Baby Bear on wheels

MANILA, Philippines - I confess. I’ve turned into a big, fat spoiled brat. I have no choice but to admit to the facts. This is because after I had driven the Subaru Impreza 2.0R, I realized that as far as manual transmission drivetrains go, I wouldn’t settle for anything less than one paired with a symmetrical all-wheel drive system. Like I said… spoiled. Allow me to backtrack a little…

The Philippine STAR’s marketing group goes on a planning session every year. Every so often, someone from a key editorial section gets invited to the said planning session. This year, that someone turned out to be yours truly. This year, the marketing planning session was held in Subic. As such, I thought I would take the opportunity to hit two birds with one stone, so I took the manual transmission base model Impreza 2.0R test unit all the way to the former US naval base… and had an awfully good time driving “Baby Bear on wheels”.

Now, as far as Subaru models go, the Impreza 2.0R is as base model as one can get – at least here on Philippine shores. It’s got a modest 150 horses under its hood and a pretty healthy torque rating of 196Nm @ 3,200rpm. (The jump is phenomenal – 230 and 320@2,800 for the WRX and 300 and 407@4,000 for the STi…) One thing it does have in common with its more aggressive siblings, however, is the symmetrical all-wheel drive system – which gives it the kind of balance many other car manufacturers can only dream of providing.

And this is how the Impreza 2.0R redeems itself. With its modest horsepower rating, the Impreza 2.0R won’t get you up to speed the way an Impreza WRX or an Impreza STi would. But, with its engine’s configuration and its tight transmission, it can perform with enough aplomb to deliver the kind of driving dynamics that have made Subarus stand head and shoulders above the competition for many years.

It’s not too fast. It’s not too harsh. It’s not too geeky. It’s not too sleek. It’s not exactly head-turning but it’s not at all unsightly. It’s got the right amount of power that it can keep your expectations (and your ego) down to manageable levels. The Subaru Impreza 2.0R is indeed a “Baby Bear on wheels”.

Proof is in the car’s performance. I drove to and from Subic with this article’s designated photographers – Ayvi Nicolas and Dandi Galvez. These two people pack like there’s no tomorrow. Plus, they were tasked to bring in some materials needed for the seminar. Add to that my own bags and a couple of percussion instruments and you can imagine we had quite a lot to bring between the three of us. As such, the baggage compartment had to gobble up quite a lot. The additional weight would have been equivalent to another warm body in the cabin – and then some. But the Impreza 2.0R couldn’t care less.

I was fresh out of a test drive of the Impreza WRX when I took the Impreza 2.0R out. And while the difference in the power to the wheels is noticeable, I doubt those who aren’t used to the hairier Subarus will even bother to ask. Given the right inputs (which is very achievable since it’s a manual transmission), you can actually go from 0-100kph in the Impreza 2.0R in just under ten seconds. Not mind-blowing, to be sure, but not bad at all. Conversely, if you keep your right foot steady, you can actually be quite frugal with the Impreza 2.0R… at best around 10kp/l by our computations.

The Impreza 2.0R’s now more passenger friendly suspension also performed to the best of its abilities. Yes, I did play a couple of Kings of Convenience tracks (they’re…relaxing, to say the least) during out drive but I didn’t expect to hear people snoring! A lot of that comfort has to be the result of better tuning by the folks at Fuji Heavy Industries, I’d say.

All in all, I thought that the Subaru Impreza 2.0R performed extremely well considering my rather modest expectations of it. In fact, it really, honestly is one of the few manual transmission cars in its class that I would consider spending my own hard earned money on. I actually think this base model Subaru punches right smack where it should in its weight class – which is the top end models of its rivals. If you think about it that way, Baby Bear here seems like a bargain at P1.128 million. Yup… I like. Spoiled old me likes…