Hugh - Running costs as a whole are expensive on a scooby, that's why I'm changing mine. Mine is a 1998 year Turbo 2000 which is a UK car. I have done 22500 miles in the 13 months I have owned the car which has involved a mixture of motorway, town driving, fast and steady driving. I would say my overall average fuel consumption has been about 24mpg. Compared to a lot of other scooby owners I know that is actually quite good
It depends on what you want and how many miles you will do as to whenther you can justify the costs. My average annual mileage will be 20k and with the service intervals on the classic shape Impreza being only 7500 miles they come round very quick too and are not cheap.
If you can justify the expense they are a fabulous car to drive.
The Fiesta ST for me a a happy compromise, enough power to have some fun with but not expensive to run compared to the scooby. Just my insurance was a big saving. I renewed my insurance on the Impreza at the benining of January and withthe ST coming on 3rd March my insurance company are sending me nearly £300 back
Hope this helps, if you want any more scooby info please ask.
Ian