Carisma M48S Subaru Impreza WRC Review

Updated 26 February 2024 by Nicky

The Carisma M48S Subaru Impreza WRC is a new ⅛ scale RC rally car and since we've done our unboxing, let's have a more in-depth review and see what theCarisma 48S Subaru Impreza WRC is like in action.

You can buy the Carisma 48S Subaru Impreza WRC in an electric brushless version only which is available on our website at the current price of £299.00 which is a good price point for a 1/8th scale rally car.

All you require to get yourself running is a 2S Lipo battery with a Dean's connector on it, and a Lipo battery charger too.

You will also require some AA batteries for the transmitter.

While the body and chassis are of good quality, you can easily tell the difference in what you are paying for this compared to HPI WR8, and the CEN Puma.

Especially the fact this is only 2S lipo capable.

I would still have expected a 3S system at the bare minimum in this Carisma.

When you think the Maverick Quantum RX Flux is 4S capable and cheaper than this, there isn’t any excuse for this not to have a 3S system in it in my opinion.

Another drawback in my opinion is that the wheelbase is different to the WR8 and CEN Puma (The Carisma Impreza has a 325mm wheelbase) so the only body you can get on this chassis, is the Subaru.

I think this is a bit of a shame as not everyone can purchase new cars just to have a new body, and I do believe if Carisma had the car and body at a 300mm wheelbase, there would have been a high number of body sales from WR8 and CEN Puma owners too.

A missed opportunity there maybe.

When Carisma recently announced the soon-to-be-released M48S version of the Group B fire-breathing Audi Quattro S1, I was instantly buzzing at the thought of having the body available to swap with this Subaru.

To my disappointment though, the Audi is on a different wheelbase chassis, so it looks like the only body for this M48S Subaru, will be another pre-painted or clear body of the same car, which is disappointing.

Fingers crossed Carisma release another body for this chassis in the future.

After having a look over the car, I decided to get a 2S lipo battery on charge and get the car outside Wheelspin Models HQ to give it a drive in the car park!

The car has been of interest to us all here after viewing reviews leading up to this, and especially not knowing what the performance would be like compared to my HPI WR8 which I have been using for a while now (and been very happy with) and my CEN 2023 M-Sport Ford Puma Rally, which is the new king of ⅛ rally cars in my opinion.

Now bearing in mind I could only use the car on 2S lipo (7.4V) I decided to just go and get myWR8 out too on a 2S lipo and try them out at the same time.

TheWR8 was still really nice to drive and very quick, so I was expecting the Carisma Subaru Impreza to be a similar performance.

I have to be honest, I was very disappointed with the performance of this on 2S, so disappointed, we got a GPS tester to see what the speed was of the Carisma .

It was 17mph!

The car drove ok but didn’t even get to slide about due to the lack of power, to be honest, it was less enjoyable to drive and slower than my Tamiya TT-02 s that run a basic brushed setup which when you buy a kit combo for a TT-02 you will be around the same price as this Carisma.

So after my disappointment, I have been looking into a 3S motor and ESC to get this car more up there with the likes of the WR8and CEN Puma.

If you take into account the price difference between the Carisma, WR8 and Cen Puma you could put a 3S capable system in the car, so I’m hoping that I will then have a car that will give the WR8 and CEN Puma a much closer bit of competition.

I am determined to get this car much closer to the ⅛ rally car kings, in terms of speed and also handling, as I do believe if it has the extra power it could be another great addition to my ⅛ rally car collection.

I am going to keep this one as I have always been a big Colin McRae fan and was mesmerised by watching him on rallies when I was a kid.

Keep an eye on our knowledge base for further updates as to what I do with this Carisma Impreza WRC.