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Hi everyone.

I am just wondering if my WRX is STi or not. How can I tell? There is an STi logo inside the dash cluster, there is an STi sticker on either side of the car, just in front of the front wheels. The is also the "i" badge on the front of the car which stands for STi I think. Anyway, the previous owner could of just added all of this to a normal WRX. The engine model is EJ20. Can anyone help me with this?

Give Subaru a call and ask them to look up your VIN, they will tell you everything about it, even what colour it is

Where do I find the VIN?

Under the bonnet near the strut on a little silver plate..

Firewall, near the brake booster.

Okay I found the VIN and have contacted Subaru about it. In the meantime, I have decoded the VIN using the car manual and it has come up with a 1.6L LX. This is clearly wrong as the car has turbo.

I it 5 speed or 6 speed?
5 speed is just a standard WRX
6 speed is an STi.

Cheers Cam

Brumby Kid wrote:I it 5 speed or 6 speed?
5 speed is just a standard WRX
6 speed is an STi.

I thought the older Bug Eye, Peanut and GC8 STI's were still 5 speed... Don't quote me on that though

Tomi wrote:Okay I found the VIN and have contacted Subaru about it. In the meantime, I have decoded the VIN using the car manual and it has come up with a 1.6L LX. This is clearly wrong as the car has turbo.

Unless someone did a conversion to a 1.6l LX. you may have all of the STI parts in an LX body

TOONGA

Yeah they didn't go 6 speed until later.

Sounds like a conversion

What is the code on the build plate (should be on the passenger side firewall I think) - Model type should read GC8xxxxx
Engine should be EJ20Gxxxx

Post them here and I will tell you if it is a WRX, STi or conversion.

Nah bug eye models are 6spd.
All the "s" models have 6spd.
I'm not sure about the older "n" models.
The "n" models have vents in the bonnet left and right of the intake.

Cheers Cam

I meant earlier STi's - as in GC8 models - are 5 speed

It is a 5 speed. The speedometer says you are going about 20 km/h over than you actually are. That could be a result of a conversion?

I can't find any engraving on the passenger side firewall. There is in large font, on the engine "EJ20". Nearby there is a smaller engraving that says "10BB22112". I'm not sure if this smaller engraving has anything to do with the question though.

Info will be on a small silver tag pop riveted on to the car.
I think it is actually near the passenger side strut tower. Its about the size of a cigarette pack so you can't miss it.

I can see right next to the top of the strut tower, there are two small holes, that look just like there use to be pop rivets there. So whoever had this car before must of taken it off.

Then the VIN/Chassis number is the only thing to go by - definitely sounds like a dodgy conversion or stolen/rebirthed maybe ?

niterida wrote:Then the VIN/Chassis number is the only thing to go by - definitely sounds like a dodgy conversion or stolen/rebirthed maybe ?

Or the other dodgy thing I've heard about where organised crime rings buy a legit car, steal one that's done up then strip out the stolen one putting all the good bits into the legit one - then sell it on and scrap the stolen one.

Really sorry to hear that your WRX isn't a factory unit. I guess you really can't be too careful these days

Cheers

Bennie

Is it that bad that it's a conversion? Everything in the car works fine. Also, why would someone spend so much money converting it? A whole new engine, plus making it an AWD. Seems very impractical.

Conversion is not bad unless its done badly or you paid too much for it thinking it was a genuine WRX.

It is often cheaper to do a conversion than buy a WRX if you can do it yourself, which is why there are so many of them done.

It seems to be a good job, plus I didn't pay that much for it. Most WRX's were going for at least $9,000. This car was $6,000.