Guys & Gals,

I am currently in a bit of a dilema. Had my current scooby for 3yrs nearly now, do I upgrade my 54 plate WRX (bog standard mechanically view my scooby) or upgrade to an STi - either a blob eye or a hawk eye? Upgrade on mine would include get a stainless and remap nothing to drastic, maybe a raft of Defi's. If I get an STi it will stay standard(ish) me thinks so I don't know whether or not to upgrade mine as it will have a similar power/torque? And I know the car (and still love it to bits - it really is a minter 28k on the clock).

As far as if I choose blob/hawk STi it goes like this; head says Hawk (newer) heart says Blob (look better imho) but there is not much in it! I did think of Evo's as well (Booooo!) but servicing maintainace as ruled them out.

Its not a bad position to be in I know but any advice or opinions would be appreciated as my head is now hurting for thinking

 

Depends on your goals and budget.

If you want to mod heavily, then I personally think that an STi is better starting point than the WRX. I am guessing, however, that the fact that you have done little to your current car, that you are not power chasing and so modding your existing car may be preferable.

If I could rewind 2 years I would have chopped in the WRX and bought an STi with mods.

 

Won't be modding heavily, just a nice 280-300bhp with torque figures to match woud be nice just unsure of whether to bother or just upgrade to the STi. Will the standard WRX engine take this sort of power? And what will need to be done bar the exhaust/remap? And who would be recomended?(Haven't done anything to mine as it was under warranty until recently)

Sorry if these are silly questions

Cheers
Paul

 

You will get 280-290bhp from a full exhaust (preferably using a sportscat downpipe for MoT time) and a remap. There should be no reliability problems at this stage. To get 310-320bhp you will need to change the turbo and injectors. At this level the gearbox is close to it's safe limit, so I would go for an STi if you were looking for over 300.

There are several highly respected mappers around the UK, but not sure which is most convenient to you. I may be tempted to travel to Swindon to visit Bob Rawle.

Before you do any of this, I would strongly recommend a Whiteline rear anti-roll bar and droplinks for around 200 notes; best value mod you can buy.

 

Sounds to me like you are a perfect candidate for an MY05 STi. Basically the same car as the Hawkeye (Updated interior, DCCD-A etc..) but with the front end which you prefer (and me! - view my scoob ).

I recommend trying a MY05 STi, and whilst driving it think about whether everything else except the extra power is worth the change... because they are completely different beasts underneath. (I think i read somewhere that the MY05 STi is 85% different from a WRX of the same year).

 

What's your budget?

There's some lovely modded STi's out there at the minute.

The 05 STi is supposed to be the best though. If i were you i'd get a blob STi that's got a TEK3 remap. Should be in the region of 330bhp. A stonker to drive and many around.

 

Sti would be my choice, i have just gone from a MY99 UK car to a V4 Sti and although they are classic's it was well worth the swap imo! Sti is a much better drive straight from the crate!

 

A minor point, but if you keep your WRX and mod it, it will be 2 bands lower for road tax (from 2009) than an STi with the same power and save you £140 per year. I wouldn't be surprised if that gap widens every year. Unless, of course, they start reclassifying modded cars!

However, the last thing you want to do is spend thousands on your car and then wish you'd bought an STi, cause you won't get your money back.

 

i think im of the same opinion that the sti is a better starting point to mod your car in the future.

 

Seeing as you want only 280-290bhp then mod the current wrx. i have an 05 wrx with a stainless steel exhaust system, decated down pipe and up pipe, uprated fuel pump, green panel filter and eco-tek remap.

All in all cost me £1500 for the mods ive mentioned and ive acheived 283bhp. The car is a different animal now to when i bought it and a few subtle styling mods that are similar to an sti, ie scoop, splitter, fog covers etc make it an awesome car...! Stick with the wrx bruv

 

Have you found out how much it would be to do the swap? I imagine it would be considerably cheaper to get that kind of performance by just tuning your existing car. Remember, power wise there's only 40hp between the two models when standard.

 

My current car is looking pretty nice at the moment, if I keep it then it will be getting the stage one mods so as not affect reliability, although I like the idea of the whiteline goodies - and maybe sorting braking mods to match - first. The tax ain't no bad thing either although I can see in to the future and it says they may use individual results on emissions on cars over 3 years old; say in conjuction with MOT's

But..... I am going out to test drive a shiny MY05 tomorrow hopefully will get a clearer head afterwards. Will keep you posted!

Thanks for your advice guys appreciated

 

i was in the same position i had a 03 wrx, imho if you want the power of an sti you will want the brakes and the handling too, also will you want to stop modding once you start. before you know it you need a bigger turbo change the intercooler etc. This is just my opnion but when i took a step back and looked at what i wanted from my wrx the sti was the obvious choice for me. Even got one with ppp too and its still not enough .
I even told myself i wouldn't mod it that lasted a month

 

lol that sounds like it could be strangely familiar........

Slippery slope to an empty wallet no matter what I go for

 

so true

 

ECUTek.

Everytime i read ecotek, i imagine it was mapped by greenpeace and runs on water.

 

mine runs on water, well its clear anyway LOL

 

Took an MY05 STI out today.....

I'll be honest I didn't think they would be that different but they felt like totally different cars!! And this was just a totally standard one! Apart from the power step up (just 40 bhp?) the rest of the car felt so much more solid and planted through bends and was loving the Brembo's. Also 6 speed box was nice (shorter throw than mine also). STI seemed quite a step up as a whole car, although I'm sure I could bring mine up to 90%. I love my car's looks maybe with some anthracite alloys, and will be a great motor with a few of the mod's mentioned, but I think its gonna be time for a change people!

Just have to take the extra insurance/tax/petrol on the chin! Boooooo

Keep ya posted