Impreza project

I think I will be going to school in Pittsburgh next year and this poses some challenges to me car-wise.
1st - Pittsburgh has snow and hills, so something that can navigate a winter climate would be nice
2nd - Pittsburgh has pot-holes and having driven over the pot-holes of Boston in my stiffly sprung civic, I would not want to have such a stiff suspension in the city
3rd - I have to have my fun. So far, this just consists of local auto-x, ice racing, and drag strips; but anything of the local unprofessional sort will do.
4rd - It's $500 a semester to have a car at Pitt, so not many people will have cars. Therefore, having a car will be a great way to meat people but the above factors have to be taken into consideration.

I've been looking for some kind of car to work on this summer, preferably one with a simple engine swap involved. The Impreza can fit many of the requirements above with AWD and 4 doors + I'm sure it can be made to handle well and as far as I know a WRX engine of some sort will fit nicely. As far as ride quality goes one option that made me think of an Impreza as my project car was a performance air bag suspension for the WRX. I'm not sure if this can work on the lower/older model Imprezas, but if so it would allow for easy ride height and confort adjustability. My budget would be around $13,000 and I'd like to know what you guys would do with those requirements and budget. Thanks.

The Praxis Air Suspension is made for 02+ models. You can get an 02 for under $13,000, but you won't be able to afford the Praxis suspension with what's left over. That's the same suspension I'm wanting to buy, it's looks awesome, but pricey as hell. You can make the car handle good without lowering it or spending a whole bunch of money though.

Yeah, damn that thing is expensive...
What are the differences in the suspensions of the '02 Imprezas and the earlier ones that would make it so I can't put it on the earlier cars. Could it maybe be modified a little to make it work? Can I get some '02 parts from the junkyard or something to get what I want?

Well, the top mounts are different, and the bottom mounts that connect to the hub MAY be different, I don't know about that. I would think you could:

a. take off the top mount that comes with the kit and bolt the strut to your stock top mount

b. have a machine shop make custom top mounts to fit

c. drill new holes to fit the 02 top mounts

I would imagine one of those would work, but that's a lot of money to spend without being 100% sure. Sorry can't help you more on that. As far as the mounts on the hubs go, you could most likely just swap to 02 hubs, especially if you plan on doing like a WRX engine swap anyways.

A local shop here can get it for a decent amount below MSRP, if I order it I'll be ordering through them. You might want to email them if you're gonna order to see if they'll ship to you. www.hyperautosports.com

"A local shop here can get it for a decent amount below MSRP, if I order it I'll be ordering through them. You might want to email them if you're gonna order to see if they'll ship to you. www.hyperautosports.com"

Thanks a lot, and I assume you're talking about the Praxis suspension?

yeah