“After making the tough choice to sell the Subaru, Editor René started the hunt for a cheap track hack. But, with a budget under $2000 what did he manage to find?”
It’s always a sad time selling your pride and joy. The Subaru WRX STi was just that for me, and the day it left my hands, I wasn’t the happiest lad. With Subaru WRX books still occupying the coffee table, and ‘previously watched’ Subaru related content reappearing on my social news feeds, it was hard to move on. That was, though, until I found my next project.
The criteria for the new project was simple. It had to be extremely cheap, as my prime focus at this point in time is getting my rear-end into a bucket seat, and learning how to drive properly. With a budget set for $2000 for the initial purchase price of the vehicle, I had my goal. Every morning I would scour Trade Me to find the next deal, and, one day while I was painstakingly scrolling, one of the service advisors came up to me and said, “do you want a cheap Altezza?”
After taking a quick look, it was evident why it was so cheap — a 2004 3SGE six-speed manual Altezza had to have something wrong for it to be $1500. I started the engine, and was greeted with a symphony of rod-knock. “I’ll take it!” I told the service advisor.
After removing the previous owners sound system at work, I made the awkward and noisy drive to my manager's place where Keegan, Nick, and I would begin to remove the engine in preparation for something much fresher, which I still haven’t found yet. With only 150,000kms on the body, a fresh WOF and rego, a factory 4.3:1 LSD, and the six-speed manual gearbox, it’ll be an affordable blast when it’s going. The best thing is, my father Harold is doing it with me!
With the car at someone else's place, I will update progress as we make it. In the background, I have ordered Cusco Street A coilovers from Japan with custom spring rates, and have been in talks with Nan Su at The Bling Company about a wheel and tyre package to get us out on the track with. Hopefully, before long, I will be out there on the track, and potentially, getting carried away with modifications. Here’s hoping!
As you can see, the engine is far from just needing a new set of bearings — she's toast! We removed the sump, only to find this mess on the pickup. Initially, we were hoping to freshen up the bottom end, however, I think this 3SGE is more suited to being a boat anchor for someone.... If you know of anyone selling a cheap 3SGE send us an email, or comment below!