2008 Subaru Impreza

Car reviews are supposed to be at least a little bit impartial – which is to say, you’re supposed to be subjective and talk about what the car means for you, but you’re also supposed to bear in mind that different cars appeal to different people for different reasons.

I’m a Subaru enthusiast. I co-drive a 1999 2.5RS in stage rally competition and I have one of very few books in print about the brand. (High Performance Subaru Builder’s Guide – available through www.cartechbooks.com).

So when I got the chance to spend a week in the 2008 Impreza 2.5i before it hit the mass market, I jumped at the chance. And now I’m wondering how to figure out the new Impreza. From any other manufacturer, this would be a great car. But we’re talking about Subaru here, so my expectations are very high.

Back in 1998, Subaru took a hard left turn from the usual Impreza line and introduced the 2.5RS, which came with an upgraded suspension, sport seats, and several other sports car features – not the least of which was a larger-displacement higher-powered 165HP 2.5-liter engine.

The pattern continued even after the introduction of the 227HP turbocharged WRX. The 2.5RS shared the body, suspension, and interior of the new factory hot rod. Even after the WRX STi was introduced in 2004, the 2.5RS was no slouch. The cars were solid on the road, fast enough, and endowed with plenty of low-end torque.

So perhaps my hopes were abnormally high for the 2008 model. After all, the new WRX and STI models are just around the corner, designed with WRC competition in mind, and reputed to be absolutely excellent.

The bottom line is that the 2008 Impreza 2.5i comes from a great sports car lineage, but the sports car DNA is completely gone in the new model.

The new 2.5i is, honestly, just another Japanese car, albeit with better than average performance from a standing stop. Subaru calls the engine in the 2008 car an EJ253 – a change from the previous EJ251 that went all the way back to 1999 essentially unchanged.

The model I had offered the new Sportmatic 4-speed automatic transmission, which doesn’t seem to be nearly as sporty as the old 4EAT slushbox. I am still curious to try the car with the 5-speed manual, as automatics tend to suck about 30% of the perceived power out of a car. This one had nothing like typical Impreza performance once you got the car moving. Downshifting to second around a square corner and dropping the hammer yielded nothing. The car seemed to run out of breath above 4,000 RPM and honestly, it drove like a Corolla or Ion from a rental fleet.

The suspension felt soft and tippy, and the doors and bodywork seem tinny and cheap, without feeling especially light. The new Impreza feels like the Kia Rio I drove a few weeks ago. Ideal for a rental fleet or as a starter car, but lacking even the potential to be tuned up into a sports car.

And maybe that’s OK. After all, the WRX and the STI are coming on close behind and they will fill the sports car and supercar niches for Subaru quite handsomely. It will be good to offer Subaru’s legendary all wheel drive to the general public at a bargain price – the new Impreza costs just $20,000 with AWD, air, cruise, 6-disc CD changer, 4-wheel disc, automatic, and power everything. You get 20/27 MPG out of its 2.5-liter engine. This is a solid value and a great deal for the features you get.

But I can’t help coming back to the 1999 2.5RS sitting out in my workshop – that’s a legendary car, and it did great things for Subaru’s reputation. Something has been lost here, and I hope the new WRX and STI make up for it.

Written by Jeff Zurschmeide See more reviews from northwestautoreview.com.