DOES THE IMPREZA IMPRESS?
Are these two vehicles the same or different? Rob Maetzig compares the Impreza and the XV.
Both versions are proving so popular there are waiting lists for both of them.
One of the more entertaining episodes during the 2017 motoring year was when a squabble erupted between the country’s motoring writers and the Automobile Association over whether two Subaru models are the same car.
The journalists believed the Impreza hatch and the XV crossover are in fact the same – with the only major differences between the pair being that the Impreza is marketed as a hatch, while the XV has had its ride height jacked up so it can be sold as an SUV.
For this reason the New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild wanted the Impreza and the XV to be considered a single vehicle during voting for this year’s NZ Car of the Year – the guild owns the COTY brand while the AA is the major sponsor.
But the AA put the kibosh on that idea, and ruled that because under the Motor Industry Association vehicle classification system a passenger car is officially a passenger car and an SUV is officially an SUV, then the XV had to stand alone in the list of 10 finalists for this year’s COTY.
To their credit, the journalists put this difference of opinion aside and diligently made their selections from this list of finalists, and all will now be revealed at a function in Auckland on December 12. Obviously at this stage nobody has any idea which finalist has been voted the Car of the Year 2017.
The only thing that is for sure is this: it won’t be the Subaru Impreza. It probably makes sense that since there could be only the one Subaru in that list of finalists, then it should have been the XV.
That’s because it is the flasher of the pair, offering more kit, and available with Sport and Premium levels of specification. It is also more expensive however, with retail prices of $34,990 and $39,990.
Meanwhile there’s just a single Impreza on offer, and it is specified to the same Sport level as the XV. But it is offered for $5000 less at $29,990, which it makes it one of New Zealand motoring’s outstanding new vehicle value packages.
Remember, this is a hatch with
2.0-litre power, all-wheel drive, and a high level of safety including Subaru’s EyeSight driver assist system. On the strength of value for the money alone, it could have been a very strong contender for this year’s COTY.
So that’s the background. Now we move on to the Big Question that needs to be asked: are the Impreza and the XV the same?
The answer is yes and no. It is true that they are the first two vehicles to be built on Subaru’s new global platform, and it is true that they are powered by the same
2.0-litre horizontally opposed engine that develops 115kW of power and 196Nm of torque. The two vehicles also share the same Lineartronic transmission that has a seven-speed manual mode that can be operated using paddles on the steering wheel.
But there are differences. The transmission’s final reduction gear ratio is different (3.700 with the Impreza and 3.900 with the XV), the XV’s suspension system is a little beefier, and all the models ride on different wheels and tyres - 17-inch Bridgestones on the Impreza, and 17-inch Yokohamas and 18-inch Bridgestones on the XV.
Several dimensional measurements are different, too. The Impreza is longer and wider, but the XV has the longer wheelbase and wider front and rear tracks. No, we don’t know why either. Cargo volumes are different too - the Impreza offers 345 litres with all seats in use, while the XV (which has a fullsized spare while the Impreza has a space-saver version) has 310 litres.
The biggest difference however is ride height. Because the Impreza is marketed as a hatch it has a ground clearance of 130mm; and because the XV is intended as an SUV its ground clearance is
220mm. Oh – and the XV’s AWD system also features what is known as X-Mode, which at the push of a button adjusts the powertrain to better handle slippery off-road conditions and offers hill descent control.
The XV also has protective mouldings over the wheel arches, and roof rails. It all helps make the XV look good – but its also results in the vehicle being heavier, while the Impreza has a kerb weight of
1417kg, the XV weighs in at 1474kg with the Sport and 1484kg with the Premium.
So are the Subaru Impreza and XV the same? If you sat inside either of these models your initial impression might be that they are, because their interiors are identical. But start the vehicles up and drive them for a while and differences do become apparent.
Putting it simply, the Impreza feels like a hatch, while the XV feels like something a bit more robust. That’s how it should be – because one’s a passenger car and the other’s an SUV. And Subaru’s fan base doesn’t care either, it seems, because both versions are proving so popular there are waiting lists for both of them.