A mate at work took delivery of his subaru today.

wrx turbo

how dissapointing.

inside, it looks as if its had the budget of an 8 grand supermini spent on it. hard grey bland plastics.

There isnt any room in the back, or in the front. If you put the seat back as far as it goes, you still sit like you are on a park bench. Front seat passengers cant stretch their legs out at all - the seats dont go back that far.

When asked by others why he chose it, he said '5.7 seconds'.

There has to be more reasons to choose a daily driver than that.

basically, its cack. but each to their own.....

atb

steve

Farmers car with a big engine.

Pig ugly an'all.

Cheers

Chris

Ow lets peel that crap body open and give it a locost upgrade
Will the motor fit?

its a horizontally opossed "boxer" twin
iirc, would it be too wide?

Not sure about the Subaru but I have driven a friend's Mitsubishi Evo 6. I know this is a faster and more raw than the Subaru but the theory is the same.

Some people simply can't understand why we drive a foolishly impractical car with a ridiculously loud exhaust (like my Stuart Taylor Locoblade) and would rather have a fun car with a real roof and some comforts. They also would rather not have 2 cars which, realistically, I have to have.

Admittedly, the interiors of the Jap wagons are horrible and the fuel consumption is appalling when pressing on BUT the abilities and practicalities of these cars are pretty damn impressive. They hide your inabilities and make driving fast easy and rewarding.
The grins you can generate are not that far off those I get whilst driving my car and, as we would all rather have fun every time we drive, they do make sense.

If I had to have one, catch-all vehicle, it would probably be an Evo or an Impreza.

As it is, I would rather keep my kit car and supplement it with the nice Merc E-class I have my eye one. I suppose it is a case of each to their own.

Wot Uber said.

You need to try driving one. If it's a Subaru try a 'classic' pre 2000. For the Mitsi, there is a lot of debate, but I think the Evo 6 is as close to 'pure' as possible. The newer ones are a bit tame in comparison.

I blew most 7 style cars off the track in my old Scooby and a well driven Mitsi should blow a Scooby away. But pounds per smile on a track, you're probs better off with a locost.

Plus when you're down McDogsnuts you can blend in with the local neds in Scoobabishi.

Ian

Are all Impreza drivers tossers? or just the ones i have seen?

i'd say most of em are tossers viper - they seem to drive like nobs, overtake in stupidly dangerous places and if you live in goole, crash and run off and leave the scooby there ? whats the point i ask????

dunno, only ever see em in mirrors, road or track, 5.7s a bit slow in it ?

My boss at work is a cardigan wearing white socks with sandals kind of guy! Seriously! When I asked him who the imprezza turbo in car park belonged to I was a bit surprised by the answer,

"Mine, about 220BHP"

He also has a VR6 for quiet days?!

I have only sat in it for about 10 miles and I know I would hate it.

I test drove an alfa 146 seven years ago, and didnt have it cos it killed your legs. Its a bit like sitting in economy class for 14 hrs on a plane.

The subaru feels just like that. In the back, your knees are against the seat. In the front, as a passenger, you cant put your legs out at all - its like sitting on a chair with yer legs tied to the legs of the chair - almost.

Driving position is cramped.

As a company car you have to take into account that you will have it for 3 years and 75,000 miles and cant give it back before then. Driving 6 hrs on the motorway would leave me reigistered disabled. I dont care how fast it goes, its just not comfortable.

I test drove the Honda Civic type R a second time and blew that out. Fantastic car - more roomy and way better quality than the scoobie - if you can say that a civic is better, thats a bit of a pointer! The civic was way too noisy at speed - great around twisty backroads, but crap at speed.

I was expecting to want an impretza after I sat in it - but if I had a choice between that and an Advensis, for example, Id be at a toyota dealer.

I opened the bonnet and looked - no way would that go in a locost! weird layout. Cylinder heads at the sides dont even look like a normal engine - its more like a big bmw horizontally apposed bike engine with a load of crap on top.


atb

steve

i like 'em. Any fast car can encourage tosser-like driving. Plus from the drivers point of view, the seat on 98 models went back far enough for me. Also, these models are faster than the new ones, as they the uk turbo 2000 model was only 1260kgs, new ones exceed 1350 *i think*.

very forgiving drive, makes a fool feel competent. also, i prefer the idea behind the impreza drivetrain to the evos, even though evos are faster.

a good upgrade for an impreza is to use impreza heads on a legacy block, this block apparently has better cooling jacket and can take more boost. hearsay, but from a specialist.

anyways, thats my 2p worth...

still felt like a hyundai accent to me


atb

steve

Fast, yes, but I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. I hate their looks, I'm not a big 4WD fan, or rallying fan, I prefer NA to turbo, all the drivers I've ever seen look like numpties, you can bet your gran that the police take more than a passing interest in them, and finally they cost pretty much the same as an Elise, which is where my money would go every time.

Kingr

Edit to add : obviously an Elise would be an appaling choice for a company car required to do lots of motorway miles.

[Edited on 18/1/04 by kingr]

About the Elise...

My mates got one, had it from new for last 4ish years. He's done I think about 50000 miles in it, lots on the mway.

Its just got to the age where its starting to fall to bits. he's had loads of problems with it, the roof, the windows, the starter, most of the electrics, the suspension has had to all be replaced, the wiper motor. You name it and he's probably had to have it fixed/replaced.

Funny thing is, every time he takes it to the dealer, they still can't believe it lasted beyond 40k! Apparently the steering rack should go after about 30k.

Great performance, brill fun to drive, surprisingly comfortable (once your in). But rubbish.

Unreliable or not, I still want one. I'd love to own a TVR too, and they're hardly famed for their reliability either. Maybe I'm just a sucker for British sports cars.

Kingr

Yeah, I'd still love a tvr too!!

for (near enough) the same money I'd have a nice new wankel myself.

proper bo.

Ned.