Boo-Hoo Subaru
Discussion
Subaru can get their chins up and just deal with the fact that people dont like the Imperezza any more. Its all their fault!
The first Scooby was amazing, burbley boxer engine, turbo whistle, a thrilling soundtrack! Forgiving, flatterring and great fun on the limit, praise like never before from the motoring press!
Add to this the fact you could watch McRae blasting through a rally stage with the very car you had sat outside only added to the appeal. However it all went down hill when they brought out the second "bug-eyed" version, This is when Subary lost their way and misunderstood their target market. The motoring press didnt exactly slate it, but it wasnt an improvement on the original. Just a softer, heavier, uglier version.
Every new model since has been more expensive, more ugly, and less fun.
Worst of all though is that Subaru have seemed to purposefully alienate themselves from the people that made the car a cult hero in the first place. The Scooby was a car for people who didnt mind being called a chav down at the pub for their choice of car, they'd forget all about that the first time they went out for a country road blast on a typically british wet day.
Subaru wanted to break into the family market with this most recent car, why? And the collaboration with Cosworth seemed to me like a last ditch attempt at reigniting the following they were once so loyal too.
For now the Imprezza is dead, but as with all cult cars, its not to say there wont be a reinvention in a few years. Hopefully if there were it woudl remain true to the original and best Imprezza Turbo.
Rant over
The first Scooby was amazing, burbley boxer engine, turbo whistle, a thrilling soundtrack! Forgiving, flatterring and great fun on the limit, praise like never before from the motoring press!
Add to this the fact you could watch McRae blasting through a rally stage with the very car you had sat outside only added to the appeal. However it all went down hill when they brought out the second "bug-eyed" version, This is when Subary lost their way and misunderstood their target market. The motoring press didnt exactly slate it, but it wasnt an improvement on the original. Just a softer, heavier, uglier version.
Every new model since has been more expensive, more ugly, and less fun.
Worst of all though is that Subaru have seemed to purposefully alienate themselves from the people that made the car a cult hero in the first place. The Scooby was a car for people who didnt mind being called a chav down at the pub for their choice of car, they'd forget all about that the first time they went out for a country road blast on a typically british wet day.
Subaru wanted to break into the family market with this most recent car, why? And the collaboration with Cosworth seemed to me like a last ditch attempt at reigniting the following they were once so loyal too.
For now the Imprezza is dead, but as with all cult cars, its not to say there wont be a reinvention in a few years. Hopefully if there were it woudl remain true to the original and best Imprezza Turbo.
Rant over
.benthirteen said:
For now the Imprezza is dead, but as with all cult cars, its not to say there wont be a reinvention in a few years. Hopefully if there were it woudl remain true to the original and best Imprezza Turbo.
Rant over
You do know that the Impreza is not dead, they've just stopped importing it to the UK?Rant over
The UK demand for a whole year for Subarus is met by roughly 1/2 of one days production in Subarus factories, therefore i dont think they'll be terribly concerned that we havent been buying Imprezas so much here, given that they'll just shift those handful of build slots to cars for the home markets or their big export markets, america and australia.
Edited by daemon on Friday 28th December 10:30
benthirteen said:
Subaru can get their chins up and just deal with the fact that people dont like the Imperezza any more. Its all their fault!
The first Scooby was amazing, burbley boxer engine, turbo whistle, a thrilling soundtrack! Forgiving, flatterring and great fun on the limit, praise like never before from the motoring press!
Add to this the fact you could watch McRae blasting through a rally stage with the very car you had sat outside only added to the appeal. However it all went down hill when they brought out the second "bug-eyed" version, This is when Subary lost their way and misunderstood their target market. The motoring press didnt exactly slate it, but it wasnt an improvement on the original. Just a softer, heavier, uglier version.
Every new model since has been more expensive, more ugly, and less fun.
Worst of all though is that Subaru have seemed to purposefully alienate themselves from the people that made the car a cult hero in the first place. The Scooby was a car for people who didnt mind being called a chav down at the pub for their choice of car, they'd forget all about that the first time they went out for a country road blast on a typically british wet day.
Subaru wanted to break into the family market with this most recent car, why? And the collaboration with Cosworth seemed to me like a last ditch attempt at reigniting the following they were once so loyal too.
For now the Imprezza is dead, but as with all cult cars, its not to say there wont be a reinvention in a few years. Hopefully if there were it woudl remain true to the original and best Imprezza Turbo.
Rant over
3/10 Rubbish rant/TrollingThe first Scooby was amazing, burbley boxer engine, turbo whistle, a thrilling soundtrack! Forgiving, flatterring and great fun on the limit, praise like never before from the motoring press!
Add to this the fact you could watch McRae blasting through a rally stage with the very car you had sat outside only added to the appeal. However it all went down hill when they brought out the second "bug-eyed" version, This is when Subary lost their way and misunderstood their target market. The motoring press didnt exactly slate it, but it wasnt an improvement on the original. Just a softer, heavier, uglier version.
Every new model since has been more expensive, more ugly, and less fun.
Worst of all though is that Subaru have seemed to purposefully alienate themselves from the people that made the car a cult hero in the first place. The Scooby was a car for people who didnt mind being called a chav down at the pub for their choice of car, they'd forget all about that the first time they went out for a country road blast on a typically british wet day.
Subaru wanted to break into the family market with this most recent car, why? And the collaboration with Cosworth seemed to me like a last ditch attempt at reigniting the following they were once so loyal too.
For now the Imprezza is dead, but as with all cult cars, its not to say there wont be a reinvention in a few years. Hopefully if there were it woudl remain true to the original and best Imprezza Turbo.
Rant over
1: For someone that seemingly wants to people to think he knows a lot about the Impreza you should probbaly have at least tried to spell Impreza right maybe once or twice, I'm not being a spelling Nazi, but its difficult to take your rant seriously as you've clearly never owned one, if you had you'd be aware it has one Z.
2: The "Bugeye" sales figures say the complete opposite of the point you're trying to make, and "Softer", makes no sense, what do you mean by "Softer"??
3: It's only Subaru UK that arent importing any, the Impreza is still being made.
He does have a point, they did make it uglier, remember when the Bug Eye came out ?
Sadly, the fuel price, VED, insurance, speed cameras and fast diesels did more to kill the rally reps than Subaru or Mitsubishi ever did, plus the image went from well heeled, discerning rally enthusiast to scrote. Most company car policie these days specify diesel or the rules will preclude anything like an Impreza, leasing one is expensive due to the residuals and the fact you can get something "premium" for less money. The standard models just arent that fast these days either, you need a STi Cosworth UK 1200 Prodrive or something to go really fast these days and they want 40 grand for those which is financial suicide.
Subaru didnt really change the recipe that much, its just the motoring landscape changed around them and they didnt react, plus, the UK is a small market so they wont make us a UK specific version when they can probably still shift loads in other markets where the motorist isnt made to feel grateful to be able to afford a 90 bhp diesel.
Sadly, the fuel price, VED, insurance, speed cameras and fast diesels did more to kill the rally reps than Subaru or Mitsubishi ever did, plus the image went from well heeled, discerning rally enthusiast to scrote. Most company car policie these days specify diesel or the rules will preclude anything like an Impreza, leasing one is expensive due to the residuals and the fact you can get something "premium" for less money. The standard models just arent that fast these days either, you need a STi Cosworth UK 1200 Prodrive or something to go really fast these days and they want 40 grand for those which is financial suicide.
Subaru didnt really change the recipe that much, its just the motoring landscape changed around them and they didnt react, plus, the UK is a small market so they wont make us a UK specific version when they can probably still shift loads in other markets where the motorist isnt made to feel grateful to be able to afford a 90 bhp diesel.
r11co said:
Utter ignorant tosh. The hot Imprezas/STis are dead in the UK thanks to 'environmental' politics. Nothing more and nothing less. No-one passed a law directly banning them, but the VED and fuel duty s
t did the job quite effectively, thank you.
I think they just fell out of favour with the buying public. If you really wanted one, they're not *that* hard to run - an STi can probably average 24-25mpg, and is maybe £100 a year more to tax than say, a Golf R, BUT rally reps arent in vogue any more.t did the job quite effectively, thank you.
The Impreza was cool in 1998 because
-- WRC was exciting (inspirational drivers and brilliant cars)
-- Colin McRae was a popular hero
-- Fuel and VED were relatively cheap
-- extremely quick for the money vs competition
-- The Impreza had a positive discerning image
Subaru (and Prodrive) created an incredible series of cars: Turbo, RB5, P1, 22B etc
Now in 2012
-- WRC has imploded (dull drivers and shopping cars)
-- Colin McRae RIP
-- Fuel and VED are now punitive / prohibitive
-- No longer good value performance vs. competition
-- Impreza now has a negative 'low IQ' image
The current Impreza is not capable, competitive, or relevant in the UK. Quite simply it's had it's day...
Will
-- WRC was exciting (inspirational drivers and brilliant cars)
-- Colin McRae was a popular hero
-- Fuel and VED were relatively cheap
-- extremely quick for the money vs competition
-- The Impreza had a positive discerning image
Subaru (and Prodrive) created an incredible series of cars: Turbo, RB5, P1, 22B etc
Now in 2012
-- WRC has imploded (dull drivers and shopping cars)
-- Colin McRae RIP
-- Fuel and VED are now punitive / prohibitive
-- No longer good value performance vs. competition
-- Impreza now has a negative 'low IQ' image
The current Impreza is not capable, competitive, or relevant in the UK. Quite simply it's had it's day...
Will
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