from my profile picture.....u can tell that im a honda guy.....love them to bits and have had my fun with EF and EG hatches.
so my answer to the question is.... satria EVO or GSR.
u think VTECs no do cut n splice wiring for transplants? same thing ler... oso got cut n paste issues. only if u get the original chassis like EF9, DA6, EG6, EG9, DC2, DB8, EK4, EK9 (which are still using B series engines) may not have the issue. and these chassis tends to be above TS's RM20k budget.....bcoz original mah.
so considering TS's budget, no real choice but to go for satria. and a well maintained satria turbo will have maintenance roughly the same as a standard NA car. whatever car it is... the harder u drive it.. the harder u maintain it. simple as that.
satrias are also very good platforms and the handling is pretty damn good. plus being a local car, and having such a HUGE market in malaysia, parts are in abundance, and cheap...aftermarket and original....plus u can also use mitsubishi alternatives for certain parts. also almost any mechanic under any tree will know how to maintain the car (maybe not the evo engine, but the rest of the car). while hondas on the other hand...will have expensive parts which can be hard to find...even brand new.
u think hondas reliable? the engine's VTEC system itself generally is... but the parts surrounding the engine and its implementation deserves a huge facepalm. distributor issues, TPS issues, IACV issues...syncro issues.. bla bla bla.... and like all things honda.... everything is expensive. if u blow a b series engine, expect to pay a hefty bill cosidering they are getting lesser and lesser which are causing prices to sky rocket.
dont get me wrong...i still love hondas...but i just dont think they are worth it anymore...especially the risk of theft. this got so bad that i rarely ever took my car out of my house for fear of being stolen....to a point i only drive it to the car wash to wash it after it got soooo dusty after sitting still for a long time.
another thing with hondas... ull have to deal with the hate. this brand community is the most hated brand in the world....not just malaysia ya.. the WORLD. and the thing i hate most with hondas, are the people that drive them.... they think coz they drive hondas they are so high n mighty... they are a real man's man... handsome, macho etc... but when someone post "fuck vtec/honda" on FB.... they start whining like a bunch of pussies. for years i was embarassed to admit i am a "honda guy" even though i loved driving my honda.
seriously... go with what u like... since u like the turbo... go with it...
turbos are a different beast altogether. more power to begin with... and much easier to gain more power than VTECs.
EDIT: holy crap... thats a long post! hahahahahha