A Chris Harris version/continuation of Alain de Cadenet’s Victory by Design would be great.

That’s a fair point - but a comparison with the CVT-equipped 2016 Impreza Premium (the heaviest in the range at 1395 kg) shows that there is still 100kg+ difference.

I know there are a lot of cars running around with turbo kits on them now, but you would need 99.9%+ to still be running with no issues in 100K miles to be reaching an acceptable standard of reliability for an OEM.

The non-existence of a WRX/STI hatch, or a proper Levorg with the WRX/STI drivetrain (just put a manual in the damn thing already Subaru), is an ongoing irritation to me.

That’s a fair point - I was being hyperbolic, but the broader point was that the car is optimised for performance rather than utility, and the choice of a trunk lid rather than a hatch is consistent with that (it keeps costs down too).

I’ll wait until I see the MSRP before criticizing them on that front.

Brakes should be fine, but the driveline (diff, axles, tailshaft, clutch, possibly gearbox) would have to be stronger to maintain reliability to OEM levels; suspension components would have to be heavier to deal with greater torque; and the chassis would likely have to be a bit stiffer again. These will all add weight…

They would all add up, and nickel-and-dime another $5K+ into the price. In terms of weight, the comparison isn’t perfect, but look at the difference between an Impreza and a WRX - the Impreza weighs about ten percent less than the WRX (1360 kg vs 1500 kg). The turbo and cooling systems would be the big costs, and…

You’re probably not wrong there. Though the trunk on my MR2 is a handy shape - I can fit a week’s worth of groceries pretty easily, and because the trunk is only one bag wide and a bit over one bag high, nothing falls over when I'm lugging the shopping home.

No hatch means more stiff. You can only carry about two parts of bugger-all in there anyway.

Power gains might look small on paper, but a jump in peak torque from 156 lb.ft @ 6400 rpm to 184 lb.ft @ 3700 rpm should make a huge difference to the responsiveness of the engine.

Apparently it makes peak torque at 3700rpm now (i.e. right where the torque dip used to be in the old one). Power under the curve should be much improved.

Requirement for bigger brakes, beefier driveline components, and turbo plumbing (therefore increasing weight, therefore further increasing the need for bigger brakes etc.); engineering costs of a turbo system just for this car (the Ascent turbo is mounted under the engine block, much like the WRX turbo is mounted…

So "fun" is short for "fundamentalist", right?

That’s a standard-issue warning-orb. It’s really just a volcano-alert system that you can look to in emergencies.

They knew you were going to be using them a lot so they over-built them.

No, that’s the confusing thing - he’s speaking on behalf of the *virus*.

I think the issue here is a basic misunderstanding of Atlas’ role - he’s the adviser *to* the pandemic, and he’s simply doing all he can to serve the interests of his client, and minimise the likelihood of COVID itself dying off (arguments about whether viruses are truly alive in the first place notwithstanding).

I think Renault were really set back by the whole Ghosn situation and the uncertainty that followed it. It looks like Luca de Meo is backing the team now, and between his support and the development work that Dan and the team have done, he’s leaving a car that he’s likely improved a lot. But I think there’s a lot of…

Even with that at-times fierce rivalry, they clearly have a lot of respect for one another. As an Aussie, I wasn’t always a fan of Seb, but he has taken to his role as an elder statesman of the sport quite naturally, it seems.