Likewise the Impreza. My 1995 JDM GC8C had 260bhp from the factory - standard. It weighed 1230kgs (that's 120kgs lighter than a Megane 225). Performance Car tested one in 1997 , 4.9 to 60, Again, if you're expecting it to be slower than an Activa weighing 1450kgs or more, with 70 less BHP... well, yes ok then.
Of course, mine was a standard JDM (import, Jap market only car), which had the shorter final drive, 45 more BHP and 40lbft more torque than a UK car. The official 0-60 is 4.8 seconds, 1/4 mile 13 sec. The acceleration through the gears was simply savage. It wasn't a pleasant car to be in, or drive, to be honest. It was a car built purely for performance. The interior was basic cheap early 90s spec Japanese plastic - as someone told me, "Subaru only put an interior like that in because they couldn't leave bare metal".
Even Autocar and Performance car got better figures on their own tests than the official Subaru figure for the UK spec car - Autocar dragged a 0-60 of 5.4 seconds out of a standard UK 215BHP *hatchback* with two people and half a tank of fuel in, PC got that down to 5.03 seconds with just one person and very little fuel in - that's their test figures, not Subaru's. 1/4 mile in 13.6 @101mph..
