Arvex

If it has the same amount of leg room as the Jetta, then I see no point in having a four door Impreza. I'm going to look into a two-door Impreza and tear out the back seats. I found an SVX for sale by owner in my area, but no price listed. It needs a new transmission and it's not the color I want. I figure if I can get him to let it go for cheap enough, I'll take it. If not, I'm going to start the search for a two-door Impreza that has AWD. What I'm planning to do is hold off on buying a Subaru until my roommate has his driver's license and his own car. Once that happens, sell the Passat, use that money to buy a cheap Impreza and fix it up. I plan to keep the Jetta because it's the one I'm attached to and will make a fun daily driver. The Passat is boring, heavy, more expensive to maintain and slow. Which brings me to this question; how much should I be paying for a first generation Impreza that has the following? -Solid, minimal rust, frame -All-wheel-drive -Two doors Things that don't matter as much because they can be fixed/changed: -Interior panels not in too bad shape. Interiors can be fixed over time. -Doesn't need to be turbo as long as there is room in the frame/body panels for it without too much cutting/drilling. -Body panels are unimportant as they can be replaced, a frame can not. They can be rusted, mismatched or dented as long as the damage is only on the panels. -Engine doesn't matter. A dead/wimpy engine can be swapped or boosted. -Transmissions are unimportant as they can be replaced. However, one with a functioning transmission makes less work for me. If it needs a new engine, I'm probably going to look for an EJ255. Maybe I'll luck out and get my turbocharger with the engine.

That's how it is right now, but the problem is that the two cars are too similar that there isn't much point in having both. The only time I drive the Passat is if both my roommates and one of our friends are riding with me or I need an empty trunk. (My Jetta's trunk is full of tools and parts.) I would like to find one car that can be both, but the options I have before me don't favor that course. The Jetta was that until I discovered my roommate doesn't fit behind the steering wheel and I am supposed to teach him to drive as part of the deal I made when I moved in. Shortly after that, my hunger for all-wheel-drive and turbo kicked in. I bought a 4motion Passat 1.8T with a seized up camshaft online, paid a mechanic to put a used engine with 42k miles on it in there and called it a day. The Passat was originally going to replace the Jetta, but it was heavier, had a weaker engine stock and finding go fast bits for a 1.8T Passat won't be easy. Few months later of finding little things I don't like about the Passat, I decide I am going to sell it after my roommate gets his driver's license. Now I'm sitting on a spare 1.8L Passat engine with a seized camshaft which I was planning to practice tearing down and putting back together to familiarize myself with working on the internals of an engine.

I'll keep the SVX parts availability in mind. I still want an SVX. I just might wait until I'm more financially set to care for one. In retrospect, I'm kicking myself even harder for losing that auction. That SVX I almost bought on eBay recently included a parts car, spare engine and several bins of parts. I would have bid more on it, but I still had to make sure I had money to get all of that moved from North Dakota to Ohio. If I go the 90's Impreza route, do you know how it is in the legroom department compared to a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta? If it has more than the Jetta, we may have a winner. I sometimes have a full car and the Jetta can't fit three guys who are upwards of 5'10" while the Passat can easily fit them. I was surprised when I realized I fit in the backseat comfortably with my roommate in the seat in front of me. I might have found a cheap SVX for sale locally. This will be my chance to at least look at one in person and see if it's worth the trouble. I won't be able to test drive it because its transmission is broken, but I will get to see the rest of the car. Just waiting for the seller to reply. Annoying thing is, shortly after I bought the Jetta, I found a turbo Baja for sale for ~$3,700... I was upset. I paid $4,500 for the Jetta when I originally wanted to buy a Subaru. I couldn't find one in my price range until after I bought something else.

I forgot about Marty saying that, actually... Now that you brought it up, I remember him saying it. The only time I would even consider taking a car on the 1/4 mile would be to show a certain co-worker who insists his Chevy Cobalt sedan is faster than my 1.8T Jetta. Even then, I might not. If I wanted a drag racer, I would start with a late model Buick Regal T-type since I'm too poor to own a Grand National. I've seen a supercharged SVX online before. I've also seen a turbocharged build for one, but I don't know too much about it. The drawbacks of a supercharger are less boost overall and a loss of high end power unless you can rig a way to disengage the pulley (which Volkswagen did with their twincharged TFSI engines.) What I'm looking to do is build up a car that I can take to the Mid-Ohio track and still be used as a daily car. I don't expect to win any races with this car, I just want to have fun there. I figured all-wheel-drive, which is practically a standard feature on every Subaru, would give me the best of both worlds on the corners. The only major issues I've heard of from the SVX are related to the transmission. If there are more that I'm not aware of, I'll gladly hear them out. The reason I wanted an SVX was because it was an AWD coupe with an H6 engine already installed. It was also a car that not many people see, so it had a bit of a "what is that" value to it. If I'm going for the Impreza, I plan to track down a late 90's one that has a solid, rust-free frame. Body panels and an engine can be repaired or replaced, a frame cannot. The bug eye creeps me out and those are all I can find for sale. Also, I want to note the Baja doesn't come with an H6. It comes with one of three versions of the EJ25 engine, one of which are turbo. I would love to build a track car out of a Baja, but I'm thinking it's not the best candidate. Also, if I'm remembering correctly, it's a bit lacking in leg room in the backseats.

I apologize for sounding dumb by coming here first instead of to one of those other forums. The thought process was to come to a forum that wasn't model specific to get a wider range of knowledge and opinions from more people. I don't have any delusions of turning a car into a racer or anything. I just want to have a fast, fun car that is all wheel drive that I could try to build into a track car after I'm more comfortable with the car and have a better budget. The reason I've been staying away from the Impreza is because they seem to be about double the price of other Subarus that I've found in similar condition/mileage that aren't even a WRX or STI. I've also been trying to stay away from a two-door car because I am my roommates' primary transportation at the moment and one of them aren't exactly a small person. If I were to luck out and grab a cheap SVX, I would just sell the Jetta OR Passat and keep the other for driving them around and keep that until my roommate can afford his own car. I want to reduce down to one car, but I don't think the Impreza is the right one. If you guys say the H6 can't handle boost, I'll stick to one of the turbo H4 engines or keep a naturally aspirated H6 depending what I go with. I just wanted to try it because I have been following a video series done by some guys out in Australia who built a first generation Subaru Liberty station wagon (Legacy/Outback) with a Tribeca H6 engine, a large turbocharger and a custom ECU. Their goal was to make an 11 second drag racer that was also suitable for daily use and pulled it off. I was also sold on the idea that starting with a bigger engine meant you could make it more powerful far more safely (and cheaper) than starting with a smaller engine. The sad part is, any project I could even imagine needing done to a Subaru (engine swap or turbocharging) would be pretty easy/cheap compared to the over-ambitious project I had in mind for my Jetta. Between the parts, shipping and tools needed for this, it could have easily cost me almost as much as a brand new car.

Hello, this is my first time posting here and I'm looking to finally have my own Subaru. Background is as follows: -Learned to drive in my dad's Subaru Bajas (he owned three over the years) -Got a 99 Ford Contour as my first car. Was alright, but had problems. -When I was planning to sell the Contour, I was trying to find a Subaru, but couldn't find one in my price range, so I gave up and tried Volkswagen in the form of an '03 Jetta Wolfsburg Edition (sport suspension and a 1.8L turbocharged engine.) -I'm not a trained mechanic in any way. I'm teaching myself from working on my Jetta and Passat (long story as to why I own two Volkswagens) I was originally planning to turn my Jetta into an all-wheel drive car by importing a parts car in the form of a V6 4motion Bora (name for the fourth generation Jetta in other parts of the world) I've looked at various cars and it seems like Subaru has most of what I'm looking for and appear to be more willing to recieve the things that they don't have that I want, so I want to finally try again at buying a Subaru. The problem is, I don't know which Subaru I should look at. The H6 fascinates me and owning a two Volkswagens with turbocharged engines has me hooked on boost for life. I plan to buy a car that has an H6 OR a turbocharger and swap/add the other one so I can have both. What I'm looking for: -All wheel drive -Turbocharged -Comfortable -H6 engine -DIY friendly I've got it narrowed down to three and have some questions about each. Third generation Legacy sedan: -How is leg room in the back seats? Is it better than a 99.5-05 Volkswagen Jetta? I can't find a third generation Legacy sedan for sale in my area to find out. -If I got this route, I am planning to swap an H6 into this at some point. How much time and money would I likely need to spend on parts other than the engine itself to do this? (Applies to Baja as well) SVX: -How is the EG33 as far as engine reliability and maintenance costs? Are there any common and/or major issues I should be made aware of before buying one? (I know of the transmission issues and have plans for this) -What is a good price to pay for one? I don't mind buying a fixer-upper as long as the frame and body panels are intact and rust-free. -If I want to put some form of forced induction in at some point, how much is it likely to cost me? -Is there anyone in or around Columbus, Ohio who has one that would be willing to let me see it in person and possibly ride (not drive) in it? Baja: (Not as many questions here because of the front-end similarities between the Baja and Legacy and I've been in/drove a Baja before) -I'm aware of the head gasket issues in this car's engine, it claimed my dad's second Baja. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this issue? (Until I can swap the engine out entirely) -Does the Baja turbo have the same head gasket issues? -Are there any significant differences in the engine bay of this car compared to the Legacy/Outback of its time? Questions for all three: -Are these cars more DIY friendly than early 2000's Volkswagens? Everyone tells me that VW is a pain to work on, but these haven't been that hard for me. From what I've seen, Subarus look easier to work on, but I would rather hear it from someone who has worked on them. -How hard is it to find parts for each of these? -If I buy one that has a turbo stock, how many of the turbo-related parts would be able to carry over to turbocharge and H6? -If I were to H6 swap a car, which H6 engines would you recommend? I'm looking for one that will be able to readily swap into a Legacy or Baja that can handle some boost and other modifications.