increasing power on '03 GX Sport
 

hi all,

im currently looking at buying my first impreza and as im only 21 im looking to buy a 2003 2.0i GX Sport as its fairly cheap to insure as stock and going pretty cheap through my mums boyfriend.

ok down to the nitty grity ... ive been told these are not very powerfull as stock and i was looking for some good mods to boost it up a bit. would a turbo kit be cost efficient? can the engine be upgraded with a turbo from other models? i know a few ppl in the jap breaking buisness and i think i could source some parts quite cheap. do uprated cams make a difference? could i use cams from other models maybe?

any other mods/ideas welcome!!

many thanks

The second you start modifying the car, your insurance will go up.
Just a set of alloys can add 300 quid per year to your insurance :eek: and dont even consider the turbo conversion, its easier to just put in the engine, then again your going to be paying turbo money then and its going to cost mucho cash to convert your car, so your better off either sticking standard or going straight for a wrx. (much difference in specs between the wrx and the gx).

Tony:)

thnx for the reply tony :)

ive done a few searches for online quotes for a WRX and none will even return a figure so i guess thats outta the question :cry: im open to any suggestions for ins. companies to try tho ... it would prolly be an import btw.

as for the other option of possibly modding the GX, what kind of hikes in ins. we talking about for say fairly small mods like air flow mods (exaust + induction ect.) and maybe uprated cams or a chip?

any info welcome, im trying to get an idea of what im going to be able to achieve with this car :D

If at 21 you're struggling to get insurance for a WRX - don't go for imports (unless you mean an EU import at guaranteed UK spec). A Japanese import is much harder/more expensive to insure.

Regarding cost of modifications - there's two easy ways to find out for sure, rather than relying on the guesswork of people on here! Some insurance web sites (e.g. elephant IIRC) allow you to put in simple mods and give quotes. The other option is to phone a few insurance companies. As for companies who might insure you - have a look through the last year's worth of posts in the "insurance" forum, or look for specialists in fast cars/young drivers in e.g. the back of EVO magazine. Personally I use Greenlight and got a group 17 car when I was 24, the scoob came (with mods) before I was 30.

Final points - you might get exhaust etc for the non turbo, but you won't get huge power hikes as all the big mods are for turbo's - that's where the power is! You'll have to decide if you can live with 125bhp and straight line performance equivalent to a standard 1.8 or 2 litre hatch/saloon, or whether you can find money for insuring a turbo.

My advice would be to go for the best (car/model) for performance/price that you can get for your money. Forget the brand.

If you just want looks then definately forget the scoob!

If you want power then IMHO it's not worth modding an NA scoob.

I know when you posted this is not what you wanted to hear, but seriously, think function over image with the scoob, and if image is important think non-scoob.

Edit:
SIGNIFICANT power increase on modern NA engines is VERY expensive.

thnx for the replys, i cant really live with the performance of the NA scoob mentioned as my standard J reg honda civic 1.4 (twin Carb) can just about keep up with it lol, im looking for somethin quicker.

it is'nt just for looks, i wasnt even thinkin about a scoob till it was offered to me on a first refusal basis but since its pretty cheap and only 2 years old i was very intrested as its gonna last me a while but like i said before i want somethin faster hense the idea of mods but it looks like a standard turbo or not a scoob

ya know i hate idiots that have made young drivers ins. go up......