Some cars appeal to the head. Others to the heart. Judging from the marketing pitches that festooned the corporate-owned, dealer-supplied 2012 Impreza, Subaru hopes the redesigned compact will appeal to both. On the rear bumper: "The most fuel efficient All-Wheel Drive car in America at 36 MPG." And on each front door: "Experience love that [...] Read More:
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Underpowered?! You've obviously never driven an '86 GL wagon with automatic, or a '92 Loyale with automatic. I thought I was going to have to help push the '86 it was so underpowered. The newer Subes are much more powerful.
To me it looks like a high stakes bet on future demand caused by increasing oil prices. Why let go of a winning formula and in the process let go of tens of thousands of loyal and product happy customers.
Subaru may turn out to be right and make a fortune. If not, it seems they gave themselves some flexibility with the new engine design and dimensions. I think they can easily re-bore it and give it more displacement. I've read the new engines piston stroke length has been made unusually long, Subaru says it improves torque, but if an increase in bore were to be implemented the bore-stroke proportion would coincidentally return to "normal."
The old engine went from 1.8 to 2.2, then later 2.5. We may see similar progression with the new one.
wrx is hardly overpowered. it produces under 300 lb=B7ft of torque
that would be wrx
the injection method engineers chose is completely irrelevant to consumers (except here and further east it's bloody cold and direct injection is a serious handicap)
brz engine shares a few bolts with impreza engine, maybe displacement figures are not very useful prediction of the engine performance anymore
it's an awd car, meaning that there are cases when it will be run at and below -50C
I'm not sure where japs could test a car at -50C outside a lab. most jdm cars on board computers think life ends at -32C
Yeah, owning an underpowered 4 pot with a automatic, cvt included is very smart. not./
that is smart. flat -> impreza hills&mountainous usage -> wrx
i see no need to fill the gap in between though there is an awd lancer sitting right in the middle of the lineup that might provide you with the power handicap (compared to wrx) that you want to much
I would not deny rationality to the tens of thousands who live in the Rockies, Sierras, Cascades, other hilly places who bought a normal 2.5L instead of a turbo WRX, and who are perfectly happy with it, and its power.
I know my insurance agent would love it if I bought a turbo WRX, preferably STI, but it is not going to happen.
Yes, you are right, just somehow I am stuck on another boxer. It is nice to have a naturally balanced engine that stays smooth as new even after years, and years of high rpm service. When I touch the steering wheel of my 90k miles 12yr old car, I cannot feel any vibration whatsoever, nearly cannot tell whether the car is running or not. Nice. I still feel like if I had a new car :))
Regarding direct injection, it improves power. In that respect it makes a difference to consumers. A little 1.6L Kia Rio with direct injection makes 138 hp. Impreza's 2.0L barely scratches 10hp more.
If they don't plan on a bigger engine I hope they fix the problem that way. BTW, it is not that it is grossly underpowered, it just lacks power for any kind of mountain driving.
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