RE: RIP Subaru Impreza

[macduff]

I suppose it was only a matter of time.I bought the wrx impreza in blue brand new in 2004.The best car i've ever owned and driven to this day.
I gave one look at the hatchback and thought it was a daewoo

[kars]

Killer2005 said:

That's a shame, I'm just considering whether I should buy my first Impreza, probably a 03 Bugeye WRX

Don't be a pussy, buy GC8

[ADM06]

Richard330s said:

Very sad indeed, but I may be biased. Admitting my bias, I own and love new model hatch 09 330s STI.
Living in the North. All weather traction and bulletproof build / mechanical reliability is hard to beat and I can get 30mpg on a run.



The data would indicate that they are now a rare car indeed, in modern form. In the first 9 months of 2012 of 370 ranked car models sold in UK 'Impreza' (including all models) ranked only 260 selling only 173 cars. The very common 1 series BMW ranked 15 and sold a whooping 25,000!

http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2012/11/01/uk-9-mon...

Pos Model 2012 % 6m
280 Subaru Impreza 173 0.0% 265
15 BMW 1 Series. 25,128 1.6% 15

Both cars talked about in the blog are good PH motors and to talk about the M135i without mention of its terrible face/nose/front end is a little remiss, when rubbishing the WRX/Impreza. Have BMW sorted the awful offset pedals of the1 series from the driving dynamics gurus?

As raised by a previous comment blogger.......
where does that leave prospective purchasers of 4x4 performance cars between £30-55k in a manual form? Which have been a key PHer obsession for many years:

- no New EVO
- no New STI
- MINI (no thanks)
- Volvo S60 Polestar (£300k is a bit out of budget.)
- Ferrari FF - ditto the polestar
- Audi RS5 - pretty dull & numb & automatic.
- Audi RS4 - ditto & automatic & 'Harris loved it! Not.'
- No BMW options (exc fugly SUVs)
- Porsche 911 Turbo? Positive manuals available...
- Porsche Panamera 4S?
- Porsche 911 4S?
- Nissan GTR? Auto but brutal




Do love the FF....

I think the success of the 1 series may be due to the choice of engines, which is somewhat lacking in the impreza.
What's the obsession with 4x4? If you need AWD get a defender. I guarantee an impreza would not get you some of the places I have to drive for work.

[vetteheadracer]

Loved my one, bought it new in 2000 and drove it for a couple of years. Only 218BHP version but a fantastic track day car / daily driver / 4 seat rocket.

RIP Impreza

[danjama]

I predicted this as soon as the new shape WRX was announced many moons ago.

It's not a reflection on pistonheads culture IMO, but speaks volumes about what happens when you don't give your established customer base what they want!!

[LotusOmega375D]

If you've never owned an Impreza Turbo, shame on you. Looks like you've missed the boat. They really were that good.

[Stu R]

Shame, but the writing's been on the wall for some time.

Must confess I still hold a soft spot for the WR1 and some of the specials, and vividly recall the first McRae editions - a key milestone in my impressionable petrol-headed, rally loving youth was when a neighbour got one in [I think] 1995. As a 12 or 13 year old rally nut and McRae obsessive, it may as well have been a McLaren F1 for the amount of gawping I did. Funny how tame they look these days.

[Logbert]

ADM06 said:

I think the success of the 1 series may be due to the choice of engines, which is somewhat lacking in the impreza.
What's the obsession with 4x4? If you need AWD get a defender. I guarantee an impreza would not get you some of the places I have to drive for work.

Drive one on a damp or wet B road drive one on a track day in the rain go past 2wd cars with twice the power ...don't go green laning go in the Landy horse for courses

It won't get me to work either use my Hi Lux 4 that. ..

[DouggyMc]

What a bugger. I've always been an impreza fan after watching McRae on tv as a kid.

[ADM06]

Logbert said:

Drive one on a damp or wet B road drive one on a track day in the rain go past 2wd cars with twice the power ...don't go green laning go in the Landy horse for courses

It won't get me to work either use my Hi Lux 4 that. ..

I think differently. I don't think RWD is wrong, I think the weather is. There should be no snow, rain etc
Don't slate BMW for sticking to RWD, that seems to be a dying breed of car too.

[Backtobasics]

That is a real shame.

[goron59]

Nobody cared, nobody bought, so they pulled the plug. Well done.

[Logbert]

ADM06 said:

I think differently. I don't think RWD is wrong, I think the weather is. There should be no snow, rain etc
Don't slate BMW for sticking to RWD, that seems to be a dying breed of car too.

Not slating the bm at all ... I also drive an high powered RWD car twice the power off my scoob but won't live with the scoob int wet or on any B road

Just got to be much more carful with go pedal

No defo need RWD pref in a Manual

[J4SON88]

It was inevitable, but it still sucks.

[peter450]

Hellbound said:

MrTappets said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they pull out of UK altogether within 5 years

They shouldn't. They should be doing amazingly well in most of Europe, apart from the Med. If they do pull out it'll be because of their diesel engines, dealer network and marketing.

What do they sell exactly thats so desirable?, the model i most see on the road is the Impreza

[GC8]

This makes me sad.

[BUG4LIFE]

I'm still to do the Scooby thing...I think I want a JDM hawkeye as my next car.

It's a pity Subaru didn't develop an engine that could compete with the new 2.0 turbos...CO2 is just too high.

[Mastodon2]

Stu R said:

Shame, but the writing's been on the wall for some time.

Must confess I still hold a soft spot for the WR1 and some of the specials, and vividly recall the first McRae editions - a key milestone in my impressionable petrol-headed, rally loving youth was when a neighbour got one in [I think] 1995. As a 12 or 13 year old rally nut and McRae obsessive, it may as well have been a McLaren F1 for the amount of gawping I did. Funny how tame they look these days.

There is nothing tame about this

[TOENHEEL]

Frustrating and annoying to see imprezas being knocked on the head however I can remember seeing that impreza hatch for the first time and thought the nail was in the coffin straight away. Why Subaru can build say the rb320 then churn out a pig ugly dated even when new hatchback is beyond me. It's almost as if they planned it.

[Flying machine]

I think the brand 'impreza' lost it's way a long time ago, this was inevitable. I've never bought a new car, but must admit that the m135i is one of the few cars I'd consider new - never thought that way about the last sti hatch. A lot of impreza's (WRX's) didn't do sub 5 seconds either. When I had my prodrive wrx I didn't rate it in the snow at all after a bit of misplaced confidence. But the best bit about a scooby is a flat 4 warble - very nice!