Yesterday I went to my local Subaru dealer to test drive a car I've wanted since I was 15 - the Impreza Turbo.

The dealer was really helpful and diddnt take long to offer me a drive in a 98' model Turbo 2000 wagon with just 30k miles on the clock. However, I have to say that I was really disappointed with the car

Fair renough, it accelerated reasonable well but no way near how I was expecting it to. Also, coming out of a roundabout I accelerated hard and it understeered in just the same way that my Astra would have done.

Perhaps the dissapointment was due in part to comparing it to an S2000 I'd had for the weekend a month or so back, I dont know. But overall I thought the Scoob was slower than expected, diddnt sound nice while accelerating, general handling was average and the brakes diddnt feel very good.

Mind you, the seats were really nice and the interior not as bad as I'd though a Japanese car would be (apart from the naff looking gater/flaps around the handbrake)

As I say, I was impressed by the seats though, and the dealer offered to put 4 new tyres and a Tracker on it for free as well as a major service 6 months tax and an MOT.

So, having saved for a scoob I dont know what to do now! Keep saving for that S2000 ?!?

 

Did you leave the handbrake on ?

I was looking at an S2000........for my missus

 

Try driving a few Imprezas, I'm not sure how it can feel slow, was it definitely a turbo?

 

Scoob - slower than expected, noisy in a bad way.

S2000 - faster than expected, noisy in an amazing way.

 

Try something like an STI. They've got a few more horses as standard.

UK Impreza turbos aren't that fast in standard form.

Oh, and you can make Imprezas handle well with the right geometry setup - it's often overlooked.

[Edited by dnb - 11/20/2003 2:35:27 PM]

 

The Honda is quick, but trying to put that power down through two wheels from now until about april will soon become a drag. Far too many brown trouser moments for my liking. The s2000 also needs to have the rev needle right round before any real grunt happens, and for regular road driving it's just too much effort.Stick with the scoob, if you need more speed spend the extra money getting it tweeked. Many just use the scooby as a base platform from which to play with.
Treacle

 

I tried a PPP'd my98 and thought it was ok. Then tried an STi v3 and was blown away by the difference. Try some more cars - S2000 will be pants in damp or wet conditions.

Kevin.

 

try test driving a proper version

like a decent spec jdm car, they really are totally diffrent regards to ***** out scarey acellration

 

The Honda is £6,500 more than a standard Impreza new and nowhere near as practical, I guess it depends what you want. What are the 0-60 figures for a standard classic Impreza? I thought about 5.5 seconds, which must be quick enough for most!

 

...And you're how old now? It'd be difficult for any car to live up to several years pent up admiration and anticipation, especially a well used UK wagon.

As has been said, a Japanese market/DCCD car would likely have a fundamentally different character, especially as regards the acceleration and understeer. Your impressions of the noise however, one presumes you loved that offbeat rumble/roar until the S2000's howl assaulted your senses. You can't "blame" the Impreza for that at all.

Let's face it, if you shagged Kylie, or Jo Guest, Louise Redknapp, or whoever else that caused all those wet dreams back in your teenage years, you'd probably find them a disappointment too...

[Edited by greasemonkey - 11/20/2003 2:48:28 PM]

 

most of your comments dont particularly surprise me. If you accelerate hard out of a very greasy roundabout it is very possible for the car to understeer. But in the same cicrumstances, the S2000 will probably oversteer. Re the handling - Imprezas dont handle especially well, but they do have huge grip. This is something that can take some getting used to. Brakes - does the MY98 have 2 pots? The MY99 definitely has 4 pots and are pretty good. Performance - maybe the car you tried was not running well, or perhaps your expectations are too high.
I would suggest you try another one, preferably an MY99, before you dismiss them altogether.

Steve

 

I'm 23 now and hence, can't get insurance on a Japanese model

 

Dont get a Scoob, youre not happy now so never will be.
Bet you would twist on 21

 

and if u dont like them after that then buy a s2000

 

have you tried www.confused.com I am only 24 and quotes for imports have been less than 1K that was with highway or something like that

 

my98's are 2 pot brakes and not upto much, I would suggest trying another car maybe a later one, maybe with some subtle mods to the exhaust to let the "noise" be a bit more prevelant, there are plenty of cars around for sale.

whats your budget ?.

a friend just bought a my99 wagon with tsl exhaust for 6k with 80k miles on.

 

You must have considerably more than £6k if you're thinking of an S2000, they must be about £17k secondhand I would have thought.

 

The my98 wagon had an oficial 0-60 of 5.9 seconds.
It also had 2 pot brakes

If the car had been sitting on a forcourt, it may not have been
fully warmed through on your test drive.
When the temperature gauge is reading normal, the oil temp still has not reached optimum operating temperature.
This may take 6-7 miles during winter

Pushing a cold engine is not going to give the best performance.

Greg

 

Louise Redknapp MMMMMMmmmmmmm ......

 

When I got my MY99 I tried 3 different cars ( all standard ) The first one I tried was a disapointment it just didn't seem to have that kick I expected , and I went away a bit down like yourself .But a few weeks later I drove another and it was a totally different ball game , mine was the third I tried (it has less miles on it )and again it was miles apart from the first one .I guess what I'm trying to say is give it another try , I did and I don't regret it a bit .


Dave

 

dipstick!

 

try a proper 280-300hp one!!! dont think honda would come into it!

 

Ah, your 23! I see the problem. My friend you are from my generation when just as we were getting into cars and driving the Impreza was exploding onto the scene. The car was hyped, hyped and hyped some more to the point where when I first drove one I expected it to be the best car in the world.....ever. At £20k new this just was never going to happen. You are a victim of hype my friend. Drive it some more or better yet get some choice mods and you'll see its a very able car

 

Personally - No 'mass market' impreza in standard form IMO is fast (not including RA's Spec C's as they are very limited) - took me two goes to realise this (V4 STi Type R & a P1).

But, then it depends what you define as 'fast' in the first place.

Saxo Boy has it right - the car was hyped SO much, bit like the Escort Cossie - it really isnt 'that'good in standard form..

& as for the brakes - PMSL

 

Why did you look at a Wagon VS an S2000 - hardly a fair comparison?

I took my Scoobs for a 10 minute drive and to be honest thought it was slow and not all that, still I decided to buy it as I knew I would be driving it in a different way once it was mine, and I'm happy I did buy as once you get used to it they go very very well.

Your roundabout prob would have been sorted by going in slightly slower sitting on 3K revs and boosting out!! Need to drive AWD in a different way and you will feel the rewards once your confident.

Also been around an S2000 and I may indeed be buying one in the spring for next summer but I can assure you its not as fast as MY02 WRX and is nowhere near as confident cornering. The S2000 does offer more fun with the roof down and as you sit lower and have rag top its always gonna seem faster. The Scoobs tricks you into thinking its slow, this can punish you as it gets up to 80 so quickly that you'll suddenly find yourself hitting bends at 20-30 MPH faster than usual.

You need to get someone to take you out in a Scoobs, show you what they can do!

 

Oh yeah forgot this....it might just be a sh*tty Scoob that you looked at, check some more and see!

 

I had an impreza at 23, didn't have a problem getting it insured, just payed quite a lot for the privilege still got impreza and a honda, mind you somehow the hondas vtec blew up last week, waiting to see why !

 

goochie - did you change gear at all?

 

bits'n'pieces - your vtec engine blew up!!! And the dealer who tried selling me an S2000 reckoned that out of 15m vtec engines made, not one has failed. Oh well, first time for everything eh?

 

there's a few on honda revolutions who would also disagree with the dealer too ! Same was said about the ITR and at least 3 have had engine problems