Subaru has been making interesting and kindafast cars for a while now; The old Subaru XT-6 Alcyone, the RX Turbo, Legacy Turbo, in 1992 the introduction of the Subaru SVX and in 1993, the introduction of the Impreza WRX in Japan... Subaru has made the WRX for quite some time, and many former Subaru owners, including those who owned old Subaru GL's, myself included, knew about the WRX, despite it not being in the states... Now, imagine having an 8 to 9 year gap where you KNOW there's a much higher performance Impreza available overseas, and we only get the 1.8L, 2.2L, and a while after, the 2.5L, all N/A. All these enthusiasts WANT the WRX, and they can't have them without swapping an engine and dropping a rather large chunk of change... Finally, all these enthusiasts receive the WRX in 2001. All of the obsessive Subaru owners flock out to buy up the cars, and they're a huge success... What's the aftermarket to do but keep up with the demand? So, now, they have gobs of aftermarket support, are quite fast from the factory, and are pretty inexpensive. Plus, it's AWD, which is a HUGE plus in the area where I live, in the northeast in general. Subaru, to its followers, is a huge name, and an awesome company, and has a long and quite interesting history, as does Mazda, but alas, the sports car heritage of Mazda faded with the removal of the FD3S from the line, with no current car able to fill it's large, grippy, powerful shoes. They build roadsters, now; The MX5, their only claim to fame that still exists, running from 1989 (In Japan) to today.