I know this is old, but any updates?

I think it looks great, much better than what I would have thought it would look like. With the rack cargo basket, it's less noticeable. Without the rack basket, I don't know if I would care for it as much.

Now I assume most everyone knows what these are for on rally cars, but in case anyone was wondering... Rally's frequently take place in the deserts. You would never want to waste hp by turning on the A/C in a race, and you wouldn't want all the extra weight of the A/C unit anyway. So they often have pop-up scoops, not to be used as a snorkel, but to cool the driver and navigators. You pull a lot of air through one of those things.

I don't know how far you are planning on modding it, but the A/C delete would be a cheap one to do. You just would have to buy a smaller belt. Then just create a hole in the headliner, and have a window that drops down kind of like a pop-up sunroof, but installed upside down. I would think that you would only want to do this if you're extremely serious about starting to rally, and you were not using the VX for much else, or you live where it doesn't get too hot.

As far as subarus, it was the first year sti that everyone remembers as a ricer. They totally miscalculated their target market. The 2004 came with gold rims, and a ridiculous spoiler that was as high as the roof on the sedan. It did not come with a radio, and maybe not even AC? The huge air scoop fed the intercooler, so I don't have a problem with that, but overall, the thing was hideous. They are much more mainstream and without badging, it's hard to tell the sti's from the WRX's.

pbkid, if you are still looking for a subie, the best looking car they ever made, they made for Saab in both '05 & '06, but it was much more than badge engineering a WRX. The 9-2x looks more like a Saab than a Subaru. The Linear is the N/A model, and the Aero is the turbo. Plus you get some sti and saab goodies thrown in. It has the tight steering ratio of the sti, along with the 3 spoke sti steering wheel, plus a tighter tuned suspension. Being a saab, they upgraded the seats, head unit, headlights, foglights, climate control, active headrests and improved side airbags. Usually, you can find them cheaper than a WRX. It's a no-brainer. I like the '05 better as it has the 2.0 turbo, the same one that is in the current sti in Japan, and the motor they use for rallying. Americans didn't want to pay extra for a smaller turbo (N/A 2.5, for several thousand more you get an Aero with the 2.0 turbo) motor, so in '06 both the N/A and turbo motors were the 2.5. People tend to want the '06's more, but the '05 is the better way to go and they made a lot more of them. The motor spools up faster and is a better more reliable motor than the 2.5. You can drive it in boost all the time, so turbo lag is an issue you can avoid. It's cool to have such a rare vehicle, but on the other hand, have more aftermarket potential than probably any other car as all but body panels are interchangeable with the WRX. You can often find great deals on used upgrades, as people trade out and mod the WRX's so often. Police are aware of the WRX's, yet the 9-2x flies under the radar. Plus the people on saab92x.com are cool. Not as cool as this site, as people tend not to mod as much as on this site. Good people, just mostly not as active and addicted like this site.

I don't know why so many members here get so upset with so many mods. It's your car, why not let it reflect your personality? You certainly have the ambition, why not make it yours? (Just don't cut off the hi/lo stick, I have to admit, that mod bugged me a bit) Can you imagine how boring any of our meets would be if everyone kept their vehicle stock. All we would talk about would be fluids. Don't worry about what others say, although even critical reviews can sometimes spawn ideas.

And thank you very much for grouping all the rally VXs together. There was several that I never saw before. I don't think this whole thread should get a sticky, but the rally VX pics should be stickied. I'm surprised to see so many. It's wild when you think of that as a percentage of vehicles made, a lot of them hit the track. And no S/C's on the Rally vehicles? Wow, that means mine is faster than all of those. Were S/C's used on the Dakar race?

I'm curious, how did you finish this, and have you done some more modding?