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08 Impreza driving impressions |
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 We have nearly got the new Impreza broken in after it's first weekend here. Ross and Esumi took it up for a thorough test drive in Fukushima. It is located about 300 kilometers outside of Tokyo, and they quickly racked up 700 kilometers. During that time they took it on some of the best windy roads to be found in Japan, along with a bit of gravel driving as well.
What we found is that the car gets it's best gas mileage at 110 km/h, which is about 69mph. So Subaru definitely looked at avg. freeway speeds when setting the car up. It is at 2700rpm at that speed. With a lot of expressway driving and some gravel and windy roads, it got 11 - 12km/l average. That is 28-30mpg. Given that the motor is still very tight, that would only improve. Well, if you leave the motor stock - we won't be. It finally comes with cruise control built in, but it will only go to a max speed of 108km/h, about 68mph. That is just because the maximum legal road speed in Japan is 110km/h, and that is in Hokkaido only.
Ross found the seats to be very comfortable, even over a 8 hours of driving. They are made very well for long distance driving, and when combined with the new telescopic steering, the new Impreza has become quite a nice place for the driver now. The same for passengers, human or otherwise. The dog slept the whole way.
Despite the comfort of the ride, it really impressed on windy roads. Ross found that even on tight corners, he could just toss it in and it went right on through without drama. Next was about 10 miles of gravel roads. It also handled those very well, he would throw it in sideways and just motor out with complete control. The braking was also fantastic, the bigger rotors and calipers make a huge difference. It was raining all weekend (actually, it was in the middle of a typhoon) and despite the roads being very slippery, there was never a problem with the brakes. Even when getting in to the ABS, which happened quite often, it just simply stopped without drama.
Now is when the real work starts on the car! |
