Subaru Impreza (1993 - 2000)
0 turbo [LX, GL, Sport, 4wd Turbo, 22B, Terzo, P1])
BY JONATHAN CROUCH
The Subaru Impreza used to be something of an under-rated car. It's not the case on the international rally scene of course. In the showroom however, things were a little different. Sales got off to a slow start in 1993 and didn't pick up much until the rally successes began making the headlines. Today, however, buyers rate the medium-sized Subaru, placing it high in the JD Power/Top Gear Customer Satisfaction Surveys. These people reckon it's a great buy; check one out and you'll probably agree.
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| Depreciation | |
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Prices for early L-reg 1.8-litre variants start at just £1,000 for the saloon, worth £300 more than the hatch. More typical 95M registered cars will vary between £1,000 and £2,000. The smoother 2.
0-litre models start on 96N-plates at £2,000; you can pay up to £8,000 for a 2.0 litre turbo X-plater. Unlike the normally aspirated models, the saloons command a premium over the estates. Another anomaly is that the last of this shape Turbo cars are worth a good deal more than the first of the bug eyed successor WRX models.
It seems theres no substitute for an original.
Thrashed 2000 Turbo 4wd models; a service history is essential and air conditioning desirable; watch for accident damage, resprays, kerbed alloys, spongy brakes and worn clutches. Parts are expensive, so tread carefully. It's a very different story with non-turbo Imprezas, nearly all of which will have been looked after lovingly. Steer clear of two-wheel-drive versions and models tricked up to look like Turbo versions if you can. You lose much of the car's raison d'etre.
(2.0 GL approx.) These are pricey. A clutch assembly is around £175.
Front brake pads are around £80, a full exhaust about £360, a catalyst about £200 and an alternator (exchange) around £180 or £405 new. A headlamp is about £170.
All the engines are reasonably peppy, even the 88bhp 1.6 and the 101bhp 1.8. The 2.
0-litre units are the ones to go for, however, with the GL and Sport models getting 113bhp and the 2000 Turbo 4wd boasting a massive 208bhp. In the case of the Turbo, that means rest to 60 in 5.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 137mph; hard to beat in more ways than one. All of which means that this Impreza has the power to leave an Escort Cosworth or a Lancia Delta Integrale (both substantially more expensive and now hard to find) trailing in its wake.
A split second after turning the key, you know that this car isnt bluffing. The free-revving engine possesses a gruff, coarse voice which says youd better believe those awesome performance figures. A well-developed all-wheel drive system means that you wont spin much of it uselessly away on the tarmac either. In fact, that all-round grip is one of the main reasons that this Impreza feels so easy to drive in the most horrendous of conditions.
It does hop about a little on bumpy country roads, but never enough to leave you in doubt that youre likely to run out of cornering nerve long before the car will. There is a penalty to all this performance, however - and predictably, its in the area of fuel consumption. Youll do well to average more than about 19mpg in the Turbo if you use the car hard and even on a run; the figure wont rise much above 27mpg. Never mind; theres plenty of standard equipment to take your mind off the fact.
A drivers airbag, electric windows, power mirrors and central locking all come within the price of every Impreza. If only comprehensive insurance did too (group 17 on the turbo).
Find me an owner who doesn't want another. Enough said...
