Impreza Turbo Test drive (vs Cupra)
Discussion
Made a duplicate post on the evo forum but since they are more interested in discussing someone called IMAMUPPET at the moment I thought I'd post here as well.
I've finally lost my Impreza cherry and had a spin in one. Deep blue mica, 4 door, the very last of the old shape - i.e. just about the best UK model available bar the P1 or RB5.
First impressions, I pour myself into the huggy seats, adjust them slightly and strap myself in. Salesmen with me but he encouraged me to give it some welly so not a problem.
Acceleration - brisk but no quicker than the (200+bhp)Cupra, in fact it felt a bit slower and not quite as urgent. Not exactly slow though.
On this basis I should imagine the current WRX is pretty sluggish unless its been tweaked, judging from what I've read elsewhere.
Brakes - nowhere near as sharp as the 2 pot Tarox grooved disc and Greenstuff set up on the Ibiza, the Impreza being a late model had four pots - god knows how shite the brakes on earlier Imprezas (pre '99) are.
I hope the STi5/6 has better kit on it.
Steering - well weighted, meaty, positive, if lacking in feel compared to something like a 205 GTi.
Handling - fantastic, absolutely brilliant, keep the power on through bends, it just grips and goes with no fuss and no need to make constant corrections with steering and throttle as you do in a powerful front drive car.
Traction and Gearbox - plant the throttle and off it surges in the direction you want, no torque steer of course, a lovely gluey feeling with the AWD and superb close stacked snickety gearbox for quick changes. Haven't driven a car with gates like that since a Mk2 Escort.
Overall - loved the car, loved the way it drove, the looks, although some gold Prodrive 17s would have set it off a treat. Deeply impressed, it deserves the praise heaped on it, but I'd have to address two areas where its shown up by my humble Ibiza.
I'd want a proper performance brake upgrade, they don't do the car justice, and in most other areas it feels like a rally car. Prodrive or AP Racing are the people to speak to I guess?
The second area, it needs an extra 40 or so bhp to make up for the extra weight and power sapping 4x4 over the Cupra, also the standard exhaust sounded weedy next to the PPP'd wagon that I'd heard earlier.
Not sure how dealers view aftermarket stuff from Scoobysport etc. or whether its best to shell out for the Prodrive gear.
Wouldn't bother touching the suspension, for road use its good enough out of the box and I wouldn't want to harm the ride quality, which is firm but acceptable.
I think with the brakes sorted, a bit more go and a rorty exhaust this would be my ideal car.
P.S. Took the salesman for a spin in the Ibiza afterward (with TCS switched off), think I made his day squealing those Goodyears. Thank God it was dry.
>>> Edited by CupRacer on Tuesday 4th June 16:47
I've finally lost my Impreza cherry and had a spin in one. Deep blue mica, 4 door, the very last of the old shape - i.e. just about the best UK model available bar the P1 or RB5.
First impressions, I pour myself into the huggy seats, adjust them slightly and strap myself in. Salesmen with me but he encouraged me to give it some welly so not a problem.
Acceleration - brisk but no quicker than the (200+bhp)Cupra, in fact it felt a bit slower and not quite as urgent. Not exactly slow though.
On this basis I should imagine the current WRX is pretty sluggish unless its been tweaked, judging from what I've read elsewhere.
Brakes - nowhere near as sharp as the 2 pot Tarox grooved disc and Greenstuff set up on the Ibiza, the Impreza being a late model had four pots - god knows how shite the brakes on earlier Imprezas (pre '99) are.
I hope the STi5/6 has better kit on it.
Steering - well weighted, meaty, positive, if lacking in feel compared to something like a 205 GTi.
Handling - fantastic, absolutely brilliant, keep the power on through bends, it just grips and goes with no fuss and no need to make constant corrections with steering and throttle as you do in a powerful front drive car.
Traction and Gearbox - plant the throttle and off it surges in the direction you want, no torque steer of course, a lovely gluey feeling with the AWD and superb close stacked snickety gearbox for quick changes. Haven't driven a car with gates like that since a Mk2 Escort.
Overall - loved the car, loved the way it drove, the looks, although some gold Prodrive 17s would have set it off a treat. Deeply impressed, it deserves the praise heaped on it, but I'd have to address two areas where its shown up by my humble Ibiza.
I'd want a proper performance brake upgrade, they don't do the car justice, and in most other areas it feels like a rally car. Prodrive or AP Racing are the people to speak to I guess?
The second area, it needs an extra 40 or so bhp to make up for the extra weight and power sapping 4x4 over the Cupra, also the standard exhaust sounded weedy next to the PPP'd wagon that I'd heard earlier.
Not sure how dealers view aftermarket stuff from Scoobysport etc. or whether its best to shell out for the Prodrive gear.
Wouldn't bother touching the suspension, for road use its good enough out of the box and I wouldn't want to harm the ride quality, which is firm but acceptable.
I think with the brakes sorted, a bit more go and a rorty exhaust this would be my ideal car.
P.S. Took the salesman for a spin in the Ibiza afterward (with TCS switched off), think I made his day squealing those Goodyears. Thank God it was dry.
>>> Edited by CupRacer on Tuesday 4th June 16:47
Hi CupRacer,
An interesting comparison. I drive a 2000 model Impreza Turbo and had a bit of a duel with a Cupra/Leon thingy the other day- sorry not sure exactly what it’s called but it had one of those extra badges on the front grill
There’s certainly not much in it acceleration wise. He came up behind me at a junction and was glued to my bumper up to about 105-110mph. Only above 110 did my Impreza begin to pull away. Don’t know if this was due to him running out of steam or the fact that the road surface was seriously bumpy and he was worried about becoming airborne.
He caught up with me when we had to slalom round a few dawdling numpties. Again he was on my bumper up to about 110 when the road changed to 3rd world standard (i.e. normal UK tarmac) and went into a series of sweeping bends with some quite nasty bumps and cambers. I was driving near enough flat out so didn’t check my mirror for about the next 3 quarters of a mile. At which point the Seat wasn’t there any more. 5-10 seconds later he still hadn’t caught up. I was seriously beginning to worry he’d lost it on one of the corners when he appeared in my mirror again. We overtook one more car before I turned off and again he matched my acceleration (40-80mph).
So I agree that for straight line speed the Seat is a match for the Impreza. But on twisty UK back roads the AWD Impreza’s handling does seem to give it a distinct edge. Totally agree about the Impreza brakes as well. A few hard applications from 120 and they’re useless ‘til they’ve cooled again. My dealer insists that that fitting anything but Prodrive parts will invalidate the warranty so never bothered to upgrade them – just learnt to drive without ever slowing down
Think I will have to test drive a Seat – seems to be quite a performance bargain.
An interesting comparison. I drive a 2000 model Impreza Turbo and had a bit of a duel with a Cupra/Leon thingy the other day- sorry not sure exactly what it’s called but it had one of those extra badges on the front grill
There’s certainly not much in it acceleration wise. He came up behind me at a junction and was glued to my bumper up to about 105-110mph. Only above 110 did my Impreza begin to pull away. Don’t know if this was due to him running out of steam or the fact that the road surface was seriously bumpy and he was worried about becoming airborne.
He caught up with me when we had to slalom round a few dawdling numpties. Again he was on my bumper up to about 110 when the road changed to 3rd world standard (i.e. normal UK tarmac) and went into a series of sweeping bends with some quite nasty bumps and cambers. I was driving near enough flat out so didn’t check my mirror for about the next 3 quarters of a mile. At which point the Seat wasn’t there any more. 5-10 seconds later he still hadn’t caught up. I was seriously beginning to worry he’d lost it on one of the corners when he appeared in my mirror again. We overtook one more car before I turned off and again he matched my acceleration (40-80mph).
So I agree that for straight line speed the Seat is a match for the Impreza. But on twisty UK back roads the AWD Impreza’s handling does seem to give it a distinct edge. Totally agree about the Impreza brakes as well. A few hard applications from 120 and they’re useless ‘til they’ve cooled again. My dealer insists that that fitting anything but Prodrive parts will invalidate the warranty so never bothered to upgrade them – just learnt to drive without ever slowing down
Think I will have to test drive a Seat – seems to be quite a performance bargain.
Mines the Ibiza, but chipped and with another couple of minor tweaks to take it to 200bhp+ (from 156bhp standard). Pretty much pushes the Ibiza chassis to the limit but once you learn how to drive the car properly its good fun.
The Leon Cupra has 180bhp as standard, quite a few of these are being chipped as well. As you have observed both cars are not big fans of bumpy roads, I have to back right off on the really bad stuff.
P.S. The forthcoming 210bhp Leon Cupra R should be a good package "out of the box", with uprated suspension, big Brembo brakes, and other goodies.
I will try one of these when they come out (September launch I think).
The Leon Cupra has 180bhp as standard, quite a few of these are being chipped as well. As you have observed both cars are not big fans of bumpy roads, I have to back right off on the really bad stuff.
P.S. The forthcoming 210bhp Leon Cupra R should be a good package "out of the box", with uprated suspension, big Brembo brakes, and other goodies.
I will try one of these when they come out (September launch I think).
Can recommend the Prodrive big brake pack - have had this fitted to my P1 for about a year now & has made a big difference. (Is a tad expensive though)
The new Imprezas (bug-eye) have far better brakes as standard - have driven one round a track & had no fade at all. They are a lot slower & less raw though (bad from my point of view, but appeal to more people I guess)
cheers,
Craig
The new Imprezas (bug-eye) have far better brakes as standard - have driven one round a track & had no fade at all. They are a lot slower & less raw though (bad from my point of view, but appeal to more people I guess)
cheers,
Craig
Paul, you probably won't understand why I chopped my MY99 Impreza in for a 200bhp fwd Jap hatch, then 
The new WRX was much slower (the one I tested had 10000 miles on it, so should have been pretty fully run in) and I didn't notice whether the brakes were better than the old shape (my discs were warped at the time, not through abuse I might add!). I like the old Impreza, although I felt it understeered too much, and you can still feel the torque tugging at the front wheels a bit (not like the Ibiza, I bet, but the Civic's no worse than the Subaru for torque steer).
The big problem with Imprezas is running costs - I got £12.5k trade in for mine and they now book at £11.5k (3 months later) so they're very good value for a 2 yr old car. However, they cost a lot simply to fuel, service etc, and I couldn't justify those costs when you can get a car which will do pretty much the same job and cost much less to run.
The new WRX was much slower (the one I tested had 10000 miles on it, so should have been pretty fully run in) and I didn't notice whether the brakes were better than the old shape (my discs were warped at the time, not through abuse I might add!). I like the old Impreza, although I felt it understeered too much, and you can still feel the torque tugging at the front wheels a bit (not like the Ibiza, I bet, but the Civic's no worse than the Subaru for torque steer).
The big problem with Imprezas is running costs - I got £12.5k trade in for mine and they now book at £11.5k (3 months later) so they're very good value for a 2 yr old car. However, they cost a lot simply to fuel, service etc, and I couldn't justify those costs when you can get a car which will do pretty much the same job and cost much less to run.
People often think Scoobies are the quickest thing on the roads because the 4x4 lets you do full bore take offs which knock 1-1.5 seconds off the 0-60 time, but when you compare 30-80 or even 0-100 times you can see why Civic Type Rs and 200bhp Cupras will cream the current WRX.
I do a low mileage so general running costs are not going to be crippling for me personally, although it would be nice to know that no nasty surprises await as the older Imprezas warranty runs out, i.e. engines or other bits going pop. I can see why you've plumped for the CTR. Personally I like having the mid range grunt that a turbo engine gives, whether its an older Impreza or I 'play safe' and eventually import a Leon R if they turn out to be any good.
A new WRX is probably the last thing on my list.
The Ibiza is quick but ride is harsh and torque steer can be an issue, so rougher B roads are not as enjoyable as they should be.
I do a low mileage so general running costs are not going to be crippling for me personally, although it would be nice to know that no nasty surprises await as the older Imprezas warranty runs out, i.e. engines or other bits going pop. I can see why you've plumped for the CTR. Personally I like having the mid range grunt that a turbo engine gives, whether its an older Impreza or I 'play safe' and eventually import a Leon R if they turn out to be any good.
A new WRX is probably the last thing on my list.
The Ibiza is quick but ride is harsh and torque steer can be an issue, so rougher B roads are not as enjoyable as they should be.
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