I bought the RS25 Impreza about 4 months ago, because of it's great performance, adequate interior, and massive amounts of headroom (I'm 6' 4") and love it.

In the past few months I have put over 10,000 miles on the car, with zero problems. I easily replaced the entire factory stereo system by myself because the car is so well designed. The car drives great, especially when conditions get bad. Recently in the rain I've really noticed the difference in handling compared to my old Honda Civic. The RS sticks to the road with the steadfastness of a mountain goat.

The car has 165 horsepower, vs 150 for the Honda Civic SI and VW New Beetle Turbo. In my playing around on the street I've found that my RS with an automatic transmission can outrun the Civic SI until 100mph (that's when the lack of 5 gears in my automatic shows its true colors) at which point the SI slowly pulls away... The engine has a very strong torque output, which makes driving in the city great. It pulls away quick and strong. For the first month my wife and I both had to get used to how quickly it accelerated - it literally jumps when you hit the gas.

Mileage is good - we just drove down to Monterey, and averages about 25 mpg the whole trip. Not bad considering I like to drive at about 75mph on the freeway.

I replaced the headlight bulbs with slightly higher output bulbs and aimed them a little better (they were pointed towards the sky when I got the car) which makes a difference. In addition, I replaced the bulbs in the fog lamps, and pointed the lamps nearly to the highest they would go and now they are perfect driving lights. They originally pointed straight into the ground, go figure.

After getting the car, I ripped out the anemic factory stereo and replaced it with an old Alpine deck and some Boston speakers I had lying around. Result? Fantastic sound. The car seems to be made to handle a good stereo. The back speakers seem to pump out incredible amounts of low frequency bass, and I love it. As far as putting in the stereo, I was very happy. I've owned 37 cars, and putting the stereo in this car was the easiest I've ever seen. There are practically no wires under the dashboard, so getting your hand behind the radio is fantastically simply. I replaced the deck in about 30 minutes, taking my time to not destroy the fascia. I then quickly popped off the door panels and replaced the speakers. Also a breeze. The back speakers were more of a challenge, as you have to remove the whole deck covering, from the inside of the trunk, before you can get to the back speakers. After figuring that out, they went in like a charm.

I later added a high powered amplifier, and found that running the power cables from the front of the car (battery) to the back was also simple. Finally, I removed the doors from the car to put in better quality speaker wires, which only took a few minutes. The design is great - removing the door bolts does not affect the alignment of the door itself, so after putting it back on the door still closes perfectly.

DISLIKES:

1. The sunroof control is odd - you push the button once, and it pops up and stops. You then have to release the button and push it a second time to slide it back. But it does the same thing closing, so it closes a few inches, you release it, and push it again to close it. Odd.

2. The remote control door unlock - it chirps twice when it's armed, once when disarmed, which is backwards from all other alarms I've used. In addition, to unlock the passenger door with the remote, you hold the button down. Problem is the alarm doesn't provide feedback that the passenger door is open (or not) so I often don't hold it down enough to unlock both the doors - my passengers think I am stupid. [Maybe I am, but I am trying to blame the car here! :) ]

3. No trunk light, nor remote trunk pop, nor ALARM on the trunk. Yes, that is right. With the alarm on, opening the trunk does not sound the alarm.

4. No gas door lock, or remote pop. It's wide open for anyone who wants in to your gas tank.

5. Seats are great, but I would like them to go back a little more (but I am 6' 4", so no one else cares.)

6. Only one auto-down power window switch, and it's the only one that is back-lit at night. Why not both buttons?

7. Car under-steers when cornering at high speeds. Can make it hard to correct if going into a corner too fast.

LIKES:

1. Love the styling, looks, both in an outside. Lots of admirers say so, too.

2. Additional driving lights are great (once they are adjusted all the way up.)

3. Easy to replace headlight bulbs makes aftermarket replacement easy.

4. Comfortable seats, add-on center console puts armrest at the same height as the door arm rest, so you can comfortably rest both arms at the same height while driving - great for long drives.

5. Easy to read gauges.

6. Low gas warning light.

7. Way above performance (acceleration, turning) and still gets reasonable mileage. Rear spoiler makes a difference at speeds in excess of 80mph - you can feel the back pushing down, adding to stability and traction. Fantastic handling in the wet.

8. Solid feel of construction - no squeeks, rattles, whistles. Doors close solid (even after I removed them and put them back on.)

9. Large trunk for such a small car.

10. Automatic transmission performs as well as the manual during acceleration, up until 4th gear. I.e., I can accelerate as quickly as a manual RS.

While I have not had much time to post tons of information, I have dedicated a web site to my RS - www.RS25.com, because I love this car!