Concept art of the new 2008 Impreza have been flooding the automotive blogs and news sites from all around the world lately. Ever since Subaru announced a major redesign of the Impreza model for 2008, it’s been nothing but rumors and speculations. Let’s feed the fire some more wood!
Some new pictures of the much anticipated Impreza WRX car have surfaced today. The new pictures have been found on a Russian forum via Autoblog and CarDomain Blog, who are also eagerly following the hype around the new car. These pictures look amazingly like those posted on other Subaru blogs a while back – except it’s a hatchback. Even the reflection on the car in the picture is the same!
This picture was first posted on Scoobyblog in July 2006.While there is no doubt the 2008 Impreza WRX will bear resemblances to the concept pictures we’ve seen surfacing in these last few months, I still don’t believe we’re seeing anything like the final model. These pictures have been originally posted in a forum in September 2006 and Autoblog’s dug them up. Notice the Pirelli stickers on the Subaru WRC car: the Subaru World Rally Team has since switched to BFGoodrich tyres. I don’t think all these pictures represent the new 2008 Impreza very well. However, most of the art surrounding the new 2008 Impreza is very well done and at first glance is hard to discern from an actual photograph.
Recently surfaced picture from Japanese magazines.As for the hatchback-only rumor – for some reasons I can’t get myself to believe it’s true. Subaru currently dominates the performance sedan market with the Impreza WRX STI along with Mitsubishi with the EVO car. I think leaving that market wide open to Mitsubishi in 2008 would be a dire mistake on Subaru’s part. A hatchback version of the Impreza in 2008 is a possibility though, but I doubt they’ll drop the sedan altogether.
That spoiler is a real rear-view blocker.I’d like to see some official information on the new 2008 Impreza, but Subaru isn’t feeding us any. We’ll probably have to wait until it’s revealed at a motorshow somewhere around the world before we can get a glimpse of the real thing.
Straightline has posted photos of the new hatchback 2008 Impreza taken from Japanese magazines. The pictures show a hatchback version of the 2008 Subaru WRX STI, which will probably also be offered in a sedan version, with the ugly grille that was introduced in 2006 gone.
I like the front grille on that one, but I preferred the old hood scoop.
Now, remember: these are only concept pictures. They’re not necessarily the real thing. For example, look at past concept pictures of the 2006 WRX taken from Japanese magazines:
And this is how the production car finally turned out:
It’s true that there are a lot of similarities between the concept pictures and the final product, but they still have time to change this. I guess Subaru will keep the suspense high until 2008. I can’t wait to see the next generation Impreza in April though!
No Subaru Impreza WRX for 2008?According to the British magazine Autocar, Subaru is not planning to have a 2008 WRX car in production, instead offering the new redesigned 2008 Impreza WRX STI.
That’s right. Subaru’s only going to offer the base Impreza model (a new hatchback, according to the rumors) and the high performance Impreza WRX STI model, skipping the intermediate WRX model entirely.
I really don’t see why they’re dropping the WRX – it’s such a nice car and it offers a lot of performance for the price. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of STI on the road here, but WRX are far more common. We’ll see if the rumors are founded. Let’s hope they’re going to carry over the 2008 WRX!
The 2008 Impreza will be revealed at the New York International Automobile Show in April, according to Autocar. The new 2008 Impreza will be a five door hatchback powered by a choice of 1.5L and 2.0L boxer engine. Unfortunately for the rally driver in us, we will have to wait until 2008 to have a glance at the new WRX STI model.
I sincerely hope that Subaru will also offer a sedan version of the 2008 Impreza. Autocar does not reveal its source; one can always hope that it’s just rumors.
The 2008 WRX to harbor a new design
What will the 2008 WRX look like? It is a well-know fact that the 2008 Impreza model is being redesigned. It’s still only rumors and speculations, but here is a list of possible design that you can find around the web.
2008 WRX is not the B5-TPH prototype
At first it was thought that the 2008 WRX would look like Subaru’s B5-TPH prototype. Subaru however corrected those rumors and mentioned the new model would not look like the B5-TPH prototype, which in my opinion is very ugly, but might borrow some of its features.
Concept pictures from japanese magazines
The ScoobyBlog has 2008 WRX concept pictures. The car looks pretty much like a current generation WRX but is more stylized. In my opinion, it is not what the new model will look like because Subaru said they would be changing the nose grille on the 2008 Impreza models and in the pictures it remains almost unchanged.
Hatchback rumors
Increasing rumors on the 2008 WRX wants it to be a hatchback. DubSpeed Driven has spy-shots pictures of the new model which is a hatchback. These pictures however are obviously fakes. They show a VW in disguise, not a WRX. They’re still interesting nonetheless. Note that the 2008 Subaru Impreza is rumored to come in both hatchback and sedan format.
No official word yet…
While Subaru is not releasing much information, it’s entertaining to see all the rumors spreading around. The final design of the new Impreza will probably be announced at a motor show sometime soon. I can’t wait to see the new 2008 WRX model!
According to the U.K.’s Auto Express magazine, the next-generation Subaru Impreza will arrive within the next year and will be available first in a five-door hatch, followed by a traditional sedan.
From: New Subaru Impreza getting closer to production
An article published in The Vancouver Sun suggests a guide for picking up a color for your new ride, and they list the Subaru WRX:
SUBARU WRX
Colour to avoid: Every colour except World Rally Blue.
Colour to get: World Rally Blue, a hue synonymous with Subaru and off-road rally championships. Add the optional gold rims and the WRX is a thing of beauty.
I agree with them that the World Rally Blue car looks pretty nice. However, I think it’s far too common. According to what I’ve seen on the road, at least 2/3 of every Subaru WRX is blue and has gold rims.
For this reason, I tend to prefer the black WRX with silver mags over the blue one. I find it much more aggressive. The white WRX is a close second – especially with a carbon fiber hood. The world rally blue model comes third, simply because it’s far too common. Silver models are last because as silver is one of the most popular car color, the WRX blends too much with other cars.
It’s true that the world rally blue has higher resale value since it’s the color that’s most in demand, but the difference is minimal. Pick the color your really want for your new car. And who knows, maybe Subaru will introduce new colors to go with the redesigned 2008 WRX!
Since Subaru announced the redesign of the Impreza in 2008, there has been a lot of speculation on the web as to what the next generation of Impreza will look like.
Some news sites, such as MobileMag and LeftLaneNews, have announced the Impreza 2008 to be a hatchback based on the B5-TPH hybrid prototype.
According to Subaru, however, the redesign of the Subaru Impreza is NOT based on the B5-TPH prototype. There is nothing yet to discredit the hatchback rumor though.
