Impreza turbo VS Liberty Turbo - small VS larger?

[GTB-R]

I have searched over a few sites for the answer to this question but have yet to find the empirical evidence. I realise that when Subaru started rallying they did it in the Liberty. I read in this month’s motor about the Liberty RS & why they were made in relation to Subaru's racing desires.

I'm trying to understand why an Impreza / Evo is better (road handling) on the road than a Liberty. In my head I presume it's due to the weight differences? If these smaller cars have less weight to shift then I'm assuming the braking / accelerating & cornering all benefit.

Is there a specific equation that states that a car must have a certain displacement or amount of tyre on the road on each corner of the car for it to handle those other factors more easily?

I realise I'm making a hash of this question. If it's the case that less mass improves all the attributes mentioned above then why are they not going for an even smaller car than the Impreza / EVO?

I've driven an Impreza STi 07 when they were new, haven't driven an EVO.

I've owned the Golf GTi (2006) & the Audi S3 (2007) To this day the golf is clearly better in the corners but does it mostly come down to getting that mass to change direction?

[Adrian2627]

This is the kind of thing that could take pages to explain as it's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" kinda question. Weight certainly is a big part of it both in how much and how it is distributed. Ideally 50/50 is what you are after but not all cars are built to be the perfectlly balanced. Most manufacturers will build understeer into the car to make it more suited to "average" drivers. This is done not only with weight dist but also engine placement, suspension geometry, wheelbase and track dimensions, as well as the actual type of suspension. It all comes down to the target market and price point for the car.

[swingn]

Your title is somewhat missleading mate...

The STI's & EVO's are generally made as a performance car, whereas the Liberty is really a nice car with a bit of poke.

Back in 1999 when my folks had a WRX, if you actually looked at the underbody of the car (Vs. the N/A version) you really were looking at a completely different car.

Even in the EVO X (Which is damn near the same weight as the Liberty) they are just balance & set up more as a performance car... More bracing, use of aluminium in the bonnet, front guards, roof & even the rear spoiler to help with weight balance... They even moved the battery to the boot (Same as BMW's do) to help with the weight balance.

[cracka]

What makes you think there is a difference?

Tyres first and foremost. Stick the same on both, size/temp/pressure.

Followed by the same castor/camber/ackerman/roll centre. All can be tuned easily
Last but not least drive proportion and diffs. Once again all can be made to be the same easily.

Chassis size has nothing to do with it as they're both so close.

I'd much rather be in the liberty every time. I'd love to see your evidence that there is any difference what so ever?
From the factory, sure the impreza is slightly more potent, but theres not much in it at all...

As for the 99 rex.... It also looks exactly the same as a 1989 legacy rs.Your point?
And once again it took from 1999 gen3 to 2008 impreza to get the suspension to work properly. Dynamic roll centre is not an inherent trait you desire in a car, especially not one marketed as a sports car. This was solved in the BE lib with the multilink end and static lateral arms.