Subaru WRX STI: PH Fleet
One German rival seen off; another more formidable one has now joined the PH Fleet
The homepage story off the back of that attracted an awful lot of comment, much of it highly entertaining. Those who still believe in the Subaru dream are as passionate as ever; those who've 'grown up' and realised they can achieve pretty much the same ends behind a more mature looking Audi badge equally eager to declare their love for their cars.
I really enjoyed reading through the 200-odd comments and hearing both sides of the story. PHer WokkaWokka typifies the kind of person I would consider a traditional Impreza customer won over by the charms of the Audi. "I regularly thrash the fk out of mine on North Yorkshire roads," he says, heading off the predictable jibes by concluding, "I don't imagine everyone who says it's boring lives with four strippers and snorts cocaine for breakfast." On the other side MyEvilTwin asked us to imagine the scene at a petrol station when someone wanders over and asks about your car. "Subaru: 'Nice car, bet it shifts a bit.' Audi: 'Nice car, is it a diesel? What mpg are you getting?'" Plenty more like that within the thread too - take a look if you haven't already. The video that featured in our PHTV episode 7 is now available to view as a standalone too - see here.
For what it's worth I enjoyed the Audi a lot more than I expected and was impressed with its abilities. I much prefer it to the Golf R too, which is odd given it's mechanically pretty much identical. Whether it's the addition of the boot or just the fact it's nearly as quick but doesn't shout so loud about it the S3 has the feel of a real sleeper about it. I'm determined to spend some more time in the Golf though, if only to see if it really does live up to the at times deafening hype.
I remain loyal to my Subaru fanboy roots though. Even if I have to concede one stereotypical failing in comparison with the Germans. Generally I'm not as offended by the cabin as some but when the aux/USB sockets came adrift and disappeared into the centre binnacle it seemed to confirm the assumptions about plasticky Japanese interiors. First time it happened I unscrewed the casing, skinned my knuckles fishing about within and managed to reattach it. Returning from a stint with a colleague I was dismayed to find it had once again disappeared into the depths. Bah!
Audi and VW fans, I grant you a small degree of uber alles smugness...
FACT SHEET
Car: 2014 Subaru WRX STI
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: December 2014
Mileage: More!
List price new: £28,995 (£30,007 as tested including £1,012 for Pioneer touchscreen navigation unit; c. £75 fitting charge applicable but varies according to dealership)
Last month at a glance: Have the Germans really stolen Subaru's thunder?
Previous updates:
New arrival - the NotImpreza has landed!
Rusty nail plays Scrooge over a white Christmas
Four wheels back on his wagon, Dan's having fun
Busy month for the Subaru in first of showdowns against German rivals
Track photos: Terry Oborne
Like I say, I haven't had opportunity to drive it in a way hidden depths may emerge so I'll reserve judgement until that happens. But on first impressions it's left me entirely cold. A great product though, no doubt about that - looks ace, feelgood factors galore, incredibly accomplished and extremely rapid. Just hasn't lit the fire in me yet!
Cheers!
Dan
Like I say, I haven't had opportunity to drive it in a way hidden depths may emerge so I'll reserve judgement until that happens. But on first impressions it's left me entirely cold. A great product though, no doubt about that - looks ace, feelgood factors galore, incredibly accomplished and extremely rapid. Just hasn't lit the fire in me yet!
Cheers!
Dan
I loved the cars i owned, not the cheapest things to run with high service costs and parts (if you can get parts that is), but a great performance car for the money.
But since they introduced the EJ25 engine and its issues that (still) comes with it, a lot of die hard owners have moved away from the marque.
Already one 2015 car has let go, mainly due to the owner running it on 95 ron fuel, but still, it sits in the back of your mind, how reliable is my car and why does it only get a 3 year warranty when the others in the range get 5.
I am not a great VW/Audi lover either as I think the marque is over hyped for what you get, still you cannot argue that they are giving the customers what they want.
I also dont understand why manufacturers are making cars with so many driver "gadgets" in these cars, evo drive, sports mode, comfort mode, exhaust sound, so by the time you set your car up its time for tea.
Sometimes I wish the likes of Subaru would go back to their roots and just build a good drivers car (ok we have the BRZ) and forget about the fancy aids you can set up, eco mode is how softly you feather the throttle, sports mode how hard you put your foot down, maybe this is why I went back to Peugeot and ended up with an RCZ R and not regretted the move from Subaru since.
Already one 2015 car has let go, mainly due to the owner running it on 95 ron fuel, but still, it sits in the back of yomod, how reliable is my car and why does it only get a 3 year warranty when the others in the range get 5.
Any more news on this?
There is a little more to it also but it does make the owner look completely incompetent/gullible tbh.
There is a little more to it also but it does make the owner look completely incompetent/gullible tbh.
It tells you to run on 98 RON fuel. I queried that with the dealer I purchased mine from as I personally know that BP Ultimate is 97 RON and therefore would that technically invalidate any warranty issues from Subaru; to which they replied "nah, it'll be fine".
I only ever use Shell V-Power in mine, and would only resort to BP Ultimate if ever caught short!
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