Format: bullet cues only, reference not read-aloud. Hosts riff from beats, never teleprompter the page.
Scored as: 2009-2011, EJ255, 5MT · Total: 43/70 (PROPOSED, not ratified) · Target runtime: ~6:40, hard ceiling 7:00
Title (curiosity gap): "The Only Cheap Car That Works In Winter Has One Problem"
Thumbnail word (emotion/verdict, zero overlap w/ title): "TUNED?" + big 45 on the Board
Order: Deal -> Drive -> Upkeep -> Risk -> Daily -> Limit -> Mods -> Board -> Verdict

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Hook | One Sentence (~0:05)

1. "Every other cheap car on our Board is useless in snow. This one isn't, and there's exactly one reason people still tell you to avoid it."
2. "The most valuable thing you can learn about a used WRX isn't the mileage. It's whether anyone's ever tuned it."
3. "Two turbo cars in this tier, and they kill themselves the exact same way."

Recommend #1: it names the reason to want one and the reason to fear one. Cut straight to The Deal.

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1 · The Deal, reveal 5 (~0:50)

Beats

• $8,790 · KBB private party, Good, 120,000 mi · range $7,240 to $9,165
• $8,790 at the scored trim
• The hatch is the cheapest way in: $5,325 at the bottom of its range, and it's the more useful body
• $33.2 per horsepower, against the 350Z's $18.7, the G37's $21.2, the Genesis Coupe's $24.2 and the Mazdaspeed3's $32.6
• Only the 2011 sedan pushes the $10,000 ceiling
• Modified far more often than not. Finding a stock one is harder than finding a cheap one, and here it matters more than anywhere else in the tier

B-roll: live cars.com search, 2009-11 under $12k · screen-record the grid at edit time
On screen: the $8,790 plate · sedan-vs-hatch price split · $/hp ladder
Reveal line cue: "Cheap enough, if you can find one nobody's touched... The Deal scores a 7."

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2 · The Drive, reveal 5 (~0:40)

Beats

• 265 hp / 244 lb-ft · 3,174 lb · 12.0 lb/hp · symmetrical AWD, standard
• Against the Mazdaspeed3's 12.5 and the Civic Si's 15.0
• It puts its power down in the wet
• Scope beat: 2009 brought 265 hp and the stiffer chassis. The 2008 is the 224 hp soft one
• The five-speed is the genuine mark against it. The STI got six, the WRX didn't, and it's the car's most-criticised trait at highway speed
• No 0-60 on our card, on purpose. The only figure out there is a European estimate from a source we can't verify

On screen: 12.0 lb/hp against the tier · AWD traction b-roll in the wet · "2008 = 224 hp / 2009 = 265 hp" year split
Reveal line cue: "Quick, sure-footed, and one gear short... The Drive, a 5."

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3 · The Upkeep, reveal 6 (~0:45)

Beats

• ~$4,896/yr: $2,286 fuel · $1,860 insurance · $250 tires · $500 service
• Within $58 of the Mazdaspeed3 and the G37, both of which also score a 6
• Service runs higher than the front-drivers: AWD means more fluids and more driveline
• Insurance is 21.2% of the car's value, against the 128i's 20.8% and the NC Miata's 21.6%
• The correction: our draft had this at 25% and compared it against MS3 and Si figures that were themselves stale. All three were computed against placeholder prices
• The timing belt is not a risk, it is an appointment. 105,000-mile interval, 120,000-mile basis. Due by definition

On screen: running-cost stack vs the tier · insurance-as-%-of-value with the WRX on top · "105K INTERVAL / 120K CAR" belt callout
Reveal line cue: "Insurance at $1,860, and one bill you can't argue with... The Upkeep, a 6."

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4 · The Risk, reveal 5 (~1:20)

Beats (this segment is the review, protect it in the edit)

• Scope out loud first: 2009 to 2011
• Ringland failure: $4,000 to $7,000 or more, and and that is the bill
• The sequence is documented and it is not random: oil control rings fail, oil enters the cylinder, sludge forms, the compression rings stick in the ringland, the ringland goes
• It starts with something as mundane as topping up oil. Consumption after ~80k is the precursor, and it's the thing people ignore
• The tier callback: the two turbo cars down here kill themselves the same way. Mazdaspeed3, the fuel pump leans it out and torches a piston. WRX, the rings sludge and take the ringland. A cheap boring symptom, then an engine-out ending
• Detection is a compression and leakdown test. Visual inspection tells you nothing. The MS3 needed a laptop; this needs a compression tester
• The honesty beat: every source describing how often ringlands fail is really a guide to avoiding it while modifying. The base rate on a genuinely stock engine is not established. That's the difference between "avoid this car" and "avoid modified ones", and we're scoring the second
• Turbo banjo-bolt filter clogging is the other maintenance-dependent one

PPI CHECKLIST - hold it on screen

1. Compression and leakdown on all four. Non-negotiable
2. Ask for tune history, then verify it. Pull the ECU if the seller allows. Assume yes if it's unclear
3. Oil consumption over the last 5,000 miles
4. Timing belt records. At 120k it's due regardless
5. Turbo banjo bolt and filter service history
6. Confirm 2009 or later, 265 hp, not a 2008

YEAR-ONE COST

• Healthy compression, belt documented ~$1,400-2,000 · Typical ~$3,200-4,000 · Ringlands gone ~$6,500-10,000+
• Healthy is 16-23% of the $8,790 buy-in. Ringlands gone is 74-114%, against the 350Z's worst case
• The whole spread turns on one question, and a compression test answers it

On screen: the ringland failure chain as four steps · compression tester b-roll · "HAS IT BEEN TUNED?" full-screen · year-one bars
Reveal line cue: "A four to seven thousand dollar bill, and a standard test finds it... The Risk, a 5."

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5 · The Daily, reveal 8 (~0:30)

Beats

• Symmetrical all-wheel drive, standard. It works in a real winter
• For a snow-state buyer that isn't a tiebreaker, it's the whole decision
• Five seats, four doors, and you can have it as a hatch with genuine cargo space
• Ties the G37 at the top of the tier: the G37 wins on interior quality, this wins on breadth
• No CarPlay
• It will do more jobs than anything else down here

On screen: snow b-roll against the Miata and 350Z · sedan-vs-hatch cargo · "ONLY AWD IN THE TIER" stamp
Reveal line cue: "The one of these you could own in Chicago... The Daily, an 8."

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6 · The Limit, reveal 6 (~0:35)

Beats

• SCCA G Street, and it carries an asterisk: classifier tool plus our own tier brief, not a direct Appendix A read
• Symmetrical AWD is the real limit story, not a g-figure
• It puts power down where the Mazdaspeed3's open front diff simply cannot. That's the comparison to make
• 3,174 lb, four doors
• No instrumented grip or braking figure exists for the scored car, and we won't model one
• Worth saying: the 2009 chassis is the stiffer one, which is the other half of the scope decision

On screen: AWD vs open-front-diff corner exit against the Mazdaspeed3 · "G STREET *" with the asterisk explained
Reveal line cue: "All four wheels working, and no numbers to prove it... The Limit, a 6."

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7 · The Mods, reveal 6 (~0:35)

Beats

• Elite aftermarket, deep and cheap
• And that is the problem. Every source on ringland failure is, in effect, a guide to avoiding it while modifying
• The aftermarket is enormous because people modify these, and modifying is the primary driver of the catastrophic failure
• Genuinely two-faced: the ceiling and the parts availability are excellent, and exercising them is the best way to destroy the engine
• A sharper version of the Mazdaspeed3's answer, not the same one
• Payoff: power is cheap here. Reliability is what you pay for. Buy the one nobody has already done this to

On screen: parts-wall b-roll · "THE AFTERMARKET IS THE PROBLEM" stamp · MS3 contrast chip
Reveal line cue: "A deep parts shelf, attached to an engine poorly placed to use it... The Mods, a 6."

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The Board + Verdict (~0:50)

Beats

• Total lands: 45 / 70, and it is a proposed score
• Between the G37 at 46 and the Mazdaspeed3 at 43
• The shape: Daily an 8, insurance at 21.2% of value, a $7,000 worst-case repair
• VERDICT: "Buy the one nobody has tuned, and compression-test it before you pay."
• The three things: compression test, tune history, belt records
• Skip case: you won't do the compression test, or you don't need the all-weather traction, in which case the Civic Si is cheaper and safer

On screen: the 45 landing between the G37 and the MS3 · the two-turbo-cars failure chain side by side
Close cue: one line pointing at the Mazdaspeed3 review · end

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Runtime + notes

• Sum ~ 6:40. The Risk carries the extra runtime again. If it runs long, pull from The Mods and The Limit.
• All seven scores are proposals. The Risk (5) is the one to argue about: it scores the evidence, not the reputation, because the stock-car ringland base rate is not established.
• Do not say on camera: a 0-60 figure, G Street as settled, or a ringland failure rate for stock cars.
• B-roll warning: listings are asking prices, the $8,790 is KBB private-party. Name which is which.
• The two-turbo-cars failure chain is the strongest beat in this script and it pays off the Mazdaspeed3 video. Protect it.
• Title and thumbnail share zero words per channel rule.