Honda City SX8 into a Honda Impreza from years ago. Malaysia Boleh.

Now speaking about Subaru Impreza GD series (here called V7/8/9) clones, I have to say that the first generation  ASEAN only Honda City SX8 (not counting the two earlier Japan based ones) I saw five or six years ago is the best that I have seen so far. The Saga BLM, Waja clones aren't as good as this. Of course, there were those who bought the Hyundai Accent with the locally made RXS (stupidly using same logo and font for its badge as a Yamaha RXS motorcycle sold years earlier in Malaysia) and rebadged it as a Subaru.

This 'Honda City was only sold in South East Asia and is based on the then recently discontinued Honda Civic EF chassis. That chassis was actually quite good and even though the City came with a SOHC VTEC 1.5liter engine, it could handle the hotter Twin Cam 1.6liter VTEC used in the hotter SiR EF Civics easily. So those days we had some of these Cities with at least 160hp instead of 102hp.

2015 Subaru WRX STI photos leaked ahead of the official launch

These are allegedly official photos of the upcoming 2015 Subaru WRX STI. What it i is basically a WRX on steroids. What you also see is that it looks eerily similar to a Mitsubishi Evo X. Even if the Scooby is pictured in the famed Subaru WR Mica Blue shown in the pics. I don't know. I suppose cars these days look the same if you remove some character lines here and there. Or add a winged rear spoiler instead and you get a similar looking car.

Not going to say anything else except that if it actually drives better (with over 300bhp instead of 268bhp in the WRX) than the supposedly fabulous new 2015 WRX, it's going to be party with Subaru again instead of the good ol' Evo. More pics below.

2015 Subaru WRX makes its debut at the LA Auto Show - Thoughts about it.

Subaru has just launched the 2015 Subaru WRX at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. According to the Press Release it gets the following:

• New platform offers a stiffer, more agile chassis for Subaru global performance icon
• New torque-vectoring system reduces understeer
• New 268-hp 2.0-liter direct-injection turbo BOXER engine
• New standard 6-speed manual transmission
• New Sport Lineartronic® CVT with manual modes

2015 Subaru WRX teased...

Subaru have released one measly shot featuring the bonnet of the upcoming 2015 Subaru WRX.  I suppose that's all I have to say about it as one photo doesn't deserve more than two complete sentences.

The Impreza S-GT - A car that confuses the heck out of me.

Do you people out there know who Harvey Dent is? If you’ve been a Batman fan, then you’d know that he is the villain known as Two Face famous for his split personality and a half scarred, half normal face. Now the simple meaning of having a split personality is having two people living inside one being. When it comes to cars, we somehow know that there are some docile cars that turn into monsters at the prod of the pedal (some turbo cars) or with the switch of a button on the dashboard (think BMW M5 with it’s ‘M’ button). But what I shall be telling you guys out there is that the new Subaru Impreza S-GT isn’t a two faced villain or anything like that. It is something incomprehensible if you follow the usual route on how a performance car should be. In fact, no other car feels like it and I think no one except Subaru is psychotic enough to make such a car.

How to make 280bhp in Two Different Ways and Which is Better.

Yes, yes, yes. This is one of the topics that I mentioned that I am going to write about and finally, it has been transferred from the incredibly complex and very car savvy mind of mine to this article.

Recently, 2 chaps are in their (early) 30s and the first person bought a 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX STi and the other a 2005 Nissan 350Z Fairlady. Both are grey imports and cost basically somewhat close to the RM150,000.00 figure (one slightly higher and one slightly lower). Now these two fellows are good friends of mine, thus they let me wring out their rides a little for me to make a comparo of things.