Possum gets handle on WRX Impreza

New Zealand rally ace Possum Bourne can not wait to get a competition car based on the just-launched, all-new Subaru Impreza.

"The new car is such a big improvement over the old one in so many different areas that it is going to form a much better basis for the new rally car," said Bourne.

While new Group N standard production Impreza WRXs will take to the rally stages from the start of next season, Bourne is unlikely to get his hands on a modified Impreza World Rally Car until the middle of next year at the earliest.

Bourne's car will be similar to the WRC prototype developed by Prodrive in Britain and pictured on these pages.

Automotive News editor Alastair Sloane took the photos during the launch of the new Impreza range in Queensland.

The car was under wraps in the bowels of a Gold Coast hotel, waiting to be delivered to the Sydney Motor Show. A handful of journalists were invited to check it out.

Bourne says the new WRX Impreza is much quieter and more comfortable on longer trips.

"You're more relaxed so there's not as much driving stress or fatigue."

He is a particular fan of the seats.

"I've got a bit of a dickey back, but the new seats seem as if they're designed more for a European person and you don't slip forward in them."

Although the looks of the new Impreza and the headlights in particular has divided opinion there is a positive outcome.

"The car has now got the headlights to match its performance," said Bourne.

"And then there is the performance. The steering is more precise and there is less understeer.

"The car will hold a line through a corner better when you start to push it. It's more controllable.

"It's so much more refined now that you don't realise how fast you are going until you look at the speedo." He is also a fan of the revised gear change.

"It feels more like what you'd imagine the perfect gear change to be. It's more correct and direct."

Bourne reckons Subaru has turned initial negative publicity for the car into a positive. Worldwide, the first spy pictures drew a lukewarm reaction at best.

"Now people are starting to come round once they have driven it," he said. "And you can't see what it looks like when you're behind the wheel."

Already the Impreza has won the Wheels Australian Car of the Year award, thanks to its combination of performance, technology, refinement, comfort and value for money.

Accolades are continuing in other markets as it is launched worldwide.

Perhaps the latest Impreza will follow the footsteps of the previous model, which was launched in New Zealand to an under-whelming reception at the time, with its odd non-grille.

But with its rally success it soon took on a cult status.