My new car!! 2001 Impreza RS
 

I finally got to pick the car up yesterday.

2001 Impreza RS, the last year they offered this body style. This car is about 300-400 lbs lighter than the 2002.

It comes with 71555 miles on the odo. The rims are starting to grow on me. The car came with the stock rims with brand new, unused, winter tires.

My biggest complaing... Subarus maintain their value too well :o

It was more money then I hoped to spend, but if it holds to the subaru name, I'll have it for quite a while.

Nice ride there! I'd paint those rims white, but that's just me. I'm car shopping as well. My son creamed his car into a telephone pole a couple weeks ago. He wasn'r hurt, and they totaled the car, so he has some cash to buy another. You seem to havwe found what we're looking for right now, lol.

When I decided again to look for a new one, there were 3 within 300 miles. Two of those sold and this was the last one.

Looking up some data about these cars, for an RS of this style (1998-2001) with a manual in either coupe or 4dr configuration, there is a total of about 11,500. I have a ton of faith in subaru and I knew this would be my next car. I can't afford a WRX, nor would I want to know what insurance would be. This RS is no more than a regular impreza for me.

As for the rims, I've always had something against white rims :) I think I would have been more happy with just alloy. In the sun, they have more of a burned red color, and they actually look fairly nice.

Sweet lookin ride Jazz!

That RS looks like something right out of Initial-D. :-)

Glad you your ordeal is finally over and that she's in your hands.

nice car... probably one of the few imports i would consider owning... but ya... those rims? iono... i had a friend with a blue civic and red rims... there was never a day i didnt bag on him and his rims... if you have a thing against white rims... maybe a black? gloss or flat... either way a ton better than that red... =P... but all in all... love that car...

I get that same comment from the pictures from most people. When people actually go out and see the car in the sun, though, they like the color of the rims. I admit the pictures look bad, but when I walk out ot my car, it looks completely different.

ic ic... well you think theres any way you might be able to take a picture of your wheels color in the sun and have it come out? hehe... im kinda interested in the color change in the sun with those rims...

yeah really get them pics! nice color and body kit by the way is tht stock?

I switched the rims to the stock with snow tires. I have to say I like these a lot better. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the old rims now. My car is basically all stock. The side markers and blinkers have been switched to silver instead of the yellow. I got a chance to drive the car in some snow, and I was pleasantly surprised. In the same place a mini-van and FWD malibu could barely get going, my car took off and required a lot of effort to break the tires loose. Stopping as well was far better than I expected. Those snow tracker tires were brand new at the time though, so they were biting good.

Also, there is a picture with my Mom's Baja. I tried to convince her to get a nice legacy, but she wanted that thing.

Also is a picture of what the RS replaced, my good old 94 Probe GT. I still like that car, it just wouldn't die on me fast enough. It has 162000 miles on it and started up right away after sitting a month after I got the Impreza. My little brother is now driving it, and also has started to appreciate it. It's still probably the easiest manual I've ever driven. The thing has been incredibly reliable while I've had it as well. Don't make fun of it until you drive one.

haha sweet man

i know this isn;t the place but i just put in the stage two motor on my evo and all the upgrades in my sig makes it drift like crazy

i think i like it better now...
 

your stock tires look a lot better in my opinion... ive always liked those cars... and your ma's car is funny looking... never liked those... =P... and probes are the failed mustang chassis... =P... besides its a ford... so double wammie in my eyes... ^_^... still a very clean car you have my friend...

The first gen probe was supposed to be a new mustang, yes, but definitely not the second generation. After the success of the first generation probe, the developed a new chasis for the next generation that had no relation what-so-ever to the mustang. They actually had to make the car less powerful than they wanted in fear that the sporty looks matched with too much performance would decrease mustang sales. The last generation cougar was supposed to be the third generation probe.

That car is a solid chasis based off the mx-6 and 626. It's a common mistake to think that car is a Ford. Everything underneath the shell is mazda. If you want to argue that mazda is still a Ford, you're also going to have to argue that Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo are also Fords.

I've been a fan of imported cars for a long time. With the struggles of the domestics though, just wait, I believe Ford will come out quite well. They are doing a lot of really smart things. They are ahead in the domestic hybrid market, much farther than GM especially, and are also starting to offer a lot of awd platforms. They're attacking the camry and accord head on with some very decent cars. The Fusion is a pretty big success. The new 500 and Focus are looking to follow in nicely behind it. I think the new Edge will also do quite well.

I just watched 'Who Killed the Electric Car'. Very eye opening film. I wish I could buy an electric car, but hybrids are the only thing out there at present that an American can afford. I'd love to have a Tesla roadster. 300 mile range, 0-60 in 3 seconds. 85% charge in 1 hour. And the thing is just beautiful. But, $100,000 is a bit outta my leaque. It kills me that the EV1 was on the market and working great til GM pulled it. I suppose a plug in hybrid is the way to go, if they get to market in the next few years.

we are getting a little off topic but in response to domestic... GM and Ford are loosing there arses right now... same with Mopar... and correct me if im wrong, but i believe Ford is taking the biggest hit in their wallet... especially with all that warranty work on the 7.3L... the injectors fail within the 3 year warranty all the time... we've sent out maybe 2/3's of all our F550's out to Ford for warranty... Then the 6.0L... that is killing them too... i dont work much on them, but we have a ford buff in our shop trying to explain what is wrong with them... either way... and Mazda and Ford are very close to being the same company... such as Mopar and Benz... Mazda is really influencing Ford in their passenger car line... but Ford owns Jag and the others, but Ford allows them to produce and design them... they are like a silent partner so to speak...

now to the oil conspiracy... we've had the technologly to get away from gas guzzlers for a long time... theres even been a ceramic motor that was ran for 1,000,000 miles and showed very little wear... ive heard that it was smashed because the creator was getting threatened... and then those electric cars and what not... well even the hybrids we have today... those were produced and working well way back... but oil companies paid off or threatened the right people... lolz... if you think about it... oil companies have plenty of "contribution" monies in most politicians... they even support the domestic car companies... just like what was said before the electric line GM had... working and was a good design... but hmmm... GM pulled it for what reason? hmm... just a few things to think of... i mean think of all the crazy technology we have... yet we still dont have an alternative to gas/diesel? doesnt make too much sense to me...

I don't mine a little off topic, perhaps we should split this off into miscellaneous discussion.

All the domestics are in trouble, that I completely agree with. What I'm trying to say is, that I think Ford is on the best track to dig out. Chevy and Dodge are also having trouble with their trucks. Ford is making a big push into the car market; which I do not see the others doing. If legislation gets pushed through requiring car companies to reach a higher average fuel economoy; I believe Ford will be in the best position to reach them. Dodge is trying to push into the big sedan category, but I think interest in 4000+lb cars will wane, as well as remaining inefficient. GM will struggle... Who knows how things will turn out.

I also agree that Mazda and Ford are getting a lot more related. At the time of the probe though, they were still doing a lot of things independently.

yes they were more independent back in the days of Ford...

as for the domestic market... GM has a good push into the passanger vehicle area... their cars do relativly well with the existing lines... true they arent making a lot of new names such as Ford... their 2.2 ECOtec engines in the smaller vehicles have great MPG and power to boot... Once that new camaro comes out for Chevy that will make another great selling point for them... the only real performance vehicle they have is the corvette, and thats out of a lot of americans finacial ablility... so that camaro coming back will be the middle gound, such as Ford's Mustang... that was one of GM's major mistakes leading to a downfall... and as for the trucks... sorry to say it, but all domestic makers are in trouble here... the imports have almost taken the passenger vehicles as their own market and the trucks used to be domestics market... but now we have Toyota making full size trucks, Nissan Titans, even Honda has the Ridgeline (which looks much like the Avalanche, only uglier, which i never thought possible.) I just think the domestics need to get their acts together. Its no longer a stateside battle for the car market... it is now a worldwide battle and our companies are losing... =/... im a Chevy lover thru and thru... I work on Fords all day... theres so many problems, compaired to imports, with Domestic engines that its turning customers away... as i said before about the Ford diesel (which are what most american companies have for their fleets) engines having problems with injectors falling appart into engines... we cant even get two injectors for the 7.3L because they are backordered for months... that says that Fords best diesel engines arent that great... iono man... theres so many wrong with our domestic auto makers that its insane...

...well its off to work for me now... lets see how many more Ford's come back to the yard on a hook... =P

Well, let us get to the moral of the story.

My first car was a 90 T-bird. That car was crap. Head gaskets, overheating issues, crap 3.8L V-6, body rusted pretty bad.

My second car was the probe and has been a great car. I bought neither with a brand bias. I drove the probe by happenstance. I was spending days trying to find a fwd 5-speed to take to college. I went to a dealer to try a saturn SC2 which had already sold. The probe was in the lot so I decided to take it for a drive since I made a trip into town. I loved the way the car felt. I bought it in early 2002 with 106500 miles on it for $2700 I think. The car now has 162000 miles still with the same clutch/tranny. Clutch has never slipped. Even in the coldest days, there is no clunking in the tranny either. I had to replace the water pump and the distributor because a sensor in it died. There was nothing else besides replaced belts, brake pads, and other routine stuff.

I bought a subaru because I trust subaru. There wasn't a domestic car that really interested me. I wanted something that I could also drive on snow and ice and not be as paranoid. The RS is a hard car to come by, but I found this one and I hope it lives up to the subaru potential.

The problem with the new camaro, I'm guessing, will be that it will again weigh 3800+ lbs. The mustang doesn't compete very well because it too is very heavy. I have an awd car with about the same interior space and 2 doors that weighs around 2800 lbs. The regular mustang, I believe, is around 3600lbs with the GT500 being over 3800lbs. That's the great thing about the corvette... they managed to reduce weight on the Z06.

well if i had to drive in snow... i'd definitly want an awd subaru... ive always liked it... but seeing as im in southern california (thank goodness), i want to keep my hands on rwd powerful cars... not saying the WRX and other cars arent powerful... but theres something about the sound of a V8 that ive always loved... thats just me... as for fords... ehh... i hate them... dont know why but i do... and when people build ford t-buckets and drop a chevy 350 in it... thats telling you something about the difference in engines, at least back when the companies actually were doing well...

wow, that thing is a beauty!