By: Henrie Geyser

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And what can be more exciting than to hurl this delightful all-wheel drive race-bred charger through a series of tight turns and to hear the snarl and growl of its potent 2.5-litre turbocharged boxer engine as it thunders out the horses.

There is nothing quite like the WRX that we have grown to know and love now, is there?

Or is there?

Well, this is for the market to decide, now that Subaru has unwrapped its hot new Impreza range.

For a start, Subaru is bravely venturing out on to uncharted territory with the introduction of a first-timer – an entry-level 1.5-litre Impreza.

Secondly, and something which will probably move many petrol-heads to tears, the looks of the new Impreza in general and the WRX in particular, have been down-toned and polished so that it now looks like a classy European city slicker who would be more at home in the parking area of a shopping centre or cruising down the boulevard than to slugging it out on a high-speed race track or rally course.

Gone are the gold rims and the big wing. And the air scoop on the bonnet now looks much more subdued and honed down to fit in with the car's sharper looks and slit-eyed front lights.

To many Subaru fans, I fear, the latest WRX will seem not all that much different to other new cars in this category.

Gone is the raw animal appeal. The WRX has swapped its T-shirt and faded jeans for smart Hugo Boss, obviously to appeal to a more gentile clientele who respected it for its phenomenal engine and allwheel drive, but didn't think it would be quite suitable for the school run, or parked in a Sandton or Constantia drive-way.

Besides, what would the boss have thought of the race car image of the previous WRX? To say nothing about the expressions on the faces of the “chaps,” if one had to roll up at the golf club in “one of those”.

Well, now there won't be any shirty comments from the boss or fellow golfers if you arrive in a new WRX, because it's smart enough to keep company with even the more snobbish Volvo's, Merc's, BMW's and Audi's of this world.

The car's biggest saving grace is that its performance is as exciting as ever. It's just the looks that are now much less ostentatious.

Under the bonnet beats the same warm heart of an iconic horizontally-opposed four cylinder, turbocharged, DOHC 16-valve 2.5-litre BOXER engine that pushes out 169kW and 320Nm – good enough for a 0-100km/h dash of just 5.8 seconds.

When the new WRX was unwrapped recently for the motoring media we got a chance to play with the different models all too briefly on the historic Roy Hesketh racetrack at Pietermaritzburg and it was great fun, as just a WRX can be.

We even got to compare it on the track with an Audi and a Golf GTi, with the WRX scoring exceptionally well.

Obviously moving from the “traditional” WRX look to the latest Eurocentric styling must have given the white coats and the marketing people at Subaru many a sleepless night – and I'm not entirely sure that their worries are over.

If Europe is any indication it's going to take awhile for the new look to be fully accepted in this country. Across the pond the fans were quite vociferous in their dislike of the WRX's “soft” new looks.

The almost outrageous and in your face appeal of the previous WRX cars is very much a boy's thing, I know, but don't forget, it's precisely these boy types who bought the previous WRX - the ones who will probably never become card-carrying adults, not because they can't, but because they don't want to.

They are the ones who felt the magic magnetism of the WRX. It's not something one can explain. Only once you have driven a WRX yourself will you understand what its attraction is all about.

What must certainly weigh heavily in favour of the new WRX are its spectacular specifications, enough to fill an entire sales brochure. But at a glance you can tick off six airbags, ABS with EBD and Brake Assist, vehicle dynamics control, hill start assist, symmetrical all-wheel drive, excellent stereo sound system with six CD changer, MP3, auxiliary jack and 10 speakers, cruise control, racing style bucket seats, audio controls on steering wheel, leather trim and 17-inch alloys.

And there's much more after that, all for a price tag of R299,000, which is considerably less than you would have to fork out for most other four-wheel drive performance cars.

But besides a whole new make-over for this iconic model, Subaru has taken another giant leap into a whole new market with a brand new 1.5 entry level Impreza, also with a boxer engine and all-wheel drive.

Obviously aimed at attracting new buyers to the Subaru fold, this two-model 1.5-litre is priced at R169,000 for the manual and R178,000 for the automatic.

Like the flagship WRX, the baby Impreza is impressively specced – and so it should be, because it takes on some serious competition in the likes of BMW 116, Ford Focus, Mazda3, Nissan Tiida, Opel Astra and Toyota Auris.

Similar in looks to the WRX and another newcomer, a bigger-engined 2.0-litre model (more of which later), the bambino Impreza represents an interesting alternative, albeit it with one or two reservations, the biggest being its performance.

I drove the manual version over a couple of hundred kilometres and although its roadholding is super and it has most of the good features of the rest of the Impreza range, most of us felt that the performance was a tad sleepy.

Although it produces 78kW and 142Nm, it needs quite a bit of whipping to get going. Once the revs are up it gallops along quite gamely, but getting up to speed takes a fair amount of pedaling.

Subaru says it will get from 0-100km/h in 14 seconds. Our test car certainly felt less energetic – and bear in mind our drive was at the coast. Up on the energy-sapping reef it will be even heavier going.

It doesn't help that with the manual version the gap between second and third gear felt too big. This was particularly noticeable uphill and during overtaking.

But then when one looks at who is likely to buy this model, speed and performance won't be the main criteria. A 5-star safety rating, 7.5-litre/100km fuel consumption, excellent road holding, airbags, a 60/40 rear seat split, child seat anchor points, power steering, windows and mirrors, build quality, a strong history of reliability, ample boot space, a three-year/100,000km warranty and a three-year/63,000km maintenance plan will no doubt be the 1.5's main attractions.

And don't forget the magic of the Subaru badge, particularly for those who have always aspired to owning one but could not quite afford it!

For the middle-of-the-roaders there is also a 2.0-litre Impreza twosome to pick from – an automatic at R229,000 or a manual at R219,000.

It has just about all the specs you will find on the flagship and it will do the 0-100km/h run in 9.6 seconds. The 2.0-litre produces 110kW at 6400rpm and 196Nm from as low down as 3200rpm.

Subaru is expecting sales of the new Impreza range to be slanted towards the entry model, followed by the 2.0-litre, with the flagship, which has always been very much a niche car, making up the smallest balance.

By general consensus the new Impreza range represents good value for money and an exciting driving experience, but it is piloting Subaru into a whole new direction which will entail good, hard marketing to swing hearts and minds.

Subaru has always been a very different, very exciting brand and there are few manufacturers who have an owner-dealership network that is as tightly knit in their passion and loyalty as is the Subaru family about their cars.

Which is, I suppose, why the marketing and sales people are so confident that this is a gamble that's going to pay off, big time.

And none more enthusiastic than Subaru CEO Teresita van Gaalen who says: “The new Impreza range offers excellent value for money and it provides an attractive opportunity for first-time Subaru buyers. We are very excited about the prospects of the new entry model. I am sure it's going to boogie – just you wait and see!”

[5 Nov 2007 15:39]

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