Out the box all the HPI WR8 Flux and the CEN 2023 M-Sport Ford Puma are just as good each other to be honest. When you look at the specs of both cars they are pretty similar. The Carisma Subaru looks a bit cheaper to the other cars, and the spec of the car is lower especially with it being a 2S only capable car compared to the 3S capable WR8 and CEN Puma. Not only is the spec low on the Carisma, but the look and quality of the body isn’t as good to be honest. This stands out more when you have the cars all next to each other. The one thing I did like with the Carisma is the way it was packaged, it was very well thought through. The looks of the body on the WR8 and CEN Puma are excellent, but the CEN Puma just takes it due to the quality of the body, it really is something special and the amount of customers that come in the shop and comment on how stunning the body is speaks volumes on the job CEN have done with the Puma Rally 1 body.  

So the one that doesn’t stand out well on this is the Carisma Subaru in comparison to the WR8 and CEN Puma. Out the box the Carisma was extremely slow, and was disappointing to drive. On the 2S lipo that is the maximum the car will run on, it achieved a very lacklustre 17mph. I have had Taymia TT02’s go quicker than that on a brushed motor with a 2S lipo! I did shortly after upgrade the Motor and ESC to be 3S and 4S capable, along with a small upping of teeth on the pinion gear, which made a big difference to the performance of the car but I do think that while the upgrade will run 4S, I think I would just stick to running it on 3S lipo max. I highly doubt the internals would cope with the big increase of power and torque that 4S will bring, especially compared to the 2S it is built to run on. 

The WR8 is such a cracking piece of kit to use, it feels so controllable to drive and you can get some lovely 4wd slides in it and chuck it about at ease. I really like it, and even the rest of the team admit if is probably the only HPI they would own themselves now after having a go on mine. The CEN 2023 M-Sport Ford Puma is marginally better than the WR8 though. Whether it is down to the tarmac tyres I don’t know, but honestly this car is awesome! I have ran it quite a few times now and it never fails to put a smile on my face. It drives beautifully, so easy to drive and slide about with no dramas or issues. It would have been very impressive if the car was close to the WR8, but for it to be better, albeit marginally better than the WR8, is credit to CEN and their team for making such a car.

I'm really pleased to have each of these cars in my RC collection. I love having them on display in the shop and they always get some good rally chat with people too. While the HPI WR8 and CEN Puma are the top dogs, the Carisma Impreza is still a welcome addition and I will be having plenty of fun with all these cars for a long time in the future.

If ever you would like any help or advice on purchasing any of these cars, always pop an email over to our support team or give us a call and I will happily chat about the pro and cons of these special stage monsters.