Essexdon

Hi people,

can anyone tell me what the main differences are engine wise between the Turbo2000 and the WRX classic? Obv the STI upgrades are as clear as day but what about WRX spec?

Essexdon

anyone?

Sprint Chief

Difficult question to answer unfortunately because the specs vary hugely depending on model year, variant etc.

Can you narrow your choice down any further? e.g. do you have a preference for...

pre facelift (92-96)
facelift 1 (97-98)
facelift 2 (99-00)

Also saloon vs. wagon (which are similar spec for turbo 2000, but differ for WRX)

Essexdon

Thanks mate. Well personally I have come from a 98 Turbo2000 to a 95 WRX

Essexdon

Saloon that is.

Sprint Chief

OK, well I think the biggest difference between these will be in the turbo and boost control. The 98 turbo 2000 has a small td04 mapped to 208bhp - lower power, but the power would kick in earlier in the rev range, better spool. The WRX will have the larger td05 turbo, probably with a Z4 ecu mapped to 260ps (~256bhp), so more powerful, but a little laggier. The engine internals etc. are pretty much identical; likewise the transmission, although the UK model may have had slightly taller gearing.

Interior, the JDM WRX tended to have nicer interiors and more toys (e.g. climate control/air con etc) and the UK turbo 2000 more safety features (air bags, ABS) although I think these were options so may vary from car to car.

Brakes are pretty pants on both models. Suspension would probably be softer / more understeery for the UK car.

Of course, these are old cars now, and may have been modified or had non-standard parts bolted on.

Essexdon

Thanks, was enquiring if the internals or gearbox are stronger or is it just the STi?

Sprint Chief

We've been discussing classic gearboxes on the classic tuning thread in general technical.

Basically, none of the pre MY96 gearboxes are up to much (UK, WRX or STi).

For the 97/98 model year, only the STi type R and STi type RA have stronger boxes (the UK, WRX and regular STi do not seem to have the uprated gearsets).

For 99/00 model year, it seems that the WRX saloon and STi models have stronger gearboxes, currently unsure about UK or WRX wagon, probably not so strong.

Edited to add: as for engine internals, MY95 WRX has cast pistons and weak rods, max of around 350bhp.

Essexdon

Thanks very much pal, very insightful.