I got my white 99 RS 5 speed about 2 months ago, so here's an extensive review so far of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The short version: so far it's great. I have some nits to pick, but it's the right car. Background: I live in northern California (Pleasanton), do mostly noncommute freeway driving, and have been working too much so I've only put 2500 miles on it. Previous cars 1992 Mazda Protege LX, 86 Honda CRX Si, and the occasional old full size GM sedan and wagon.
I ordered the car from Zeke at Carlsen Subaru in Redwood City. They were really, really good. I've been to dozens of (mostly non-Sube) dealers and helped others shop for cars and this place was incredibly hassle free and well priced.. An ordered car means no test drive miles, too. Mine has been flawless from the start. Well, I did notice a very slight rattling noise from the gauge pack at first, but it's gone.
To me, the RS is a compromise car. Not as light and nimble as, say, a Miata, but fun to drive. Not as spacious as a big wagon, but seats four in a pinch. Not as luxuriant as an A4, but much less expensive. Not as much of a mountain goat as a full-on SUV, but more capable off road than other cars. Not as much of a highway screamer as a 540i, but stable and reasonably quiet at speed. If I were rich, I'd probably get a fleet of cars to tailor to these purposes, but the RS is the best combination of all of them on a budget, I think.
Handling: After the small and light cars I've owned before, there's a tradeoff with the RS. It's very stable at speed--much more of a highway cruiser than I expected. I can tell the low center of gravity. But it doesn't feel any sharper than the '92 Mazda overall, just more stable with more grip from larger tires. Some reviews have described more body roll than they like, and I've decided to attribute this to (a) lazy US suspension tuning from the factory, compared to other markets, and (b) the rally car emphasis rather than a flat asphalt emphasis. For years I noted that while my old CRX was go-kart like fun, it would have been hammered on truly American midwestern/eastern potholed roads. Well, Subarus seem like the only Japanese cars that are suited to both fun driving and crappily maintained roads. (Road surfaces are relatively immaculate in Europe and Japan, I found.)
I went camping recently and dirted up the car some. The car feels great on relatively smooth forest roads. When it came to real 4wd road conditions (moderate rocks and ruts etc.), the car felt better than your regular sports car, but still left me worrying about clearance in many spots. It made it, though, where many would have stopped and gone home.
Engine: Plenty fast for me. I wanted a car that was noticeably faster than the Protege (which has about a 9 sec 0-60 time) but not fast enough to send me to jail. (My right foot gets me into triple digit trouble in truly high speed cars on empty highways.) Many large GM family cars out-accelerate the RS, to which I say: who cares? If you want really, really fast, (a) get a Camaro or Mustang or (b) shell out the big bucks for high end stuff. All that said, would I buy a turbo Impreza? Sure.
The shifter is about the best I've felt this side of a Miata or old MR2. I've had a bit of trouble modulating clutch takeup, with an occasional thunk from the rear. A more capable friend of mine drives it thunk-free, though, so it's mostly me. I think 5th gear is too short for highway driving; I can downshift to 4th to go uphill, thank you. Every small and fast Japanese car I've ever seen is guilty of this.
Inside: I'm 6'4", so that locks me out of many cars (especially most Hondas nowadays.) The seats are really, really good; much better than any other Impreza or Legacy seats I've sat in. Headroom is great. Legroom is decent, but the console and the power window switch areas intrude on knee area. The dead pedal is too vertical. Other than that, I really like the ergonomics. Subaru did the steering wheel right, too, with 9 and 3 o'clock thumb placement that so many manufacturer screw up. I got the gauge pack, too, which I think is great (but then I'm a bit of a weather geek.) Frameless windows frighten me--my CRX ones were noisy at speed--but they seem quiet thus far. Yes, there's no trunk light and yes, there's a slight whistle from mirrors at 30-50mph. I don't really care.
There are too many cupholders. There is not a steering wheel on your coffee table; why should there be a cupholder in your car?
Outside: I'm really a fan of sleeper cars like the relatively quiet looking but fast going Contour SVT. I don't care if people think it looks cool. I care that police may notice it quicker. At least it's not red. Why white? Cooler in the summer. The car will see some triple digits on very empty Interstates roadtripping out West soon. So, yeah, I think it looks good, but it's too attention getting for my tastes.
I got the Subaru keyless entry/alarm. It works, but there's no way to turn off the loud CHIRP CHIRP when you arm/disarm which is irritating since I live in a crowded but quiet neighborhood. I went aftermarket stereo since Subaru doesn't even option a CD changer.
Overall, I like the car, certainly better than anything out there in its price range. Next month I'm taking 3 weeks off and road tripping through much of the Southwest. That'll be the real test. No mods; I'm a pretty stock kind of guy. Though I might do a suspension upgrade some time down the road.
Wow, you read all of this! Hope it was informative.
..robert
rstack ~at~ rstack ~dot~ com
Picture at:
http://www.rstack.com/pictures/car.html
1999 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS review, continued -- December 2006
It's 7 years later and the Impreza is going strong with just over 120,000 miles. I still really enjoy the car and it's held up well over the years. The handling is maybe a touch soggier than when brand new, but not substantially so. I've done no modifications to the car. The car has never stranded me, but I've had a couple repairs beyond scheduled maintenance. One was the central control unit (?) which showed up as occasional electrical trouble. The other was the master and slave cylinders for the transmission, which showed up as a softening clutch pedal. These ran around $1000 total. So, not flawless, but quite good for 120,000 miles which includes some unpaved use. The interior and exterior has held up nicely under minimal (once a year wash/wax) maintenance. The engine has been flawless and doesn't burn any oil. Lots of highway miles and so the brake pads have only been replaced once. I got the alarm arm CHIRP CHIRP silenced a few years ago during a dealer service, thank goodness. The car has moved about the country a lot--to the east coast and Arizona, with a couple more cross country road trips thrown in. The car is now serviced at Power Subaru in Scottsdale AZ and they've treated me well over the last couple years. Since I bought this car, Subaru has greatly expanded the market with the WRX and STI. Right now, were I to replace this car (which is not likely for at least a couple more years), I'd probably go with the Mazda 3 5 door. Compared with the WRX, it's less expensive, has better ergonomics, and may even allegedly handle about as well as a WRX. The new (for 2006) MazdaSpeed 3 would be nice, but with 200+hp through the front wheels, too easy to get in trouble with, I think. So, in summary, not flawless, but overall thumbs up after lots of miles.