Why Subaru's N/A Impreza Will Make Petrolheads Unhappy

We heard a few months ago that the new 305bhp WRX STI is coming to the UK this summer. That's a very good thing, but what's not so good is the standard Impreza that'll be joining it in Subaru showrooms. Unveiled today, the 'Impreza RC' is a five-door hatchback that will be available with just one engine: a naturally aspirated 1.6-litre boxer four that puffs out a puny 112bhp and 111lb/ft of torque.

Even for a naturally aspirated 1.6, that's pretty damn poor. Performance stats are as woeful as you'd expect: 0-62mph takes a miserably long 12.3 seconds, while the top speed - which will presumably take several days to reach - is just 111mph. It's not like there's a decent trade off in terms of fuel economy either, the claimed combined figure being 44.1mpg.

All this is a bit irritating. Why would a company want to leave such a huge performance disparity in its range? While 'Impreza' has been dropped from the name of the WRX, it is still essentially an incredibly quick car, meaning you'll have the choice of the misery-spec RC, or a car with three times the power.

The hot WRX STI will be joined in Subaru showrooms by the depressingly slow Impreza RC

It all seems like a missed opportunity. Why not offer a warm version to sit in between the sluggish RC and the very powerful WRX STI? Perhaps a turbocharged version of the 1.6-litre, or the 197bhp 2.0-litre found in the BRZ and Toyota GT86 would be good. Particularly in this hatchback shape, the result could have been an intriguing hot hatch alternative to the likes of the Ford Focus ST. And even for a base model, 112bhp is just pathetic.

If, for whatever reason you're tempted by this combination of bland looks and snail-like performance, the Impreza RC will be available in four-wheel drive only from May, priced from £17,495.