[2001 ZTS]

"Look cool"???????????

I unsure of your point but remember that then again I am from a time and place when owning a Subaru was the height of un-cool. Until a couple years ago the only Subaru owners out there were Lesbians, ecentric acadmics and a few people ahead of their time.

Forget what SCC or whatever tells you. Your subie-phobia does not exist outside of yourself or your imagination. Subaru sells less than 2% of all cars sold in Canada. 99.9% of people will look at a STi/WRX/Impeza (wagon especially) and say anything more than "oh look dear a subaru, I heard they were made in Australia, that crocodile guy likes them. Apparantly they are good in snow to, they had a commercial you know?".

YOU AND NOBODY ELSE HERE CAN LIE and say if Ford made a AWD SVT Focus with 165HP/166ft-lbs) for less than $25,000 that they wouldn't be all over it. You can't lie to me, yourself or anyone here.

All I am saying is that one can save thousands get a proven engine (2.5L flat four with165/166) an engine that has been around forever ('94?), AWD and a car where mods a that are cheap and plentiful for the price of an SVT Focus.

In answer to the original query:

$28,000 new Subaru of any kind&upgrades>$28,000 new Focus of any kind &upgrades

It is the god's truth.

EDIT: lets remember that, agree or not about theory that Saab sells the base Subaru TS wagon (same engine & numbers) just rebadged as a 9-2x Aero "starting at $29,999" (befor tax, options frieght, etc), Papa can confirm and that is a screaming deal in Saab speak. The TS be it a sedan or wagon is undervalued right from the lot and compared globally, an absolute steal.