heng1028

I am looking for a new car with more space and stylish

my choice has come down to protege 5 and impreza 2.5 TS wagon

i have a tough decision here

i like the look and options of protege 5 but the AWD and HP of the impreza


anyone can help me with that??

price is just four grand canadian in difference....

thanks

David

have you driven them both?

nramsey

I direct your attention to a post just a few posts down...

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...threadid=10998

Sir Nuke

the P-5 is your choice....it beats any other wagon out there is styling ...that is for sure...and it does have plenty of get up and go...

now...seeing as how we don't know where you are from....and IF you live in the great white north where you will be doing a lot of driving in snow.....you may want to consider the subbie as the AWD is certainly a safety feature to seriously consider for winter driving.

Farsyde

a post a while back said that someone crammed 70 cases of beer into their P5.....somethin to think about

Finnster

Here's my experience...

Well, the TS is actually my GF's car. But I drive it all the time considering we live together...

Both are '02 models bought at the same time. She paid ~17.5k (us) for hers and I paid $16.4k for mine. Both are great cars, and either way you go you should be happy, although i am glad I got the P5. The only great advantage the TS has is that its AWD and 35 more horses. Other than that, i think the P5 wins in nerarly every catagory. If you need the AWD (your in Canada eh?) I would go for the Suby. (However, I live in NY, and am not too concerned about not having it.) If you ever wish to tow, only the suby can do it. Barring that, this is why i would take the Mazda:

Less power, but not really noticeable. The suby def. is much more torquey, and would win in a drag, but it is not incredibly faster. I don't get in it and feel "holy %^&* this thing is so much faster!" More like, "eh, i wish mine was more like this..." AWD def sucks up some power. Gas milage is surprizingly similar tho. 27-28 for suby, 29-32 for P5 (both lots of hwy mi)

Nicer (shifting) tranny My P5 is just smooth, suby is kinda clunky and rough.

Better handling The P5 is a blast to drive, and handling is top notch. Suby handles well, but P5 takes it up a notch. P5 kills it in braking.

More amenitiesThe Suby is very much a base model. The only options my GF got was keyless entry/ alarm. It does not have PW, C.C., alloy wheels, 4 wh disc bks, and a few little annoying things like map lights that try to force you into a higher model. My P5 has all this stuff plus a moonroof, fog lights, body kit, etc. This is not important to all people, but would have a neg. value if you try to resell it (we drive ours into the ground, no big issue for us.) I think the P5 has more comfy seats too, but no big dif. Mazda has better stereo, but both are something to replace anyway.

Probably better realiability from Mazda Consumer Reports rates the protege as best in class (even better than toy, much higher than honda and nissan) Suby's aren't bad (neither other jap. cars) Both will make it to 200k mi. but mazda might do it in better (and cheaper) fashion. GF dad has a 95 legacy outback, has ~140k, not doing bad, but has had some issues like burning/ leaking oil that seem a bit premature. Still in overall great condition tho.

P5 is just plain GORGEOUS! I actually like the looks of the TS, but love the P5. It so pretty....drooool.. Ok probably the most vein and impractical reason to buy a car, but, who can ignore it?

TS does not come in Yellow! Come on, everybody wants bright yellow car which can be seen from 35000 feet. Makes it so easy to find in parking lot amongst silvers, whites, blues & reds. TS does come in a nice forest green however.

Either way you decide good luck, neither would be a bad decision. It mostly depends what you need out of it, but if split, I know which I would take!

JJB

based on the capacity of a P5 and the average case size I would say an upper limit of 28 cases would be it, but then that means the load space was perfectly sized and squared off... I think that Car and Driver (maybe Road and Track) managed to fit 18 in the car.

Sledgehammer

I basically asked the same question in another post, but great response Finnster! Lots of useful info, especially since you have driven both cars alot.

Farsyde

only 18?????? that has to be only in the cargo area-i'd stack those things in the front and rear seats too!!!!!

heng1028

what do you guys think about the Matrix with 180HP?

Farsyde

1. it sucks
2. it sucks
3. oh yeah, it sucks.
4. useless power band
5. almost useless torque band.

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