newbie questions about impreza

[Hossain_Trance101]

OK...Thanx for your assistance Keita

[SabreKhan]

Originally Posted by keita

Fair enough. Let's hear some (logical and accurate) reasons.

I won't take "mo space" as a reason for being a superior vehicle.

I can fit five people, tools, race tires/wheels, lunch for five, helmets, and all my various other autocross accoutrements in the car all at once. Comfortably. Without roof racks. With roof racks, I could get even more stuff. Plus, the wagon is slightly more unique. And when I smoke people, I can say "You just got beat by a wagon." And the race between a wagon and a sedan, stock for stock, is a driver's race. There's no appreciable difference between the two, performance-wise. The sedan is slightly more upgradeable, but that doesn't become an issue until many thousands of dollars worth of upgrades later. Plus, when my wife and I eventually have kids, the WRX wagon will be "family car" enough that I won't have to deal with the issue of minivans.

Cliff's notes: "mo space," room for my race tires, wagon coolness factor, uniqueness, possibly a "family car," and same performance as the sedan.

[freakray]

Originally Posted by keita

Why would that be?? I'll believe that when Peter Solberg drives a WRC Wagon.

Funny you say that because there was actually a season where Subaru did have an Impreza wagon compete in Group N.

[keita]

Sabre, I think the best reason that you have is
**I can say "You just got beat by a wagon." **

It must be fun smoking those Honda boys and crappy Mustangs and such. I hate to tell you, but I doubt that the wagon would be much of a family car. My wife had a Forester and I have a WRX, but we couldn't deal with the Forester anymore when our son turned two since he could easily kick the back of the driver side seat, and lack of space...even though it's much bigger than the Impreza Wagon.

I was waiting for the Subaru SUV to come out (Tribeca, which is almost out), but when I found out that it's not that big, she just got rid of her Forester and got an Acura MDX, which we're quite happy with. It's not just the 3rd row seat (which we don't really use), but it's just the width, V6 with lots of torque, and the overall roominess, not to mention all leather, and side airbags, full 3-row curtain air bags, satellite radio, and everything else. I've sworn that I'd never get a gas guzzler SUV, but it's NICE. Once you go BIG SUV, it's hard to go back...when you've got a family.

But I'm happy with my WRX--SEDAN, of course.

[SabreKhan]

If you want a grande-sized vehicle without all the gas-guzzling, why not get a minivan? Or a full-sized sedan? The modern iteration of the SUV is the most pointless invention ever. Unless you're actually using it for off-road utility (which most SUVs couldn't do anyway), an SUV is a waste of perfectly good money. Growing up, my parents had a Suburban, but they used it to its full potential. It was always hauling the carpool, plants, boats, campers, etc. When we went on vacation, the Suburban could carry all five people, all five people's luggage, a full-sized ice chest with all five people's food (within reach of everybody- hooray 1/3 split middle-row bench seats) five sleeping bags, the tent, the camping gear, and tow the boat. Down a dirt road, if need be. That's what an SUV is for. If you're just hauling kids to school/soccer, a minivan is a much cheaper and easier solution, especially with all the cool gizmos that come on them nowadays. A minivan gets the same gas mileage as a small SUV (why did they do away with four-banger minivans?), but without the imminent threat of rollover. Plus captain's chairs for the middle row so the kids each have their own space. You can get a Honda Odyssey with just as much performance as an MDX, but with much cooler gizmos and options for about $5000 less. /anti-people-who-don't-use-SUVs-correctly-soapbox

[keita]

Sabre:

I couldn't agree with you more about a minivan. Trust me, I tried....it was impossible to convince a wife who would refuse to be a "minivan-mom". She was quite comfortable with her small SUV(well, sort of), and wasn't ready to step up to a minivan, despite my attempt to convince her.

Here is another problem, however. There are currently only 2 minivans worth purchasing. Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. Both of them have undergone relatively recent mojor model changes with ridiculous pricing, and you couldn't get either one under MSRP, not to mention that you couldn't even find one to test drive. We were able to purchase our loaded MDX at $200 above invoice (several thousand below MSRP). It's pretty hard to settle on a bad deal around MSRP for a....eh minivan. It might be a diffrent story for an STI.

So all in all, I agree with the minivan soapbox, but given those two things (wife & price), large SUV was not a bad choice. Besides, given that Odyssey, Pilot, and MDX all have relative similar engines(Pilot and MDX are near identical, the NEW odyssey is slightly different, I believe), fuel economy is not drastically different.

[keita]

You go shopping for an Odyssey and Sienna, and you'd understand exactly what I mean. And guess what, I kind of like this large SUV thingie now...I shamefully admit. There are reasons behind their explosive sales, you know. You can't try to understand it with logic and common sense alone.