well this is just my opinion. If you were going to get a newer car I'd spring for a used RS. Then if the motor is still in really good shape you could slap on a turbo kit and already have a car that is stronger than the WRX and you'd only be next in line behind the STI....but then again what car wouldn't be. :biggest: That's the biggest thing. Then you can move to the goodies. First off get a new rear sway bar. The stock 13mm bar blows. A 20mm is my suggestion and as long as you are down there put new drop endlinks in. You might also want to purchase the STI motor mounts and transmission mounts since I'm told that's beneficial. Upgraded struts such as the kyb agx struts are adjustable and would improve the cars handling coupled with a new set of springs such as an eibach pro kit or whitelines to lower the center of gravity of the car. Front and rear strut bars would stiffen up the chasis as well. Hope that helped a little.

 

thanks, i`ll start looking for parts.

-Thomas-

 

My advice would be to buy an RS and lightly modify it. When I first got my rizzo, I really thought about throwing a turbo on it; but then reality hit me in September when I had to pay tuition, books, rent, and a lot of other expenses (also known as a shit load of money). I have a good paying job, but splitting my time between work and school just doesn't leave enough money to go turbo. Turbo kits are expensive. And it's not just the price of the kit itself; the added maintence, gas, and insurance will add up fast. Turbo kits are for those who work full time, are trust fund babies, or are pushing drugs. Except for the extremely savy, they aren't made for the poor college students like us.

But even scraping together what little money I have left over, I've still been able to put together a pretty good car. I've been able to completely change out the intake and exhaust sides (with equal length headers that I got used ), and do tires, swaybars, and end links. I hope that Cobb will finish their ECU reflash so I could do that, but that will probably be years from now. Hopefully, I'll have enough cash come summer to do WRX brakes and a spring and strut combo. When you're a short-of-money college student, you just have to learn to save up and look for bargains. All the stuff I've done has been less than $1500 and hopefully all the stuff I have planned will be less than $1000

 

Errr... you mentioned that you are making little money and have tuition etc to pay. So perhaps you shouldn't even think of modifying anything especially a turbo/engine swap which will cost thousands! Not only that, Subaru parts are not cheap. Think Porsche part prices and you're there. Certainly not your everyday civic. So with that in mind, I suggest you buy a cheap L and drive it a bit until you are done schooling and pay off your debt (should you have). then after that only buy your next car. Coming out of school with loads of debt is not a good start in life. Also the RS (especially 2dr) has high insurance for some reason. Higher than a WRX wagon!

 

When I was looking at the RS I decided to get the sedan based on lower insurance costs, that coupled with the fact that all my friends are taller than 6ft. Oh and if you don't tell the insurance company about the turbo how are they going to know it's there? None of them every want to come look under the hood so why should you offer?

 

yeah, that is one good thing about where i go to school. I make enough money to pay for tuition each semester, so i dont have to take out any loans, but that leaves me like.. little to no cash.
I have found out where i can get me a RS block and heads for 550 shipped to my door, think it would be a good investment to get a L and drop the RS motor in it for the time being? or just stick with whatever the L comes with? thanks for reading.

-Thomas-

 

youre thinking rich with a poor pocket...only 2k wont get you an RS let alone a nice low milage one...you could get a high milage L but then where you going to get the money for the engine swap...youre better off getting the best car with the money you have and if you want an STi car...buy an STi...its less of a headache than swapping an engine...suspension and all the other things to get it to STi spec (after youre out of school of course)

 

i know, but i have $5k CD that i cant touch for another year so.. i am also waiting on that to get to me. but with my job i can make alot more cash during the summer than any other time. So, lets hope this summer is a good season

 

I've been considering selling my soul to get the money for my dream mods :devil:

 

There's a used 97 impreza L in the classified section.

 

i`ll check it out, thanks. i havent been to the classifieds in a while. going there now!

 

i admire your tenacity to try and get the best subaru you can afford. However do not forget that you do have other expenses. What if you want to go on a trip? If you have a significant other, there might be more expenses too. So tying yourself down with a price of a car (or anything else) to the point you can't enjoy life ain't a good. I know some guys hold down 3 jobs just to own a wrx or an STi. they are so busy to the point that there's hardly anytime to even have fun with the car!

 

I guess I'm kinda partial to the RS so that would be my vote. I'm in the same poor college kid boat as most of you guys, so I know what its like... Just make sure to overestimate everything or else you'll definately come out on the short end of the stick... Anyway, I would vote RS because its already got decent performance so even if you don't have a lot of extra money you should be relatively content. If you have a couple extra grand to spend you can have alot of fun putting little things on, or save up for something big. I'd stay away from a swap unless you have a decent amount of money saved up or don't need to drive your car for a while (like everybody else is saying).
Oh, and I'm basically living "paycheck to paycheck" if you will. But I love my car, so it honestly is worth it (maybe if i was working two jobs I woulnd't think so... but...) Good luck with the search.
-Suby25