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Its much better to let time tell the tale. Why get so upset now?

 

I'm sure lots of people wanted to kill Subaru when they axed the Brat. But then came the EJ engine. The first Impreza's were quite ugly, but the STi was downright beautiful. They killed the dual-range trannies then, too.

 

On top of that in '95 they castrated all the USDM cars and took away turbos and added the fake abominations (non-functional hoodscoops). Then in '97 they gave us grenading engines if the timing belt broke.

 

Move along to '02 and the hideous new Impreza came out... at least that's what everyone whined about then. Now they are loved pretty much across the board.

 

The thing is with these new Subarus, besides looks which is just personal opinion, FHI is settting up these cars to be very capable in motorsport for years to come. Looks and lack of quirks will grow on anyone who has them. Some people act like they abandoned the boxer engine, they just keep making it better.

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Am I the only one who thought that frameless windows were a problem waiting to happen anyway? I always thought it was a fragile, stupid design, destined for failure and expensive repair.

 

The headlight thing is nice to have, but I can learn to turn off my own lights. There aren't many manufacturers who use this feature, so I can't see getting that upset about it and leaving Subarus for another maker who also doesn't have the feature.

 

The design of the Tribeca and new Impreza make it obvious that Subaru is trying to plant itself firmly in the mainstream. It seems like a good strategy now that most manufacturers have some version of AWD available. If folks are going to buy a mainstream looking AWD from someone else based on styling (which is likely), Subaru's gotta play the game. I'm pretty sure that Subaru's fine with losing old customers if they gain more new ones.

 

One thing's for certain, they only way to let Subaru know how you feel is to tell them. http://www.subaru.com/tools/contactus/index.jsp

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Here's a sneak previews of a slightly disguised WRX STi on the test track in Germany.

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/videos/spyshotvideos/209819/subaru_impreza.html

 

"rolling suppository" comes to mind...

 

Personally, I think this is retaliation from the "Alfa Nose" designer since we dissed his design so badly. "Cut off your nose to spite your face..."

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The sedan is definately better looking than the wagon/hatchback whatever you want to call it. I was hoping to see one in person today when I went by the subie lot here. But they haven't gotten the new impreza in yet.

 

Please tell me that the STi model will be the sedan.... PLEASE

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Is that "flame surfacing" I'm seeing on the sides of the new Impreza? Is Chris Bangle moonlighting at Subaru?

 

Kidding aside, I think Subaru has always been the "quirky" choice in Japanese cars. As they mainstream the brand values, they're alienating their brand loyalists (think Saab, another "quirky" car which has gone more mainstream) The thing is, I don't think Subaru is going to be able to steal many of the Honda / Toyota shoppers; it'll never be mainstream enough for those folks, so why alienate your traditonal fan base? People who buy one of the "Big Two" Japanese cars aren't really doing all that much cross shopping IMHO...it's sort of the default choice.

 

As for those folks who are freaked out by the lack of auto-off headlights, it's a simple matter of splicing in a relay...granted, you might not want to be jacking with the wiring on a vehicle that's brand new and under warranty. I see a great cottage industry in plug-and-play auto off headlight kits for new Subarus!

 

Nathan

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Please tell me that the STi model will be the sedan.... PLEASE

Nope. Hatch only.

 

Hear hear hankosolder. I like my cars quirky. I like to hear the window rattle when it's down and I close the door. I like that my car idles a bit funny, and that the engine shakes a bit at idle too. I like the interior that isn't really all that luxurious, but takes a beating well.

 

I like my cars to have personality.

 

These don't.

 

Whatever. I'm done ***************ing. What's done is done. Subaru made their decision and I made mine.

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I stopped by my Subie dealer today to buy some parts. They had an 08 WRX on display. I was not impressed by its looks. Subaru took this car very main stream, so that it looks very much like a Mazda 5 door, and overall has that generic, "it could be any recent Asian car" look. There is no new ground breaking styling here. The cutsie doubles of "smiley face" grill, and smiley shaped open air intake under the bumper are a turn off; Looks like the front end body designers watched the recent movie "cars," to come up with the smiley face front end look. Maybe an option is a robotic controlled movable grill opening that moves to talk just like the cars in the movie.

 

What the pics here don't show is the carry over of a big clasic honking fake air intake scoop mounted in the middle of the hood. That is certainly a carry over from Subies of the past. I never liked it, but it certainly is a Subie classic trademark.

 

With all of the above, the WRX does not have mean focused purposeful look of past WRXs. It might perform better, but it will look like a cutsie woos in the process. Maybe Subie will come up with some mid year change improvements to help this car out. Changing the front end styling should be considered first. Just my 2 cents worth.

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Kidding aside, I think Subaru has always been the "quirky" choice in Japanese cars. As they mainstream the brand values, they're alienating their brand loyalists (think Saab, another "quirky" car which has gone more mainstream) The thing is, I don't think Subaru is going to be able to steal many of the Honda / Toyota shoppers; it'll never be mainstream enough for those folks, so why alienate your traditonal fan base? People who buy one of the "Big Two" Japanese cars aren't really doing all that much cross shopping IMHO...it's sort of the default choice.

This is the same thing Nissan did a few years back. They made the Maxima & Pathfinder boring, dropped the 300z and lost all their sales. Then they got back to their "quirky" cars with Xterra, 350z etc. Hopefully Subaru will pull its head out.

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What the pics here don't show is the carry over of a big clasic honking fake air intake scoop mounted in the middle of the hood. That is certainly a carry over from Subies of the past. I never liked it, but it certainly is a Subie classic trademark.

 

How did you come to the conclusion that it's fake???

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How did you come to the conclusion that it's fake???

 

I must confess that I never looked under the hood to see if the air scope was functional. I have two late 90's OBW with the same looking hood scoops that are non functional, strictly decorative, that is how I drew my conclusion. Still, as "vanilla looking" as the new WRX is, I would be very surprised to learn that the hood scoop is functional. Somebody check, and report back otherwise.

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I must confess that I never looked under the hood to see if the air scope was functional. I have two late 90's OBW with the same looking hood scoops that are non functional, strictly decorative, that is how I drew my conclusion. Still, as "vanilla looking" as the new WRX is, I would be very surprised to learn that the hood scoop is functional. Somebody check, and report back otherwise.

 

Every last factory hood scoop on a Subaru since 2002 has been on a turbocharged model. These scoops have an intercooler sitting under it. The function of the scoop is to feed air to the intercooler to cool off the heated intake charge from the turbo.

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Wow, I didn't know I was so much in the minority. I actually kind of like the styling of the new Impreza. I didn't like it much a couple iterations ago, but this one's pretty good. I actually like the wagon better than the sedan.

 

It is nearly unforgivable that they have eliminated the headlight feature to save 50 cents/car. I'm mixed about the door frames because they are usually good, but sometimes leaky and noisey with age. Oh, well...

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Its much better to let time tell the tale. Why get so upset now?

 

I'm sure lots of people wanted to kill Subaru when they axed the Brat. But then came the EJ engine. The first Impreza's were quite ugly, but the STi was downright beautiful. They killed the dual-range trannies then, too.

 

On top of that in '95 they castrated all the USDM cars and took away turbos and added the fake abominations (non-functional hoodscoops). Then in '97 they gave us grenading engines if the timing belt broke.

 

Move along to '02 and the hideous new Impreza came out... at least that's what everyone whined about then. Now they are loved pretty much across the board.

 

The thing is with these new Subarus, besides looks which is just personal opinion, FHI is settting up these cars to be very capable in motorsport for years to come. Looks and lack of quirks will grow on anyone who has them. Some people act like they abandoned the boxer engine, they just keep making it better.

 

Quoted for truth...

 

I had a chance to toss one around on an auto-x course last weekend, and I have to say I was very impressed by how it handled out of the box. There is much less tendency to understeer now, it handles a lot more neutral than any other stock Subie I've ever driven.

 

Maybe it'll take a while for the loyal following to warm up to the design, but from what I've seen over the last 6 or 7 years I believe it'll happen eventually. One thing is for sure - the new Impreza will definitely have a broader appeal to those who never even considered buying a Subaru before.

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Quoted for truth...

 

I had a chance to toss one around on an auto-x course last weekend, and I have to say I was very impressed by how it handled out of the box. There is much less tendency to understeer now, it handles a lot more neutral than any other stock Subie I've ever driven.

 

Maybe it'll take a while for the loyal following to warm up to the design, but from what I've seen over the last 6 or 7 years I believe it'll happen eventually. One thing is for sure - the new Impreza will definitely have a broader appeal to those who never even considered buying a Subaru before.

Exactly, one racing team already switched over to the new Turbo Legacy because of its inherent better handling.

 

The new WRX is bigger internally in EVERY dimension, full power and torque comes on 400 rpm earlier, wheelbase is longer, handles better and rides more comfy, trunk is much more spacious with new rear suspension (side effect)... AND the car is lighter than the preceding model. What is there not to like performance wise?

 

Remember what makes Subaru's what they are. Boxer engine, simple AWD, and top-3 reliability. Stuff like window frames and emergency parking light switches were just little side stuff that was Subaru specific. I don't know the reasoning behind the headlights, but the window frames makes the car better.

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I think window frames are a good idea. Keeps the glass from wigglin'.

 

rd

 

 

I don't know if I am used to the looks quite yet, but the window frames are great. I've always thought that Subaru should switch to that. Especially since I have poor vision and i slammed my finger between the window and the roof line one day thinking my windows were down.

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