When I first got my MY00 classic shape, I compared with an MY01 bug-eye and felt that the older car drove better, less wallowy and loose feeling.

As Subaru are on the 'consumer' trail trying to widen their appeal, how does the MY03 compare to the MY00 - does it drive as well as the previous vehicles when driven hard, or has it turned into a standard family saloon ?

calling chiark :D

You called :D ?

I had an MY00 and changed to an MY03...

The MY00 is, in comparison, a crude but effective weapon. The car is fantastic in its own right, but the 03 had IMHO definitely moved the game on a fair bit and it's in the right direction.

The 03 has moved the game on, but for the right reasons. The handing is the best improvement in my eyes: with the MY00 I was never terribly happy at the limit because it was a little uncommunicative. The 03 is a lot easier to drive/slide around if that's your thing because the handing is just so much better to me.

Power delivery is smoother on the 03, and doesn't seem to have quite the same punch as the 00, but I did have a downpipe, backbox
and filter on the 00 when I sold it. I'd say standard, out of the box, the 00 would be a little faster though that may be down to the power delivery again. A shove in the back (oo er) always feels good to the human dynamometer.

The things that I miss from the 00 are the seats. The airbagged 03 seats are in comparison unsupportive and the seat base is too short. The rest of the interior is much better. I've had both cars pretty much apart in the interior to fit ICE, and the 03 is all done properly in a way that'll minimise rattles/problems if you remove and refit panels. The 00 is a sod for having little clips and cheap approaches on the interior. Not that that really matters, but it's nice that they've worked out how to do it properly.

The 03 lighting setup is fine, too. My old car needed PIAAs. I'm not saying that the 03 is anywhere near as good as PIAAs, but I haven't found the absolute need for piaas - yet :D

The stereo is still crap :D

Have a test drive, and throw the car around a bit. I think you'll be very surprised at how much more you feel confident to push on and beyond...

Cheers,
Nick.

Thanks, an excellent summary, just the detail I needed.