Mark's Subaru Impreza Page

I've been a fan of the Impreza Turbo for almost ten years now, ever since choosing one over a Lotus Turbo Esprit back in 1997. The Impreza is an amazing car, with massive power, seemingly never-ending grip, balanced handling and poise, and total driver involvement.

The standard UK car puts out more than 220bhp, and has a standing 0-60mph time of less than 6 seconds. Japanese models, built by STI (Subaru Technical International) and used as the basis for Subaru's World Rally Championship car, increase that to over 280bhp, dropping the 0-60 time to under 5 seconds.

My first Impreza, a green 1996 UK Turbo, was a second-hand car and already had quite a few modifications. Prodrive sports suspension, Recaro seats, & air-con were all on the car when I got it, and I added the (slightly ostentatious) gold 16" Speedline wheels.

After owning the UK car for 18 months, I decided it was time to change, and considered 'upgrading' to a 2000 model with the full set of Prodrive performance and styling upgrades. However, having seen the waiting list (6 months) and the cost, I realised it would be cheaper & quicker to buy the more powerful Japanese imported STI.