RE: Subaru WRX STI: Review

[texaxile]

StottyEvo said:

Not even close to fast enough and it looks ugly.

Why wouldn't you just buy an older one?

Spot on. Even as a Subaru fanboy myself, I can't help but agree.

[USABRZ]

moribund said:

Interesting that this is a lukewarm review as the Yanks seem to really love the new one (non-STi WRX especially)

You guys quote g/kg figures and we don't even know what they are. We are also less concerned about mpg due to cheaper fuel, and the car is cheaper over here than in Europe.

Plus it seems like Japanese cars go over alot better in the USA than in Europe. Marketing has created some strong biases on both continents, methinks.

[Kenny Powers]

Interesting car, and a good balanced review. In my eyes, this piece pretty much answers all the questions being asked. At least from the point of view of the writer.

They're not expecting to sell these in big numbers, so it's not surprising that some reactions are luke warm. No matter, it is a good thing that cars like this are still being made.

I would bet 2p that some of the bad reactions are coming from people who will happily moan about ze Germans' boring cars in another thread. Negativity breeds bad outcomes

[snorkel sucker]

it's a relic.

rubbish mpg. high co2 and therefore tax and it's pretty much the same car as it always was.

the game has been moved on too far by others for this car to sell well.

[Ved]

Doesn't sound too positive.

[323ti]

"And the congregation may be dwindling."

Correct. I have owned four classic shape Impreza Turbo's and they were the best cars I've owned.
Performance, reliability, usability, low price, it was all there. But that was 15 years ago.
After that the cars grew bigger, heavier, more expensive and even uglier.

And now when you can buy something like a BMW M135i for the same sort of money it is truly game over.
Also when you have passed a certain age it becomes increasingly annoying to be associated with many of the people who "sit" behind the wheel of those Subaru's nowadays, but that's just me getting old, I guess.

The giant-killing abilities Subaru and Mitsubishi once had have certainly shifted towards Nissan though.

[Driver101]

cheddar said:

Lefty said:

Subarus used to have 50% more power than their competitors for the same money. So this needs to be 400bhp and £30k...

Odd car this, in a world of high efficiency, high mpg engines Subaru bring us an STI with less power than the old model (they had 335bhp/360ftlb torque) but everyday fuel economy in the high teens. Aside from a slightly more upmarket interior where have they moved the game on?

To top it all the base WRX has only 35bhp less and if you believe this http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/car-compar... it has more torque and it comes in much earlier.

Why would you buy this over a £30,000, 35mpg, beautifully built and equipped, low depreciation Golf R?

Beautifully built? Really? Think you've exaggerrated that a bit.

I think a lot of people, including myself, feel it's a bit on the cheap side.

Already quite a few owners having build quality issues to prove this.

The Subaru will be more reliable and in 2 years time when all the cheap leased Golf Rs hit the market, that has got to hit their prices.

Still not convinced on the looks of the Subaru, but it will have a market. Small like they have predicted.

[TroubledSoul]

cheddar said:

Odd car this, in a world of high efficiency, high mpg engines Subaru bring us an STI with less power than the old model (they had 335bhp/360ftlb torque) but everyday fuel economy in the high teens. Aside from a slightly more upmarket interior where have they moved the game on?

To top it all the base WRX has only 35bhp less and if you believe this http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/car-compar... it has more torque and it comes in much earlier.

Why would you buy this over a £30,000, 35mpg, beautifully built and equipped, low depreciation Golf R?

Because you want a car with real AWD? Because you want something different to the crowd?

[GravelBen]

Its a sad day when a new version of a relatively interesting, driver focussed performance car is reviewed and all 90% of posters can do is whinge about how they expect it to use slightly more fuel than a more expensive, more boring, probably less reliable Golf and how it will be taxed more heavily by their government.

Pistonheads - German badges and fuel economy matter!

Perhaps Subaru need to follow the German manufacturers lead and engineer cars for the lab tests, so they too can claim incredible fuel economy figures that nobody achieves in the real world...

Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 10th April 09:22

[FestivAli]

Call me one of the 79%. I find the fact that this is very much a car of the old school appealing. I'm what you would call of the Grand Turismo generation, and probably my favorite cars are the 90's Japanese performance cars, the ones where I would do that same Tahiti Road Sunday Cup race 5 times in a row in order to buy instead of trying to put 250hp in my supercharged and turbocharged 1988 Micra or Demio, or Colt. I like that they have stuck with a manual transmission (although I am not against them also offering an auto, a la WRX so those who never got a manual license can enjoy them too), and tuned the engine for high end performance first instead of economy. I like that they have stuck with hydraulic steering even though some electric systems are now fantastic. I like that they kept it traditional to a point but then whacked in 3 types of differential like the mad Japanese engineers of the late 80's would have. I like that it has ridiculous big wings and isn't particularly pretty (although I do like what I would call the rear haunches and the tiny taillights). I don't mind a bit of high tech and would even forgo a clutch pedal for a bit of 12C/650S action, but that middle ground occupied by sometimes auto only premium badges (seriously, here in Aus BMW don't even list a manual option for the new 2 series, even though there are plenty of manual 135i and 125is in the classifieds) that have the performance but marketed along smartphone interaction for when you are stuck in traffic jams has left me uninspired by most new cars that have come out in the last 8 years or so.

Bravo.

Incidentally, Pistonheads, I beseech you, call me. I promise you I can write much more eloquently and comprehensively than the above if I get to write about picking up the Evora from the airport after getting back from testing rally weapons in Sweden.

Ali.

Edited because my rant grammar is disgusting.

Edited by FestivAli on Thursday 10th April 09:31

[Vladimir]

I'd love to try one; proper 4wd, durable and quick.

I think the old "German cars are built best" is a nonsense these days. And the mpg obsession? Oh dear.

[Fetchez la vache]

All these comments about it being fugly - these have never been about pleasing aesthetics - they were always ugly to various degrees (maybe with a very few exceptions)..

Also from the looks of things it still looks like it feels like sitting inside a black bin bag. Hurrah!

Maybe it's because I'm no longer the reckless youngster that bought one the first time round, but I could live with the looks, but teens mpg in this day and age really is rather a shot in the foot. Almost ashamed to write that on here... where's mumsnet?

[Alfa159Ti]

Hideously ugly and outdated.

Why keep funelling energy and resource into a fallen icon that is no longer relevant?

They give us that great looking coupé concept a few years back that actually ignites some interest, then go back to flogging a dead horse.

[FestivAli]

Vladimir said:

And the mpg obsession? Oh dear.

I'm a bit conflicted on this. On one hand I really like the feeling of calculating my MPG (or litres/100km here) after filling up and having beat my previous figure but then at the same time my number one priority is my own driving enjoyment. I think I can be uncompromising in this respect with regard to a vehicle however because I hardly use any power at home, and because of that, paying more for renewable (ok, only 25%) electricity is no hardship on the wallet.

[GravelBen]

Fetchez la vache said:

All these comments about it being fugly - these have never been about pleasing aesthetics - they were always ugly to various degrees (maybe with a very few exceptions)..

Also from the looks of things it still looks like it feels like sitting inside a black bin bag. Hurrah!

Maybe it's because I'm no longer the reckless youngster that bought one the first time round, but I could live with the looks, but teens mpg in this day and age really is rather a shot in the foot. Almost ashamed to write that on here... where's mumsnet?

Where does the talk of mpg in the teens comes from anyway? Its not in the article, as far as I can tell it was just someone's wild exaggeration (trying to make a VW greybox(tm) sound more appealing) that got repeated by a few others. Most owners of turbo Subarus that I know average mid-20s and get 30+ on a run - they're not the most fuel efficient things around, but nothing like the way some people portray them.

TBH I don't think that interior looks any worse than the Golf R either, the Golf probably has a nicer dash layout but everything is just grey and boring. The Subaru seats look much better and they've always been excellent for ergonomics.

[lamby]

Alfa159Ti said:

Hideously ugly and outdated.

Why keep funelling energy and resource into a fallen icon that is no longer relevant?

They give us that great looking coupé concept a few years back that actually ignites some interest, then go back to flogging a dead horse.

I agree, the P2 and the most recent STI coupe concept where really head turners, they caused a real stir, surely they must have been inundated with calls to build them. I know the P2 was a prodrive concept, but subaru surely could take it too them and get them to build a really special coupe. Think subaru should readjust their piority when it comes to building their fast car..

Or, if they want to continue down this route, they need to improve and offer that little bit extra for alot less money. BIt more power, forged engine parts, stick with the sub30K pricetag.. They have to be able to put a real question into the old PH'ers mind, whereas now you look at the german equivelant, and they are just as quick or quicker... with lower running costs (TAX & PETROL)And im sure the interior, while improved will probably still not match that of a vee dubbleya...

[eddiesheanon]

Is it me or is this just the Legacy in a party dress.

see link

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17...

[Falsey]

The Max Power in my heart says yes, but my brain says too much money, too little mpg, too heavy, and too quiet!

Still.. if they depreciate rapidly enough..

Edited by Falsey on Thursday 10th April 10:25

[Ved]

eddiesheanon said:

Is it me or is this just the Legacy in a party dress.

see link

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17...

I think that's the best looking Subaru for 20 years.

[Axionknight]

Vladimir said:

I'd love to try one; proper 4wd, durable and quick.

I think the old "German cars are built best" is a nonsense these days. And the mpg obsession? Oh dear.

My thoughts exactly, I like this Scoob and think it looks decent (not spectacular in any way, but acceptable to my eyes) and though some of the interior plastics are a bit low rent they are usually durable enough - I'm suspect of VW these days, their marketing gurus must have done one hell of a job in the 90's to entrench the idea that VW = 100% solid into peoples minds because they don't seem that special these days, I know of people and hear of a lot more, on here included, that have had no end of problems with VW this alst few years.

I like it, black one please!