I'm swapping a 02 wrx motor into my 99 forester

idk- you are not gonna get much attention for your question because it just sounds crazy- it will be a lot of work and money to get it right, but the underlying question is: WHY?! why would you want to drive something THAT ugly? weird

isn't the 02 wrx a 2.0? have people successfully swapped that before? I think that's the bigger question, I could see going 2.2 - maybe-.. but not 2.0. It's already sluggish as is with 2.5. I would go to the forester forum and ask around. Good luck

You'll be pissed by the anemic response of the 2.0 at low-mid throttle, making your wonky-handling F absolutely no fun at all! And when revved up it'll slingshot you off the road as the flawed F's suspension can't handle the raucous body roll. Forester folks will demure, but they're trying to pretend that apples are oranges....

I drive quite easy on my F's and you're right, they are really wonky with stock suspension with any amount of corner speed. now, my festiva is another story...

Hi. Yeah, I wonder if that FOMOCO euro-ST stuff is too edgy for an all-weather daily driver?

Well, this is a late 80s-early 90s design by Kia (kia pride / mazda 121) with mazda b series engine.. No ST really but with the suspension and a little bit more engine, they become extremely fun to drive. Yeah, I wouldn't put this car through any snow/salt.. They rust too bad and have a drainage design flaw that traps water and ruins the floorpan. And avoiding collisions is priceless as they aren't all that safe.......Sort of like riding a motorcycle, being an alert and "situationally aware" driver is important. Lybra, any update to your plans?

Thanks. I'd feared it's a nice weather boy toy. Wonder if the Mazda CX-3 can be played with cheaply to make a WRX-beater?

Hmm.. now that's a thought. First con is that they're all AT for the cx3. But I'd might still consider the AWD versions and they seem to be liked. I do like Mazda's reliability. The CX5 has MT but I haven't looked any further than this: "http://blog.caranddriver.com/why-the-mazda-cx-3-doesnt-have- a-manual-transmission-for-now/" Now.. price is hard to beat in the festiva at less than a grand and a thrilling daily grin. I might make up for that in tires though... lol

Oh and the Festiva comes in around 1850lbs iirc.. right around 1000 lbs less than the cx3. However, the b3 (stock) is 63hp, b6 swap is around 80 and I have a b6d I'd like to swap in the next year or so at around 100hp. I should take it and weigh it at Uhaul or something. ha.

If the CX-3 autobox uses the same Aisin 6 speed as in my Miata (and the BRZ-Scion twins), then I know it's good easily for 250hp. I added an aux cooler to drop 20F. Wonder how VW will fare with the new Golf All-Road Wag...? If that's chippable (ala APR's Golf R stuff) it might be fun.