Steve Perriam

well i got my copy of autocar today for some reason ? never received it on a tuesday before ?

got some info / pics of the UK300.

are they seriously expecting people to pay £24,995 for it ?

about £3500 extra for 18" alloys, 225/40 pirelli p-zero rosso tyres, a bit of alcantara trim, different spoiler and headlights ? (not forgetting the UK300 badging on the rear and under the side repeaters)

its also gives some info on the £1600 optional engine kit. this gives a reprogrammed ecu, up-rated intercooler pipe and free-flow large bore single exhaust. Peak power is listed as 245bhp, with torque at 261 lb ft USING 97 ron fuel.

supposedly using 95 ron fuel 'robs the engine of 15bhp and 27lb ft' !

in gear acceleration is boosted with figures for 20-75 mph in 3rd gear of 11 secs (better by 3 seconds) and 25-100mph in 4th gear of 25.5 secs (better by 4 seconds) claimed.

Interestingly its also claimed that the 'controversial styling of the new impreza hasn't hurt uk sales of the wrx'.

it states that 'in the first 4 months of 2001 it outsold the old turbo model year-on-year with 1291 compared with 1257 in 2000.'

anyone planning on buying one ?

steve

spudgun

no!

ozzy

nope

ozzy

anyone care to admit to buying and actually liking the UK300?

RB5SCOTT

Yes

I don't think its that ugly and i am even starting to like the spoiler,or am i just tring to kid myself.

i do believe it will look alot better in the flesh as we have'nt had a lot of good pictures to go on.

uk300pppscott

ozzy

Still shouts vauxhall vectra gsi to me.

Can you imagine sitting on the project team given the godly task of producing a special edition to win back the hearts and minds of us loyal scooby fans .... and this is what you come up with. Would you be proud of your work.

Are people at IM/Prodrive really that bored or cr@p at their jobs.

Stefan

P.S. did I mention that I don't like the UK300

adyhicut

I had one for 2 months but chopped it in for a P1. It just wasn't quick enough. Basically it couldn't pull a greasy stick out of a dogs @rse!! IMHO that is

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

I've been sent 17 Hi-Res photos of the new UK300. For those of you who are members of IWOC, I've uploaded smaller versions to the shared files area.

I don't have a web-site to upload them to, so if anyone wants to publish them, I'll e-mail you a zip file with the smaller versions on it.

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

I saw the brochure for the UK300 today (I know I shouldn't have seen it until Wednesday!), and I have to say I'm quite taken by the look of the car.

The performance figures are impressive!

The headlight conversion kit is different to the one that's on Pete's car, but IMHO I think the UK300 ones look nicer!!

Also from the brochure pictures, the spoiler looks top notch, and the newspaper piccies doesn't do it any justice! If they make that spoiler for the older car, I would WANT one!!

Looking at the extras and guessing at the prices:

18" Wheels - £2000
Alcantara - £1000
Spoiler - £500
Headlights - £300
Indicators - £50

Total - £3850 (ish)

I think the only thing missing from such a car would be lowered, uprated suspension.

Would I buy one? Yes, but only if the STI wasn't coming in as a UK car. Unless there is a definiate answer that the STI will NOT be a UK car, I won't be buying a UK300 quite yet!!

Cheers
Andy

PS - Get a copy of the literature before deciding what you think!!

Chins

Yes Ive got one on order, but am deciding if I should go ahead.

My sums are slightly different to Andy's.

WRX in WR Blue £21000 (1000 discount)
18inch Gold Wheels £1200 (after discount and selling 17" wheels)
Alcantara £500 (although not an option)
Spoiler £500
Headlights £450
Indicators £ 50
Colour coding £150

That comes to £23850. Based on the spec to provide real value the UK300 is IMHO £1000-£1500 over priced. Also as people have said before anyone can create an identical car for approx £23500 if you forget alcantara. The RB5 had a unique colour for a UK car, and at the time dealers were not discounting std cars like they are today. However I wonder if anyone will get a £1000 off a UK300.

Its nice to see the performance pack coming in at a competitive price though. Question is will that price stand for people buying it for a std WRX.

Looks wise I cant decide. Will need to see it in the flesh. Front looks great, but like other the rear spoiler needs some getting used to. It will also be interesting to see the difference the PPP makes. It does need lowering to stop the 18" wheels looking like 16".

Jonathan

GaryC

Personally I think the UK300 is as good a value, if not better, than the RB5 was??

Both £3500 above std (but UK 300PPP £1000 cheaper than be-spoilered RB5 WR)
Both get 1" bigger wheels (UK300's far nicer than the 'reprayed STs' the RB5 got )
Both get Alcantara interior
Both get light conversion (PIAAs Vs Hella Headlight conversion)
Both get special paint job (Grey Vs WRC blue)
Both get the ltd edition plaques/cache etc
RB5 got quickshift (worth c£100)
UK300 gets rear spolier, front 'lip spolier' and clear lenses (worth a lot more than £100!)

The icing on the cake for me would be that the UK300 looks very similar (near identical bar front bumper/spoiler) to the WRC, the RB5 looked nothing like the WRC!!

Plus....don't forget, if they gave you everything now (PIAAs, WRC rear spoiler etc), what would they do for next year's Ltd Edition


That being said, it still isn't good enough to get me back into a scoob from my 330d though

turboke

Looks good, not a new P1 (wait for the the STI), but perhaps a new RB5? And wasn't the RB5 better than the P1 finally?

Jo

[This message has been edited by turboke (edited 23 May 2001).]

TRIGGER

Andy - You still seem to be costing things on a new basis rather than upgrading cost ! £2000 to upgrade from 17" to 18" wheels - I dont think so.

Anyway, comparisons to the RB5 are irrelevant. Today's car market is so different. Most manufacturers have reduced prices considerably - Subaru havent (although you get more standard kit). But as Europe is still so much cheaper the 2nd hand values are dropping like stones - I know as I sold one in 1999 after 2 years, and another this Feb after 17 months - big difference in amount lost, I can assure you.

Somerset Yokel

I think that the UK300 looks reasonable value (flame suit on!)

I too have got the official brochure and must say that the pictures look good - in fact I have put my name down for one!! I have already told the dealer that this is subject to me seeing one in the flesh.

It is "different" but that doesn't mean that it will be "bad". "See it in the flesh, then decide for yourself" is my approach.

I hope that I will like it as I think that it is about time I joined the Subaru Owners of the UK!

[This message has been edited by Somerset Yokel (edited 23 May 2001).]

RonaldoH

druddle

all the official info is up on

Mark.S

Car is in both Autocar & Auto Express. Looks better in the colour photos but that bloddy rear spoiler is still s**t! So it looks like i'll be buying a standard car and getting Scoobysport to breathe over it!

Geezer

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by ozzy:
<B>Still shouts vauxhall vectra gsi to me.

Can you imagine sitting on the project team given the godly task of producing a special edition to win back the hearts and minds of us loyal scooby fans .... and this is what you come up with. Would you be proud of your work.

Are people at IM/Prodrive really that bored or cr@p at their jobs.

Stefan

P.S. did I mention that I don't like the UK300 [/quote]

Do you honestly think IM/Subaru care about loyal fans. As earlier stated, the numbers are up. As long as they shift 'em, they don't care who buys 'em!

I've seen an awful lot of WRXs considering they have only been out a few months.

Nostalgias's not what it used to be eh, ozzy?

Geezer

TRIGGER

This isnt the point really - the car is generally better than the Uk car (if you dont like the new car then there's no hope anyway) to look at (although some dont like the spoiler) - the main problem being the ridiculous cost over the standard car. I see no way they can justify such a price without the ppp being involved - £3500 extra and then another £1600 for the performance it should have anyway !!!!!!!

banshi

Now now Andy, that was the standard 01. Not the highly modded super expensive limited edition UK300

CraigD

Still looks pants to me

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Ian Cook has kindly loaded the pictures onto his website at:

Darren Thompson

What's with that rear wing ?????

I think someone needs to tell Subaru there might be another design **** up on the cards !!!

Darren.

James_Harvey

Rear spoiler is hideous
Needs Colour coding on the front.
Needs Lowering.

Std STi much nicer IMHO....

James.

pslewis

Well, I reckon it looks good!! Its got 4 doors after all!!

Makes every unsold P1 look even more of a dead dinosaur, surely to god NO-ONE will now buy a P1 for more than £22K new??????? The ex-demos need to be bouncing around the showroom floor at about £18K.

I would suppose you could throw the gold wheels in the dustbin with the stilletoes, leopard skin handbag and fluffy dice? and put some proper Anthracites on??

I hate the std. MY01 even in the flesh - the wagon looks better (it always has, mind you!)

The UK300 is what the std car should be - and probably WILL be soon when Subaru sell out, as I reckon they will

Pete

[This message has been edited by pslewis (edited 23 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by pslewis (edited 23 May 2001).]

ozzy

Geezer,

It certainly is not The Impreza was a cult classic, but now it's trying to be all grown-up and quite frankly boring.

IM/Prodrives attempts at making it look sporty are pretty pathetic. I'm sure mechanically the new cars is leagues ahead of the old one, but the styling seems like an afterthought. If I wanted a tarted-up plain car I'd have bought a Vauxhall or Ford.

It wasn't that long ago that I was in my teens dreaming of owning one of these. If I was 17yrs old now I don't think I'd be dreaming of a UK300. Pete C's maybe, but not a UK300.

Those newspaper clippings don't do it any justice, but even the hi-res ones aren't that great. I'm sure it might look even better in the flesh, but the should have picked a better spolier, colour coded the lights and lowered it or even fitted the PPP for your £25K.

Stefan

ozzy

Pete, you've only restrained yourself twice. Getting mellow in your old age ??

Stefan

RB5SCOTT

Gary C

what a about the £1000 worth of air conditioning the RB5 came with?

I've ordered a uk300 and i like the look of it but it still isn't value for money

Scott

by the way, are you a Dealer or have you just got shares in the uk300.

RB5SCOTT

and it isn't limited edition paint

Richard Gledhill

Is it just me who thinks this performance still isn't great?

They quote 20-75mph in 3rd of 11 seconds (3 seconds quicker than the standard). I seriously hope that's not the case. I tested mine on the way home tonight, twice to get an average time. It took just 8s to get from 20-75mph (and only 6.5 for 25-70mph ) . Haven't tried the 25-100mph in 4th as I'd rather not lose my license

My car? A MY00 PPP running SUL, power figures 254bhp, 286lbft which I thought were high but can now believe comparing them to the UK300 figures of 245bhp/261lbft...

Looks better than the normal MY01 (which is growing on me), but I think I'll keep mine thanks

Richard

[This message has been edited by Richard Gledhill (edited 23 May 2001).]