7th Dec 2005, 09:38

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the comment above, the Ford Cosworths are some of the most successful competition cars, powered by one of the most successful competition engines, designed and built by the most successful race engine builder ever.

If you care about looks over all that, what are you doing on a car enthusiast's forum? Go and pose down the High Street in your MR2 or something.

26th Jul 2006, 11:00

Scoobies litter the free ads for two grand upwards. Cossies are rare, exclusive and were classics the second they went out of production. 4 grand + for any straight Cossie, or 10+ for an Escort.

Who "lusts" after a series 1 Scooby? Nobody, hence 2 grand to you sir.

27th Jul 2006, 10:56

Probably because they're still making Imprezas, they have been extremely successful. Just because somethings rare it doesn't make it better, I spent £14000 on a 1 year old Impreza, I could have got a highly tuned fair condition done up to the top cossie for that, but I don't like cossie's, end of.

30th Jul 2006, 13:19

Well that's your choice, and fair play to you. I wouldn't personally spend 14k on something that's going to be next to worthless in five years time, but then I didn't so fair enough.

My mint, factory standard 91 Sapphire 4x4 would be whipped in any scenario by your Scooby (probably), but the Cosworth's mechanical feeling steering and gearchange, and rear biased 4x4 system make it just as much of a driving tool, without considering that it's a bone fide classic.

But at the end of the day, none of it matters. Just as you don't like Cosworths, I don't like Imprezas (apart from the exhaust note), end of. Variety is the spice of life and all that. We'll never agree on this.

For what it's worth though, I think the Evo 9 FQ-340 I drove a few weeks back is a noticeably better car than both of them.

1st Aug 2006, 14:35

The power was very impressive on the Evo, but it was the handling that blew me away. Neither Impreza or Cossie are exactly shabby, but the active 4wd on the Evo is astonishing.

My gran could powerslide this car!!

21st Jul 2007, 09:56

I have a 1989 cossie running 580bhp, and I can assure you it would leave any Impreza or Evo in its dust. The cossie engine can be so finely tuned if it is done properly. I wouldn't have anything else.

13th Aug 2007, 10:17

I believe him with his claim of 580bhp as its nothing out of the ordinary nowadays with cosworths currently reaching 750bhp...I have owned Imprezas and Skylines after cosworths a few years ago, but they are boring and have no charm, so recently purchased another sapphire and uprated to 440bhp.

14th Aug 2007, 11:10

Imprezas are boring and have no charm?? Cossies are beasts, the same as Imprezas, Skylines, Evos etc, but I think Imprezas have the most character, with their deep grunty sounding flat four; almost every other car, fast or not, has a boring inline configuration.

2nd Sep 2007, 12:08

Cosworths hold there money, Scoobys...um, lets check ebay on what we can get for £2,000...another Scoob anyone?!

Fact is most Scoob and Cossie owners are always going to have a little war going on.

The original write up had said how a GTE 16v can keep up with a UK spec Scoob, then someone else had slated him for this remark. Well I have driven many of the cars listed in this little debate, and yes a tuned GTE 16v will keep with a UK spec Scooby. They are standard at 156bhp, manifold and exhaust with air filter and chip take them to 170bhp...by the way a MK2 Astra GTE 16v weighs 14kg less than a Cit' Saxo!

3rd Sep 2007, 05:31

Cossies hold their value because Ford stopped making them a long time ago. Just because something is rare, doesn't make it better as a car. Impreza's last; I don't think I've ever seen a rusty one, and they are getting on for 15 years now. And the UK spec Impreza is no slower than a standard saph cossie. I don't think the GTE will keep up with either; ha ha!

3rd Sep 2007, 08:39

The Cosworth remains the only one you can safely get more than a 100 bhp increase out of on standard internals.

3rd Sep 2007, 12:59

It says something for the Sierra Cosworth, when new performance cars are still using them as the benchmark! My sapphire is now set up to 440bhp as above, and it will take a 500bhp + Evo, Skyline or Impreza to keep up with it, at a far greater cost than the £3000 it cost me for parts to go from 204bhp to 440 bhp ;-) As for the Astra GTE keeping up with an Impreza or Cosworth... don't make me laugh!

16th Nov 2007, 12:10

I have read all the above comments and am a Cossie fan! I must say in regards to the GTE, um, a standard 8v, no chance! A good 16v GTE with some slight mods will keep with a UK Scooby. GTE Valvers (not the 8 valve) are very very fast cars. Cosworth designed the engine on the 16v's. I have seen some at Santa Pod do 0-60 in the 6's, same as UK Scoobys pulling 60mph in the 6's. A standard GTE 16v does 0-60 in 7.2 and onto a top speed of 138mph.

5th Dec 2007, 12:45

Spec for a UK standard Scoob...

2.2.1 Standard Cars

One of the main reasons for anyone buying the Impreza is the absolutely stunning levels of performance it offers for the money. For the 4 door saloon, Subaru claim 6.4 seconds for the 0-62 mph (100 km/h) sprint, and a maximum speed of 143.5 mph (97/98 models). The figures for the five door hatchback are 6.5 seconds and 142 mph respectively. All of this from a standard car costing around £21,000 on the road!

BTW... A GTE 16v does 0-100mph in 18.8 seconds. 0-60 6.9 seconds, top speed... touch under 140mph. MPG around 34 on a run and 29 around town. All this for under 1k!

6th Dec 2007, 02:39

The GTE 16v was clocked at 6.9 seconds to 60 by What Car back in 1987. It is an incredibly quick car, let down badly by appalling traction off the line.

It is no Scooby or Cosworth though.

6th Dec 2007, 11:57

It sure was! It then went on to a registered top speed of 137mph. I've owned many GTE's and now a Saph Cossie. Cossie is fantastic, although a bit juicy! I liked my old GTE 16v for showing up these kids in their VTS Saxo's and Golf GTI MK1 and 2's; even the 16v Golf GTI MK2 was not as quick as the GTE 16v. It is a shame the GTE suffers so badly from tin worm. Anyway, long live the legendary Sierra Cosworth! Maybe one day I will be able to get an RS500!

8th Oct 2008, 04:16

I'm sure that the RS Cosworth is a quicker car than the Impreza WRX. The Escort Cosworth in its day was the quickest car of its class. The Cosworth was still being made a year after the Impreza WRX was released.

22nd Nov 2008, 13:50

Back in the 1980's,"affordable"performance cars had character, and stood out from the crowd. Todays "affordable" Performance cars are bland, lacking character, and have umpteen computers to take the real fun out of driving, which is one of the reasons we buy these cars in the first place! Just look at the new Impreza or EVO, I would prefer to be seen driving an Austin Allegro!