April "Car" magazine

[Dave Eaton]

a nice article comparing the latest wrx with the 20v ur-quattro.

i've excerpted out some of the test below

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q

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"With its 20 valve head, the 220bhp 2.2 litre turbo five is pure music to
the to the ears in comparison with most modern engines: smooth and cultured
at low and medium revs, the thrum building up to a wondrous off-beat roar in
the top half of the rev range.  It's a shame that Audi have rejected the
turbo five as the engine of choice in its performance cars... Among the
turbo five's other attributes is that it's torquey and muscular; its
performance is not only easy to access but seriously thumping, the Quattro
rushing to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, and running flat out at 143mph.

"The chassis and suspension modifications that went on for the WRX (among
them vastly improved resistance to bending and twisting, and a higher rear
roll centre) have sharpened things up nicely, getting rid of the understeer
yet generating more grip, poise and feel than ever...  Scroll back 11 years
to the Quattro 20v and many of the same superlatives apply.  The ride is far
more supple than you'd expect of such a purposeful car - softer than the
Impreza's, in fact - and its finely damped body control is a lesson that
Audi has only recently started to remember with the likes of the TT and the
RS4.  The steering is even meatier and more informative than the Impreza's,
and its cornering ability is just as astonishing, the torque split varying
up to 75/25 per cent front or rear depending upon grip thanks to the Torsen
centre differential that was introduced in 1988.  Don't let its bulk fool
you; the Quattro is nimble and narrow enough to thread easily down narrow
British country roads.

"Whether we take such ability for granted or not, Subaru has done exactly
what Audi failed to do a decade ago, ensuring that the lineage of its icon
grows longer and more powerful rather than dribbling it away.  If the 1980's
was the decade of the Quattro, the 1990's belonged to the Impreza.
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-----Original Message-----
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 20:54:15 -0800
From: John Bird <skyemax at attcanada.ca>

I have not seen any posts about the article that appears on page 148 of
the above UK publication, only recently arrived in the colonies. For
those of us out there that have owned these beasts/mistresses for some
time, it is further reinforcement as to why we bought them in the first
place.