New to Subaru,

[Fatspice]

Hey guys whats up? Im looking to purchase either a 08 WRX or 09 WRX but have been reading that the 09 has significant HP differences then the 08. So my question is, is the 08 upgradeable to the 09 for the price difference between the two which is about 4-5K? And exaclty what the differences are?

[mosc]

Suspension on the 09 is ~50% stiffer (better). Tire size and type are different (09 is 20mm wider). Turbo is different (~40hp more on 09). Styling on the 09 uses pieces from the STi where the 08 used pieces from the base Impreza. Those are the major ones.

[booosted09]

Its worth just buying the 09. The tires are wider but its also a way better tire. Just save yourself the hassle.

[RcrsWetDream]

Plus the 09 was priced only 500 over the 08 for all those improvements. It'll take you probably 3k minimum to get your 08 running with the 09's if you count tires and cosmetics.

[Exarch]

I would save yourself the headache and spend the extra money to get a better baseline as opposed to "saving" money by purchasing an inferior product then dumping that "saved" money into it.

I would say that if you are doing all of the work yourself, you could probably save a buck or two.

The other thing to take into consideration is that any modification you do will void the warranties on those parts. So if you get the 2008, and beef up the suspension, then have a warrantable suspension problem, you could be out of luck.

Additionally, modifying the car by bumping boost or swapping the turbo and the subsequent retune could cause warranty rejection should something major-engine go bad.

I hope the above doesn't sound like I'm grasping at straws. If the OP was made of enough money to shrug off the possible warranty issues, I doubt that he'd be considering getting an 08 vice the 09.