The conversion looks great, Brian. Thanks for the pioneering work. I'll be very interested to see your updates on performance and durability in the months to come.

Without a doubt, a reliable manual conversion is an extemely tempting prospect. I'm especially interested in the possibility of a WRX STi 6-speed conversion. I was at the dealership this week getting a rear wheel bearing replaced (again), and while I was there I had a lengthy chat with a salesman re: the future of the WRX. He indicated that Subaru was scheduled to start shipping a 280-300 hp STi to the States in 2003 or 2004. Anyone know if this is true? If so, I wonder if they're planning to include the 6-speed in the US version?

And what about the low gearing and differential ratio issue? I checked out the speed/rpm calculator that alex_umn posted a while back (http://www.maitreg.com/Cars/tools/sp...B1=Recalculate). Anyone have an idea of how accurate this is? Would it be feasible to decrease the front ratio if 3.90 does indeed result in excessive rpms at highway speeds?

I'm not entirely closed the idea of a Legacy/Impreza 5-speed, but I'm running with a wet nitrous kit and don't want to be closed to the possibility of forced induction in the future. I'm afraid that our stock hp is already a stretch for a legacy tranny.