Subaru Impreza AWD.

1998: The Subaru Impreza has been a nice little earner, cashing in on Subaru's World Rally Championship successes of 1995, 1996 and 1997 (1998 a tense battle).

Interestingly, manual Imprezas use a viscous coupling centre differential to give four wheel drive while the automatic models use a hydraulic multi-plate clutch to transfer power to the rear wheels. From late 1998, all Imprezas are 4WD, Subaru having moved to an all 4WD range.

The entry level Impreza LX hatch costs $21,990+orc, the Sportswagon $22,990. Impreza GX features central locking, power windows and mirrors, cruise control and power steering at $23,990 (manual). The Impreza RX features dual airbags, ABS and new head lights and fog lights. All the above have the 92kW naturally aspirated flat-four. The Impreza WRX (above right) is for the [boy|girl] racer with 160kW, 290Nm turbo engine from $39,990.

1999 July: The Subaru Impreza WRX Club Spec' Evo 3 (right) is a mouthful to say and is a limited edition (150 copies) Impreza by Subaru Australia for those who can only dream of a WRX STi. Selling points are Blue Steel Metallic paint, gold painted alloy wheels, snazy seats and a key-less entry system. The extras are said to be worth $3K but to add only $1.7K to the price, making for a r.r.p. of au$41,690.

1999 August: The Impreza WRX gets new alloy wheels and the price rises by $500 to $40,990, and the WRX Hatch to $40,990. The Impreza RX gets keyless entry, and colour-keyed door handles and mirrors, the price remaining at $26,990 (5-speed RX sedan). The Impreza GX gets dual airbags, cruise control, keyless entry, power windows and mirrors: $23,990 (5-speed sedan). The Impreza LX hatch (up by $800) and Impreza Sportswagon (up by $1K to $23,990) also have dual airbags as standard.

- http://4wdonline.com/4WD.html

Subaru Impreza late 1998, 1999..., manufacturer's figures

• Subaru Impreza 2.0 AWD sedan
• 5 seats, 4 doors, RX & WRX: 2 x airbags & ABS
• loa: 4340mm, width: 1690mm, height: 1415
• wheelbase: 2520mm, track: 1460mm/1455mm, grnd clearance: 160mm
• turning radius: 5.1m (kerb)
• weight: 1125kg (unladen), towing: 350kg (unbraked)
• flat-4, 1994cc, petrol, 4-cyls, mpfi, 4-valves/cyl, sohc
• bore: 92mm, stroke: 75mm, c.r.: 9.7:1
• power: 92kW at 5600rpm, torque: 185Nm at 3600
• transmission: 5m, AWD
• suspension: indep'-strut/indep'-strut, brakes: disc/drum
• tyres: 195/60R15, fuel tank: 50L
• prices:
  • 1998: LX hatch: $21,990, sportswagon $22,990, GX: $23,990, RX: $30,490, +orc $au
  • 1999: LX hatch: $22,790, sportswagon $23,990, GX sedan manual $23,990, RX sedan manual $26,990 +orc (Aug 1999)
  • automatic tranmission +$2K
• also 2.0 WRX sedan:
  • Subaru Impreza 2.0 WRX AWD sedan
  • turning radius: 5.2m
  • weight: 1255kg / 1285kg
  • 1994cc, petrol, 4-cyl, turbo-charged, mpfi, 4-valves/cyl, dohc
  • bore: 92mm, stroke: 75mm, c.r.: 9.5:1
  • power: 160kW at 5600rpm, torque: 290Nm at 4000rpm
  • transmission: 5m (WRX 5S), or auto (WRX 4AT)
  • brakes: disc/disc, ABS
  • tyres: 16" wheels, fuel tank: 60L
  • prices
    • 1998: WRX from $39,990+orc 9/1998 --> $au
    • 1999: WRX Sti $60K early 1999 (all sold)
    • 1999: WRX sedan $40,490, hatch $40,990 (Aug' 1999)
    • automatic tranmission +$2K
• Competition: Audi S3

Go to the Impreza (current), 2000, 1998, 1996-98, Impreza 22B-STi, Impreza WRX-STi, and Subaru pages