Brownie

First off hello all. My first post. I need some expert advice from the guys who know subies. I am a 17 year old looking for my first project car. I finally totaled my POS honda and its time to get a real set of wheels. Now my goal for 2008 is to get a Brighton Coupe and 350 whp EJ257 full swap. That is to come later. Now I need something to get me around and perhaps slap on some power adders. I wanted to get some kind of sedan or wagon AWD for the mountain. A lady near me is selling a super clean Impreza sedan with a newly rebuilt engine for $900 OBO (i'll give her 700). The major downside is it is FWD. It is a 5 speed (otherwise I wouldnt even consider it) and it has the EJ18. The million dollar question; SHOULD I BUY IT? Its a great deal, good milage, well maintained, and nearby. My options are buy it or keep searching for a Legacy wagon or some such. I love the impreza's but I'm just afraid the FWD 1.8 doesnt have any power potential. From what I read an AWD conversion is insanity, do you agree? What about turbo/blower kits? Could I get a turbo system off a WRX and put it on? How does the FWD handle the snow? Has anyone done something cool with this car? ANY info would be appreciated. Thanks for the advice and for not flaming the kid whose just trying to get into the Subaru scene. Im sick of fooling around with those weak *** civics.

shawnpdillon

Hmm. A '93 FWD Impreza purely exists for fuel economy, and can get up to 50mpg. You're not going to be any more happy with it than you were with your civic. What worries me is "I finally totalled my Civic." I don't want to see someone get a turboed impreza just to kill themselves...

FWD is fine in the snow

This looks like a great daily driver, perhaps one to save cash by driving instead of your future turboed gas sucking monster.

Brownie

No my integra** being totaled was no fault of my own. Bad weather, possibly drunk dumbass in a jeep, swerved to aviod, spun into rock wall, almost died, jeep ran. Not relevant to what im asking. Beleieve me, ive considered fuel economy. I plan on convering my future moster Subie to run on e98 ethanol to combat that and install a full roll cage and racing harness for safety. What im asking is what can one do with this impreza? What have other people done? I just want some mods to make it a little more entertaining while keeping my STI coupe fund safe. Is this car worth buying??

shawnpdillon

I'm sorry for the earlier assumption then, your first post had a different tone to it. As to whether it's worth it or not, well yeah, it's a car... that'll be cheap to operate and should be able to take any drivetrain you want to shell out the money for. Body kits and everything else should also be no problem, if that's what you want. You're looking for more performance though, a 2.5rs would probably be a little better for you. I'm happy with my 2.5i, personally. It's more than quick enough to get into trouble with.

Brownie

No problem man, I just have to make that clear or I look like the dumbass kid who cant even handle a damn B18. But yeah I want to get an RS but i dont nearly have the cash yet. The budget right now is 1k or less for a running subaru that will tie me over until I can buy some sort of Impreza coupe to do the EJ257 swap. I just dont want to be completely bored for 8 months. I'm just trying to figure out what I can do with the slowest Impreza ever made. An FWD tio AWD swap sucks, right? Thanks for the help, remember what it was like to be 17 and addicted to cars.

medicSTi

iTrader: (22)

that fwd wont get you what you want out of your "project" just save up and buy a bugeye to avoid all of the swapping. or buy a swapped rs/brighton for 9k and enjoy it.

if you have a project car, you'll need a dd. and that 93 fwd suby would be perfect for anything under a g.

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

Hello. Great to hear you are interested in the fwd Impreza. I don't have any personal experience with them, but I've done enough research to know what it takes to take an NA to become a turbo.

First of all, THERE IS NO CHEAP WAY TO EFFECTIVELY PULL MORE POWER OUT OF YOUR NA!! The NA Subaru's are great car. It is just doesn't produce as much power as the WRX. I've never seen a FWD to AWD conversion happen before, but I can tell you that if you plan on doing a swap, at least to WRX level, you should be expecting to spend a lot of money. You would probably be better buying a used WRX and just being done with it.

The only way you can do the swap cost effectively is if you do all the work yourself. Even that is a feat in itself. If you feel confident about your work, all the power to you, but know that wiring is what makes or breaks the project.

medicSTi

iTrader: (22)

^that is direct word from the Onion... like i said, buy the fwd impreza and save up for a wrx or swapped rs

darkonion

iTrader: (31)

And for the record, I will attempt a swap. However, I'll be financially stable and have another form of transportation. Probably 3 or 4 years down the line minimum. Nothing soon.

Brownie

Thanks guys. I think i will buy it and save for my STI coupe project. Ive thought of buying a bugeye but I really dont like the GD platform, too heavy. Besides, with a brighton coupe a 1-10 whp/lb ratio can be reached for the same price as a good WRX. In the mantime this sedan is said to get 40 mpg which is great because i have to drive an hour to work at Mt. Hood. Hopefully FWD will do okay in the snow. It can get treacherous up there. Truly the land of Subarus.

meilers

What? Don't buy any car from 1993, no matter how cheap or regardless of whether it is a Subaru or not. Holy crap, that is 15 years old!!! Cars are not like wine, they do not improve with age... If you want no power, FWD and high MPG, just get a 02 Civic.

Brownie

Haha. He made a funny. Hehe, hondas. I think im going to keep looking. Im going to hitchhike into portland sunday to get an AWD Impreza if the guy with take $1200. If not a ****ty old legacy or something. I wish I could get my hands on an impreza. Somebody should sell one to me for $1200!D Help my cause!

meilers

I'm not joking. There is no such thing as a $1200.00 car. I absolutely guarantee that any car you pay that little for will need another $1200 within the first year of owning it and at least $600-800 each year afterwards until you just give up and leave it in a ditch somewhere. At least with the Civic you know you can always find junkyard parts for it, a MUCH tougher proposition with a Subaru (I know from experience.) My brother nursed a 95 Loyale wagon for four years (260k on the odometer) and it was a decent car, but every time something broke he was out of action for a week, calling around to every junkyard on the northwest coast. Save up and pay at least $4000.00 for a car, you are only buying trouble lowballing like that. Any car going for that low has had the sh*t beaten out of it.

2.5Blk

meilers is speaking all truth. we all enjoy subarus here in this forum, but dollar for dollar that suby will just give you trouble down the road. try to look for a civic or corolla where parts are abundant to save some money. save up and just purchase an rs/ts or wrx when you have the funds.

Brownie

I gotta have AWD for my job. I had studs on my FWD integra but it couldnt get up there on bad days. This year has way more snow than last so the roads are even worse. I have to buy a car soon cause right now im just hitchhiking and for me to get 4k would take months. My boss drives a subaru that he bought for $200 with a engine that was supposed to give out 50,000 miles ago and its still goin. I know I can find a decent suby that will run for another 50k for 1200. Most of the old ones I see at the mountain have around 250k miles on them. I just need to find one with 150-250. I dont know as much as you guys but i've grown up with ancient bulletproof Subarus.