2000 Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 AWD review from UK and Ireland

Failed MAF sensor. Found the engine starting to splutter as revs wound up, completed journey but got it booked in to main dealer ASAP. Found to be MAF sensor, approx 100 quid fitted.

Aside from that, just service costs and normal consumables, ie tyres, brake discs, pads etc. Oh and lots and lots of Super Unleaded.

I've had a few sports cars in recent years, 5 MR2's for summer and a few hot hatches for commuting to work, wet days and winter. I was looking to replace my sports car and hot hatch combo with a single all-rounder.

Having heard great things about both Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, I was convinced these cars would offer up the ideal package of performance and useability. I test drove an MY00 Impreza Turbo (8.5k at the time) and Evo 8 FQ300 (17k at the time) on the same day.

Clearly the Evo was quicker, it had 330 bhp (sensibly tuned) versus the Impreza's 220 ish bhp. But was it worth twice as much money? No, not really. The Evo's ride is very firm, jarringly so. Great for tracks and perfectly flat roads, but it seemed to fidget and tramline on the bumpy, rutted Welsh backroads I hammered it around, with Mitsy salesman happily letting me really explore the car's performance.

I went straight from the Mitsubishi garage to Subaru dealership and test drove their Impreza Turbo. It felt smoother, more at home on a bad road surface, capable of soaking up the minor bumps completely. Better for the UK then. The performance seemed quick, slower than the Evo, but not by much. Certainly not 8 grand less. It just felt more liveable than the Evo, slightly less hardcore, which for me seemed fair enough. I bought the Impreza there and then.

I've had the Impreza for 2 & 1/2 years now. I've swapped the standard alloys for some nice anthracite OZ Superleggera's with Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres. The grip of the car is even better for it, the V-grooved tyres prevent any aqua-planing, even in bloody awful weather. I've also fitted an Sti panel air filter and Roger Clark exhaust system. It was the highest quality exhaust I could find and has given the car a lovely Scooby burble without being overly loud or raspy like so many chavv'ed up cars that seem to be around these days.

And that image problem, and overly chavved-up cars being more and more common as they become more affordable, is partly why I had a look around recently to see what else I'd like to change car to. I hate the Scooby stereotype image of boy-racer with burberry cap. But after looking around for a few months at (Elise, S2000, Civic Type R, etc) and test driving a few different things, there's still nothing else to replace the Impreza package of performance, acceleration, speed, grip, handling and practicality without spending loads of money. I've tried a BMW Z3M Coupe, quick but strangely un-exciting. Clearly I've tried the Evo previously, its quick but a bit too harsh. Recent M3 maybe? But are those cars 10, 12, 15k better than my trusty Impreza? Not really.

OK, its got a very basic interior and the styling is a bit lairy but its done everything I've ever asked of it for the last 2 & 1/2 years with only one minor fault. Apart from the MAF sensor failure its started first time, everytime, whatever the weather, however long I've left it standing.

Its been used as a holiday car for pootling around Devon with luggage and dog on-board. Its hammered along deserted mountain roads at 6am living out rally fantasies. Its capable of epic early morning road trips, managing 300 miles in 4 hours around Mid & West Wales before heading back home for breakfast. I've taken it out for drives in the snow to explore the grip and live out ice-rally dreams (where I offered to give a tow to a 4x4 driver to help them out of the hedge they'd gone through). The grip in the snow is so good that if you close in on a bunch of Beamers, Volvo's etc trudging along the inside lane of a dual carriage-way at 30mph, you can take to the unbroken snow in the outside lane and overtake them.

I've even had the opportunity of taking it on a track day where its grip and progressive handling really helped me get to grips with circuit driving. I've since done a load more track days in a purpose built nail, to build up a load more experience before swapping back to using the Scoob for trackdays once I am reasonably sure I won't stuff into a barrier.

So, anyway, to sum up; I cannot find another car which is as capable, practical, liveable-with or as trustworthy as my current Impreza Turbo for anywhere near the extra money I'd be willing to spend. It's a modern sports car legend that, although partly the victim of its own success with the image problem, cannot be denied as being an extremely competent performance car. I think the longer I keep mine, the less inclined I'll be to ever sell it.