pslewis

as told by Clarkson ...

Greatest Hits

The Honda Civic Type R gets a pasting too ....

I test drove it and its not a bad car - what's he talking about?

911

Have a read of the huge test drive in this months EVO with the Sti and a Lambo on wet slippy roads, and they came away most impressed.

Looks are not everything, and Top Gear MUST be provocative.

What better than to slate the iconic Impreza?
That will get the chat going in the pubs.
Just the ticket!

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

Yip, Evo's changing-mind-like-a-woman characteristic showing again

And we all know that Clarkson slags off Imprezas and their owners in one breath, then preaches about how wonderful they are in the next.. (a bit like his GT40 really.. but in reverse )

The fact is that the new Impreza is more than likely a VERY good car - except everyone (including most on here) have got all hung up on its looks; and only a blind man with no hands would say ANY Impreza (including all the old... sorry.. I mean "classic" ones.. ) is an attractive or pretty car.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Wheres my white Stick Sti in standard form would make a very good WRX but it does need to be tweaked to make it a Great STi IMHO

As said, Clarkson "Is" controversial just to get the "ratings"

IIRC the WRX was never sposed to be here in the UK till early next year , whenit was to unviell the Diesel WRX. it wsa dealers who demanded it, big mistake IMHO

Tony

Probein

I was well surprised by some of what Clarkson said.. I couldn't believe the S6 and CTR made it into the list, they're supposed to be pretty awesome! I had to double check to make sure it wasn't a wind-up article or something.

dpb

Somebody should slug him frankly - make way for some new blood

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Loves the Leggy Outback and gives the Forester 4 1/2 Stars.

ski

Drove the New WRX at my local dealers,and both my mate and myself were left very impressed by it.Drives really good,feels fun to drive,has better interior,feels solid,and looks much better in real life.To be honest we did not want to give it back.My mates blobeye felt really dated after.Just seen the legacy reviewed with new Boxer Diesel,and its a cracking engine!Be interesting in the WRX and Fozzie.
The only thing WRX and STi need is paddle shift semi auto gearbox,would be cool to have and help performance even more.
To many German car lovers as writers in most motor mags,and they slag anything off not German.Dont take notice of what Clarkson and other donkeys,drive it yourself,and if it fits your requirements than cool,if it don't buy something else.

SirFozzalot

Here, here

ski

Oh forgot to say the driving position is fantastic,and you can sit quite low,which i prefer.And steering adjusts for reach too,which is cool :-)

nooobyscoooby

Old Scooby good, new Scooby [s]crap!

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

Well.. there we have it. Another well informed opinion on the new Impreza I'm sure.

SirFozzalot

darren...

My view as having had a WRX as a courtesy car for a day: Suspension is far too soft and the gearstick has far too much throw on it, it takes your hands too far from the wheel... Far less pull but then again I'm coming from a quicker car and the torque is spread further around the range...

On the plus side far more leg room for passengers in the rear and build quality appears to have gone up...

Will be interesting to see the STi once prodrive have finished

finalzero

Have patience folks, strangely the car has been received well in Australia but the market is different there, the Subaru brand is well known and popular (Legacy's outsell the Impreza's).

Hopefully Subaru & Co will have released enough to prove the chassis/engine/gizmo's and someone will come up with a proper design for it.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

obvious another thats sat in and test drove the STi

That's very true

Tony

The rookie

iTrader: (1)

Not true, original review of a JDM said it was too soft, not as focused as the old car and gave it 4 stars, latest review (V the lambo) of UK Sti says its soft, not as focused as the old car and gave it 4 stars (old STi as 5), sounds pretty constant to me!

Simon

burns

iTrader: (1)

You gotta love the pic in EVO of the STI with all four wheels off the ground behind the Lambo.

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

As an STI driver, that's almost identical to my opinion of a hawkeye WRX I had as a courtesy car anyhow; so not much has changed there . We all knew they would probaby soften the whole Impreza range - hell, look at the number of people on here in the past who've complained about STI's being too harsh. It'll just be our job to sharpen them up a little

I'm sure Evo gave the UK car 3 stars the other month? Might have been my memory playing tricks on me

cresswell

Old STi was too harsh for me, hence WRX.

New WRX softer than my current, but I did enjoy the test drive.

More space in the back which helps those of us with kids.

If new STi is a bit softer than old STi, I'll buy one. I suspect the higher spec with 18" wheels will be harder, so the basic at £25k.

pslewis

I agree, the old STi was not a car you could enjoy day-in-day-out. The ride was simply too rough, the same reason I didn't buy an EVO in 2000.

I do not fancy having my fillings knocked out everytime I drive my car, therefore the softer the new STi is the more likely I am to buy it.

Varboy

^^ don't you mean false teeth?

EddScott

I haven't read EVO yet but I'm looking forward to my quiet Sunday morning read.

I don't really take EVO magazine opinions to heart. They were all up for the Impreza but its all Porsche Porsche Porsche! Just a good read.

On the same page its interesting to see JC says Subarus are more reliable than other Japanese cars.