Intro

My time with the Subaru Impreza WRX is almost up. On Wednesday I plan to take the car back to our local Subaru dealer and bid it a less-than-fond farewell, but a farewell nonetheless. I figure that’s a lot more respectful than just dumping it at their front door.

If it sounds like I don’t like the car, don’t be fooled. It’s just that the inevitability of me having to return it some time has got me feeling flighty. Better get it over with now, eh?

Subaru first offered me a week in one of their cars after I argued with them about one of their advertisements here in Australia (with a big hat tip to Turbin). That was around five months ago now. It took around three months to get the car here, by which time they suggested I keep the car for a month instead of a week. That was around seven weeks ago.

What I received was a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX 5-door hatch and over the next few days I’ll be posting several articles on the car. It’s definitely been an interesting time and an experience I’d like to re-create with a few other vehicles in the near future, if possible.

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The Car

Let’s get acquainted, shall we?

When the Subaru Impreza WRX burst on to the Autralian motoring scene in the early 1990s - yes, it really was that long ago - it turned an entire sector of the industry on its ear. Until the WRX arrived, ball-tearing performance was the preserve of the wealthy, their very close friends and a quick-learning ever expanding band of car thieves.

The WRX consistently won ‘best performance car under $XX,000′ all around the world. It’s the first car that I can recall being used by the Victoria Police that wasn’t a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon. They had to use the WRX as it was the only hope they had for catching all the stolen WRX’s being used in various crimes.

Whilst the earlier WRXs were a thrill ride, they certainly weren’t too comfortable. All that go-kart handling came in a car that was go-kart sized and had the ride characteristics of - you guessed it - a go kart. It didn’t stop the WRX from becoming a cult hero, however. In fact, it may have even helped. There was something of an underdog factor in the WRX story: the nerdy Japanese company that did these offbeat AWD wagons that sound like lawn mowers. Who’d have thought they could possibly build a powerhouse that would turn their ho-hum curiosity of a brand into a desireable niche player and world rally champion?

Fast forward a bunch and for 2008 there’s an all-new WRX. Time has passed, the WRX’s clientele has matured and so has the car. Here in Australia, the WRX is currently only available in a five door hatchback, which is somewhere in between the sedan and wagon variants we all got used to. It’s a little bigger outside, inside and under the hood, but in an impressive exercise in self-restraint, it’s actually smaller where it matter most (to many) - the price.

Value

The 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX costs A$39,990 and that’s $450 less than the outgoing model. The options list is exceptionally small, consisting only of a navigation system at $2,990. That’s it - just one option. That’s because the list of standard features is exceptionally large, especially for a $40K car.

For your $40K, you get self-levelling Xenons, Limited Slip Diff, 17-inch alloys, a double-locking system that I don’t understand, sports body kit, sports seats, a rear diffuser, and a big audio system with more speakers than you’ll ever have ears in the car. You get ‘leather’ on the steering wheel and gearknob and some weaved stuff on the seats. And as Subaru go to great lengths to point out, you also get 5-star safety for you and your passengers and 4-star safety for the pedestrians you’re at risk of running into.

That’s not where the money is, though.

What you really pay for when you hand over your 40-large is a stonkingly quick 2.5 litre turbocharged boxer engine. It ain’t pretty but it’s quick. It’s mated to a notchy 5-speed gearbox and finds it’s way to the road via Subaru’s oft-advertised symmetrical AWD system.

From a Saab-nut’s point of view let me point out the obvious similarity - This WRC blue (close to Lightning Blue) WRX has a turbo charged four that puts out 169kW and 320Nm, which is quite similar to the Viggen’s 162kW and 342 Nm.

I’ll get to the driving in a future instalment, but there’s a lot to like about the engine, and the car in general. There’s a few things on the other side of the ledger as well, but we’ll get to that later.

For now, let me just say I have very few doubts that the Subaru Impreza WRX represents quite possibly the best bang for the buck that you can get in a motor car, and that there’s no way on Thor’s earth that I’d ever own one.

Seeya soon for instalment 2.