Alex Unleashed on Cars- Subaru Impreza (From Somewhere to Nowhere)

 

When you say Subaru to someone, chances are they think of the Impreza, the high flying turbocharged rally machine. And rightfully so, the Impreza Turbo and later WRX & STi models defined an era of ultimate bang for your buck performance.

And yet, after 10 years, something happened, the usual fanfare and praise for the hot Impreza fizzled out, it was just more of the same, the same old same old Impreza.

But back when the Turbo 2000 first hit UK shores it was a revelation, here was a humdrum saloon (or 5-door hatch or estate) with 208 BHP, could hit 0-60 in a confirmed 5.2 seconds, top out at 140 MPH all for less than £20,000 and that infamous flat-four engine note, it was one of the all-time greats of the 90s a real era defining car. And if perhaps you hadn't being paying attention to the car magazines then just one year later Subaru took the WRC title with the late great Colin McRae at the wheel which propelled the Subaru Impreza to a new level of stardom, here was a car now looked at as fondly as the Audi Quattro or the Mini Cooper after being on sale for just over a year.

And if the regular Turbo wasn't enough, Japan got the WRX STi version whilst we eventually got a handful of 22B special editions in 1998 and then the P1 in 2000. Both packed 276 BHP and could hit 60 in a supercar shaming 4.7 seconds and a BMW rivalling 150 MPH top speed. The clever 4-wheel drive system also meant you'd have to try very hard to get a hot Impreza out of control, it became an effective ground coverer, at least until you ran out of fuel, which was quite often in an Impreza. It was so good the car was briefly a thief magnet for crooks who used it to climb stairs into shopping centres and then outrun the police. Everyone wanted, liked and respected the Impreza.

At this point, the Impreza was top of the bargain performance tree but when the new Impreza was launched in late 2000, it was the first of several mistakes by Subaru that led to the Impreza's downfall. I'm of course talking about the styling of the new 'Hawk Eye' Impreza. I think the best way of summing up it's looks is it looks like it's sat on a spike, it has a very 'in pain' look to it. Oh sure it was faster, more refined and we quickly got an STi version but most still couldn't get over the new styling and sales dropped over the original model.

This generation had 2 facelifts, the 'Blob Eye' in early 2003 and the 'Eagle Eye' in mid-2005 and it was at this point that the excitement and hype about a new Impreza seemed to dissipate, there just wasn't as much fanfare and people weren't as impressed as they had been before. likely because Subaru had fallen into the old business trap of changing a little and expecting that small change be it a bigger engine (2.5 litres from '05), fuel tank or altered suspension to entice people to continue buying their product and as ex-President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Amie once said "its fatal". 

Now whilst there were some special editions of this Impreza, they just didn't click like the P1 and 22B did, the WR1 had bad understeer and the RB320 whilst a great tribute to Richard Burns is hardly as famous as the old special editions. 

For 2008 Subaru decided to take a radical approach to the new Impreza by selling it as a hatchback not a saloon, and on paper this wasn't a bad idea as Ford, Audi & VW had all encroached on Subaru & Mitsubishi's territory with similar cars so it made sense for Subaru to follow the money as it were.

But that in turn was Subaru's latest in a run of bad decisions, the new hatchback failed to excite the Subaru fanbase and to drive it disappointed journalists across the board, it wasn't bad, certainly not, but crucially it was not as good as the last 2 models or Mitsubishi's EVO X. Subaru later ditched the hatchback for the traditional 4-door saloon in 2011 after ditching the Impreza name to just WRX STi.

It was also at this time that Subaru left the WRC, major rule changes and costs for 2011 left Subaru only contesting the Group N category alongside mainly Mitsubishi EVO's and then left altogether after Group N folded after 2012. Subaru had won 3 WRC titles (1995, 2001 & 2003) in their tenure but had long been eclipsed by Ford & Citroen.  

That said, Subaru has still maintained a strong presence in North America particularly in the RANC (Rally America Championship) which despite folding back in 2018 was won by Subaru all but twice (Mitsubishi won the other 2) in it's run from 2005-2018 and they've also had great presence in the ARA (American Rally Association) and with the upcoming rules changes for the WRC in 2027 Subaru may very well return to the series.

The 2nd WRX STi which was launched in 2014 was the last hurrah for the hot Subaru lineage, it maintained the same formula of a flat 4 turbocharged engine, 4-wheel drive and the classic saloon body. The only sad part was there was no Mitsubishi EVO for it duel with, it's competition now consisted of the MK3 Ford Focus RS & VW Golf R mk7. The WRX STi was a very long awaited car, but it never reached the highs of the early Imprezas like the 22B and P1 despite being a very good car.

Thankfully a special S209 edition was made, if only for the US market, it had a new rear wing, more power (336 BHP) along with various technical wizardy like torque vectoring and an electronic diff, a fine way to send off one of the all-time greats of the car world.

The Subaru WRX STi and it's Impreza predecessors have been gone for a few years now, hopefully they'll return as although the money has gone towards more well-rounded hot hatches, I think there is still a big market and an even bigger following for this incredible machine. It's gone but never forgotten.

Notable Impreza Models

Turbo 2000- The first hot Impreza launched in 1994, hardly changed over it's 6 year life bar some interior changes.

22B- Special edition to closer link the rally and road cars, now commands over 100k price tag, only 16 were brought to the UK.

RB5- A UK exclusive made to celebrate Richard Burns arrival at Subaru's WRC team, has a tweaked engine and special paint.

P1- Tuned by Prodrive solely for the UK, only 1000 were made, has 2 doors instead of 4 like the 22B.

WRX STi PPP- If the 261 BHP STi wasn't enough then the 'Prodrive Performance Pack' could bless your Impreza with 300 BHP and 299 Ib/ft of torque.

RB320- Made to honour the late Richard Burns, could hit near 160 MPH and has an adjustable differential and revised suspension.

Cosworth CSI 400- Tuned by Cosworth to give 400 BHP and 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, only 50 were ever made and is still the fastest Subaru ever made.

WRX STI S209- The last hurrah for the Impreza, only sold in the USA.

Year Produced: 1994 - 2021

Engine: 2.0 Litre Flat 4 Turbo - 2.5 Litre Flat 4 Turbo

Top Speed: 140 - 159 MPH

0-60: 5.2 - 4.4 Seconds

Power: 208 - 341 BHP

Torque: 214 - 330 Ib/ft

Weight: 1235 - 1530 KG

Rivals: 

Impreza Turbo 2000 '94-'00 - Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Lancia Delta HF Integrale, Mitsubishi EVO, Honda Accord Type-R, Rover 620ti

Impreza WRX STi '02-'10 - Mitsubishi EVO, Audi S/RS3, Alfa Romeo 156 GTA

WRX STi '11-'21 - Volkswagen Golf R, Ford Focus RS