From http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002161993,00.html

I WAS thumbing through one of those techno-gadget magazines this morning when I was struck with a disquieting thought – I really am as backward as a tractor.

I was particularly disturbed by one particular box of tricks which appeared to be a camera.

But, it could also download music from the Internet, send emails, play mini discs, talk to satellites and redirect American carrier battle groups.

I may be wrong about the last bit. But it’s hard to be sure because the blurb was written in a 3-chip, 6-byte, MP3 language that was only on nodding terms with English.

Now look. I have a normal digital camera and I know just how long it takes to download the images on to a computer and print them out. It’s quicker to use Boots.

So the idea of a camera which can email its pictures to the captain of the USS Nimitz fills me with horror and dread. I’d be better off painting a picture and sending it in the post.

And of course, just as soon as I’d got the hang of it, I’d find it was as obsolete as the Box Brownie.

There’s an equivalent of this galloping technology in the world of cars too. It’s called the Subaru Impreza.

The last model was updated and improved every 15 minutes and now there’s a new model to complicate matters still further.

I’ve just spent a week with the WRX STi Prodrive Style version but by the time you read this, I’m fairly sure it will have been replaced with something else. Something better?

I seriously doubt it.

For sure, it’s an ugly brute, but so was the Elephant Man. And that didn’t stop him being a dab hand at building matchstick cathedrals.

The point of this car is not what it looks like. You have to ignore the enormous rear spoiler and the decals, which are picked out in pink, and concentrate on how it goes.

Yes, it may only have a 2-litre, turbo engine and it may produce only 265bhp but it gets from 0 to 60 in 5.2secs and it keeps on going all the way to 148mph.

That is really, really fast for a four-door saloon car which costs just £26,000. Less, if you fish for one with an Internet.

And faster still if you get the hang of its cooling button. Apparently, if you press it, the intercooler is chilled with a jet of iced water which gives more oomph. Well, I pressed it a lot and nothing happened.

However, it’s not the straight line wallop that impresses most of all. What leaves your eyeballs out on stalks is the cornering ability. Four-wheel drive helps but it’s the essential rightness of the suspension that beggars belief.

Yes, in extremis, a Mitsubishi Evo VII is better on the road but I’m hard pressed to think of anything — anything at all — which could cover ground faster than the Scooby Doo.

Except of course the next Scooby Doo. And the one after that, which is due on Wednesday afternoon.

Progress. We might not understand its breathtaking pace, but we can at least sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

 

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

when is it on tv?

wonder if we'll bitch if he slates it next wednesday

 

The only disappointment was half a page of mindless irrelevant waffle before he got onto the review of the car, which was good but sparse. Jeez if I was reviewing the Scoob for a paper I'd need 3 pages.

Evo and Scooby owners can both take comfort from the article as well, which I thought was good.

 

Article headed . . . .


Complicated . . . . Subaru Impreza

Compared to what ? A can opener