RE: RIP Subaru Impreza

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Discussion

Ved

3,825 posts

174 months

Tuesday 18th December 2012
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I popped in to Crossroads Subaru over the weekend and it looks like a Rover garage shortly before they dropped dead. The life has just been sucked out of them. Subaru may well try to concentrate on SUVs now but that will only last so long. Even the new XV, which they no doubt hung their UK future on, isn't selling well. It looks bloody ugly and the interior is 1980s cheap.

Sadly Subaru's days in the UK are numbered and I can only see them lasting another couple of years.

Big shame frown

odyssey2200

18,650 posts

208 months

Tuesday 18th December 2012
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Ved said:
I popped in to Crossroads Subaru over the weekend and it looks like a Rover garage shortly before they dropped dead. The life has just been sucked out of them. Subaru may well try to concentrate on SUVs now but that will only last so long. Even the new XV, which they no doubt hung their UK future on, isn't selling well. It looks bloody ugly and the interior is 1980s cheap.

Sadly Subaru's days in the UK are numbered and I can only see them lasting another couple of years.

Big shame frown
scratchchin

They (IM) said that they were going to concentrate on SUVs
But they didn't sat Subaru SUVs, did they.

As for lasting a couple of years, I think Subaru will continue but perhaps under a new importer.

Ved

3,825 posts

174 months

Tuesday 18th December 2012
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The Subaru PR manager said "We need to keep ourselves competitive and will be focusing on our SUV range and BRZ sports car"

That says Subaru cars to me. Either way, they're now a niche brand again. Their frankly insane plan to try to compete with VW and BMW with repulsive and out-dated models has removed them from most peoples wish-lists which is a shame as they are still one of the best engineering companies on the planet. It's a shame they are dressed in such ugly clothes and cut from poor cloth.


Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Tuesday 18th December 2012
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I was at Crossroads last week too - having my 3.0Rn serviced. I can see the market for Subaru is changing but not diminishing. I think the high powered rally cars have gone but the country-gent still loves the brand. I sat for most of the day there whilst they addressed a few items I'd asked them for, during which time I spoke to a few other customers waiting for their cars. They were of all ages and all equally fervent in their love of the brand. They nearly all lived in small towns/villages and wanted to tow horse boxes or racing cars, and appreciated the traction advantages in inclement weather particularly because they needed to be self-sufficient and not rely on others (owing to their location).

Fuel economy was only spoken of by one person - out of at least 7. And he said it as it being the "only" disadvantage, but that it wouldn't turn him off the brand.

I am almost certainly going to replace my ageing Leggy with a nearly-new Outback next year, despite them being ugly mofos. I just can't ignore the engineering. And I'll keep going to Crossroads. My experiments with alternative servicing agents have been very depressing, despite they being closer to home.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
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paulmoonraker said:
^

I think prodrive quoted the 0-60 on the 2005 WRX at sub 5 seconds, which does help substantiate the 'got slower' argument.
Yeah though it was definitely 'nippy'.

Interestingly my wife 'hated' the saloon cars, but fell for the hatchback.

Weird.

Andy30241

27 posts

146 months

Thursday 20th December 2012
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I was sad to hear this news I have owned 2 Imprezas in my time and worked as a salesman for Subaru when the new Impreza was released.

Got to say I wasn't a fan of the look and style but the car lost none of its handling or speed credibilitys. IMO I think they should have released the saloon version we have now from the off and they would have kept alot more Fans in the brand.

I will be picking up a near new STI saloon in the next year or so. Thats if the prices don't go crazy.

deltashad

6,731 posts

196 months

Friday 21st December 2012
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Bye bye. Surely this won't be the end of silly rally replicas.
They are so much fun!!

Mastodon2

13,818 posts

164 months

Friday 21st December 2012
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I was reminiscing with a friend about his old Hawkeye WRX, what a stunning car it was. He is an obsessive about his cars and keeps them super clean. A week after he bought it from the dealers it looked incredible, and straight away he got a brand new Blitz Nur Spec on it. The day after he got it fitted we went out for a blast in it, what a hoot. The acceleration was no better than many of the hot hatches of similar power figures (what is a 2006 Hawkeye WRX rated at anyway, 240bhp isn't it?) but the noise was unbelievable, like sitting inside a helicopter. Whump whump wuhump whump. The handling was great too, I love the way the 4WD rally reps just seem to laugh in the face of poor surfaces, cambers etc and just stick to the road and fly round the corners.

Sadly, he didn't keep it that long. After he sold his Fiesta ST to buy the WRX, he got a new girlfriend and getting to her house and back was taking a quarter of a tank of fuel a time, and his tendency to drive flat out didn't help. Unfortunately, he got scamera'd doing 84mph on a one of those pointless 50mph dual carriageways, and following a weeks ban, he checked and his insurance was going to skyrocket the next year. He was offered a way out of the WRX without losing too much money, so he got shot of it and bought another ST. I don't blame him, but I still miss seeing that car and zooming around in it, but I miss the noise of it the most. It was just incredible.

Konan

1,817 posts

145 months

Saturday 22nd December 2012
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paulmoonraker said:
I think prodrive quoted the 0-60 on the 2005 WRX at sub 5 seconds, which does help substantiate the 'got slower' argument.
Yup - 4.9

I have read that Prodrive measured times involved hard launching the car in 2nd gear... so you might only get a few 4.9 launches before funny smells and banging noises start wink

jaybirduk

1,867 posts

166 months

Monday 31st December 2012
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I've had a few from new :

Turbo 2000 UK (classic)
WRX (blob eye)
WRX PPP (hawk eye)
STI Type UK (hatch)

Not sure what I'll get next but the 2013 spec S3 looks interesting with 300bhp and up to 40mpg

white_goodman

4,042 posts

190 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Well, time to resurrect this thread methinks. They said it would never happen but the Impreza WRX STI still lives.



The big question is though, will people buy it? I think in the population at large, we all know the answer to that question. It doesn't have a BMW or Audi badge, so no! Would PHers buy it though, is probably the more pertinent question.

Well objectively, it undercuts its key rivals (M135i, Golf R, S3) in terms of price and unlike them, will probably have most kit as standard. It's also not significantly more expensive than some cheaper rivals (Megane Trophy, Astra VXR) whilst offering more power, AWD and more practicality with 4 doors to boot. It seems to be on the money in terms of performance too, although mpg and emissions still lag behind and it offers no more power than before but does more power necessarily equate to better? Presumably there will still be plenty of aftermarket tuning options available, so 300bhp is just a starting point. Clearly, the BMW will cost less to run but judging by the mpg figures that owners are quoting compared to VAG's claims, perhaps the STI won't lag behind the Golf R/S3 significantly in this respect. Higher CO2s will mean that it is unlikely to do well on the fleet market though and Subaru rarely have finance/lease deals that are as competitive as BMW/Audi/VW.

It still lacks the motorsport connection of its forbears though, although perhaps Mark Higgins record-breaking lap of the TT may give it some extra kudos? Now, Subaru have arguably the better AWD system over VW/Audi and for me (although I'm sure they're great everyday cars), these two are just a bit dull. The BMW? Personally, although I have yet to drive one, I think the engine of the M135i will be fantastic, as is the RWD but as a practical family hatch, the 1-Series is a bit crap and fugly into the bargain. The 2 door M235i is much better proportioned and works much better for me aesthetically (like a modern day E30) but then it's a less practical car and so a slightly different market. It's nice to have an alternative choice again that isn't a BMW or Audi and as an ex-Blobeye WRX owner, I know how great these cars can be but I'm still not sure. When I first saw it from the back, I actually thought it looked a bit like a BMW 3-Series and maybe the big wing is also a bit OTT these days. Without the wing and in a dark colour (black/grey) then possibly. Perhaps Mitsubishi will follow suit and bring back the Evo in a couple of years time too?

The comeback has seemed a bit low key to me but the reviews that I have read so far have seemed pretty good. What's Subaru's strategy as a whole? Maybe they could take a leaf (no pun intended) out of Nissan's book, as they seem to have re-invented themselves quite successfully as perhaps the most interesting Japanese car maker by ditching vehicles from traditional segments (Almera, Primera) and making vehicles like the Juke and Qashquai, which seem to be selling fairly well.

The only thing I would say though is that I would definitely want one of these if they ever decided to make it!



So PH, what do we think? Is it on your radar? Would you consider buying one?

Edited by white_goodman on Saturday 18th October 04:02

BritishRacinGrin

24,602 posts

159 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Nostalgia aside, This has to be the best looking WRX yet?

I've never been keen on this kind of thing but if it could offer performance like it's forerunners, in a handsome 3-door guise with a flat four, manual 'box and a half decent interior, I'd find it quite compelling.

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Why would you buy one when you can get an S3 / R golf with the same performance for the same money give or take a grand

The interior of the Subaru is 10 years out of date, it's a poor tax band and eats fuel,

The competition incl mega hot hatches like the Megan have moved the goal posts a long way past this reheated trip down nostalgia

I bought 2 new STi type UKs back in the day

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Dave Hedgehog said:
Why would you buy one when you can get an S3 / R golf with the same performance for the same money give or take a grand

Because they are so common and the engines are devoid of any character? That would be enough for me to consider an alternative.

A few soft touch plastics and rubbers don`t make a car at all desireable for me.

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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I hope the next generation of Legacy looks as good as this. I've moved away from the brand because it's an absolute horror (to look at) but this Impreza looks fantastic.

CraigyMc

16,313 posts

235 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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rb5er said:
soft touch plastics and rubbers don`t make a car at all desireable for me.
Funnily enough, hard/scratchy plastics don't make a car desireable to me. Each to their own.

FussyFez

972 posts

175 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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I'm sure I had a 2014 STI behind me the other day. First I've seen in the metal.

It didn't pass me, so I can't be sure, but it very much looked like one in my mirrors.


It's a shame that the STI has been pulled from the UK market, but I think we still have an epic choice of past models to choose from.

Will definitely be owning an STI at some point. Probably a 05 Dccd model, or maybe a classic shape type r or similar. Lots of choice.

Sir Fergie

795 posts

134 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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You can still apparently buy a hatchback version of the new Impreza in Ireland - they even seem to do a normal 1.6 litre petrol - AWD.

It will be interesting to see what the next Legacy will be like.

The chasing BMW thing might have being viable - had the current Legacy not been such a lacklustre offering.

The old pre 09 Legacy had lots of promise - they could have built on that but failed to do so

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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CraigyMc said:
rb5er said:
soft touch plastics and rubbers don`t make a car at all desireable for me.
Funnily enough, hard/scratchy plastics don't make a car desireable to me. Each to their own.
Yep each to their own and more importantly than interior plastics for me is the fact that I don`t like driving a car that I see another 10 of every day, seems so much less special when everyone has one.

On a side note have you been in a new STI? Which plastics did you find hard and "scratchy" ?

ess

791 posts

177 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Loved my WRX Wagon.
Bought new from a Tunbridge Wells dealership in 2007 for £17k; just as the hatches were released.
Made a few choice mods (PPP, Prodrive springs, Perrin ARB's).
Great fun in Norwegian snow on Nokian winter rubber.

Not the best looking car and the interior was a bit cheap, but I never bought it for a beauty contest.
Absolute joy to drive and great suspension set up for UK roads.

Incidentally, last 2 cars have been BMW Z4's but I'd have another WRX Wagon in a heartbeat.
The performance of the WRX was just more useable on a day to day basis.