aXeL

Having been an Impreza fan for many years I thought I'd share my observations on the apparent decline of the illustrious scoob versus other cars. I'm on my 3rd Scoob now having had two Mk1s and now a Mk3; with drives in a few others and I'm forming the view that this will be my last Impreza unless Subaru somehow leapfrog the competition like they did back in the 90s when the Evo was the only competition that I took seriously...

My second Mk1 was just ECUTEK'd, nothing else and I remember murdering M3 CSLs from a standing start and overtaking Carrera 4S's on the outside. It was also the only car I'd ever seen which could truly 'bolt' from launch like a horse. Great at traffic lights in rush hour. You could pick any empty lane regardless of where you were going. My Mk1s in their time felt genuinely untouchable. I used to joke with my scooby buddies that one Impreza horsepower was worth two of anyone elses. Obviously it helped that slipping the clutch on my Mk1 was easy whereas my Mk3 will just grind itself to peices..

Does anyone remember beating another car so badly that the only way you could tell he was trying to race you is by seeing how far ahead he is of everyone else. That used to make me smile... And a bike could beat you but he'd have to drop three gears first by which time you'd gone...

These days I have an STI8 PPP which I've remapped so many times I can't remember and I've ported everything which isn't welded down. The car is far faster than when I bought it but why is it that I have to cane it off of lights to pass Merc and BMW diesels? DIESELS!!! My Mk1 would do it easily. My Mk3 will barely scrape past. Could it be the extra 250kg the car carries? That's like a trailer full of bricks! What were Subaru thinking? I'd put it down to regulations except that all cars are bound by them...

On the flip side, twice in two weeks, I had two different S4's right up tail pipe rear on the motorway and both times I left them without dropping out of 5th.

I have a friend with a remapped RB5 who got owned by a 535 diesel on a dual carriageway. We just watched it disbelief as it pulled away.... I can't help but think that this was part of the reason he upgraded his turbo...

Recently I watched a YouTube video of a WRX vs a Golf Pirelli on a track and the Golf beat the Impreza (WTF?!). The Impreza fan-boys were making lots of excuses (EXCUSES!) about how the cars were not evenly matched and if the track had been wet blah blah.... Bulls***. Wet or dry, slow or fast Golf, the Impreza should have just owned it. Ten years ago it would have.

So - Just what is happening? We can all mod our WRXs to death but I can remember when we didn't need to. And now we have to cane it to crawl past diesel cars - unless we fork out for MD321s or 2.5 cranks etc..

What do people think? For me, sadly, unless Subaru work their magic in the next iteration - this will be my last Impreza...

gallois

it is simply because in it's heyday, the impreza had significantly more power than anything costing twice as much, and today everything has caught up, the first sierra cosworth was considered a seriously quick car, it had about 200bhp, today, 200bhp is relatively mild........for the impreza to be where it was, it would need to be near to 400bhp, and because governments are brainwashing everyone into thinking speed is evil, and fast cars are antisocial planet killers, businesses like subaru are trying to balance responsibility with desirability..... imo the current crop of super-diesels days are numbered, the emissions are way to high in comparison to petrol, i think the future will be organic fuelled GDI spark-less petrol engines. Eelectric vehicles are just a smokescreen, the amount of energy required to make a lithium powered car outlays any 'green' saving.

Scooby Jonni

There is only so much power you can get from a small displacement engine before you hurt drivabilty. Subaru could increase displacement but that would hurt MPG and move it even further away from it's rally roots that has made it so great.

If you want the quickest car on the road, buy an Ultima GT-R but if you want something that works great on britsh roads all year round, stick with the scoob.

RA Dunk

Gallois has summed it up pretty good IMO

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Shouldn't happen TBH as the Scoob is much lighter. I put that down to your mate being a wuss

I'm not a fan of current shape Scoob anyway so for me it has to be an older one. They're still fast cars in STi guise + spend a few £k on em & they're pretty well invincible unless the "opposition" are driving a super car.

TX.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

not gona by another one overated by far nowadays

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

1999, average power of a BMW diesel engine is 160bhp, 2009, average power of a BMW diesel is 250+ (3.5's are 284bhp) so quite a big jump in diesel technology, so as scoobs have not really gained that sort of power (unless you opted for a JDM new age twin scroll car ) then your old mk1 (though you have not stated what type of classic you had?) it wont be anywhere near as quick as a BMW535D now (even ecutek'd, just map a 535D and still watch it leave you!)

Tony

V5RLTD

iTrader: (5)

You would be surprised what can keep with a scoob from an 'in gear race'. They are quick, but not unbeatable. Some of the big diesel engines have monster torque. I bet diesel is used in more sports cars in the future.

scooby87

iTrader: (5)

I can't say i have ever had any problem with any of the big german diesel crowd.

Most cars wouldn't even try it on with the impreza and mine isn't even a paticularly fast one.

Mine in general driving is how you described your first impreza.... maybe i don't drive it enough to see anything to challenge it.

Aren't newer cars slower anyway because of the weight they are lugging about?

mje_wrx

iTrader: (6)

how i see it is the impreza is a rally car, yeh, many cars will beat it on road, but put it back to its roots on gravel and see what can then keep up.

RA Dunk

LoL the Impreza is no more a rally car than I am president Obama, It derived through rally, it shares the same name as the rally cars and has the same chassy and maybe a few other small things, but thats it! the cars you and I drive couldent even be closely considered to be rally cars

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

So true especially when a gearbox costs circa 100k on a grp A car, definately not what you get on a proper subaru factory car (even the grp N cars have modifications, though thats the closest you will get to a road going rally car, and they aint based on a uk turbo 2000 )

Tony

Quasi Modo

Yeah, hence the 4wd rather than the rwd that track cars often have.
Give ya ickle Scooby a hug, altogether now, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

location broadmoor

V5RLTD

iTrader: (5)

gallois

thats a bit of a silly statement really, many a privateer runs a modestly modified impreza, it is an ideal base for a rally car, and is closer to a rally car than any other.

RA Dunk

Not really, you can run them in rallys yes, just as you can run just about any other car in a rally so i guess that makes every other car a rally car as well lol?, were talking WRC here, which is something your average Impreza is not!

Quasi Modo

You wanna try driving one with a staightjacket on mate, now that's what i call a modification, especially when matron's in the boot looking for a second pair of rubber underpants.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

They only use diesel cos it doesn't have to pit so often

A JDM Scoob with a few £k spent on it will be 350-400bhp & torque probably (I'm not sure though) 300-350. A fat lardy 335d will not keep up ...

TX.

gallois

i don't think anyone mentioned WRC did they? i am talking about rallying, and of course you could rally any other car, and people do, but what would you choose?



















(anything other than a scoob by the sounds of it)

RA Dunk

Scoobs came from WRC and made the impreza what it is today, thats where i got it from, the same as Tony Burns he picked up on it as well, and as far as I can tell its what mje_wrx was reffering to with the whole my car is a rally car thing, I wasnt talking about the pishy little rallys you find in your local forrest lol you just need things explained to you a little better thats all



















As for this comment, I actually do like my scoob, I just dont like being tarnished with the whole street racer/chav badge cause i own one thats all

Quasi Modo

I suppose if ya don't alot dosh or sponsorship then the more the original car has going for it the better, what happened about SUBARU 's involvement in F1? was it just gas?

RA Dunk

They were seemingly ****e, the engine was crap and the car weighed a bloody ton, I had found a few links with some info and pics will try and find them again

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

very funny

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

i still think its hard to find a car with awd and 300 bhp for less money. i would say that a subaru would be a match for most 30K cars on ANY type of road. the new car is more soft general car but i wouldnt fancy a rs or bmw on some of the wet road i have fun on.

Shaun

The Subaru has come of age..... it's all downhill from here on. Like the Ford Cosworth before it, every king has it's day, but then has to roll over for the new kid on the block. I just wonder who or what the new kid will be.

The community will stay faithful and some will swear blind that the Impreza is the best car on the planet. Others will love it for what it was and what it is. Others will move on. Such is life.

belliott69

iTrader: (3)

i believe this is the last evolution of the impreza, looking at the designs of the new coupe with whispers of a 2.0l turbo lump chucked in, it looks like it may well have had its day. sad really as subaru could of made it better but with there part ownership all up in the air at times and a slow decline in sales i'm not sure they had the money to develope it any more.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

It's not what it was: the competition moved on and it didn't.

They're still great though; just the competition is much more, well, er, competitive.

mitsy19

but.. what else does subaru as a company produce?im pretty sure they dont just do cars?if car sales have fallen so badly,and lets be honest..scoobys arnt really most peoples choice,where does that leave us now...watered down,US spec models... i test drove my hawkeye today..and the seats were twice the size of my bugeye

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

but then all cars seem to be going heavy and big, look at the gtr or the new M3. even the new RS is bloody heavy.