http://jalopnik.com/395057/subaru-coupe-emerges-from-toyota-ether-looks-like-legacy

 

Heavily disquised mule.

Very cool.

i still think they should stick with AWD standard.......

I suppose it's only natural that there's a lot of AWD enthusiasts on a Subaru board, but I welcome the choice of RWD. It's just a lot more entertaining to drive (at least in the good weather!) and with the increased price of gas, Subaru is going to have no choice but offer FWD or RWD options on at least some of their platforms. (Diesel+ AWD might be a marketable platform though.)

Every single Japanese blandwagon offers FWD- an affordable RWD platform would allow Subaru to occupy a unique niche in the market... I'm thinking Japanese bargain BMW.

 

Nathan

I'm thinking Japanese bargain BMW.

That is exactly the move Subaru is currently making. The current Legacy shows this quite clearly. Some have noticed that the starting price for Subarus have been creeping upward. At the same time, they have increased their market share considerably. The company is already in a niche market. Compact and mid-sized AWD cars with odd engines and a strong performance to boot. I think subaru will need to start making two wheel drive vehicles, and it would be neat to be able to pick a FWD, RWD or AWD Impreza in its next iteration. It would be super easy for Subaru to do. They have the currently unused FWD technology sitting on a shelf, AWD in full production mode. Our community has proven that they can be RWD too, hell my wagon will wag its tail with the best of them now (drifting reference)!

 

This new platform proves again that Fuji has been listening closely to the enthusiest market for the last few decades. And we have seen this car before... I think that Subaru saw the reaction to the Prodrive P2 and decided to go into production with a watered down version. Just as before, we know that Subaru really means LEGO, and it would be super easy for them to "STI" this new platform and vaulting it above the current STI as the new corperate "halo car".

 

i do like the shape of the orange subaru supra. i buy 1 if i could

RWD is cheaper to make then FWD, and easier to control predictability with computers.

 

nipper

 

Nipper,

 

I was a little surprised to hear that RWD cars are less expensive to manufacture than FWD. (Unless you mean solid axle, low tech RWD vehicles, like a Crown Vic or something.)

I would guess that AWD is the most expensive drivetrain configuration, RWD (with IRS) in the middle and FWD is the least expensive. Could you explain?

 

Why are all the cheapest cars FWD while RWD tends to be only found in premium vehicles? I would also imagine that a FWD car is cheaper/ easier to assemble as the entire powertrain can be lifted into place on a single subframe assy.

 

Nathan

I hadn't really considered the R&D time aspect of RWD versus FWD. I can see how designing a transaxle and FWD packaging from scratch would be more difficult. That's a good point.

 

I would definitely assume that the Toyotabaru coupe has IRS! The Japanese don't really do retro-tech.

 

I don't know what modern premium vehicles you are referring to which don't have IRS...perhaps we have a different definition of a premium vehicle? I'm thinking BMW, MB, Lexus, etc. Even out of the new crop of American muscle cars, I think the Mustang is the only live-axle car.

 

The multilink rear suspensions on premium vehicles are actually quite complicated, lots of cast alloy parts, tons of bushings, etc. You don't see a lot of simple semi-trailing arm IRS setups anymore.

 

Nathan

Hehehehehe!!! I'm so ****ing excited!!! :banana:

 

http://www.scoobyblog.com/2008-06-04/subaru-impreza-coupe

 

Hi All - just wanted to let you know that I've been doing my best to aggregate all of the RWD Subaru Coupe rumors on my blog. If you have a minute, check it out - http://www.everythingworthknowing.com/tbxrumors

 

Personally, I think this is a good move for Subaru. No way Toyota could sell something like this stateside. Subaru is much more of a niche player and I think they'd be able to pull this off well.

 

Thanks

Very cool! Thanks for compiling everything into one place!

No problem!

 

What with Nissan's new 240 in the works and Hyundai's Genesis Coupe coming to dealerships next spring w/ Mitsubishi's Evo X powerplant under it's hood, it looks like the FR tuning scene is about to to through something of a renaissance.