hehe.. wehre to start..

tranny is only erally as weak as the driver.. they dont take a lot of abise.. there is no set # they fail at.. Group N cars use stock trannies.. they fail reasonably regularly cos of the stress put on them by rallying.. driven nicely and normally.. they are fine..i know of several cars with 350 Hp + with stock trannies.. true they wont last as long as a stock car..but its not as weak as people make out..

a modded WRX will easily take on a modded GSX totaleclipse.. MBC gets you mid to high 13s on a well driven car.. Unichip and exhaust added to that gets you low to mid 13s.. a few extra tweaks and on stock turbo your high 12s.. change the turbo and your mid to high 12s.. beyond that it gets expensive.. dont really need to change the internals till you want 10s really.

as for the STi john..hehe.. its a magical car.. mid to low 13s off the factroy floor.. 280 odd HP (we will see about 265 here).. but its the sheer tunabily and torqy nature of the beast when tuned thats magical.. that coupled with its enourmouse fun factor.. i have no doubt if you were to get your hands on an STi wagon it would end up bad ass

the WRX is a great car. not the be all and end all some people think..it has a strong reputation because its easily modified.. makes some damn impressive numbers.. and is fun fun fun to drive.. hopefully next year i chanell some money into mine..i want high 12s.. that will do me