Any previous Subaru Impreza owners?

Gman_civic

Gman_civic

Active Member
36
15
Cambridge, Ontario, CDA
Body Style
Sedan
Just wondering if there are any previous Impreza owners, or other Subaru for that matter, that switched to the Civic?

Wondering why you switched, and your opinions about both cars, and why you like the Civic better.


(Feb'13 update - trying to keep this thread as a non-SI & Non-turbo discussion - I'm considering a Civic LX/EX Sedan vs Impreza 2.0i - both 5MT)
 
Last edited:
:hmmm?: working for me? umm

or post 12 has a link to his writeup... from that 1st link I posted? That link work for you?

here is the 1st post -
mongoose221 said:
As per requested from Webby, I'm copying over my personal comparison/review of these 3 vehicles. I've owned all 3, started with the 2010 coupe, a year later went to a 2011 wrx hatch thinking I'd love it, and did at first, but after a few months I thought I made a mistake, and a year and a half later I decided to go back to an SI, this time a 2012. These 3 cars tend to be compared a lot and cross shopped, so this may help some prospective buyers.

Here's my thoughts on each of them:

If I were to compare the three (2010 coupe, 2011 wrx hatch, and my incoming 2012 sedan) on a basis of 0-10, with 10 being best, 0 being worst, FOR THEIR PRICE (ie. giving a wrx 10/10 for acceleration is 10/10 for the price bracket) it would look something like this:

2010 Si Coupe:
styling - 8/10 (subjective)
comfort - 7/10 (seat/steering wheel position)
interior ergonomics - 8.5/10 (everything was in great position, lots of console storage)
handling (daily driving/normal) - 8.5/10
handling (back roads/fast) - 8.5/10
acceleration - 7/10
shifting/clutch - 10/10
comfort features - 7/10 (sunroof/stereo system/etc)
utility/usage - 5/10 (narrow trunk opening, narrow passthrough, horrible to get items/people into and out of rear seat)
maintenance/cost of upkeep -9/10 (again this is for THIS price bracket of small sporty cars)
total: 78.5 / 100

2011 WRX hatch:
styling - 9/10 (subjective)
comfort - 5.5/10 (steering wheel is meh, suspension is rock hard and uncomfortable)
interior ergonomics - 7/10 (solid reach for everything, but zero storage)
handling (daily driving/normal) - 7/10 (felt heavy in normal driving)
handling (back roads/fast) - 9/10 (AWD is sticky as fawk)
acceleration - 10/10 (NOTHING under 30k comes close)
shifting/clutch - 5/10 stock (7/10 modified short shifter/bushings) stiff and difficult to shift, poor clutch uptake and too heavy
comfort features - 3/10 (no sunroof, AWFUL stereo, no fogs, poor interior lighting options, seats were meh)
utility/usage - 10/10 (hatchback versatility, AWD)
maintenance/cost of upkeep - 6/10 (expensive oil changes, expensive maintenance, awful gas mileage)
total: 71.5 / 100

2012 Si sedan (these numbers are gleaned from 150 miles so far and other reviews online)
styling - 8.5/10 (personally i think the 9th gen is a visual upgrade from the 8th, subjective though)
comfort - 7.5/10 (0.5 point upgrade for improved headroom from coupe)
interior ergonomics - 8.5/10 (i liked where everything was, though has less sorage than the 8th gen, but improved visibility and I love the new gauges/display screens)
handing (daily driving/normal) - 8.5/10
handling (back roads/fast) - 8.5/10 (going with same #'s, feltgood on test drives, and reviews say its about equiv to 8th gen)
acceleration - 8/10 (smoother than my 8th by 100% in daily driving. I miss the hard VTEC crossover with the scream, but according to most website reviews the 9th is a good 0.25-0.5 sec faster to 60mph, which is neglicable in a butt dyno)
shifting/clutch 10/10 (id go higher if i could haha)
comfort/features - 8/10 (same as previous civic, though the i-mid is a nice change, the bluetooth after 3 days is 10000% better than the one in my WRX, my girlfriend and my friend couldn't even tell I was on bluetooth, before they'd complain I sounded robotic)
utility/usage - 8/10 (4 doors and a trunk ftw)
maintenance/cost of upkeep - 9.5/10 (giving a 0.5 upgrade over 8th gen due to the slight fuel econ increase)
total: 85/100

overall solid upgrade, and yes it's a speed compromise from my WRX, but I know I'm going to love it, and have no regrets so far, about to go on a 400+ mile round trip 2 day vacation to lake George, so I'll be getting a solid amount of driving in the next couple of days, and if any changes arise I'll let you know.
Click to expand...
 
if you can pull up the full site (outside of tapatalk), you should be able to get the site to load quite fast. It actually functions really well in the browser of most phones. Let me know
 
I never owned one, but many times almost bought them, test drove them and some friends have them. Every time I am shopping for a new car Subaru Impreza is on my top 3 but it never seems to make it.

Here are my two very subjective cents:

The base Impreza in my opinion the 2012 and 13 is very gutless though it has a great chassis and brakes. prev generation was much nicer better balance but still not very fast. Still a mainstream car so comfort and quietness has the emphasis.

The WRX and STI is where the honey is but depends on the country in Canada MSRP for a WRX is 33 with taxes and all it goes close to 40. From what I have tested WRX is great for performance, though body suspension and body roll is not as stiff as it should be for that price. If the price would be like in US I think WRX is very good for the price but for my experience it is way overpriced in Canada. The dealers also are stubbornly refusing to negotiate quoting things like owning a Subaru is part of being member of a private club and other meaningless things...
From what I felt WRX has some turbo lag and to properly drive it you need the six speed in which case you need the STI for which the price is exhaustive 50k OTD going in 370z range.
Engine work is strongly advised at 100k if you drive it spirited. Also many reports of broken gears for it as well. I read about a lot of issues with the head gaskets but I think the last years for the WRX STI are free of that issue.
Personally I dislike the WRX gear box since it feels very clunky. Never tested an STI though.
Seating position though is lower than the Si and seats seem to be doing a better job.
The boxer engine growl has its own charm and that is a very subjective thing. I like both :)
Both cars under-steer similarly though the WRX seems to be very stable sometimes taking some of the fun away, it also may mean it needs to be pushed harder to really go out of control but I was never able/allowed to do that on a test drive :>
Finance rates for Subaru are always one of the highest at least in Canada, luxury brands excluded.

In one line I would say the WRX gives a better performance but with turbo lag and less reliability and greater cost. 5 gears is a downer as well as the clunky gear box as I mentioned earlier.

The Si despite its smaller technical numbers feels more agile, although I fully agree it is slower, it feels like a lighter car. High reving engine and naturally aspirated makes it very responsive. Price and quality are definitely a plus for it. Sometimes numbers do not mean everything. MX5/Miata is a similar case not the best performance, not the best handling (soft suspension) but over all a very enjoyable RWD car. I wish the Si would be stiffer but that can be said about any car that is not performance oriented exclusively if that's what one wants. The Si has more body roll than the WRX but despite it still seems to handle decently. On the race track I would choose neither maybe but I do all my driving on the road.

If I would rally my cars I would go for the Subaru though hands down, but sadly I do not.

If they would be equally or closely priced I would alternate between the cars or own one of each, (great advantage of having a wife that likes to drive a sporty manual car :) ) but for Canada at least they are way too expensive for what they offer. I do not care for the comfort, extra safety that Subaru has or the AWD winter handling behaviour aspect of both cars so not a good reviewer for that.
 
Wow, great writeup. Thanks for your opinion.
 
webby said:
Wow, great writeup. Thanks for your opinion.
Click to expand...
My pleasure, to be honest I am drawn like a moth to the flame when Subaru Impreza is considered but it is too damn expensive, not sure why they took this approach in Canada. I can get nicer cars for 40 or 50k , for 30k though it is a great choice.
 
good writeup drag. pretty much spot on to what i said. the SI is much better performance per $$ than the WRX. i just didn't feel the WRX was worth the extra $$ to continue ownership. $$ being no object, i'd take an STI though : )
 
mongoose221 said:
good writeup drag. pretty much spot on to what i said. the SI is much better performance per $$ than the WRX. i just didn't feel the WRX was worth the extra $$ to continue ownership. $$ being no object, i'd take an STI though : )
Click to expand...

But then would it be an STI or an Evo? :) I do am aware of the rivalry between the two fan groups :) When money is no object some people are adamant the Evo is a better machine, reliability has its funnies though. Never drove one though.
 
according to one article -
The United States is one of the world's largest automobile consumers, so almost all Subaru models are manufactured there, including the Subaru Impreza, the Subaru Impreza WRX, the Subaru Legacy, the Subaru Outback, the Subaru Forester and the Subaru Tribeca. This means that these models are in plentiful supply in the United States, which, combined with the minimal shipping costs, gives residents of the United States the cheapest deals on these new Subaru models.
==
 
<--- Subaru Owner here :wave:

I've never owned a Civic tho :giggle:

mongoose221: I don't know if your Subaru was paid off but if it was paid off would you have kept it?
 
I have owned these in this order:

'01 Subaru impreza sedan, stick
'07 civic lx coupe, stick
'08 Si sedan
'11 WRX

Feel free to ask whatever you like
 
bootyluvr said:
<--- Subaru Owner here :wave:

I've never owned a Civic tho :giggle:

mongoose221: I don't know if your Subaru was paid off but if it was paid off would you have kept it?
Click to expand...

hmm... good question... i did cut my car payment some, but the fuel cost is significantly lower on my SI, as is the insurance, so i'm not too sure. if it was paid off i would have had more free $$ to spend on gas/insurance obviously, so it's a tough call... most likely, if it was paid off in full, yes i would have kept it : )
 
mongoose221 said:
hmm... good question... i did cut my car payment some, but the fuel cost is significantly lower on my SI, as is the insurance, so i'm not too sure. if it was paid off i would have had more free $$ to spend on gas/insurance obviously, so it's a tough call... most likely, if it was paid off in full, yes i would have kept it : )
Click to expand...

Thanks for answering that. I was just curious. I thought yours wasn't paid off and I knew you were talking about saving money but didn't know if it just was from insurance/fuel costs.

Mine is paid off. I paid her off early in September 2011 :dance:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top