A ture classic and some kind of hidden champion. The Subaru Impreza GT Turbo with a 211 hp flat engine was a kind of predecessor of the famous WRX in Europe – in Japan, the three letters were known at this time already.
This is a massive air intake isn’t it and if you are into japanese cars you might know that these air intakes are a sign of turbocharged subaru vehicles and this is a real classic here we have the 1998 subaru impreza gt in asian markets it was already known as the wrx let’s have a look into this classic vehicle so it was back in 1992 when fuji heavy
Industries this was the name of the company then now it’s called subaru corporation started the production of the impriza model range as the successor of the l series in 1997 there was a slight facelift that brought a larger grill and revised bumpers and headlights and then only then europe got the gt version in japan i guess the wrx was available far earlier
Already the sign of the gt is not only here in the bumper the large fog lights that were by the way not only available for the gt but also for the slower 2.0 rx model with 115 horsepower and we see the air intake here for the intercooler of the turbocharger that brings the cooling air inside this car has a power output of 211 horsepower out of this 2.0 liter flat
Engine or boxer engine this car was first registered in march 1998 and it belongs to the german subaru importer it only has 4630 kilometers on the clock so it’s almost new and of course we will handle it with care that it remains almost new as it is you see 16-inch alloy wheels the impreza was available as a sedan as we see it here and as a kind of shooting brake
Station wagon compact kind of weird thing the length matters measures four meters and 34 centimeters and the car is only one meters and 40 high and yeah it’s compared to current compact cars or crossovers of course it’s a small and tiny car but still looks fresh and good in my opinion here at the rear you see the exhaust system of course we will have a closer
Look or we will hear how it sounds later on and the rear spoiler when subaru brought the wrx models to export markets and later of course the wrx sti cars the rear spoiler grew massive grew massively in size but here you see a more decent version that by the way is a classic car key no remote nothing and here you see the boot a trunk that measures 353 liters so
That was wall still is quite large compared to also to modern compact cars isn’t it now we will have a look inside but first let’s move back to the front of the car a driving machine like this has its heart under the hood and of course we will have a look into here it’s a 2.0 ej20 called two liter flat engine boxer engine at later wrx models there was a 2.5
Liter engine and also here under the hood the car looks as new that’s the turbocharger here the intercooler and the air intake for the intercooler and that’s how it looks like and of course we will very soon experience how it drives join me my height is 1 meter 92 centimeters that’s 6 feet 3 inches i’m not normal and i was not the typical japanese guy at
The time when they did the size contraction of that car therefore i don’t fit in here the driver seat is adjusted into my personal seating position so we keep it here with the look through the camera i the fabric on the seat is quite nice and the outside seats can be folded the the backrest can be folded down to increase the boot capacity and when we have a look
Into the door panel we see fabric as well this is quite nice and that’s not all about black plastics only and if we have a look to the door itself we see no rust nothing so the car really is almost brand new in a top condition and we see frameless windows at the doors front and back door and this is also we are quite a nice detailer design detail of the car
Isn’t it let’s move further forward into the cockpit the front seats are quite sportive but small you see that the headrest is not high enough for me again this is made for japanese people i guess back in the 1980s or 1990s when the car was designed and engineered the seats themselves are sport seats and they give a lot of hold so i like sitting here it’s also
Comfortable on longer journeys still and the steering wheel in front of the driver is a momo source sports steering wheel and that can be adjusted in terms of its height it’s quite heavy by the way this is the cockpit of the subaru impreza how it looked like starting with the 1997 facelift there’s a new dashboard or upper part of the dashboard and an additional
Storage compartment here there we have some kids audio cassettes they are still available by the way and they fit into this classic cassette radio here there’s no air condition at least according to the german price list you only had the choice with the 2.0 gl season called model with 115 horsepowers that came with air conditioner standard equipment all other
Imprisoner models including the gt just had the roof sunroof but no air conditioning so it gets quite hot here in summer indeed here’s the height adjustment of the headlights and the bright button this is quite significant you feel it you see it me neither the only thing the bright button is changing is the brightness of the clock here in the instrument cluster
That’s pretty much it we see of course analog instruments and the evidence that this car has only 4 631 kilometers at the moment so um i told you that before and here we have got a sticker at the door warning that if you had just read it when stopping the engine after heavy highway driving allow it to idle for one minute so the turbocharger needs to cool down and
Oil needs to be changed every uh 12 500 kilometers or seven a half thousand miles and every six months so you really need to maintain that engine of course yeah the steering wheel i mentioned already and here we’ve got the gear shifter of the five-speed manual transmission and here the key and i would say we now start our test drive back into 1998. the two liter
Foster linda engine delivers up to 211 horsepowers and a maximum torque of 270 newton meters and once you pass 3000 refs you feel the push of the turbocharger you hear it you hear the the noise or the sound sort of noise it’s quite nice and you you’re really feeling what the machine is doing and what it wants you to do behind the steering wheel the suspension is
Quite comfy in my opinion it’s quite nice it’s not a stiff sports car you can easily travel long distances so it’s a true gt gran turismo and i like the five-speed manual transmission all feels like a new car almost new car this steering of course we’ve got a servo steering but it still needs some work behind the steering wheel yeah and the car with the all-wheel
Drive and the limited slip differential at the rear axle is really doing great on the road so so full throttle third gear and then up to the fifth gear 6.6 seconds from zero to 100 and a maximum speed of 231 kilometers per hour don’t sound that amazing compared to modern cars but in this classic car the speed feels yeah it feels great it’s the car
Is quick it’s fast it’s easy to control it the wind noise is okay and yeah that’s pure driving and you’re really controlled the machine with the gear shifter the steering wheel i like it it is great fun driving this car it’s agile it’s responsive and yeah it’s true driving not being driven with air condition seat heating a massage function etc so it’s yeah
Pure fun the impreza gt is quite rare here in europe of course the wrx and w rx sti models were more famous and are more searched for in terms of used or classic cars therefore it’s really hard to yeah to say what this car is worth at the moment the list price back in 1998 in germany was 48 990 deutsche marks which is around about 24 000 euros and i guess if you
Find a buyer for this car in this condition it would be yeah i would say around 40 to 50 000 euros there are a lot of cheaper cars available but they are they are tuned they are used as a rally car and they are not in a condition as this one thanks for watching this classic car video here at asia auto ambassador i hope you liked the insights into the history
Of subaru the impreza nameplate is still active also in europe it’s the current compact hatchback available as a boxer or flat engine with 114 and 150 horsepower as a mild hybrid in the us and japan you still get the wrx as a sedan and the wrx based on the levoak as a station wagon we don’t get these in europe unfortunately and there won’t be any new wrx sti at
Least one with a ice engine this is what subaru confirmed already thanks again for watching thanks to andreas the guy behind the camera and see you next time here at asia auto ambassador bye come on bye
Transcribed from video
Subaru Impreza GT Turbo: A true classic from Japan, but no WRX STI | 1998 | English Review By Asia Auto Ambassador