Hi. I'm currently testing an S-reg standard Impreza Turbo 5 door. Question is, is the handling of the 4 door (the shape and set up I prefer) the same, or slightly sharper?

Decisions, decisions...

 

I've never driven a 5 door but I would have thought that the 4 door shell would be stiffer.

 

I recall quite a few comments that the 5 door was very slightly better -though this maybe c**p tojust shift 5 doors. The 4 door is very sharp the 5 door won't be very far behind if at all -its a scoob afterall

 

I have owned both the 4 and 5 dr turbos.

The first was a MY 95 4 dr. My present car is MY 98 5 dr. Unfortunately they changed suspension and wheel size in that time so I'm not sure if a comparison is useful. I test drove the 4 dr (also MY 98) before I bought my 5 dr and I wouldn't say there is much difference. I've heard from several sources that the 5 dr handling is better than the 4 dr (maybe due to better weight distribution?).

Having lived with both I would say that the 4 dr looks MUCH better but the 5 dr certainly is more practical and perhaps attracts less unwanted attention.

D.

 

I have only driven a couple of 5 doors on the limit, and have to say that they only seem to differ in handling as much as any two Impreza's do.

I driven maybe 30 Impreza's at MIRA (almost all 4 door) and there are subtle differnces between all of them. The thing is, when you get to this level of handling (ie Impreza's and the like) it is important not to make judgments that one has 'BETTER' handling than another. They are both going to handle extremely well but maybe slightly differently. One person may prefer the 5 door handling, another may prefer the 4 door.

The word 'better' when you are talking about cars of this calibre is a very subjective one.

Some people would describe a car as having better handling if it didn't oversteer as much. Another would say quite the oposite .

I'm sorry I can't really remember the differences and would not like to estimate, etc for fear of giving you crap info. I would strongly suggest test driving both yourself.

I too remember hearing something about the 5 door having better handling but don't know what the article / person meant by better!

Cheers

Simon

 

The 5dr is also much faster than the 4dr

 

And obviously has more steet cred

 

It's all in the aerodynamics - 2 rear spoilers have <I>got</I> to be better than just one...

Steve
MY97 5 door

 

I am lucky enough to drive both a 4 and 5 door on a regular basis (both 96's with 16" alloys).

The only difference I could really point to is that the 5 door is slightly noisier.

 

I've owned a MY97 5 door and currently own a MY00 4 door.

I did quite a few track days in the trusty old 5 door farm vehicle...it was nice. I'll be sending my 4 door off to a day of hard work at donno this weekend where the handling can be compared in the correct controled environment (i.e. no nasty gastos and hopefully no oncoming traffic this time ).

I'll report back

Ian
(I bet I can't tell the difference).