Subaru Impreza Subaru West Drive 2000 - 2003 sedan

When the score goes for seconds

Behind the wheel, rather behind the wheel! We ask in advance an apology from readers who are accustomed to the traditional construction of our test materials, when the impressions of the car by car follow a few words about its history, design and ergonomics. We will definitely tell you about all this, but a little later, - our impatience is very great to drive in a car that has replaced the cult model of the nineties.

 

Subaru Impreza in charged versions was an uncompromising means of lightning-fast movement in space, so its appearance and internal arrangement somehow moved far into the background by itself. Why was? Because in front of you is a second -generation machine, part -time civil version of that rally car, which Richard Barnes/Robert Raid is leading into battle this year.
 

Impreza II WRX injects adrenaline in portions. You get the first from the consciousness of the fact that now you will go to Impreza II WRX. The second is from the contemplation of the surroundings of the car. The third overtakes when you fall into the driver's seat and immediately feel tightly clamped in his arms. And then you turn the key, and the black beast, in the womb of which you found yourself, is an awakening. The salon is filled with the sound of the engine operating at idle, and then you understand that this will happen now. But it will happen exclusively by your will: you can turn the key in the opposite direction and after a couple of seconds to be outside, or you can take a chance to tempt fate, left one on one with a car. The lack of choice causes an increase in the already lively pulse.

 

The path to freedom, rushes on the cities of the tracks along the city streets. In the transport crowding Impreza WRX does not seem to be a supervto car at all. When starting from traffic lights, it is necessary to be neat with the clutch pedal, so as not to inadvertently drown out the engine - torque on the bottom is still lacking. A light steering wheel and excellent brakes allow you to feel completely relaxed when maneuvering. The suspension was surprised - for a car with sports inclinations, quite comfortable, well -core with all kinds of small irregularities, shaking the car only on large fossa.
 

In general, a normal golf-class car, if not for one but it occurs as soon as the tachometer arrow approaches 3000 rpm and a turbocharged. You feel in the skin of a movie hero, behind which a warehouse with the ammunition of terrorists exploded (an atomic power station, a talrentine column, etc.), and it, picked up by an explosive wave, contrary to his own will, is carried forward. It’s good if it is in the forefront - then a powerful motor, coupled with all -wheel drive, turn cars in the rear review mirrors into tiny points. But if you are not lucky and you were clogged somewhere in the crowd, then you need to handle an accelerator extremely delicately, or the ride will turn into a continuous series of sharp accelerations and equally sharp braking.

 

While we get out of the operational scope, there is time to look at the interior. Imprez is inherent in the aesthetics of almost a racing car: all the devices necessary on the road are absolutely functional and are within the limits of direct reach, but nothing more. No artistry or sophistication - it seems that it was possible to do without an overlay for aluminum on the central console. What can not be said about perforated pedals made of bare metal, from communication with which you experience completely positive emotions. And what are the seats and the steering wheel! Both are the products of eminent brands, Recaro and Momo, respectively, both are adjustable in height, and the most comfortable pose does not seem to be super -task. Moreover, the driver’s chair is inclined to dictate its conditions, very intrusively fixing the body - so, even the location of the legs is due to the V -shaped pillow profile. Nevertheless, we still have one remark to the steering wheel: for such a combat apparatus, it should be made not four-, but a three-spitz, that is, more suitable for speed steering. Of the standard equipment of the car, it is worth mentioning the ABS, air conditioning, two airbags and an electric package. That's perhaps that’s all. On the other hand, this is the necessary minimum. Believe me, in the environment, the environment will be the least interested in the environment - all attention will be concentrated on the process of driving and on your own sensations and experiences. This is the magic of Impreza WRX.

 

A few words about comfort in the back seat. Above the heads here, however, as well as in front, there are more than enough space - compared to the first generation model, the ceiling line increased by 43 mm; Legs are also where to put, but under the condition that the driver and his neighbor do not belong to the giant tribe. At the same time, you can praise the trunk - quite spacious, with a competent neckline. If you close its lid, clutching the edge of the rear spoiler, then the risk of staining your hands boils to zero. Checked themselves.
 

Meanwhile, the cars scattered around, but the speeds increased, which announced the approach to the city line. Now there is a real chance to feel what the engine with a high -pressure turbine and the intake path of variable length, and not just the engine, but a longitudinally located opponent, mean. What is an all -wheel drive transmission with an interdosseous and rear inter -road differentials blocked by the WISKOFTs. And especially - how the distribution of torque through the axes affects the behavior of the car - in the standard modes it leaves 50:50, however, in case of slipping on wheels of one axis, it can be transferred to 75% of the moment. The first gear - gas to the floor - frantic acceleration, and then the tachometer arrow flies to the maximum 7000 rpm. The second - the intensity of acceleration does not fall, and only when switching to the third can you come to your senses a little, but only in order to immediately be horrified by the speedometer. The motor is so swiftly twisted that it seems as if eternity goes to switching and expectation of the moment of turning on the turbine.

 

I will not say that the engine sounded, but colleagues who were traveling next to the escort car (the thing also non -fabric, Saab 9000turbo) assured that Imprez has the same one, with its modest size, is clearly not co -like. A wide highway narrows, and roadside trees, pillars and oncoming cars are growing into a continuous concrete wall. Competitions turn into motionless obstacles that need to be turned off - a little reminiscent of a computer game, but there is no right to make a mistake here: life is given only one. The gaming question pops up in consciousness: do you want to continue? I choose the option and I return to the speeds, more or less acceptable acting traffic rules. The brakes are good without reservation: powerful, predictable, and ABS does not seek to intervene in the actions of the driver ahead of time.

 

Note that at high speeds at our Impreza tracks far from autobahous standards, it is quite confident, not least thanks to the large rear spoiler. True, the suspension reacts tough to significant irregularities - but here the rally, and not the highway sharpening of the car, is already affecting. The stability of the car in corners can be talked exclusively to an excellent degree. The cranes of the body are so small, and the supern Wealthy tires of the dimension of 215/45 R17 are clinging into the coating with such a dead grip that there is a feeling of permissiveness. You increase the speed, then more, and the car continues to write a trajectory with amazing equanimity. Of course, there are no miracles - no matter how perfect the car is, the only question is, how quickly you will approach its limiting capabilities. On dry asphalt, Imprez rotation is close to neutral, but it is worthwhile to overdo it with gas in a bend - it is quite sharply pressed on the accelerator pedal - how the car begins to smoothly slip out the front axle out of the trajectory. The same thing happens on a wet road, only at lower speeds. In principle, you can get out of a particular situation by adding gas from a similar situation and thereby causing the absence of the rear axle. Let's try: barely perceptibly wagging the back, Impreza does not refuse to slip, only now this slide is more lateral in nature. It is already easier to cope with him - just dropping the gas. If you like drifts and know how to indulge in a car with a drive on all wheels, then you should turn on the snowy paths. Here, Impreza will be willing and very obediently revenge on the tail, an amate of pride and sports ambitions of its owner. Against the background of such exemplary controllability, the only thing you have to put up with is a lack of a returning effort on the steering wheel in the near -Beam zone.

 

It seems that we told you about the behavior of the car everything that we managed to find out - although we will not have a shouting soul: the possibility of Imprez are probably extended for the line of what we managed to feel, since the management of such a machine requires special training, and even more precisely - more precisely - special training in managing this particular machine. Now you can discuss the design. The most important thing is that in recent years, Subaru cars have acquired branded features that allocate them from the total mass. If we talk about the new Imprez, then most of all it looks like a four -door version of the Forester model. The proportions of relatively high bodies, the shape of the rear headlights, stuffy wings - all this is related by two cars. Naturally, without stylish frameless doors, it was not done. However, the greatest disputes on both sides of the Atlantic caused elliptical blocks. Someone claims that Subaru stylists obeyed universal fashion, someone accuses them of plagiarism. However, there is no flirting of these headlights in the expression of these headlights, like the same Yaris, or aristocratic arrogance, like the Mercedes and Jaguars. I tried to understand what they reminded until I had a conjecture - the eyes of the dragons, which can be in abundance at the East Asian festivities! Creatures, confident in their abilities, wise, but sometimes insidious. Yes, Impreza WRX is insidious in its own way: the speeds with which the machine passes turns, combined with its stain dynamics as if transferred to a parallel dimension, where everything happens a little different than in the rest of the world. The main thing here is to constantly keep in mind that the rest of the movement may not be ready to meet with the dragon, to get confused and violate his proud flight.

 

The name Impreza, descending from the English impress (which means to impress), has been known in the automobile world for nine years. The premiere of the second-generation model was held in Japan last August, and before Europeans, the car appeared in October at a motor show in Birmingham. The car is offered with the sedan and station wagon bodies, in one of three configurations - TS, GX and WRX, each of which corresponds to its own engine. So Impreza WRX, which has been on our test, is so far the most radical option of those that Subaru offers to admirers of its products. It is to admirers, because the technique of this level is designed for true connoisseurs. They know for sure that they part with the amount of $ 35,990 not in vain, and in some ways they can be envied.
 
   
 
   

 
 

Source: Wheel magazine [No. 47/2001]