i certainly hope those pictures are not to be believed !

my other ½ will be having a right laugh when i show her them and this thread.......she drives a Neon

Even if it handles a bit better, its not much more powerful - although torque figures, esp in the low-mid range would be useful to know.

be interesting to see if the interior is much improved or the overall spec of the car.

if not £25k is too much. think i'll be importing an STI (or Evo !) and selling my MY00 for a good price !

 

In a non PC world the cars looks could be a good marketing ploy

" Introducing the NEW Subaru Impreza....
Looks like a dogs ar@e..goes like sh!7 off a shovel"

At least those more interested in pose value won't be queing up..will anyone ??


AllanB

 

Sorry to buck the trend but I think i'll wait and see.

The current car is not good looking - ever seen a GL or wingless Turbo?

OK the face is questionable but if it had been a squared off job it would have looked like a 4 door Skyline GTR.

I think it will have quite a lot of presence, especially with a wide track and flared arches.

US is to get turbos for the first time in 2001, and Subaru have an objective to get out of the oddball bucket there, therefore I agree that there is a big US influence here.

I wonder if the US estate will have an option for plastic wood look panels to stick on the outside?

Ed

NB if the others are all right then we will have an odd ball car enjoyed by a few on our hands.....sounds familiar.

[This message has been edited by EdwardH (edited 26-07-2000).]

 

Call me sick but it is starting to grow on me

Cheers
Simon

 

All I can say is that for those of you moaning in your beer about rersiduals on the current car going through the floor, you can probably sleep easier this evening.

Given the number of artist's impressions that have appeared over the past few months that looked half decent I should imagine a huge number of potential buyers have just been well and truly put off by this.

It's going to have to be unbelievable on the road to make people buy it.

Andrew

 

Some of you are right, the current car is no looker but the later versions have improved and I thought that Subaru were getting better at asthetics. Anyway it was the quirky looks that made it stand out and more appealing to me in the first place.

What about the Fiat Multipla? perhaps this new Subaru will go the same way and the dynamics will over ride the looks and it will be a smash hit. Only time will tell.

Still, £25k for the new model will certainly help UK model residuals, what ever it looks like.

Perhaps they'll match the looks with a new name like Cedric or something?

F

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by DazW:
<B>Scott, where would you prefer Subaru to spend their money, getting in italian styling house, or maybe a fancy dashboard or do you want the money spent on a well sorted chassis and stonking engine!
[/quote]

Bit early to be saying it has a well sorted chassis; especially if it does have US market influences.

 

Folks...dont want to say I told you so but check out an alternative style of Impreza on the Jap web site at

 

When i first saw the outgoing shape about 6 years ago now,i thought to myself that looks cr@p i would never be seen dead in one of those ugly things but once i learnt about the performance and saw it win a few rally's i was hooked and over time i started to apreciate the impreza's quirky looks.

So give it time and a few wins and i think that a lot of people will come to love the new car just as much as the old one.

 

I'm sorry to disappoint John F and crew, but of course these pictures aren't fakes! When was the last time you saw anybody create a 'mockup' from 9 different angles?

The shape is the same as the sonic blue model photographed in Switzerland in early July. However that one had different 17" wheels on it, and no rear spoiler. So, apart from having serious reservations about the origin of the pix, I would have to say that's pretty much what we'll get.

However, if you look at these pictures again I'm sure you'll notice that not a single one shows an undistorted or natural view of the car. They have been taken with a variety of lenses, yet the snapper used the widest lenses for the corner shots, and even then only shot those from above and below, compounding the distortion. You can't tell me that an opportunist snapper wouldn't have shot straight pictures of the front, back and sides before pratting about with a wideangle.

Bearing in mind the current car was pretty foul until 97ish, I think I'll wait for the official unveiling/publicity shots promised by Japan next before deciding whether to get my deposit back.

Josh

 

I don't know about anybody else but have Subaru got a bulk order of Ford Scorpio headlamps. Come to think of it the new model also looks like a wide mouthed frog!!!! We mourn the passing of the current Impreza!!!

 

Josh L,

I see from your profile that you have some experience in the business, so I'd like to pose a couple of questions to you:
1. Why is it that the car appears very well lit i.e. more than one light source (reflections), but still has a shadow all round beneath it?
2. Why did they airbrush out the background, when context would have added realism?
3. Why use 'distorting lenses' on a scoop photo set, when people are after the real thing?
4. Is it not possible for a good graphic design team to produce a 3D mock up using CAD technology? Don't car designers do this all the time? It would take some effort to do this, but then there is a healthy market for the photos and money to be made!
5. Why no interior shots? Could it be their CAD model has no interior?



Suresh

(clearly in denial and not having any of it)

 

Right,

Im trying to be positive about the new Impreza.

1) Sorry, can't be too positive about the rear. It looks too much like the booted Daewoo Nexus (astra based).

2) remove those silver rims and fit 17" gold. lower an inch and it will start to look better, especially on the move.

3) Rear 1/4 reminds me of the Skyline... shame they didn't continue to the rear.

4) The Front...... the tunnet from the lamps back to the screen looks a little like a 911 & dare i say it RS200.

5) Those semi front/side Indicators are appaling, the pathetic Impreza front side vents are pathetic. Subaru is obviously playing for a wider audience with it's looks.

6) The car rings 'Mule' to me, and not just it's looks.... it's just not finished yet is it? No way will the MY98/99 wheels be carries over, especially with the centre caps missing and the side skirts aren't colour co-ordinated.

7) This isn't the final version....not quite.. I'll defer total judgement until i see it in the flesh.

NeilR
Woke up optimistic!

 

Ids - thanks for the link. Now I need to buy some lunch to replace the last lot!
Truly the ba$tad son of a thousand cars... Check this!

 

Suresh,


In answer to your questions

1)The car was, in my opinion, photographed in direct sunlight, at about midday (note shadow from door mirror) This is also evident in the lack of shadow detail under the car/wheel arches. The shadow is there for realism purposes. If you cut away the background of a pic that's OK, but if you take away the shadows it looks very two-dimensional. I know, because I've had to do it myself for clients.

2)I would presume it was to take out reference material, thus making it impossible to pin-point where and when the pix were taken. Having said that, they have not airbrushed out the concrete paving that can be seen throught the drivers window.

3) My point entirely. Why go to all the trouble of taking at least 9 pictures of a car and not show even 1 standard angle. These pix were taken with more than one lens, so why no straight shots or interiors. In addition the two shots taken from above would require a remarkably convenient vantage point, or a step ladder (something most pro carry). I'm afraid it just strengthens my opinion that these pictures ultimately came from Subaru, or with their co-operation.

4) Yes it is possible, but the quality would be better, and there wouldn't be the grain that is evident.

5) I beg to differ. There is some interior detail.

To sum up, these pictures are all very nice, but don't actually show you anything concrete, and again, I would go back to anomalie like the fact that it has 98/9 wheels on it. But when the dutch photographer caught a blue one in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago it had 17" twinspoke wheels, akin to some speedlines, but in the shape of the 98/9 rims. It also had no spoiler. Otherwise they were identical. Also, in one picture of the blue car snapper can clearly be seen photographing it from the back of a Merc, which is also in front of it in another shot. So as far as I can see the wheels and the rear spoiler in Autocar might be there as misinformation, but otherwise, what you see is pretty much what we'll get.

The End

Josh Levy (aged 39 1/2)

 

Ewwww - re.Id's link above.... That's repulsive Check the 3/4 angle on the 'Accessories' tab - Jaguar/Neon/Impreza 5dr/Many others. I think the designers have finally lost it. There I was hoping for a meaner slimmer B4 RSK... Oh well off to buy a MY99 I s'pose.

Joolz.

[This message has been edited by jbryant (edited 27-07-2000).]

 

where are the Dutch Magazine pics posted (if anywhere) ??

I'm still somewhat cool on the whole look, but then again my taste in cars might be suspect ;-)

Ben Keyes
'99 M coupe

 

There was no mention of the BRIGHT SWITCH - surely the most important feature of any Impreza.

 

What an utter $hitheap...keep it, sell it to the French..

What a brilliant idea to stop people from importing cars oh stop it it hurts...

 

Fake as a....well you know my reasons

Lovejoy

 

It is the real thing. Trust me. And if you see it 'in person' it looks very very nice. Trust me. I know.

Gr.

Patrick

 

Despite my support for the new model it doesn't appear to have any seats at least not high back buckets like the current model.

A design oversight?

Ed

 

A staggering achievement.......to make a car even uglier than the current impreza. Hats off Subaru!

 

Sorry guys I can safely say that the car is completely sick
, it looks totally crap. The current car has a mean purposeful look to it, the new one looks like warm blancmange.

As for the posts saying wait until you see it in the flesh and in a nice colour - visit the opticians, unless you raze this car to the ground it will always look naff

Presuambly someone has e-mailed this thread to Subaru, if we, the devoted can't stand it then what chance do they have!

Matt

 

 

Is it me, or does the cabin space look shorter, and the bonnet area look longer?

Mayne to fit in a twin turbo , nah they couldnt could they?

robski

 

No, sorry, I've tried to look at it objectively and I sincerely hope that it does look better in the flesh. As it is I hate it. It has lost all of it's aggressive and purposeful look that I love so much about the existing model.

I think they have tried to make it appeal to a wider audience and as a result, killed it stone dead.

Very depressing.

blubs

 

The wider audience being America. We are a small market in comparison, so why should they worry about us. In fact they dont looking at the design

Jonathan

Glad to have a run out special edition

 

Baby Legacy RSK, that's what it is, which surely can't be a bad thing?

Stef.