Bigpower

Official representatives from the company have confirmed that they have imported the last Impreza for the UK, and will not be bringing any more in!!

The death of an icon........
-this must strengthen residuals for cars that are already in the UK?
-this will probably strengthen prices for cars coming in too?

Will be interesting to see what happens to other niche performance cars like the 370z etc

I'll be honest mate (and this is no dig at the new shaped Scooby) but when it was unveiled a few years ago I never saw it in the same light as the old one. I don't mean that as if to say the new version is not as good or that the old version was so much better but the classic Scooby was so iconic and the new version was almost too much of a different car

Though the same could be said for the new '86 I suppose

Not really surprising, the mainstream manufacturers seem to only want one fun car a piece and Subaru chose the BRZ.

The 'classic' Impreza is still my favourite but the newer versions are starting to come good in my opinion, but I entirely take your point.

It wasn't that long ago that people could walk into dealerships and buy an official UK GTR, Supra, RX7, GT4, NSX, type R Integra...........now look at it!!

Yeah It's a shame, I actually started to like the latest impreza when they launched the saloon version with the big spoiler, never a fan of the hatch though.

Its no surprise though, the EVO is dead so impreza was bound to follow. Think it's just a case of these cars having had their day, especially as the performance is now not so unique for the price - I wouldn't have paid

I actually liked the hatch more than the last revision. Such a shame to lose such an icon but yep understandable given tough economic times.

I do like the GT86 though, it seems a more modern version of the older Integra (with the less 'rawness') but a car that is meant to be driven hard to appreciate it and all geared up for the power it does put out. A lot of reviewers have tried them first and hated them, then taken them out again and driven them harder (and not stuck in traffic or town journeys) and appreciated them more. Give them a few years and they'll be down to 12k or under, after all it is a Toyota who arent exactly known for cars keeping high values.
But if all the nods and sneak pics are to be believed the STI version should add a bit of tuning and possibly the turbo for the better performance. Fair amount of tuning kits in Japan, lets be honest getting the car to 250-300 bhp should give it a bit more oomph but without the difficulty anything higher brings.

Petrol prices though seem to have the biggest factor now on cars, this increase coupled with insurance and car tax increases is only driving out the 'Performance' cars.

Sad state of affairs though. Tell you what is madness though, the prices for the M3s and M5s new !! Who in the right mind would pay for this ?!!!?

Agree on the fule and tax stuff. The whole appeal of the evo/scoob was proper performance which was affordable. Now the cost of fuel and tax etc means even if the car is affordable, you can't afford to run it. It's a sorry state of affairs. I think it will lead to the opposite effect. Evo = affordable mutli purpose performance car, track day friday, family trip saturday. Fuel costs mean it will become more economical to buy a dedicated performance car for shits and giggles that does 1500 miles a year, and a diseasal family wagon. Which from an environmental perspective is more damaging - 2 build processes, 2x raw materials, 2x disposal. Daft

you say that but it's not the output of the engine that causes the problem, it's how much over stock it is and 300 is still going quite big. But I agree, 300bhp would makle it much more appealing. But why tune the car to that output when you can get a zed for the same money with ( i think as I don't really follow it) 330bhp out of the box. And a lusty v6 to boot Saying that I thought my 350z was too slow so on went an HKS supercharger kit, Nismo manifolds and.....well, you know!!!

Completely agree on the M5 stuff. That is the market which is falling off a cliff. They've changed the company car tax rules too which really will kill it. Used to be a max amount of tax, to the point where it made no difference tax wise if your car cost

It would be good to see the old rivalry's kick off again with some propper performance wagon's

6ltr V8 R36 GTR from Mr Neesan'

vs

some mad next gen quad turbo Supra evolution


but I don't see it ever happening (or not any time soon at least)

not gonna happen when you have modern diseasel cars making the "M" range look silly and slow.............

Shame car manufacturers don't latch on to these 'retro' fads that appear now and then. Remake a limited number of the iconic 90's jap cars across the board for a few years then cease again.