hey everyone i think i might be liking the legacy gt, looks inside and out are better, and its got the sti engine, just detuned to 250/250 hp/tq. i might bite in 10 months....
I found it amusing that you asked opinions among CSVT, WRX and RSX, and came up later saying I want something else.
As a owner of both 3L CSVT and Saab 9-2X (WRX clone), I can tell this:
A stock CSVT beats WRX when slow. At higher speed, when the boost is up, WRX is way faster.
I had problem with my 92X stock when slow. I need to constantly shift to make a turn. Sometimes I need to drop even 1st gear while with CSVT I can make the same turn at 4th gear. That's because any pre 2006 WRX has 2.0L engine. Starting from 2006 it uses the same Legacy GT 2.5 EJ25 engine. It's a different beast then.
When you add 3L to a CSVT (not cheap if you are not going to do it yourself -- I was fortunate to grab FastCougar's 3L set up when he rolled his car with only 110 miles on the newly built engine. The asking price including the HMS tranny was $4500.) it feels much more stronger. Without other mods (I/H/E) you get at best barely 200HP to the front wheels if very lucky. That's roughly about 235 HP at the crank compared to the stock claimed 200HP. WRX starts at a claimed 227HP but can be cheaply modded. I only spent less than $1000 to cleanly mod the 92X to stage2 (Cobb Accessport -- $520, STi uppipe, gutted stock downpipe, STi exhaust). Cobb claims the stage2 HP is like 280. I don't really know if that's true, but it starts really hard and strong, and I don't need to shift that often. The acceleration is amazing.
The WRX is so much easier to mod because the engine is relatively much smaller than the engine bay itself. Anyone who works with CSVT can tell you how cramped our engine bay is. The major mod for CSVT is an engine swap, the major mods for WRX can be turbo upgrade, exhausts, intakes, headers, and ECU tweaking. WRX aftermarket support is thousands times larger than the CSVT's. They are also very good in handling.
I believe the CSVT has higher speed than the WRX, and can be even higher if you use the Zetec final drive in the tranny. But the problem is how often you are driving at your speed limit.
Don't get me wrong. I may sound like the WRX is my preference but on the contray the CSVT is. I have only 5000 miles on the 92X and had been thinking about selling it for something else. But I never want to get rid of my CSVT. Recently I even am considering to have a new paint overall.
The total cost so far on the two cars. Both were purchased new.
CSVT -- $22,800 + $4,500 (3L) + $1,400 (full new suspension) + $600 (Warmonger Brake kit and other components) + ??? (paint)
92X -- $24,500 + $1,000 (stage 2).
Both are performing admirably. It's all up to one's like and how much the car will set back in the wallet department.
Just my $0.02.
