Ponitac GTO 2004
- Thread starter The Porko
- 38 comments
- 1,657 views
I forgot: They're a Japanese company! But each Japanese company considers their performance ("halo") car differently. For example, the entire run of Fairlady Z's, last-gen Supra, and RX-7 were all quite distinct. And the huge rear wings on the EVO's and WRX STi's are certainly not going to blend in well with Civic HX's.
Originally posted by Hooligan
I forgot: They're a Japanese company! But each Japanese company considers their performance ("halo") car differently. For example, the entire run of Fairlady Z's, last-gen Supra, and RX-7 were all quite distinct. And the huge rear wings on the EVO's and WRX STi's are certainly not going to blend in well with Civic HX's.
I suppose so -- halo cars must be unique, and the WRX is the North American halo car for Subaru. Of course, if you asked me, I would say that the Outback L.L. Bean is the North American halo car for Subaru, but then again, that's why people don't ask me.
Originally posted by Hooligan
I forsee larger sales, too, probably because Subaru is rumoured to keep prices flat from this year to next. The US introduction of the WRX made the Fuji coffers quite heavy....
Subaru needs a decent family sedan -- front-drive, a normal engine, and it needs to be bigger -- if they want sales. The WRX is great, but will only be of minority interest, kept to those of us who truly have a passion for cars. The Forester's nice, but baby boomers see it as a wagon, and they don't want a wagon. Other Impreza models are very good, but expensive because they offer some features (AWD, 165 HP) that many people looking for a small car don't want.
Truthfully, these problems are fairly minor and Subaru still shifts lots of cars, but with a little refinement (AND ANOTHER ENGINE) they could work wonders.
I agree that if Subaru want's to contend with Toyota, Honda, et. al., they have to lower the common demoninator. Serve like against like. That would keep them from retaining the leftover image of being the car for the LLBean crowd (not that the LLBean Outback is helping that...). But would I stand by a company that stands by their ideals, in spite of lower sales. Uniqueness has a price.
As for the engine diversity, the H6 should help Subaru move upmarket...a little. They need to use it more often, though. As for bringing in other engines, anything other than a boxer would seem to compromise the AWD format they have right now, costing untold millions in research. Still, if they created a separate FWD platform, then that research could be offset siginificantly.
What I don't see is a new engine in the Impreza. WRC homologation rules require...yadda, yadda, yadda. A new engine or drivetrain in an economy car (especially their "low-end" halo) would be hard to convince the beancounters of...or the LLBean-ers.
But now that they're controlled partly by GM, I'd assume that company would like Subaru -- as it wants Saab -- to sell more vehicles, and to eliminate the unprofitable ones (*cough* Justy *cough*). Obviously, the demise of the Baja would be a big step in more car sales for Subaru, as would normalcy throughout the range. I agree Subaru is unique now, and that was fine in the days when it was beginning, but it needs to step up and take on at least Mitsubishi head-on now.
Took the words out of my mouth. WHY IS THERE NO H6 ON THE FORESTER OR BASE LEGACYS? It also needs to be cheaper. And not slightly cheaper.
What I don't see is a new engine in the Impreza. WRC homologation rules require...yadda, yadda, yadda. A new engine or drivetrain in an economy car (especially their "low-end" halo) would be hard to convince the beancounters of...or the LLBean-ers.
Well, the most recent Imp engine in this country is the 2.0 turbo (WRX) but Subaru needs to think less rather than more and get some 125-horsepowerish engines in to compete with the Neon, base Lancer, etc. Then we'd see some sales.
I also find it funny that Subaru tries to convince people that the 2.5RS is the 'second-to-WRX' performance model and that the 2.5TS is the economy car. Um, yeah, whatever -- they've both got the same engine. It worked, of course, when the base had a 2.2, but with a little research on the topic, you could save a lot of money.
