07 sti seems to see more reported piston failures due to what most people believe is a bad stock tune. Having said that, I tuned my car straight from the dealership, had 2 world reknown tuners tune it, and it still popped at 8k. Luck of the draw I suppose. Fortunately for the used buyer, it's usually easy to diagnose a piston failure (slightly to completely down on power, look for oil smoking out of the oil filler neck, or run a compression test). Also, Aftermarket pistons are cheap (I got my forged CP pistons for $650 shpped, coated on the crowns and skirts). The install process is a bit daunting at first, but not unmanageable. Speaking of which, there really aren't any difficult installs on any impreza imho. The wiring changed from year to year, so swaps and such can be a pain if you merge harnesses.

Regarding what to look for in terms of mods - a solid tune if there are any exhaust or engine mods. Also, I think it would be easier to list mods to look out for. An electronic boost controller (or manual) are things I would avoid (unless run on an 02 wrx, tuned for by a reputable tuner and used by a knowledgeable owner, or run in tandem with a 3-port boost control solenoid and properly tuned for). Any intake mods without tuebo mods suggest an uninformed owner to me, as do blow off valves on stock turbos (it's essentially a noise maker as the stock unit typically holds around 19psi consistently. The stock sti turbo is rarely run above that since it runs weel out of it's efficiency range at that boost level).

Hope that helps! These are fun cars and have become extremely affordable over the years. I'm considering picking up another one (02 wrx) to build into a rallx car and future stage rally car. They're just so cheap to own and operate, fun to drive, and can take a beating!

 

See Ryan, you never need to leave the 6. Great post idget.

 

Marski has one of the fastest Evo for sale just in case
Good luck
Robert

 

Many many thanks, idget. Just what I was looking for. It seems the 06 STi is the one to go for. I guess the 07 gearing might give reason to look into that MY. A few of the threads I read at iwrx forums indicated to me that an 11 second 1/4 is a huge accomplishment. Is this the case, or is that mostly in regard to WRX's? Any idea what it would take to get an 06 up to about 500 AWHP? Is it possible to convert these cars to rear wheel drive?

Again, thanks for the help. I love this forum

Ryan
PS I'd look into Marski's but modding it is half the fun.

 

Porsches to Subaru's...I hope you know what your doing Ryan...

 

I can't get another "f#ck you" car for a little while. I need to run lean for the next couple years. :-)