curious about the 2007 impreza

[anstis]

i was chatting to a rally mate the other day and he reckons that SWRT's new car they have homologated from Mexico onwards is the wagon version of the impreza. he told me they were doing it because the wagon needed to be marketed more than the sedan.

I told him i didn't reckon so, but he says the wagon has the same weight and just has a slightly different COG.

i know it all sounds a bit far fetched, but this guy does know his stuff and he was adamant. He has told me heaps of things previously and hasn't been wrong.

So has anybody else heard this? or should i go tell my mate he'd had a few too many beers...

cheers

[Glee]

The Subaru Impreza wagon needs a new back end, not a WRC version, it is a brilliant example of bad design, and the sole reason that I have 2 Legacy wagon and not a Legacy and a Impreza...

[koko0703]

Are you sure your friend is talking about 2007??? There are countless rumors that Impreza will be a hatchback in the near future when the production model has full model change. But I've never heard that Impreza WRC2007 will be wagon/hatchback, and all the testing pics I've seen this off-season have had the conventinal sedan based rally car.

[J4MIE]

It will be a completely new model from 2008.

[bennizw]

Yes, the one that'll be in Mexico will be the S12B. An upgrade of last years version, so no bodyshell differ.

[anstis]

Yes, the one that'll be in Mexico will be the S12B. An upgrade of last years version, so no bodyshell differ.

yeah this is what i always thought.

i made sure he wasn't refering to the future impreza model change to a hatchback (for 2008?). he was specific about mexico 2007. but if nobody else has heard this i think he maybe just has his facts wrong.

cheers

[Simmi]

Yeah he was wrong go rip him for it. I cant wait for the 2008 car to break cover. According to Autosport last week they cant run it until the production car is launched, so the first day of testing should be some time in August.

[Lousada]

Yes, the one that'll be in Mexico will be the S12B. An upgrade of last years version, so no bodyshell differ.

Does anyone have a rough idea what they will upgrade? Judging from last year, you'd almost guess they need to upgrade everything about it.

[Jaanus]

The S12B that will make a debut in Mexico 2007 will look exactly like the S12, all the changes are in technology. The major difference will be newly homologated passive differencials that will improve the handling. They allready solved the problem late last year, but can't use it before Mexico beacuse of the one homologation rule per year.

[Rally Hokkaido]

Yeah he was wrong go rip him for it. I cant wait for the 2008 car to break cover. According to Autosport last week they cant run it until the production car is launched, so the first day of testing should be some time in August.

The 2008 production model is due to be released here in October. Despite all the rumours, the photos I saw in a new magazine yesterday were of a 4-door sedan. It's front was more pointed and angular than current model. It even looked similar to Lancer Evo X which will also be released in October. I expect we will see GpN versions of both used as course cars at Rally Japan.