The Subaru Crosstrek is an excellent daily driver in a lot of ways, but it sure isn’t quick. That isn’t usually a problem in daily driving, but at altitude, you’re going to have problems because it also isn’t turbocharged. Subaru could, of course, fix that by offering the WRX’s engine in the Crosstrek, but for reasons no one can fully comprehend, it refuses to do that. If you’d like to do that on your own, though, Motor1 recently spoke with a guy who WRX-swapped his Crosstrek and said it’s about as close to plug-and-play as modern engine swaps get.
Considering the Crosstrek is built on the same platform and closely related to the WRX, that would make sense. Then again, I haven’t seen nearly as many WRX-swapped Crosstreks as I would have expected if the process really was as straightforward as it looked like it would be. I just assumed something made swapping the engine more complicated than it would appear, so people weren’t as interested. But nope. As Stephen Ketslen told Motor1, putting the WRX’s engine in the Crosstrek “required absolutely no modifications—it just bolted right up.”
So if you ever find yourself with an extra WRX engine and a Crosstrek that needs said WRX engine, it sounds like all you’ll need is a few tools, a little determination, an engine hoist, and a little space to perform the swap. Of course, as you’ve probably guessed based on the photo, Ketslen didn’t stop at simply engine-swapping his Crosstrek — he did his best to build a true modern WRX hatchback, and yes, that process was a bit more involved.
Turning a Crosstrek into a WRX
Working with Mach V Motorsports in Virginia, Ketslen told Motor1 he started the process of making his Crosstrek quicker by buying a salvaged WRX that still had a good engine, then set about stripping both cars down in his apartment’s garage before it came time to stuff all the WRX parts into the Crosstrek. As he told Motor1:
I began by running the interior wiring all throughout the cabin, and feeding the bulkhead harness through the firewall,” Stephen says. “For the most part, everything lined up well. There were a few issues toward the rear of the car, mainly to do with making systems designed for a sedan function in a hatchback. Not having much experience with wiring, I entrusted Mach V with resolving those issues.
Then it was time to swap in the rear sub-frame:
I swapped the WRX’s rear subframe onto the Crosstrek. Everything bolted up perfectly, and I was able to carry over most of the suspension modifications that were already on the Crosstrek before the swap. I got both cars ready for transport to Mach V, and after making sure I had everything in order, the two cars were towed to the shop in late August 2025.
After that, swapping in the engine and transmission proved simple enough, although they did run into an issue with the Crosstrek’s radiator core support not working with the WRX’s radiator, but they were eventually able to make that work. Then they ran into issues making the body panels fit:
“The front bumper and hood fit perfectly, but the front fenders were a different story,” he says.”The mounting points of the fenders were not the same on both cars, so we decided to cut both fenders and re-stitch them back together such that they would mount up to the chassis correctly, but follow the body lines of the VB front end.”
VB-swapped Crosstrek
So, now that the build is officially complete, how does it drive? “For now, it behaves just like a stock VB WRX,” Ketslen told Motor1, before adding, “But that won’t last long.” The way he explained it, “The goal was always more power, and while the swap nearly doubled the Crosstrek’s original horsepower figure, I fully intend on adding bolt-ons and experiencing for myself what this powertrain is capable of.” Turns out, Crosstrek owners are just like other Subaru owners. Who could have guessed?
If you want to follow the VB Hatch and see how future builds go (or just tell Stephen how cool you think his car is), you can find him and the car on Instagram here. There’s also plenty more to the conversation he had with Motor1, so why not head over here and give the rest of the interview a read? Meanwhile, you can also find Mach V Motorsports on Instagram here, you know, in case you need any help turning your regular, slow, boring Crosstrek into a cool, quick, fun Crosstrek WRX. I mean, clearly, they have experience doing it at least once.
