Subaru Imprezaeza 2.0i-l
FINALLY, A RETURN TO BEING WORTHY OF OUR AFFECTION
PEOPLE want to like the Subaru Impreza. It’s one of those slightly oddball, endearingly reliable cars that marches to the beat of its own boxer engine, without ever quite upsetting the small-car status quo by being really bloody good. But this fifth-generation model has given it a red-hot go.
Based on brand-new Subaru Global Platform architecture, this box-fresh Impreza is the first nonWRX model in more than a decade to offer genuine driver appeal. And it’s the first Impreza since the nameplate’s 1992 inception to offer rear-seat room that’s borderline class-leading. Lounging room, even.
With airy spaciousness in all directions and stadium-style seating delivering a superb view, about the only black mark against the Impreza’s back section is a lack of air vents. And, if you’re a pedant, mismatching carbonfibre-esque door inserts.
Thankfully, the dash-mounted vents sit high and proud, filtering dual-zone, climate-controlled freshness in typically chilled Subaru fashion. And while there’s definitely an aura of familiarity in the new Impreza’s interior, this is next-level stuff for a brand that has failed to repeat the cabin high-point of the 2003 Liberty. Even on this $24K variant, you get loads of classy exposed stitching, a lovely dashboard finish and a bunch of different info screens no longer fighting over whose fonts are worst.
The driving position doesn’t quite equal its palatial rear, owing to that long-held Japanese bugbear of inadequate seating adjustment (cue an approximate level-adjust backrest). But its chunky leather-bound steering wheel and neat new switchgear imbue it with a level of class beyond its relatively meagre price point. And there’s the bonus of Subaru’s full suite of ‘Eyesight’ driver-assist tech, including lanekeep assist, adaptive cruise control and AEB.
The biggest sweetener with the new Impreza, however, is the way it drives. It’s goodbye soggy stodge and hello crisp suppleness. There’s genuine poise to the Subaru’s all-wheel-drive chassis, and the more you throw it around the greater your respect for its abilities. It uses its double-wishbone IRS to really drive the nose into a corner (though not to quite the same extent as the top-spec 2.0i-s with its torquevectoring rear-end) and there’s a fluidity that feels polished and sophisticated.
Beyond some low-speed busyness, the Impreza’s quiet ride quality is mostly supple and controlled, though it isn’t as well-damped as the sporty Astra or Mazda 3, and it occasionally lets bumps hit home that don’t faze its best rivals. Yet this mild lack of damping finesse never fazes the prodigious purchase of its all-paw chassis.
What it does do, however, is expose the need for greater front-seat bolstering, and the obvious potential afforded by another 500cc of engine capacity (or a low-blow turbo set-up). Smooth and tractable as the Impreza’s Cvt-harnessed directinjection flat-four is, its performance ability sits well below the capability of its chassis. And while there’s acceptable shove on the move, as well as a surprisingly effective manual mode for proper engine-braking, for all its muted flat-four character, the Subaru’s drivetrain works best when operating unobtrusively in its mid-range.
There’s some chain-driven CVT whine in hard driving and, at the other extreme, an unusual pulsing under very light throttle when surfing the engine’s modest torque that feels a bit like ‘cabbie foot’. It’s only noticeable on really smooth roads, but it’s definitely a flaw of the CVT transmission. Oh, for a modern eight-speed automatic…
Yet the new-gen Impreza is a sizeable leap forward for Subaru, offering an intelligently packaged, rewarding drive, as well as serious value for money. And it continues to offer something different from the norm, which, in a world of homogeneity, is something we like very much indeed. NP