Found this little blurb on AutoExpress (http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/?http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/ae_news_story.php?id=54700)
Interestingly, AE says the new Impreza comes to the UK in 2006. I wonder if we'll get it before them? Alternatively, Japan might get it this fall, the rest of the world in '06.

If Petter gets his way, they should be easier to drive with one's feet while sitting on the door.

This is the best bit of news I'v heard about the next Impreza--it beats all the scuttlebutt kicked around so far.......

Petter's input can only improve the driving experience! Hopefully the styling won't be too hideous.

Crazy.

If Petter gets his way, they should be easier to drive with one's feet while sitting on the door.


:lol:

i remember seeing an article about the Acura NSX, it was about how well the first model year handled becuase of Ayrton Senna's (sp?) contribition during development.

hopefully petter can help subaru in similar ways.

I think its more like a marketing scheme. All sports car manufacturers have test drivers to test the cars. These test drivers will give input to the company and how to better make the car handle bettter or whatever. These test drivers are not kids or people who never race before. They maybe smoe of the finest drivers out there.

Also, he said "I can't believe the difference between the two - this one's pretty slow in comparison!"

Either he can't feel it (unlikely) or that he is just promoting Subaru

- Charles

or the new one has more performance...

It's a good thing Colin McRae isn't still with 555.. or the next impreza would be getting Saturn-like dent-resistant (read: kick & punch resistant) panels, 5 different but very secure feeling grab handles for each passenger spot and every electronic crash avoidance gizmo on the market.

(ps: I love McRae, but he'd be a nightmare to buddy up with in order to develop a car with)

If it's just a marketting gimic.. Scion should bring David Hasselhoff in to develop their dealer installed offerings. Can you imagine a Scion xB with neon dash kit and Kit kit?

Well, it won't take a rocket scientist or a race car driver to conclude "one's pretty slow in comparison". So if Solberg says the next Impreza is significantly faster that bodes well for us Impreza enthusiasts. And it will be the first Impreza since the '01 WRX to have any kind of performance leap(excluding the STI, of course). So I prefer to look on the glass as half full, not half empty. Solberg is marketing for Subaru of course, but he also knows performance when he sees it, especially if he drove them back to back, which is what it sounds like.

Sounds like a bigger leap than the 00 to 01 Impreza to me since I wouldn't call the 00 Impreza slow in comparison to the 01.

Mainly I hope it looses some weight, a couple hundred pounds lighter would make the current Impreza seem slow in comparison.

Solberg must have been referring to a current WRX vs. the new WRX with a 2.5L if it does indeed come with one. I can't imagine there being a "slow by comparison" upgrade to the STi given it's current performance level.

:huh:

Dtech

"I can't believe the difference between the two - this one's pretty slow in comparison!"

That could've been taken way out of context... He may have been comparing the street Impreza to his rally car.

If Petter gets his way, they should be easier to drive with one's feet while sitting on the door.
:lol:

I've got a picture of him doing that and smokey burnouts on tarmac on one of my hard drives. :D

:lol:

I've got a picture of him doing that and smokey burnouts on tarmac on one of my hard drives. :D

Please post it !!! :banana: :banana:

Doh, looked through my hard drive, can find other images from the event, but not the ones I remember, I'll have to ask Hansen for them again, since he showed them to me. Some pretty crazy stuff!

...
And it will be the first Impreza since the '01 WRX to have any kind of performance leap...

There was an '01 WRX?

There was an '01 WRX?


Yes, everywhere else but here.

Yes, everywhere else but here.

Thanks for the info,
kenzo

There was an '01 WRX?

02 USDM bugeye == 01 JDM and so on
04 USDM non-bugeye = 03 JDM.

Not to mention they've been making WRX's in japan since 94 or whatever.

A small interesting tidbit.

http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/summaries/small_overall_c.htm

This is a summary of results for crash effectiveness. Notice the Impreza in the side impact column..


design changes underway; to be tested in late 2005


Just found that a little interesting.

Weird that it only says that in the side impact column though.

A small interesting tidbit.

http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/summaries/small_overall_c.htm

This is a summary of results for crash effectiveness. Notice the Impreza in the side impact column..



Just found that a little interesting.
It says the same for the Honda Civic; the new one's coming out this fall. Honda already showed the (stunning) Si concept at Chicago.

Fearless prediction: we'll see the new Impreza either at NY or Paris in the fall.

It says the same for the Honda Civic; the new one's coming out this fall. Honda already showed the (stunning) Si concept at Chicago.

Fearless prediction: we'll see the new Impreza either at NY or Paris in the fall.

Paris doesn't come until september which would be really late for it to get to our shores this year. So, if anything, it will be NY.

It's possible though that it's just a tweak like the addition of head airbags were earlier with no other major design changes.