I am well-aware that the WRX is not an Impreza model any more, it's a standalone for the 2015 model year, together with the STI. But really, you can't wipe my mind clear of a decade of watching Finnish drivers flying through the forest at absurd speeds late into the night. I grew up thinking the Impreza is cool, and that's not about to change. But let's set aside the rally history for a moment and focus on the future.
In essence, the WRX and its STI cousin are made up of performance combined with compact car versatility. In that respect, it's the same as an Audi S3, a BMW 135i and maybe even a Focus RS.
I simply love that combo! Why? Because you have a car that you can drive every day and yet will still scare the your pants off if you let it. So what if it has lag and the exhaust is too loud? We are men and we can put up with cheap beer, slightly overweight women and TV commercials during games. What we can't put up with are thirsty engines that burn a hole in our wallets, which is why performance diesels are around today.
Most of them are twin-turbo 6-cylinder engines because they tend to make sense only in expensive cars, but I'm just going to focus on the smaller 2-liter models, since they fit compact cars like a glove. The VW Group has a 185 hp TDI it offers on the Golf GTD, Octavia vRS, A3 quattro, TT coupe and Leon FR. Opel meanwhile has an even more powerful 195 hp twin-turbo on the Astra. BMW's is the best, a twin-turbo 2L pumping out the 218 hp in the 125d. We've heard that Audi is also planning its own, making 240 hp in the first-ever S3 TDI, but that's not the point.
Is it wrong that I want that in a Subaru WRX? Because boxer engines are just so much cooler and the Japanese make amazingly balanced chassis. So what if you can only get about 220-240 hp from a 4-banger diesel? Just think of all the energy drinks you can buy if you save 30% on fuel and of all the STI meetings you drive to on the weekends.
And best of all, the chances of being laughed at during STI-fest are really low. Audi just won Le Mans again with a diesel engine, BMW makes a bunch of cars with the letter M on them that use the stuff and Audi has just announced a 385 hp V6 TDI that has an electric compressor on it.
Compared to all the other Japanese brands, Subaru is pure and undiluted. If somebody can make a really nice boxer diesel sportscar, it's them. Somehow, the precision of a samurai sword maker just sounds way cooler than "hand-made engines from Affalterback". With the right marketing and at the right price, it should sell by the bucket load.
The right engine block already exists, a 2-liter boxer available in the Impreza and XV with 150 hp and 350 Nm of torque. Unfortunately, Subaru is working closely with Toyota right now, and it will probably make all its future sportscars into hybrids. But as you can see, the logic is ironclad. There isn't a reason on earth for them to make a hybrid sportscar like everybody else is right now and miss out on one of the greatest ideas ever, one which takes advantage of "WRX", probably the best badge in Japan.
I simply love that combo! Why? Because you have a car that you can drive every day and yet will still scare the your pants off if you let it. So what if it has lag and the exhaust is too loud? We are men and we can put up with cheap beer, slightly overweight women and TV commercials during games. What we can't put up with are thirsty engines that burn a hole in our wallets, which is why performance diesels are around today.
Most of them are twin-turbo 6-cylinder engines because they tend to make sense only in expensive cars, but I'm just going to focus on the smaller 2-liter models, since they fit compact cars like a glove. The VW Group has a 185 hp TDI it offers on the Golf GTD, Octavia vRS, A3 quattro, TT coupe and Leon FR. Opel meanwhile has an even more powerful 195 hp twin-turbo on the Astra. BMW's is the best, a twin-turbo 2L pumping out the 218 hp in the 125d. We've heard that Audi is also planning its own, making 240 hp in the first-ever S3 TDI, but that's not the point.
Is it wrong that I want that in a Subaru WRX? Because boxer engines are just so much cooler and the Japanese make amazingly balanced chassis. So what if you can only get about 220-240 hp from a 4-banger diesel? Just think of all the energy drinks you can buy if you save 30% on fuel and of all the STI meetings you drive to on the weekends.
And best of all, the chances of being laughed at during STI-fest are really low. Audi just won Le Mans again with a diesel engine, BMW makes a bunch of cars with the letter M on them that use the stuff and Audi has just announced a 385 hp V6 TDI that has an electric compressor on it.
Compared to all the other Japanese brands, Subaru is pure and undiluted. If somebody can make a really nice boxer diesel sportscar, it's them. Somehow, the precision of a samurai sword maker just sounds way cooler than "hand-made engines from Affalterback". With the right marketing and at the right price, it should sell by the bucket load.
The right engine block already exists, a 2-liter boxer available in the Impreza and XV with 150 hp and 350 Nm of torque. Unfortunately, Subaru is working closely with Toyota right now, and it will probably make all its future sportscars into hybrids. But as you can see, the logic is ironclad. There isn't a reason on earth for them to make a hybrid sportscar like everybody else is right now and miss out on one of the greatest ideas ever, one which takes advantage of "WRX", probably the best badge in Japan.
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