'03 Impreza WRX unveiled in Paris

While the MY02 Subaru Impreza first launched, with its Porsche-inspired bulbous headlights, many felt as though Subaru had taken a good thing and ruined it.

Even we had opinions along these lines, but strangely, the new look is at last starting to grow on us.

But the old circular headlights will be gone come December, when Subaru of Australia introduces the re-styled MY03 Impreza.

While not a lot of info has come from Subaru, the recently-unveiled (we're talking today) Impreza WRX was officially launched at the Paris Motor Show - and we can expect more surprises early next week.

Let's look at what we do know about this new car. Most obvioulsy, the styling has been tweaked in a similar fashion to the VY Commodore.

To that effect, while the front and rear ends of the WRX have been fettled, the doors and roofline and other fundamental aspects have stayed the same.

Nick Senior, General Manager, Subaru Australia, had this to say about the new look Impreza range: "It's evolutionary in the typical Subaru way, with a great blend of the traditional safety, engineering and performance values that Impreza owners have come to expect, combined with subtle styling changes to maintain its appeal."

Subtle? Not so sure about that, but whatever the degree of changes was, the new look is a definite improvement. We were really blown away when we received the images early Friday morning.

Let's start with the front end. As you can tell, the headlights pull the Impreza range into the Subaru family a little better: there's a slight Liberty resemblance there.

Thankfully, the gargantuan lower fog lights have returned, which have been an RX/WRX tradition for almost a decade now. The front apron and foglight surrounds have been tweaked a little, with the central airdam a throwback to the 190kW Subaru B4.

The best new aspect about the 2003 model year (MY03) Impreza WRX, however, would have to be the restyled headlights and bonnet.

The headlights are so much nicer than the current cars' circular jobbies, and there's almost a touch of the new Integra's headlight design in there.

Combined with a larger, sharper, more aggressive bonnet scoop and the perceptible new lines in the bonnet that run to the grille, the 2003 Impreza range (and particularly the WRX) are seriously good looking motors.

At the rear, the changes aren't so sweeping. Sadly, the same crappy little spoiler is included as last years model, and while the bigger 'clothes-dryer' spoiler of the mid/late 90s WRX did tend to obscure rear vision - it sure did look pukka.

A slightly altered brake-light cluster also appears on the new Impreza range. As you can tell from the enlarged images (just click on 'em), a small circular lens extension is the only change. That said, this small change still manages adds a little more sophistication to the tail end.

Otherwise, the car appears to use the same wheel arches, doors, roof and other areas, though we'll have a full report closer to the car's Australian launch in December (2002).

While we have no concrete info on engines and other specs, we would assume that no massive changes will be part of the Impreza's mid-life upgrade.

The 2002 WRX engine is the lovely 2.0-litre, four-cylinder 'boxer' engine, with an intercooler and turbocharger bolted on for extra sh*ts and giggles. In MY02 spec, the engine makes a prodigious 160kW @ 5600rpm, and 292Nm of torque @ 3600rpm - which means it is in the top-three of the most powerful 2.0-litre engines in Australia.

Anyway, we would expect Suabru to leave the engine as is, though it may get a newer ECU or improved VVT, which could boost output by 5kW or so. Either way, unless it's put on heaps of weight, expect the 0-100km/h sprint to be done in about 6.3 or 6.5 seconds.

There's also a fair chance that steering geometry and suspension may also be slightly tweaked, but we'll have all the info when the car arrives late in the year. The classy-yet-sporty 17-inch alloy wheels have made the return, as has the low profile rubber - not sure if the tyres are new, though.

Price is also likely to stay the same - so expect the manual WRX sedan to fetch about $41,500 or thereabouts. Futhermore, the new-look WRX STi will follow in the first quarter of 2003 - should be an absolute stunner.

So what will 2002 be remember for? Good looking cars.

Without a doubt, buyers will be spoilt for choice during 2003, with the likes of the new-look VY with a more powerful Gen III V8, the very impressive and highly refined BA Falcon and now the Subaru Impreza range coming. It's all too much - we need to lie down...