Your first Subaru moment
Discussion
With all the talk of Subaru's at present it got me thinking about where my love for them stems from.
My first memories extend back to watching these going sideways:
With a rather nifty Scot behind the wheel.
I also have fond memories of seeing these now rare beasts, the local sheep shearers used to have one (yeah ok, I grew up on a farm....) and they seemed popular with the local gentry too.
However it wasn't until 1997 when I was 17 that I got my first actual taste of a Subaru. A friend was thinking of getting one, so we drove about 2 hours to a specialist dealer.
And to my up most excitement I got to have a go on the test drive too. It was a green Impreza Turbo 2000 and it was fabulous
Sadly my parents didn't agree with me wanting to swap my Defender for one. As time went on I drove several others, but still it didn't work out.
Then last year I thought it was a sure thing. Found a very nice WRX STI III. Talked to the seller and then bam! It was sold. Surprise to surprise though a trader contacted me about a week later saying he'd got a nice STI just come in, low and behold but it was the same car I'd seen in the classifieds....
Went and looked at in and was won over. Sadly finances disagreed with the decision to buy, so this one too passed me by
My parents have had a Legacy in the past, and I keep trying to convince my Mum to get a Forrester. A friend also has a fairly mint 99 plate T2000, but I'm still waiting to scratch that Subaru itch.
So when was your first taste of Subaru?
My first memories extend back to watching these going sideways:
With a rather nifty Scot behind the wheel.
I also have fond memories of seeing these now rare beasts, the local sheep shearers used to have one (yeah ok, I grew up on a farm....) and they seemed popular with the local gentry too.
However it wasn't until 1997 when I was 17 that I got my first actual taste of a Subaru. A friend was thinking of getting one, so we drove about 2 hours to a specialist dealer.
And to my up most excitement I got to have a go on the test drive too. It was a green Impreza Turbo 2000 and it was fabulous
Sadly my parents didn't agree with me wanting to swap my Defender for one. As time went on I drove several others, but still it didn't work out.
Then last year I thought it was a sure thing. Found a very nice WRX STI III. Talked to the seller and then bam! It was sold. Surprise to surprise though a trader contacted me about a week later saying he'd got a nice STI just come in, low and behold but it was the same car I'd seen in the classifieds....
Went and looked at in and was won over. Sadly finances disagreed with the decision to buy, so this one too passed me by
My parents have had a Legacy in the past, and I keep trying to convince my Mum to get a Forrester. A friend also has a fairly mint 99 plate T2000, but I'm still waiting to scratch that Subaru itch.
So when was your first taste of Subaru?
doogz said:
A Mechanic i know is building a pick up.
He's aiming for around 600bhp! Should be fun.
I have to admit, I've not seen one on the road for a long long time. Strange, as it is a car I recall from my childhood. Sure it probably wasn't all that common, but they were about.He's aiming for around 600bhp! Should be fun.
600hp sounds like it should be rather fun though.
Never really thought they were all that special until my dad got one, and I was hooked. His is a blobeye GX sport (2.0L naturally aspirated) so it's not monsterously fast, but it still stands as by far the fastest car I've ever driven. The look, the sound (got a new exhaust handbuilt because the OE one it came with was way too muffled and rusting to bits), the way they feel to drive, the incredible grip etc. I aspire to own a 1990s Impreza one day, as I love their boxey and aggressive look. However, my dad keeps going on at me to buy his car off him so he can buy an STi - I couldn't get insured for a reasonable price on an STi at the moment, but as soon as I can I will have one!
Before he bought one, he asked me if I would ever buy one, and I said no initially, because I didn't see what was so great about them. I was totally converted when he got his, and it sparked a real love of Japanese performance cars in me. Now Imprezas, Lancer Evolutions and Skylines are some of my absolute favourite cars. I still love European cars, particularly supercars, which aside from the R35 GTR, I think the Japanese aren't much good at. What the Japanese are excellent at though, is taking an average car, and turning it into a total animal. I was watching a video on the GTchannel on youtube of a Japanese car show road testing an R34 GT-R Skyline Nismotune with 500bhp in city traffic, and the way it revved up was amazing. From about 2000rpm to upwards of 8000rpm in 2.5 seconds, that's supercar style rev-rising ala Lexus LFA, out of what is still a true car for the street. I suppose had my dad not got an Impreza, I'd still be overlooking Japanese performance cars, though I must admit, the Fast n Furious crowd (sticking loads of tatty crap and daft graphics on their cars and tuning them for ridiculous BHP, just to do some donuts in an Asda car park etc) did and still do put me off
Before he bought one, he asked me if I would ever buy one, and I said no initially, because I didn't see what was so great about them. I was totally converted when he got his, and it sparked a real love of Japanese performance cars in me. Now Imprezas, Lancer Evolutions and Skylines are some of my absolute favourite cars. I still love European cars, particularly supercars, which aside from the R35 GTR, I think the Japanese aren't much good at. What the Japanese are excellent at though, is taking an average car, and turning it into a total animal. I was watching a video on the GTchannel on youtube of a Japanese car show road testing an R34 GT-R Skyline Nismotune with 500bhp in city traffic, and the way it revved up was amazing. From about 2000rpm to upwards of 8000rpm in 2.5 seconds, that's supercar style rev-rising ala Lexus LFA, out of what is still a true car for the street. I suppose had my dad not got an Impreza, I'd still be overlooking Japanese performance cars, though I must admit, the Fast n Furious crowd (sticking loads of tatty crap and daft graphics on their cars and tuning them for ridiculous BHP, just to do some donuts in an Asda car park etc) did and still do put me off
The first Impreza Turbo I saw was when I overtook one on my push bike. It was driven by and old girl in her 80's and she kept braking at 20mph. So when the next big hill came I overtook her at about 30mph 
First one I drove was my brother's in 1997. "wow this is quick" I thought. Followed by "wow these brakes are s
t" 
First one I drove was my brother's in 1997. "wow this is quick" I thought. Followed by "wow these brakes are s
t" Never was a Subaru fan or any Japanese sports cars of the like. I was soon converted when my father got a 06 plate Forester Turbo, I thought he was mad to buy such an ugly car! That all went out the window when he took me for a spin in it. Hard to imagine this blob of a wagon has a 5 sec ish 0-60 time, it really is a stupid car! I love it... even the looks have grown on me now, boxy and aggressive. I really want to take it for a spin but insurance companies would laugh in my face. (I'm 20)
I will have a Impreza some time in the future when insurance permits....
I will have a Impreza some time in the future when insurance permits....
Love that red Trans-Am.
Oh yeah, first Subaru moment......
1984 and my best mate got a Tamiya R/C Subaru Brat pick-up. It got some abuse.
Also as above, the Japanese entry into the Cannonball Run, with Jackie Chan as co-driver.
Colin McRae blasting around in the early nineties in his Rothmans Legacy, I remember thinking how good they sounded as a flat-four compared to other rally cars with I4s.
Legacy 4CAM Turbo is still the car I've kept longest to date, about 4 years. A great car.
Oh yeah, first Subaru moment......
1984 and my best mate got a Tamiya R/C Subaru Brat pick-up. It got some abuse.
Also as above, the Japanese entry into the Cannonball Run, with Jackie Chan as co-driver.
Colin McRae blasting around in the early nineties in his Rothmans Legacy, I remember thinking how good they sounded as a flat-four compared to other rally cars with I4s.
Legacy 4CAM Turbo is still the car I've kept longest to date, about 4 years. A great car.
Remember seeing a picture in the local paper in the mid 90's of a wagon Impreza Turbo jamed against a wall by a police Transit in a Dartmoor village following a robbery in Plymouth - they described it as a 'powerful saloon car'.
Had known about them and watched them for a while, wanted to test drive a 5 year old Turbo in 1999 at the local dealer but he wouldn't let me, 6 months later I'm back at the same dealer getting them to service a 2 year old Impreza Turbo I'd bought privately.
Shame to see them become so chavvy since - a turbo pick up sounds nice though.
Had known about them and watched them for a while, wanted to test drive a 5 year old Turbo in 1999 at the local dealer but he wouldn't let me, 6 months later I'm back at the same dealer getting them to service a 2 year old Impreza Turbo I'd bought privately.
Shame to see them become so chavvy since - a turbo pick up sounds nice though.
98, the place I was working at had an Impreza on loan, brand new, they'd just changed to the bigger boot spoiler.
It was the first real turbo car I'd driven and remember 2 things; booting it away in first at a set of lights and scaring myself that I needed 2nd quicker than I thought, and coming off a roundabout going up a dual carriageway, playing a bit dumb and keeping neck and neck with a car trying to overtake me, then completely clearing off.
It was the first real turbo car I'd driven and remember 2 things; booting it away in first at a set of lights and scaring myself that I needed 2nd quicker than I thought, and coming off a roundabout going up a dual carriageway, playing a bit dumb and keeping neck and neck with a car trying to overtake me, then completely clearing off.
Really liked scoobies (and evos) from my playstation days as a teenager but it wasnt until last year that I was looking to buy my first car that I stumbled across a P1 at a Subaru garage near my GFs. I didnt know what a P1 was at the time but thought it looked like the dogs bks of classic imprezas. Arranged a test drive and was blown away by the acceleration, the grip and overrall B road performance. Since then I've spent bucketloads more than I ever planned on modifications, tidying it up, insurance, fuel etc but its been well worth it
ks of classic imprezas. Arranged a test drive and was blown away by the acceleration, the grip and overrall B road performance. Since then I've spent bucketloads more than I ever planned on modifications, tidying it up, insurance, fuel etc but its been well worth it For me it would have been seeing the farrier turning up in his brick red pick up to shoe the horses. Even new it looked beat yp but there was still something about it that made me want one, although admitidly I see myself more in a Legacy these days (and not the god aweful looking current one)
superman84 said:
Really liked scoobies (and evos) from my playstation days as a teenager but it wasnt until last year that I was looking to buy my first car that I stumbled across a P1 at a Subaru garage near my GFs. I didnt know what a P1 was at the time but thought it looked like the dogs bks of classic imprezas. Arranged a test drive and was blown away by the acceleration, the grip and overrall B road performance. Since then I've spent bucketloads more than I ever planned on modifications, tidying it up, insurance, fuel etc but its been well worth it
You bought a P1 for your 1st car? Good work mate, I bet the insurance renewals are err interesting.ks of classic imprezas. Arranged a test drive and was blown away by the acceleration, the grip and overrall B road performance. Since then I've spent bucketloads more than I ever planned on modifications, tidying it up, insurance, fuel etc but its been well worth it My 1st experiance was almost 3 years ago when I was fed up with the continuous issues with my MINI cooper S, I wanted something different to the mini so found a 2006 WRX SL in black. I love it and after nearly 3 years of ownership I'm not thinking of selling, this will be the longest I've had a daily driver for.
Tomorrow it goes in for new wheels, anti roll bars, drop links and anti lift, can't wait.
Bungleaio said:
superman84 said:
Really liked scoobies (and evos) from my playstation days as a teenager but it wasnt until last year that I was looking to buy my first car that I stumbled across a P1 at a Subaru garage near my GFs. I didnt know what a P1 was at the time but thought it looked like the dogs bks of classic imprezas. Arranged a test drive and was blown away by the acceleration, the grip and overrall B road performance. Since then I've spent bucketloads more than I ever planned on modifications, tidying it up, insurance, fuel etc but its been well worth it
You bought a P1 for your 1st car? Good work mate, I bet the insurance renewals are err interesting.ks of classic imprezas. Arranged a test drive and was blown away by the acceleration, the grip and overrall B road performance. Since then I've spent bucketloads more than I ever planned on modifications, tidying it up, insurance, fuel etc but its been well worth it My 1st experiance was almost 3 years ago when I was fed up with the continuous issues with my MINI cooper S, I wanted something different to the mini so found a 2006 WRX SL in black. I love it and after nearly 3 years of ownership I'm not thinking of selling, this will be the longest I've had a daily driver for.
Tomorrow it goes in for new wheels, anti roll bars, drop links and anti lift, can't wait.
Black newage Imprezas looks awesome btw.
Edited by superman84 on Friday 8th October 13:29
300bhp/ton said:
gareth.e said:
just wow!
OP is a sellout.
Shall I post some pictures of the American tat users were expecting when entering this thread and seeing your user name so they arent weirded out by your sudden change of heart?
Why be a knob?OP is a sellout.
Shall I post some pictures of the American tat users were expecting when entering this thread and seeing your user name so they arent weirded out by your sudden change of heart?
BTW - 1997 is hardly recently
TBH everyone born in the last 20 years first memory of them was when they were 5 0r 6 years old and thought 'when im older im going to buy one as my first car and put a huge bodykit on it' because at that age you knew nothing about insurance and thought bodykits looked cool and for 90% of people that age thought they made the car go faster.
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