hey mate, my driveway thread is here. mine only has light mods but has a JDM ej207 in it.

http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/your-dri...8-got-bug.html

I actually blew my engine a couple of months ago and was in a similar situation to you. I however had a limited budget so I purchased a JDM EJ207 long motor and installed it myself. This was the cheapest option for me, I was looking at $5k for a rebuild (perth prices must be higher). I had the option at the time of grabbing the twin scroll turbo (VF37) and exhaust manifold with the motor (standard JDM hardware for this MY) but I had to pass as it would have cost an extra $2k or so. So i reused by VF35.


FYI Twin scroll basically means it starts building boost much much lower in the rev range due to the design, so the power tap turns 'on' a lot earlier. Have a google and maybe watch some youtube videos on it. The reason I suggested it is because you mentioned the 207 not being powerful off boost which I find the case as well. HTH.