Subaru Impreza Saloon 2003-2005

The 2nd generation Impreza is another attempt by the Subaru engineers to outsmart their Mitsubishi Evo rivals. A more aggressively-looking Impreza was launched in 2002 and subsequently underwent several facelifts and upgrades in the light of motoring journalists never being satisfied with the way the car looks. Although the practical value of the so-called road-rally cars has always been questioned, the Subaru is a medium size sedan with 4 doors and 4 full-size seats that offers unsurpassed performance.

Pros and Cons:

• Great acceleration and speed
  Fun to drive

• Expensive to repair
  The gearbox is quite awkward
  The interior design doesn’t match the image

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Exterior and Interior

In terms of the body shape the 2nd generation car still resembles the old Impreza, only the new one has been made cooler and sportier. The bulging wings and low body position exudes vehemence and vigour. The front end design depends on your taste, some people like the bug-eye appearance while the majority of car journalists seemed to loathe the new appearance and called for the manufacturer to rethink the aesthetic value of the car. Subaru succumbed to the pressure and finally and changed the front end in 2004 to feature more squared, Legacy-like headlamps.

The exterior is very simple and unpretentious. It doesn’t resemble a cockpit of a sports car. From the inside the Impreza looks like any other modern Japanese car. The cheap plastic that is used everywhere may disappoint. The seats are comfortable and for a sports car it has ample space for passengers and luggage.

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Engines

The car was sold with either a basic 1.6-litre 94bhp engine or a superb 2.0-litre boxer type engine with power ranging from 123 to 221bhp. Also three limited-edition power-ups have been available as a 261bhp WRX STi, a 301bhp Prodrive and a 316bhp WorldRally1 modification. All three are highly tuned versions of the same 2.0-litre boxer engine. There are no diesel derivatives available in the Impreza.

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Performance and Economy

All Impreza’s come with an all-wheel drive that includes a limited slip differential. That to certain extent justifies the fact that neither of the modifications come with any electronic traction or stability control. A German car of the same stature would be stuffed with electronics, the Subaru isn’t, but then as a full-wheel drive car, it is born to have perfect grip in any road conditions.

If you’re buying the Impreza for the reasons that the manufacturer had in mind, you wouldn’t be looking at the basic trim levels, namely GX and TS. They look like rally cars but don’t behave like ones. The non-turbo engines with 123bhp are hardly enough to get the car around let alone excite the driver.

Subaru is one of the last car manufacturers to still make boxer-type engines (the pistons move sideways not up and down). The boxers are very well balanced and quiet. The pistons are wasting less energy on moving inside the piston, hence, theoretically, you can get more power out of a boxer compared to the same displacement conventional engine. However, it is only by adding a turbo charger when the Impreza’s boxer comes to life.

Even the basic 221BHP modification will put out plenty of power and accelerate to 60mph in less than 6 seconds. With the top of the range limited edition WR1 model you can achieve an acceleration figure of around 4 seconds, which is brilliant for a 4-door sedan.

With all that performance, the fuel efficiency is still kept within reasonable limits. The boring Imprezas (GX and TS) are capable of 32mpg, the 221BHP turbo model can achieve 30mpg, while the WR1 will never provide more than 25mpg.

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What it's like to Drive

You certainly can appreciate the excellent acceleration that the rally modifications provide. Racing from the traffic light, you’ll leave any German sports coupe far behind. Steering is very keen and the suspension is sportingly stiff, although not to an extent where it bothers the passengers. Four-wheel drive which comes with the original equipment is a good bonus as it has a great traction, but is limited in use because of the car’s low ground clearance. The Impreza is certainly one of the most exciting four-door sedans that you can get within a realistic (non-supercar) price-range.

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Faults and Repairs

When buying a used Impreza, it’s necessary to be very careful. It unfortunately falls within the category of cars that are often used by irresponsible drivers. Hence, you have to look for the indications of possible abuse. It’s also a car that gets modified a lot so make sure the spoiler and other fancy bits are actually road-legal. The car suffers from technical problems related to the clutch, gearbox and steering mechanism. These parts should be thoroughly tested. Also look underneath the car because it is no stranger to the rust problem. Large-scale repairs are generally very expensive.

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