But - you can say that about virtually any car. If you ignore the cost of upgraded bits that _you_ don't find valuable, you can soup up a Dodge Neon to exceed an STi for less than the difference in price. (if you have low enough standards...)
k. ote scribbled:
Not quite. Aftermarket parts? You want to turn a WRX into an STI you'll have to change the engine, the transmission and the differential. If you're talking about cosmetics and chassis mods, sure you can make a WRX look like an STI, but just looks don't make it the real thing...
Not to mention suspension, brakes, wheels and tires...what else are we forgetting?
Well, I suspect you wouldn't need to change everything out. The engine, for example, could be boosted to STi like numbers without a swap. A bigger turbo and some tweaking could get the performance. Adding another gear to the tranny would be tough though, and the reliability wouldn't be there.
Besides, why would you turn a WRX into an STi, when it would be so much cheaper to start with an RS?
seats, electronics, computer...
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You wouldn't have the superior stock internals of the STi--forged pistons, sodium filled valve shafts, variable valve timing (on pre-06 WRXs), other stuff--that lets the STi engine live a long life.
The RS would cost even more ;-)
Both the WRX and WRX STi/STI are performance
*bargains*. They're just at different levels of performance. The WRX can be tweaked reasonably in different aspects, but getting it all the way to the OEM-equivalence of an STi would cost quite a bit more than buying an STi outright.
Perhaps I should have used tags?
... and then deal with the associated crappy quality of the remaining domestic Neon components left on the vehicle. Plus, the drastic amount of modification necessary to get a Neon up to STi spec (with the clean feel, etc) is much less than the modification necessary to get a WRX up to spec with a Stage 1 or 2 Cobb Tuning upgrade.
Also, you don't get Subaru's AWD: so there's no point in vamping up a Neon anyway.
The DCCD is more of a toy than most of the other components on the car: i.e. it will most likely make you *slower* on a normal road than just leaving the computer take care of it. Contrary to popular belief, the STi prior to the 2006 model does, in fact, have some yaw detection and modifies the centre differential actively. That's why it's called "auto" and not "65/35", and why it doesn't whine and complain in a tight circle in the middle of an empty parking lot, whereas putting it in anything but wide open when in manual mode, does.
.. all you have to do is sacrifice reliability, and yes, you can make the WRX faster than the STi in most respects. The people who buy an STi are those who don't want (or can't afford) to upgrade a normal WRX into the beast it was always meant to be.
I'm an STi owner: I wanted a reliable, factory-tuned vehicle that was covered by a long-term warranty and reliably delivered 300hp for the life of the car. I had a WRX previously, and I realised that mods would, over the long term, cost me more in ongoing maintenance. In the short term, they would've costed me far less than diving into the STi with both feet.
But initially, yes: WRX + aftermarket > STi, especially in Europe and non-N.A. markets.
Not in the short term. You can take a hit in reliability and it's cheaper to do the WRX with APS components.
Actually I think the U.S. spec STi are cast pistons, not forged.
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