Subaru Vortex Reviews

Due in February, Subaru's fire-breathing super Rex the STI is ready to light up the road.

This year has seen the market share of Commodore, Falcon and the Mitsubishi 380 fall to 19 per cent of new passenger vehicles, with only Toyota's Camry more or less immune.And while it was the biggest sales October ever, the share enjoyed by big Australian cars was reduced to 17.2 per cent. The lighter fare from Thailand achieved a best-ever 15.4 per cent. The Vfacts monthly bulletin, released this week by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, recorded that 89,289 motor vehicles were sold in October; an increase of 9359 on the same month last year.It beats the previous record for October, set in 2004, by more than 8000 sales. Year-to-date the market is up by 70,000 vehicles as it continues its charge towards breaking the one million mark for the first time.Yet against this bumper backdrop, 15,382 Australian-made units were shifted last month, mostly to fleets.Japanese-made cars continued their dominance but Thailand is where Honda's CR-V, Civic and Accord sedans are made. These and others, including Ford's Courier, which accounted for 13,825 sales in October.In sharp contrast to ever-diminishing local sales, that Thai-built percentage has increased by almost 50 per cent so far in 2007.Petrol prices are blamed for the decline of the great Australian six-cylinder. But the fact four medium-sized SUVs sold more than 1000 units each last month gives the lie to that.Yes, light cars, spearheaded by 1193 sales of the new Mazda2, experienced a sales surge, but the truth for the big Aussies is grimmer than the rising cost of the stuff that makes them go. The fact is that given wealth of choice, fewer and fewer Australians want the types of cars made in Australia.FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar says the locals have never had it tougher.“The intensely competitive situation in the motor-vehicle market is being driven to a significant degree by the ongoing strength of the Australian dollar,” he says. McKellar says 4400 Commodores (excluding utes) were moved last month, so with about 300 more sales than the Corolla, it is the nation's number-one seller.Toyota's eggs are in more than one basket with the ever-competitive Yaris, Camry, RAV4 and Prado prominent among its 20,212 October sales. Holden managed 11,415 and Ford 8206. It was the first time that Toyota had outsold the combined total of Holden and Ford in any single month.Year-to-date Toyota leads Holden by 71,360 with the launch of the new LandCruiser this month.If Toyota's lead is unassailable, surely the success story is Mazda.At number four, the leading full-imported marque sells not a single car to fleets or rental companies. They all go to private buyers.October's best-ever 7271 sales represented Mazda's 10th record month in a row. Mazda's year-to-date total of 64,929 already surpasses its 2006 full-year sales result of 63,664.  Snapshot   Country of originJapan 31,838Australia 15,382Thailand 13,825Korea 9830Germany 3901South Africa 2434Belgium 1525US 1448Spain 1422France 1206 The biggest sellers1 Holden Commodore (Australia) 44402 Toyota Corolla (Japan) 41233 Mazda3 (Japan) 31254 Ford Falcon (Australia) 24395 Toyota Camry (Australia) 19946 Hyundai Getz (Korea) 18967 Toyota Aurion (Australia) 18318 Mitsubishi Lancer (Japan) 14469 Honda Civic (Thailand) 140910 Honda CR-V (Thailand) 129111 Toyota RAV4 (Japan) 129312 Toyota Prado (Japan) 127313 Suzuki Swift (Japan) 119714 Mazda2 (Japan) 119315 Ford Territory (Australia) 119016 Toyota Kluger and Subaru Forester (both Japan) 117317 Holden Astra (Belgium) 111818 Mitsubishi 380 (Australia) 110019 Holden Captiva (Korea) 109320 Nissan Tiida (Thailand) 1087 

However, the lasting impression of the RS is that it has not taken the Impreza performance into any new territory.

BMW 335iSubaru Impreza RSMitsubishi Lancer VRFord Mondeo ZetecThe rollout of the Carsguide Car of the Year finalists continues this week with another four of the best cars launched in Australia this year.Ford's Mondeo, which has taken Europe by storm, goes head-to-head with the all-new Mitsubishi Lancer, BMW's 3 Series sedan fired by the cracking twin-turbo six and the Subaru Impreza, which is the only car other than the Citroen C6 in Australia with five-star passenger and four-star pedestrian safety.For all the latest on the carsguide Car Of The Year each week go to www.carsguide.com.au/car-of-the-year 

You could start with the Mazda3, Australia's most popular fully imported car.Indeed, the sedan or hatch that have thrust Mazda to Number four on the sales ladder have at times been our most successful privately-owned cars, period. If that sounds a bit tall for a (not so very) smallish car, consider that the brand doesn't sell a single unit to commercial fleets or rental companies, the sort of knockdown dealing that keeps Holden and Ford above Mazda but destroys resale values.Toyota can claim its perennial Corolla, the most recent generation of which was released earlier this year, does more business than the Mazda, but many base-model strippers wind up with 'for rent' signs on their windshields.Even in a market where used-car values have never been less reliable, the Mazda3's desirability, exclusivity and driveability seem to be keeping it slightly above the skids.For the past few months, though, the Mazda's mantle hasn't seemed so secure. The reasons are two reinvented cars; the new-generation Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer.Both offer exceptional value and top-rate safety packages even in their base models, though the $21,000 entry-level Lancer is subject to a slight and quite fair option hike to get the class-leading package of seven airbags.You need to get into the top Mazda3 iterations, the more expensive Maxx Sport and topline SP23, to get comparable packages and even then DSC remains a $1000 option.Ford has had to cut the guts out of its lower-spec Focus price, reducing it to $19,990. The Mazda3 is in some essential respects the same car, but Mazdas have traditionally held their own over comparable Blue Ovals.A new SP23 is priced from almost $30,000, up towards the class-leading Volkswagen Golf FSI dollars. A used SP23, which comes with the full kit and some warranty extant, is an attractive package, not least because it, too, is starting to feel the pre-loved car price wobbles.This weekend, several Sydney dealers will offer MY05 SP23s with 12 months' manufacturer warranty remaining and upwards of 35,000km on the clock from $25,50.That's still steep, but don't be put off, especially as Subaru and Mitsubishi will sell you a highly competitive all-new car for much the same money. Feel free to mention this.While lesser 3s use the 2.0-litre petrol four, the range leader shares the bigger Mazda6's 2.3-litre four-potter, though detuned slightly to 115kW. It is still the drivers' choice in this segment, an aspect enhanced last year when it received an extra ratio each for the previously five-speed manual and four-speed auto.The manual would be our transmission choice, though at least the auto's tip shift mode, unlike most, holds a gear until you decide differently. The pre-facelift models make do with the old transmission and noticeably more raucous level of NVH.There's nothing else to complain of though with 17-inch alloys, six-speaker stereo with six-stacker, ABS with EBD, fully adjustable steering wheel, six airbags, body kit and leather trim.If the Mazda3 is facing fresh challenges, it is as markedly superior to its longer-term rivals used as it was new. You have to go up to the $36,000 XR5 to find a Focus that moves quicker than the 2.0-litre norm. Even then, side airbags aren't to be had.Honda offers a petrol-electric hybrid version of its Thai-built Civic sedan, though at a considerable premium over the underdone and drab conventional four-pot models. The Corolla is new, but it has also gained weight over the last model, while persisting with the old engine.Economy suffers and Toyota's neglect in not offering stability control even as an option makes it look further off the pace. Sure, the Corolla will probably remain Australia's best-selling car in this class but overall, the Mazda3 looks the best bet. It's just that now used-car buyers are holding some cards. 

The WRX is a legend, of sorts, in car world, but it's never, ever been bought, or stolen, because of its visual features.  From the very first, it's been about as attractive as the offspring of an anteater and a Tonka truck.  And yet young men of a thrusting temperament, older blokes who still favour No Fear t-shirts and criminals who enjoy driving into shop windows have chosen these cars in their droves.It would be fair to say that each successive WRX has been slightly uglier than the last, which makes the original something of a collector's item, but this time Subaru's designers have really outdone themselves.The new Impreza is perhaps the most diversely derivative car ever. The fact that it's now a hatch and no longer a sedan is a fairly rude shock to start with, but it also looks like part BMW 1 Series, part Daewoo, part Seat Ibiza with a large sprinkling of Mazda 3. In fact, just about the only car it doesn't look like is a Subaru. While being ugly is nothing new for a Rex, the new one is kind of plain as well. At least the old ones had presence as well as pugilist features.The feeling of massive changes being afoot continues inside, where the front seats no longer look like they've been stolen from a rally car. Sure, they're still buckets and still sportily supportive, but the people in the back seat can actually see the windscreen, for the first time ever.Before even turning the key, the feeling that this WRX was no longer a Rex was niggling. Then I fired it up and waited for the fireworks. I have to say that for the first few days, pootling around town, I was deeply disappointed.Imprezas of old always gave you the feeling that they wanted to rip your arms off and use them to punch a police officer, but this new car felt polite and refined. It wasn't slow, exactly, but it wasn't a balltearer below 3000rpm, and there's not much room in Sydney traffic to explore beyond there.Then there was the sound, or lack of it. While 98 per cent of Rexes you see on the road have aftermarket pipes that make them sound like a fat man blowing raspberries into a megaphone, even the standard one always had a bit of oomph to it. But the sounds of the new WRX were so distant and decorous that they seemed to be coming from another car.All was not going well, so we headed out of town for the real test — could this super Sooob still tear up a bit of country road and put a smile on your dial? Fortunately the answer was a resounding, surprising yes.Given its head, the WRX is still a seriously quick, slick sportscar, it just makes a lot less fuss about what it's doing. Grip-and-go cornering has always been this car's forte and the way it can hang on through, and launch out of, turns is still a highlight.What is different is the slightly softer feel to the way it does this.The suspension set-up feels a little more gentle and this means the driver is a little less involved with the road than before. Even the steering feels a bit lighter, which is a shame.The 2.5-litre boxer four-cylinder still boasts the same power figures as the previous model — 169kW and 320Nm — but the engine has been retuned to deliver its grunt lower in the rev range.This means less turbo lag and more instantaneous acceleration.While the new car is certainly more grunty from lower down, it still doesn't get exciting until about 4000rpm. On the plus side, it does continue to be exciting all the way up to 6500rpm. Mind you, even at that pace, the noise you'd expect seems to be missing. And despite being lighter, the new car certainly doesn't feel quicker - although apparently it is, 0.1 of a second faster to 100km/h at 5.8 seconds.The five-speed gearbox is a slick and faultless little unit, but it's still missing a gear, no matter how you look at it, and not having sixth on long freeway runs could get wearing.Over all, though, as motoring scribes have been bleating for years, it's hard to think of another car that delivers as much for the money as a WRX. This latest impressive Impreza is still $39,990, the same price the Rex was 10 years ago. What you don't get for your money these days, though, is the hard, harried edge of old. And that's a shame, for purists at least.So, the new WRX is a lighter, more refined, quieter, more roomy and (very slightly) faster car than before, yet I'd still take an old one, every time. Perhaps looks do count for something after all.PS: After handing back the WRX, I took an RS Impreza for a week, but I can't tell you anything about it, because the automatic transmission it was fitted with rendered it too boring for words.It also had a “Sport” feature, the only function of which seemed to be to illuminate a dash light that says “Sport”. Stick with the WRX.

The high-performance STi is expected to have a 2.5-litre four-cylinder mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, Si-Drive, quad exhausts, bigger wheels with pumped out mudguards

There are plenty out there who like their performance cars to live on the edge; screwed-down suspension that will rattle your teeth and power delivery that is raw and nasty.They were the characteristics that won the original WRX, following more than a decade ago when it burst on the affordable performance scene.Now the WRX has become, in its own way, refined.The exterior is certainly more mainstream with softer lines which mimic small-car competitors.Inside the cabin, however, is where the philosophy really shifts gear.Gone is the “workbench” look of the previous models. Where once flat surfaces dominated; there are curves and softness. Just the ticket for a car that is actively courting female white-collar shoppers. The styling is designer chic.Is all this at the expense of performance?In a word, no.In fact, the new WRX is more useable, more stable and considerably quicker point-to-point than the outgoing model. Overall the car is a little bigger, the suspension a little more compliant and the output from the 2.5-litre turbocharged flat four stays the same at 169kW.The additional advantage of a marginal increase in torque; some 5 per cent; pales beside the huge benefits of that torque arriving earlier and sticking around longer.The wider, earlier torque band equates to a claimed 0.1sec improvement in the 0-100km/h sprint; now a claimed 5.8sec. In real world terms the benefit is that the WRX still has the ability to jump when called on but with less need to frantically shuffle the five-speed box.The gains from the engineering changes can be felt from the driver's seat.Ride quality improvement is immediately evident as is improvement in noise, vibration and harshness levels.A redesigned double wishbone rear-end and slightly (5mm) lower centre of gravity; gives the car better mid-corner stability and grip.Subaru Australia technical services manager Derk Ashby; said the new dynamic chassis control concept provides for a highly rigid platform on which to base a more compliant and flexible suspension package.“This intelligent suspension control system provides for even higher levels of grip, steering response and vehicle stability ... at the same time (delivering) vastly improved levels of ride comfort with much lower levels of shake, bounce and impact harshness,” Ashby said.There is slightly improved fuel consumption from the WRX; some 2 per cent but more from the 2-litre models, up to half a litre per 100km.See this car at the Australian International Motor Show    

Subaru has issued a teaser shot of its eagerly anticipated new Impreza WRX STi which makes its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show on October 24.

If 'fully sick' is your preferred state of being, Subaru's new Impreza range isn't quite so virulent as the one it replaces. While no-one free of visual or emotional disorders could have found the previous generation aesthetically pleasing, it was certainly striking, if only because of the series of unfortunate facelifts.It was though Subaru's styling department; an enigmatic bunch at best was being directed by an especially avid plastic surgeon.Next to these apparitions the new Impreza is a more or less generic hatch (the door windows now have frames, for heaven's sake), a 'bitser' with elements of what seems to be half-a-dozen different designs.Which is apt, really, given that the Impreza has to compete against at least that many models.More tangibly, once you get past the appearance and the drive that at outset seems almost decadent, you'll find a car that's better in almost every respect than the one it supplants.And of the four Impreza versions, that applies to none more than the very base model, the 2.0 R.Indeed, at $24,490 for the entry-level five speed manual ($2K more for the four-speed-auto) it's a class-leading package.Bigger yet lighter at 1340kg, like all new Imprezas it's five-star rated for occupant protection in ANCAP crash testing and likewise wins the maximum pedestrian rating.Unlike the class defining Toyota Corolla and Mazda3, the Impreza has Vehicle Dynamics Control (Soob's Electronic Stability program) as standard to supplement the marque's trademark constant all-wheel-drive.Even as the professed stripper version, the steel-wheeled R is bountifully equipped. Apparently, I've not been the only one to call Subaru wondering if this was indeed the base model.As to safety, it sets new standards in this class. Measures include ABS with four-wheel discs (ventilated front, solid rear), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, Brake Assist and VDC. Passive devices run to six airbags with double seatbelt pretensioners on the driver's seat, hill start assist and shock absorbing brake and clutch pedals.If the cabin is hardly redolent of luxury and the driving position some way from ideal, there are creature comforts enough, including MP3/WMA compatible stereo and adequate storage.If you want alloys and more stuff, the RX model adds a few bits of leather, six-stack CD with 10 speakers, and front fog lights from $26,490.If you want more stuff still, another two grand on top of that gets you into the RS with its sports seat and body kit, 17s and mesh grille. From there it's an $11k leap to the hero WRX.All three lesser models share the atmo 2.0 DOHC horizontally-opposed four potter, good for 110kW at 6400rpm and 196Nm at 3200rpm, so more dough doesn't mean more go.While progress is respectable rather than rapid with not a lot happening under 3000 revs, it is pretty much class competitive and leagues of magnitude better than the wheezy single cam item of yore. It even sounds pleasantly raspy.“Pleasant” indeed is the most just for the R car.While affording the AWD grip and assurance you'd expect from even a base model wearing an Impreza badge, the suspension is tuned in a way to absorb potholes rather than batter through them.Ride quality is a highlight, though there's just enough spice in the mix to make for a fun drive as long as the fairly close ratio five-speed gearbox is rowed with some vigour.But that rules out approximating Soob's claimed 8.9-litre per 100km combined fuel consumption figure. Just shy of 500km of city and extra urban driving netted us 9.8.The Impreza prefers 95 RON in its 60-litre tank.That's why five gears, as opposed to a more contemporary six, is one too short. At the state's legal maximum speed, the R is buzzing fairly frenetically at upwards of 3000rpm in top gear.Of course, the comparably priced Toyota and Mazda also run a cog short of contemporary, but the R is a better bet than both and not just in terms of safety, in which respect daylight separates them from the Soob.There's more to even the base Impreza model than this (vital) aspect,though.The new gen is a more practical people and load carrier than the old model and a friendlier daily drive. But it doesn't forsake the virtues that have made Subaru a greater success per capita than any other major market.If it's far from sick, the R feels at least a bit off colour.