Mario James, Gleaner Writer

photos by Mario James

Building a car is not an easy task. Creating anything for market is a time-consuming, exhaustive process, let alone something as complex and as diverse as a motor vehicle. Mass appeal cars are market-driven instruments of profitability, and are the manufacturer's bread and butter.

Failure here usually means the beginning of the end for the manufacturer, so great pains are taken to ensure that the model is successful. Mass appeal cars do not have the luxury of clean-sheet engineering. Profitability is the watchword.

Halo cars serve a different purpose. A halo car is not designed by a committee. Its sole purpose is to market the rest of the line by the consumer buzz created from how good it is. It is expensive to make and market, and usually sells at a loss to the manufacturer because of the amount of engineering that went into it (which is why they make so few of them). It represents clean-heat engineering, where the engineer's creativity is usually unbridled.

The Subaru Impreza WRX was such a car. Subaru's 4WD sedan even went rallying, to prove the concept. Competing in the World Rally Championship, the world premier rally series sanctioned and organised by the FIA, they have won the drivers championship (using a highly tuned version of the Impreza) not once, but three times. Their street-going version of this rocket, the WRX, created a cult following, and achieved the halo effect, in that it got a buzz going about the brand from that very first win in 1995 (Courtesy of the late Colin McRae).

Subaru, once known as a quirky niche manufacturer, now had become mainstream. A few diehard enthusiasts were able to change public perception of the marque in such a way that the manufacturer's bottom line was affected (positively). That is what halo cars do.

Anticipating - no, actually salivating - at the prospect of getting this car to test made me think. Doing this car justice would take more mettle than I had, so Automotives asked Team Xpress 'hot shoe' and rabid rally fan, Rajendra Jadusingh, to provide Stig-like duties and wax poetically on the virtues, or lack thereof, of the '08 Subaru Impreza WRX.

softly sprung

He drove our tester and has provided us with an opinion worth 400 words. He is a rally driver, and has also consented to be Automotives unofficial Stig (hey, I'm a great fan of Top Gear!)

The paradigm has shifted. Whereas last year's model was all blood 'n' guts, the '08 WRX has lost its way. First, the brakes are not up to par, fading after minutes of serious driving. The car is too softly sprung for spirited roadwork, rolling like a ship on the high seas in the twisty bits. Last year's WRX came with four pot calipers up front. The new version comes with a sliding caliper four-wheel disc arrangement, a retrograde step. Under braking, the rear is pretty skittish over the rough stuff, and slow corners indicate that the stock chassis setup is not making the best use of the tyre footprint either; the camber changes that are built in to the front end geometry are inadequate to cope with the roll.

Understeer is the order of the day, and these are good, gummy tyres that the WRX is shod with. Once the chassis takes a set, it is predictable, but it is the moments of sloppiness before the chassis sits that are unnerving and sap driver confidence. The engine also is not as inspiring as last year's model. Gone is the 'thrumminess' of times past.

sounds like a Corolla

This thing sounds like a Corolla. Ebb starts to go away after 5,400 rpm, and the rev limiter is set at 6,400. The boost comes on, not like gang busters, but in a progressive way, which is not bad. But the engine's throttle response is poor. Gs are there to be felt in this car, but the high gearing in the higher gears sap much of the effect. It rides real nice, soaks up the bumps and all that, but Automotives thought that WRXs were about driving. What we think happened is that the company found out that most of the folks who buy Subarus are women, so they softened their halo car to entice that demographic to buy. If that is what they intended to do, they've succeeded. But for the hardcore, dyed in the wool WRX fan, this car is a step down from last year's model.

However, for Subaru fanatics, there is hope. The Sti version of the WRX is a car with a little more hair on its chest, developing 300hp and enough electronics to fire up the space shuttle (our tester developed 224 hp at 5,200rpm, with 226 lb ft of twist at 2,800). Only available as a hatchback, this car is more about balance, with harder bushings installed throughout the chassis, which should even out the platform in terms of roll and response, stiffer springs and better shock settings to stop the car from being unsettled under braking. It is supposed to be the proverbial cat's meow, but we'll see.

The ride, though, of this model is beyond reproach. For a dedicated sports sedan, it is plush (which is one of the reasons it rolls so much). So, ladies, if you like to feel a few Gs on the way to the supermarket, this car is built for you. It's got the space, ride and sophistication to be parked out in front of The Quad on Saturday night, and also that renowned Subaru reliability. But as a detuned racer for the street, this knife has gone dull.