Removing STI Tail Fin...

[Cam Penner]

It's a toy: unless you're a godlike driver, it won't improve your driving
ability any to be able to turn off the automatic mechanism. It just helps
you break the rear free when zipping around corners, or gives you a locked
50:50 control of your stability in snow.

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...)

 

[MK IV]

Agreed: it's cheaper to buy a standard WRX and fit it with
aftermarket parts to get the STi-like performance than it is to buy
the STi--so why buy the STi at all?

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...

 

[CompUser]

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?

 

[Cam Penner]

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?

 

[Josh Assing]

Not to mention suspension, brakes, wheels and

tires...what else are we forgetting?

seats, electronics, computer...

--- AntiSpam/harvest ---
Remove X's to send email to me.

 

[CompUser]

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?

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.

 

[Cam Penner]

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 <sarcasm> tags?

 

[k. ote]

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...)

.... 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.

 

[k. ote]

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...

... 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.

 

[k. ote]

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.

Not in the short term. You can take a hit in reliability and it's cheaper to
do the WRX with APS components.

 

[k. ote]

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.

Actually I think the U.S. spec STi are cast pistons, not forged.

http://www.airpowersystems.com.au/us_spec/subaru/sti/pistons/pistons.htm

These guys ordered one and took it apart.