 | Home > Off Topic > Whatever happened to Subaru? |
 
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| 90 Dreamer Member Since: 13 Jul 2019 Location: Oop North Posts: 2188   
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Just ' Local shops for Local People.........'
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11th Oct 2020 6:57pm |
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| 90 Dreamer Member Since: 13 Jul 2019 Location: Oop North Posts: 2188
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Met a very nice and understanding Traffic PC whilst travelling slightly quickly in my original Legacy Turbo Estate......
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11th Oct 2020 7:27pm |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5235
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They did run Subaru Levorg in the btcc last year, But the regs out lawed the car sadly this year. It was a very strong car, some say it had a bit of an advantage with the boxter engine. It did win one championship too,
But i think with them pulling the plug on the saloon Impreza, that has not did them any favours at all. Laugh is though, one of the Team leaders at work as two! One is close to 20 years old, and another one on a 13 plate. The later one is much faster than the old one. He loved my little rover  Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back
Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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12th Oct 2020 4:43am |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5235
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I tell you a story, This is going nearly 20 years ago now. When people used to play with rover metros, Anyway. At santa pod, Two lads were lining up to go on the strip together, One lad had an Impreza, and gave the lad who had lined up to run with him, some right old stick. He happened to be running a Rover Metro GTI VVC, The Impreza driver didn't know the metro was a 1.8. Anyway the two got to the strip, Lights went Green, and the metro span its wheels and fired off the line. Pulled a good distance from the Impreza too! The owner of the Impreza, would not speak to the metro owner afterwards  Here is the video
Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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12th Oct 2020 4:55am |
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| steve E Member Since: 06 Mar 2011 Location: Tenby Posts: 2073 
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Had a few STI Impreza when we had the dealership in Cardiff
Absolutely loved the RB320  Click image to enlarge |
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12th Oct 2020 6:36am |
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| Thon Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Salisbury Plain Posts: 696
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My local garage that services our Skodas recently took on the Subaru franchise. Several times I've had XV loan cars but can't say I was impressed. I owned a 2009 legacy outback with the disastrous diesel engine which I had to scrap a year later after the second crank seizure... Cost £5500 and some painful discussions with the thieving engine reconditioners after they "lost" the turbo, injectors, ecu etc. My first legacy outback was a 1997 version in Canada which was bulletproof. I don't think they have bright future in the UK.
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12th Oct 2020 8:08am |
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| jonny Member Since: 10 Mar 2013 Location: North Wilts Posts: 172 |
I've had 4 of them (2x Forester Turbo, a JDM Legacy turbo and now an Outback 3.6) and they've all been very good cars - practical, comfortable with a decent turn of speed and a bit 'quirky', which I like in a car. In general they seem to have been well engineered and thought out as well - as if they have been designed more by engineers, compared to a lot of German / European cars which used to be like that, but are now totally designed by accountants for cost savings and later dealer markup.
I think Subaru UK are a bit part of why they aren't more popular - if you go the the US, particularly anywhere that gets snow and they are *everywhere* - they sold 700K cars last year and have the perception of being reliable and dependable cars that go anywhere. Over here, as people have said they have lost the connection to rallying, the dealer network is pretty sparse and not at all like the swanky glass palaces that other marques have. They also made some pretty bad choices with regards to the models they brought over - pushing the diesels which had problems, and not bringing over any of the 'hot' turbo or the big petrol engines, just the mediocre smaller ones. Lastly, I don't think TV/Magazine car reviewers 'get' them either.... The cabin may not be as swish as the Ford / Vauxhall whatever that it's being compared to, but after a few years it will probably have coped with the abuse of actually being used it a bit better. Most people probably wouldn't care about CVT vs. Auto (or probably notice the difference unless they were told), or particularly care about 'driving dynamics', but Subaru always get slated by reviewers over it... |
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12th Oct 2020 8:44am |
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3753 
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They build special RHD versions of Subaraus in the US just for the US Postal Delivery Service too
I fancied a Subaru SVX years ago and very occasionally still see one in the Stirling area, must be pretty rare these days, not that they were at all common when they were in production https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/0...-time.html Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come 2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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12th Oct 2020 10:14am |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3564 
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Never heard or seen an SVX, Tim.
Also didn't realise that the Isuzu Trooper had been re-badged as Suburu either 
The latter wasn't available in the UK, was it? Had a bit of a soft spot for the Trooper. I used to shoot clays with a Farmer who had one. From what I remember in my local area, in the 1970's the franchise sat with a very small garage which also carried the Hyundai (when they made the Pony) franchise. I believe they also had the Dacia franchise. When the likes of Colin McRae started making them popular, the franchise moved to a more substantial multi-franchise dealer. If I recall, it only lasted a few years with them then went back to a smaller garage some years ago (still during the time of the STI Saloon's) where it has been ever since. A lot of years ago I did a City & Guilds College course on Motor Engineering in the evenings. We had a lecturer one night (because the main Guy was unavailable) who had worked on Subaru's with the larger franchisee. He hated the boxer engine. I can't recall why, but he didn't have a good word to say about the cars. He only worked there because they offered him a better hourly rate than where he had been
A Guy in our village had a Mitsubishi Evo for quite a few years. I suppose they were the 'Competition' at the time? You never saw so many of those on the road as you did the Scooby. |
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12th Oct 2020 10:48am |
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3753
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What about the XT, like the SVX they were also imported in tiny numbers but I remember seeing quite a few of them, really strange looking cars, definitely in the William Towns “sharp edge” school of car design! A teacher at the High School I went to had an XT. Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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12th Oct 2020 10:52am |
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| TACK Member Since: 26 Apr 2009 Location: Essex Posts: 1045
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I had 2 in row, both impreza's year 2000 and 2004. Its then been LR since then.
Their dealerships were a pleasure to be in and often got asked to attend dealership track days. |
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12th Oct 2020 4:30pm |
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