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  1. Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    29,354
    #1
    Taken from:
    http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol...cle3016139.ece

    From The Sunday Times
    December 9, 2007

    [SIZE="6"]Subaru Impreza 2.5 WRX[/SIZE]
    [SIZE="4"]For an axe murderer, it’s a big softie[/SIZE]




    Jeremy Clarkson

    Most people know the barebones history of rock’n’roll – some black men sang the blues but no one in white America would buy their music because it was the 1950s and, well, that sort of thing didn’t happen.

    Eventually, though, the music made it to England, where the misery of it struck a chord with working-class lads. Bands such as the Animals and the Rolling Stones copied it, and they did succeed in America, because, bluntly, Mick Jagger is white.

    The thing is, though, I’ve never been able to see the link. I’ve listened to those crackly blues records from Memphis and I’ve listened to Jumpin’ Jack Flash and they appear to have nothing in common. Genetically, they seem as distant from each other as the sausage dog and the Magimix.

    But the other night, while listening to a Radio 2 show, I heard a song from 1956 called Smokestack Lightning, and the DJs explained how you could hear the genesis of the Stones in there. They were right – you could. For me, this was a revelation.

    And then they started talking about famous fathers and sons who have appeared in bands together. Which is exactly the sort of trivial nonsense I adore. And then they played Sylvia by Focus and I began to think that I’d discovered a radio show designed exclusively for me. It was brilliant – so brilliant that I deliberately got lost so that I could hear more.

    It’s hosted by two chaps called Stuart Maconie and Mark Radcliffe, and because they have exactly the same Lancashire accent and exactly the same views on everything, you’ll think – as I did at first – that it’s actually hosted by one man talking to himself. No matter. Their knowledge of music is astonishing. I thought I was the only person alive who could name the guitarist with Focus but they actually know where he was born, where he went to school and, I shouldn’t be surprised, what position his mother was in when he was conceived.

    But these guys aren’t anoraks – they are way beyond that. They are the people to whom people who make anoraks go to buy their anoraks. And they serve as a hugely useful introduction to this morning’s sermon: the ongoing battle between the Subaru Impreza and the Mitsubishi Evo.

    To normal people, who see cars as wheels, seats and expense, they are exactly the same, built in Japan as road-going versions of rally cars. To the untrained eye, they are indistinguishable one from the other. They are Ant and Dec, or, if you prefer, Maconie and Radcliffe.

    They both have 2 litre turbocharged engines. They both have four-wheel drive and they are the same sort of size. Each is a family car with the heart and mind of an axe murderer. But to the trained eye they are not the same at all. To an anorak they really are chalk and cheese. They are Bad Company and Gareth Gates.

    Last week, while plugging my new DVD on a morning TV show, I was approached by a young girl with earphones and a clipboard. Externally, she was much the same as any other behind-the-scenes girl in modern television. But she began, immediately, by telling me she had an Impreza . . . and I knew it wasn’t going to stop there.

    “It’s the WRX STi RB5 two-door, PLS, SST . . .” she said for about half an hour. After which she still wasn’t finished: “994, PSP, Wii, LTD,” she continued. And on, and on . . . And that was before she even got to her boyfriend’s Subaru, which led to another two hours of initials and numbers.

    This is the thing with Subaru ownership: every last detail matters. Every tiny piece of the water-injection jigsaw is more important than your child’s next breath. You don’t own a car like this, you are assimilated by it. You become one.

    With men I find this tiresome. But with girls I find it very ***y. So as this girl rabbited on with ever more initials and numbers, I was overwhelmed by a need to introduce her to a friend of mine who has a Mitsubishi Evo 9. This is the only girl in the world who put a topless photograph of herself on her Facebook page. I would love to see them argue about which is the better car. With a bit of luck, it might even end up in a fight.

    I’m not going to say one is better than the other, because if I do, fans of the losing side will come to my house with crosses, petrol and much rage. But as an impartial observer I will say this: the Mitsubishi has always been the better to drive; the Subaru has always been the better to live with on a daily basis.

    And that brings us on to the new Subaru Impreza WRX. In petrol-land this is one of the most important cars ever. Imagine a band comprising Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and bits of Radiohead. That’s what this car is like to petrolheads. A pivotal, must-have moment of a car. Like its predecessor it has a turbocharged engine, 227bhp on tap and four-wheel drive. But unlike its predecessor, it has a 2.5 litre engine and a hatchback body, and it’s no longer bland to behold. Instead it’s wilfully ugly.

    I honestly began to imagine that it had been designed in a game of consequences: “You do the back, then fold the paper over. I’ll do the middle and we’ll get that drunk bloke to do the front.” It’s a hopeless mishmash that gets even worse when you step inside. This is a £20,000 car, and for that price you get a heater and . . . that’s about it. Honestly, I was amazed when I found it had dipping headlamps. An Aga has more buttons than this. And as a result, anyone who just wants a “nice hot hatch” will instead opt for a Golf GTI.

    The Subaru enthusiast, however, will see the lack of equipment as a good thing. Equipment is weight. Weight blunts acceleration. Weight is bad.

    Hmmm. This is undoubtedly true, but from the moment you set off you realise this is not set up to be a Lotus Elise with a hatchback. It is super-soft. Much softer than its predecessor. Much softer than a duck-down duvet. It glides like a Citroën.

    Then there’s the noise. Or rather there isn’t. The flat-four engine just hums away quietly to itself and, if anything, sounds rather exasperated if you weld your foot to the floor and head for the rev-counter red zone.

    And if you do head for the red zone, you will find that the natural tendency is for understeer. It was ever thus in an Impreza: it was one of the things that made it a more rewarding day-to-day companion than the furious and twitchy Evo. But in the new car the understeer arrives too early, and then you fall out of the seat. No, really. There are kitchen chairs with noticeably more side support.

    This car is called Subaru Impreza, which makes you think it will be a bare-knuckle attack dog. But in fact you get a soft and rather elderly labrador.

    Oh it’s still pretty quick: 0-62mph is dealt with in 6.5sec and the top speed is lots. But because of the understeer, the soft ride and the kitchen chairs, you never feel inclined to go for it. There’s no sense at all that you’re in a road-going rally car. It doesn’t even have a six-speed box.

    Of course, being a Subaru, it will be beautifully made, and it really is extremely comfortable, and quiet. But anyone drawn to these qualities will immediately be put off by the looks and the starter-handle-and-trafficator equipment levels. It is, in short, a car that appeals to no one.

    My friend with the clipboard and headphones was talking about it as though God himself had gone over to the dark side. “What am I to do?” she wailed, as I imagined her naked with my friend Camilla in a big box of mud.

    It’s a good point. If you are a Subaru fan, what are you to do? Sure, there is a 300bhp STi version of the WRX in the pipeline, and this will be harder and more focused. But it’s no looker either, and the fact of the matter is this: the next Evo, the 10, is. The battle, then, between the Impreza and the Evo – it just got one-sided.


    Model: Subaru Impreza 2.5 WRX

    Engine: 2457cc, four cylinders, turbocharged

    Power: 227bhp * 5200rpm

    Torque: 236 lb ft * 2800rpm

    Transmission: Five-speed manual

    Fuel: 27.2mpg (combined cycle)

    CO2: 246g/km

    Acceleration 0-62mph: 6.5sec

    Top speed: 130mph

    Price: £19,995



  2. Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    11,317
    #2
    evo X! hehehehe

  3. Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    922
    #3
    BOOM! God has spoken. All Hail the Evo!

  4. Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Posts
    556
    #4
    Jeremy clarkson is solely responsible for my getting an Evo.
    Awesome article... hehe... will have to wait for evo 11 tho....di pa
    bayad tong 9 ko. hehe. The best toy I've ever owned.

  5. Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    5,994
    #5
    see! go for an evo! but i had to disagree with them for making the GTR 'ze king of the road. i mean, if they're after aesthetics, the imprezza is 10x much better looking than the GTR. anyway, both cars are just lulz at the moment.
    Damn, son! Where'd you find this?

  6. Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    2,326
    #6
    Yeah but would he BUY one? I like the looks of the Evo more than the hatch Impreza but the price and aftersales are still big issues, I think. Pero kung may malaking discount ... hehehe.

    That 6.5sec/100kph doesn't sound right though. My FXT goes faster than that fully loaded and it weighs much more.

  7. Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    5,994
    #7
    that's he called it a softie, duh? i only wonder how the imprezza was able to beat the evo in the riceboys' test runs. must have beaten it on the straights.
    Damn, son! Where'd you find this?

  8. Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    3,347
    #8
    Mga GTR fans dyan... Wag na kayo magalit kay safeorigin.

    Personal point of view lang nya at di talaga Nissan fanatic to. Kahit aircon, di pa rin bilib sa Nissan. :hihihi:

    *I agree with you sir pup, IF Mitsu would only avail better prices and service warranties. If not, I would actually go for a Leggie, not an Impreza. My heart is always still with the only Subaru I really like - the Legacy. However, don't know if it will actually be my commuter car in the future. After 8 hours of standing and doing rounds at the hospital, I guess I deserve a more comfortable european vehicle.
    Last edited by drey; February 23rd, 2008 at 03:26 PM.
    iam3739.com

  9. Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    2,326
    #9
    OK, whetaminit kapeng mainit. The 08 Impreza WRX hatch DOES appear to be de-tuned, possibly for easier driveability. In the latest C! mag issue, its 0-100kph test time is at over 7+ seconds! Compared to the 07-08 FXT, the WRX is now SLOWER by about 1.5 seconds -- on top of less weight!

    So it would appear, likely or not, that they DELIBERATELY slowed the car down? Dunno how smart that is.

    Pero naisip ko nga pala, di ba hindi naman WRX ang ka-match ng Evo at rather ay ang STi? Eh di misleading yung comparo. PLUS, although wala sa ibang bansa, the STi SEDAN is a looker like the Evo also.

    Still think the price and after sales are issues for the Evo. Even the STi doesn't sell as much as the WRX (hehe. Dahil ba may moon roof ang WRX?). But wouldn't de-tuning it turn the buyers off?

    I mean, wouldn't new WRX owers be turned off by being smoked by big-a$$ Foresters?

  10. Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    2,326
    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by drey View Post
    Mga GTR fans dyan... Wag na kayo magalit kay safeorigin.

    Personal point of view lang nya at di talaga Nissan fanatic to. Kahit aircon, di pa rin bilib sa Nissan. :hihihi:

    *I agree with you sir pup, IF Mitsu would only avail better prices and service warranties. If not, I would actually go for a Leggie, not an Impreza. My heart is always still with the only Subaru I really like - the Legacy. However, don't know if it will actually be my commuter car in the future. After 8 hours of standing and doing rounds at the hospital, I guess I deserve a more comfortable european vehicle.
    Bro, the reason I got my FXT was because at the dealer-spec 26 psi, I felt the FXT's ride was an improvement over our Accord's. Even now that I'd properly inflated them, the ride is still much better than my Civic's. Why not try an Outback for the Legacy blues? Doon naman based yun eh.

    Yun nga lang, halos kasing mahal na din yata ng baby bimmer yung Outback eh.

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Jeremy Clarkson on Subaru Impreza 2.5 WRX (December 9, 2007)