RE: Next Subaru WRX revealed?

RE: Next Subaru WRX revealed?

Author
Discussion

BrassMan

1,484 posts

189 months

Tuesday 12th November 2013
quotequote all
0000 said:


hurl
Hmm. The new Legacy? Slam it, install a huge wing and bonnet vent, fit 22" wheels and fill the dampers with tar and they could be onto a winner.

Hellbound

2,500 posts

176 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
blearyeyedboy said:
Exactly. They've got a tall order. They need to produce an engineering marvel, find another USP that sells well or become irrelevant as a market force.
I think they should create a new following, or 'cult' with the BRZ. Toyota Motorsport have announced a customer rally car (R3) for the GT86 and Subaru have their BRZ Zero Rally Race car thingy.

http://www.toyota-motorsport.com/en/latest-informa...


Escort Si-130

3,273 posts

180 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
PMSL, I agree

RSgeoff said:
Wow, that's so ugly it makes the M135i look good.

Escort Si-130

3,273 posts

180 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
lol at q-car???? are you serious. You don't even see a standard Subaru. Any time you see one its more than like a performance car. Plus you can hear them a mile away.

Andy ap said:
Seriously guys can we get back to talking about the Subaru not a bloody Ford!

Paint it blue or black would be even better and i think it would be an alright car. Not that pretty and bit of the swoopy Solidworks industrial design going on but then there are very very few cars sold now that havn't been designed on photo shop and put through some CAD program dragging surfaces here and there pointlessly.

I'll wait to reserve full judgement when i see how it performs and not just on paper, I.e. wet autumnal country lanes etc. If it is still between 26k and 30k i'd say that makes a bloody good buy for a quick 4WD saloon compared to the dull hot hatches now with flashy go faster bits on (you know what i mean).

If they could relocate the IC and lose the bonnet scoop perhaps it would make a great Q-car as it would fit right in with the Repmobiles.

Edited by Andy ap on Tuesday 12th November 12:06

dukebox9reg

1,571 posts

148 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
0000 said:


hurl
Strangely the more I look at it the more i'm starting to like it.

Though I do like some very marmite cars.

TPerrySi

1 posts

144 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
I saw one of these yesterday on the M40 / A46 roundabout near Warwick... I thought coming up to it, it was a Cadillac or something, but I read 'Subaru WRX STi' on the back of it and thought... 'WTF?!'

Look pretty sexy IMO!

bobberz

1,832 posts

199 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
Oh, that is disappointing! It's not exactly ugly, per-se, but it's not good looking, either. At least the previous ones were distinctive (although they were ugly!). I guess Subaru can't win; criticized for the ugliness of the previous gen, then, when they try to make the new one "less ugly", they also make it look very uninspired and derivative.

Looking at the rear 3/4 view, I see the current gen Civic sedan (USDM model, I don't know if the UK equivalent is the same) in the side/roofline. In fact, if you took away the wide arches and quad exhaust, it could very well be a Civic!





It would look a helluva lot better if it had the lower roofline and wider stance of the (spectacular-looking) concept. But let's face it, did any one of us truly believe the production version would look anything like that?


radio man

202 posts

174 months

Wednesday 13th November 2013
quotequote all
I believe that it is not a case of who deigned this car! as what designed this car. It is said that some car companies design ugly cars on purpose to make them stick out in showrooms and forecourts, well Subaru have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams with this offering, trouble is people will notice it but once they have inspected it they will scurry away laughing their heads off.
If Ford, Vauxhall and Renault can make good looking performance cars why can't Subaru? They have gone from making cars that dreams were made of to absolute nightmares.

dukebox9reg

1,571 posts

148 months

Thursday 14th November 2013
quotequote all
bobberz said:
Oh, that is disappointing! It's not exactly ugly, per-se, but it's not good looking, either. At least the previous ones were distinctive (although they were ugly!). I guess Subaru can't win; criticized for the ugliness of the previous gen, then, when they try to make the new one "less ugly", they also make it look very uninspired and derivative.

Looking at the rear 3/4 view, I see the current gen Civic sedan (USDM model, I don't know if the UK equivalent is the same) in the side/roofline. In fact, if you took away the wide arches and quad exhaust, it could very well be a Civic!





It would look a helluva lot better if it had the lower roofline and wider stance of the (spectacular-looking) concept. But let's face it, did any one of us truly believe the production version would look anything like that?
I still reckon it's got 3 series in it.


blearyeyedboy

6,298 posts

179 months

Friday 15th November 2013
quotequote all
Hellbound said:
I think they should create a new following, or 'cult' with the BRZ. Toyota Motorsport have announced a customer rally car (R3) for the GT86 and Subaru have their BRZ Zero Rally Race car thingy.
You're not a million miles away. The problem is that performance 4wd = big CO2 outputs = lost sales.

A new cult is needed, and BRZ might lead the way if handled correctly. But I suspect a performance biased 4 door* which only enables 4wd at times when the EU's not testing CO2 outputs would work even better for reviving sales.

*At least, a performance biased 4 door that doesn't look rubbish.

Art0ir

9,401 posts

170 months

Saturday 16th November 2013
quotequote all
Regarding CO2 output, is this down to an inherent disadvantage with the flat four Boxer engine, or have the Japanese just not spent much time on it? How do Mazda fair with their turbo I4's in the MPS range?

vikingaero

10,347 posts

169 months

Saturday 16th November 2013
quotequote all
bobberz said:
Oh, that is disappointing! It's not exactly ugly, per-se, but it's not good looking, either. At least the previous ones were distinctive (although they were ugly!). I guess Subaru can't win; criticized for the ugliness of the previous gen, then, when they try to make the new one "less ugly", they also make it look very uninspired and derivative.

Looking at the rear 3/4 view, I see the current gen Civic sedan (USDM model, I don't know if the UK equivalent is the same) in the side/roofline. In fact, if you took away the wide arches and quad exhaust, it could very well be a Civic!





It would look a helluva lot better if it had the lower roofline and wider stance of the (spectacular-looking) concept. But let's face it, did any one of us truly believe the production version would look anything like that?
I kind of disagree. The 3/4 view seems like an evolution of the current 4 door sedan WRX STI.

Not brilliant styling I agree but the Japanese seem to be out-Japanesed by Korean car makers in styling if that makes sense!

Let's not forget that Subaru are a tiny car make and seem to have the wackiness and attitude of Saab - although let's hope they don't go that way.

Lefty

16,157 posts

202 months

Saturday 16th November 2013
quotequote all
A little 2-door, 5-seat saloon (like the bm 1 series). 4wd, flared arches, ugly rear wing, unequal headers. 350bhp, 4wd, £30k. I think this would sell well!

blearyeyedboy

6,298 posts

179 months

Saturday 16th November 2013
quotequote all
Art0ir said:
Regarding CO2 output, is this down to an inherent disadvantage with the flat four Boxer engine, or have the Japanese just not spent much time on it? How do Mazda fair with their turbo I4's in the MPS range?
I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the boxer config- I've tried to find out but I can't. (Very happy for someone else to chip in here!)

What definitely doesn't help is a large capacity NA engine coupled to a permanent 4wd drivetrain. Make it a 2L turbo and a give it a diff that uncouples 2 wheels and you might have some improvement while remaining reasonably true to Subaru's heritage.

However... if it was that easy, I suspect Subaru would have done so. It's very rarely the case that an armchair pundit comes up with a better strategy than a large company. However, the bland styling is indicative of a risk averse culture in a company that really needs to start taking some risks to take back some market share.

Unreal1066

33 posts

142 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
quotequote all
Can we have Chris doing some more hot hatch or even cars not officially sport badged featured in videos please.