How much horsepower will a stock 2002 WRX motor hold and still be streetable.

276PS should be ok.

well, the subaru WRX is are the largest ile of crap since the Ford pinto. if l was you, l would bring that car to a junk yard and while you are there l would pick up a 06 scion if l was you. you will hate the car so much you will love it. and since there are no gauges you can trick your friends into thinking you are going 150mph when really your not moving at all!!!

I've seen 600hp on a stock bottom end but that is really pushing it. you should be ok with 400hp as long as your not beating on it all the time and keep the boost turned down until you need it. Google WRX and you will find a ton of we sites for mods.

check out NASIOC.com. its the largest impreza/wrx/sti site on the web. They know EVERYTHING.

and the real question is how much can your TRANNY hold. Thats usually the weakest links on WRXs.

WOW!!! K theres no such thing as a WRX with 600hp with a stock motor, an ST l yeah, but not a 2.0. It is literaly not possible. The EJ20 has an open deck block, with thin cyclinder walls. Plus to get 600hp out of a WRX u HAVE to have a fully built racing motor.

Anyways, l wouldnt suggest anything over 400 flywheel horsepower in a stock EJ20. l had an 02 WRX with ~375 flywheel(300.1whp), & that was pretty reliable but my tuner said l could not do too much more before reliability went exponentialy down.

Slap on a Deadbolt 18G(TD05) with supporting mods & u will have a FAST reliable, streetable WRX. Anything bigger than an 18G, with the EJ20, u will get a lot of lag & would be hell in traffic.

Also they made a good point about the tranny. The 02 has the worst of all years. That was the first thing l swapped during my project. You can get a set of RA Gears four around 1800 & would have to install them yourself or pay a shop to do it, stock box would work. Other wise if u want a little more quality, KAAZ makes a good set.

l do not have any tech to substantiate it, but I've heard 350ft/lb of torque tossed around as the 'upper bound' for reliability for the 5 speed WRX gearbox. Obviously, the driver is usage has a big impact on transmission life, since its possible to break a gearbox with stock power levels through abusive launching