I'll find some more later I think it's a great looking car, I don't see it in the same light as the original horror of the Bug WRX

 

Agreed - looks absolutely fine to my eyes

 

Great suggestions all of these – some incredibly desirable cars many of which surpass an Impreza in terms of “sense of occasion” but IMO only the Evo and the German offerings can match what the Impreza offers in terms of robustness, (reasonably) sensible running costs and usable, real-world pace.

IMO you’d have to go to something like a 996 Turbo to obtain a real step forward from an S202/S204, although even that car for me lacks something in terms of sheer rorty fun and drama.

 

Here you go Nigel With BBS and NS2R Nankangs Awesome tyre !

I was doing Bedford again in a couple of weeks but can't drive atm

 

Yes, but why is David Brent behind the wheel?

 

quality

 

Which begs the question, rolls reversed, is the S202 good enough in comparison to your own 99 330bhp WRX RA or indeed the OP's Type R to be classed as a real step forward and warrant the additional cost? Assuming we're talking a stock S202 then you'll have to mod straight away just to get the straight line performance back. I'm sure there's much more to an S202, and that dynamically it may be superior, but from the outside I couldn't justify changing to an arguably slower, uglier car for twice the price, no matter how rare it may be.

I think for me the pick would be a Nissan R32 GTR, of the right vintage to offer old skool thrills, but usable and relatively reliable, and at circa 500hp should be enough to keep those 911 turbo's reasonably honest ;-) One of the four cars Newera have currently would do the trick, not to mention you'd get some change!

 

Cheers Ty.... you want to see me fusing Flashdance with some MC Hammer ****

 

Indeed - I'd expect to implement a few tweaks right away on an S202, nothing too major or irreversible. The thing is that I've pretty much reached a ceiling on the GC8 - anything further would require significant mods, which I'm reluctant to do partly because I want to preserve the purity of the standard car and partly because I'd be sinking in chunks of cash which I'd never get back.

What appeals to me about the S202 is the prospect of the GC8's raw and direct experience with the newage's planted feel and outright competence. For what I use the car for, which primarily consists of road trips with friends some of whom are sporting fairly serious machinery and more talent than me , a little more performance headroom is desirable although I wouldn't want to sacrifice the driving characteristics to get it.

I too find myself browsing the R32 GTR classifieds on a fairly regular basis. My understanding is that they can throw up a fairly scary bill now and again, and they're getting up there in age - not sure if I'd feel totally confident taking one on my annual 2k miles European hoon (in fact I have memories of spending time underneath a friend's one in the Netherlands in 2010 when the propshaft failed). Also my impression is they're a blunter instrument than an Impreza, although I've yet to drive one.

 

In a nutshell S202

 

The resemblance is almost uncanny.

 

Despite being on 3 wheels, he looks pretty relaxed in there

 

+1

Just bloody go and buy one.

Best newage car I've driven by a mile.