i had a frickin epiphany this morning

[ooberdoob]

so yesterday i went to a small meet, in which i got to ride in a WRX with a few toys on it, EM, up/down pipes, P&P'ed turbo, and some EVIL sounding exhaust...... man it was a beast. i wanna ride in Templar's WRX race car
:twisted:

before the ride in the WRX i drove the hell outta my car impressing the people in front and behind me, one being and older legacy turbo and the other being an RS. when i was leaving the inn we ate at, it felt great to get in my car. unlike going from a friends fast car or a WRX in a certin past case, to my ZR2 which felt like such a hoss (which it was, and was great at it, it was a truck) getting in my car was just fine to me, still felt good, still drove well.

it was a fun day, it really was and i felt great about my car when i got home, i looked at it and grinned.

a few minutes ago i was on subaru.com and i was building my ideal WRX.

it would have been quite the car indeed, but i would have been about oh... $20,000 in debt to get it.

and i realized, that absolutely honestly...

i would rather swap a WRX engine tranny and driveline into the car than get an actual WRX.

[[[edited out but left to make sense of posts below "i would rather swap a USDM STi short-block and the rest WRX (tranny & driveline)"]]]

so much less expensive and so much more satisfying.

this is the first time i'd realistically rather alter what i have than get something else.

i just wanted to share.

[gator gt]

Get in line my man. It ain't cheap, and you don't have the warranty the new cars do....but you're also not like everyone else when you have a swap in a Legacy. Buy a WRX and get a JDM swap in it....bah..everyone's got them, and its relatively easy.

Get a non-turbo car and make it a turbo monster, and thats perseverance.

I'm down to looking for the motor, ECU(s), wiring and little odds and ends.

Then I just need to decide what shop its going to.

GGT

[SubaruGenki]

I feel the same, but i am just going to wait a few years and get a used 05 legacy. All the turbo with out the hastle. Until then it is 4EAT EJ22 BG for me.

[Pwise2326]

Very true, although up to 10 grand (plus or minus any amount depending on what you get and where you get it) is less than the cost of a WRX. Be careful with the STI engines, remember they are drive-by-wire...if you want to go nuts to wire up your car with that, have at it, otherwise you could switch for a regular TB with cable actuation, just be sure to get a standalone ECU to account for that...it may cause issues with a stock STI ECU, if you were to wire that in. Suprisingly you can swap over another engine and make it so your car stays reliable, it won't be like out of the factory, but darn close -- if you do your research, get the right parts and the job done right. If you cut corners you may find yourself shelling out more money than anticipated to keep the thing running -- remember, your car is going to be "dubbed" a hot rod now, and all hot rods need a little more TLC than another press from the mold. Glad you came to that realization before you hopped ship and added more weight to the Impreza side of the scale. Now if only we could make more legacy owners believers in your ideas!

[ooberdoob]

well i have the theoretical cure to the reliability issue, which is why i'm so much more willing to go this route.

use things that are made to be together. start there. make it flawless. it will be easiest that way.

i.e.

good point about the STi block, not worth it. just get a new or slightly used WRX engine and tranny, and driveline. preferably new. ($! i know)

if they worked so well in a WRX together, and so reliably, why should the shell change that?

when you start picking pcs from here and there, thats when trouble happens... and it happens QUICK.

like xcntrk75, he put in a fresh new WRX engine and tranny. you get the reliability because its all made to be exactly as is when installed.


Now if only we could make more legacy owners believers in your ideas!
the Subaru engineers get paid to make great products, we buy them new. now if we just use thier packages(mated units, i.e. engine + the tranny that belongs there) to our advantage, we can still enjoy all the reliability subaru is known for.

does anyone else see my line of thought here?

[Pwise2326]

I lost you at "well"....


but really it makes sense, good to see you have it. However, you could make an EJ22t monster and have it be reliable, its all about the parts and the installation, regardless of whether they were made to be together or not, if its done right and thought out you're all set. For example: bolting a crazy tuned high whp STI engine to a stock n/a legacy tranny = bad, however slapping on a newer WRX or old STI 5MT = good and less expensive than a new STI 6speed...although that would be awesome regardless of which powerplant you're using. Just make sure that if you do swap the transmission, make sure the rear diff matches or you get the one made to go with that transmission...otherwise say goodbye to that nice new center diff!

[ooberdoob]

i'm coming from the money aspect, along with ease.

the safest way to not destroy your budget and maybe have to end it half way through is to start off with something that works.

thats what i'll have to do, i won't have the $20,000 to drop on this uber machine, for that, why not a rex with a warranty?

you see? spend a third of that, get all the parts that belong together and enjoy my new, reliable but balls-out faster yet strangely familiar new car. :wink:

if i had a shop i could use at my will, and all that goes with it, i could be more creative. but i don't have it. i have to use what i know works right away.

i think we are on the same wavelength, just stating differently.

it truely comes down to:

fast & reliable = not cheap.
reliable & cheap = not fast.
cheap & fast = not reliable.

the currency here is a variable, it is time, cash, hands-on work etc. it all costs.

[ooberdoob]

its all about the parts and the installation, regardless of whether they were made to be together or not, if its done right and thought out you're all set.
that requires research, and what does research do? see what others have done to come up with what you KNOW works! as that loops back to my subaru engineer comment :lol:


Just make sure that if you do swap the transmission, make sure the rear diff matches or you get the one made to go with that transmission...otherwise say goodbye to that nice new center diff!
for the autos, front too! all ratios MUST correspond! (for those who my thread may help in the future!) thanks for the AT alert Ryan

[Pwise2326]

On MT's the fronts are built-in, not seperate like on autos. Just match the rear-end with what the tranny calls for and you should be all set.

[Tris_STi]

Ah, the old addage:

"Cheap, Fast, Reliable, Pick Two. "

:D