Subaru — the brand long known for making virtually everything they sell with standard AWD — has long called its entry-level sedan model the Impreza.
Today, Impreza is Canada’s least-expensive AWD car, and the only car among its peers (Civic, Corolla, Mazda3, Chevrolet Cruze, others) to offer AWD at all, let alone as standard.
At the moment, those after a small car with AWD for not a lot of money have just one option — and this is it. Thankfully, it’s a good one for most.
If you liked the way small cars felt before they all went and got fat, and if you want AWD but aren’t nuts on driving a crossover like everyone else, then you’ll like what the Impreza is cooking.
Shoppers can select from sedan or hatchback bodies and from both manual or CVT automatic transmissions. The brand’s symmetrical AWD system is included on every model, regardless.
From the driver’s seat, you’ve got a nicely sculpted and modern-looking interior, with some upscale touches, plenty of detail, and touch of exaggerated chunky ruggedness to some of the trimmings and controls.
Classic red instruments and metal sports pedals turn up the heat for the sportier among us, and the firey-hot heated leather steering wheel on my tester even had grippy thumb detents and a set of paddle shifters.
So, at the tips of your fingers and toes, and before you even start the engine, Impreza is encouraging you to drive.
This central-mounted touch-screen interface isn’t the most modern looking in the game, but it’s bright and easy to read, and easy enough to navigate after a few days practice.
Decent nearby storage for smaller items was appreciated, and the centre console swallowed up my Nikon DSLR and lens with no problem. Proper cup holders and big door pockets accept even the girthiest beverages and the thickest of winter gloves. Keep those on, and you’ll still be able to work the climate controls like a boss, thanks to those chunky, grippy dials.
No complaints about the driving position: down low like a car, but sitting tall and upright, with lots of tall glass all around, for a good view around. In back, room enough for two more average sized adults, but little more.
But this is a car that’s intended for maximum enjoyment from whoever is sitting behind the wheel. The feel, combined with the driving position, combined with this lovely and stable lightness that’s carefully dialled into the whole thing, make Impreza feel light and eager to drive.
There’s this energy and vigour to the way the Impreza responds to you that I think has been lost to a degree in the upsizing game. Compared to most any small crossover, and many sedan competitors, Impreza just feels a smaller and lighter machine. A spin in this served to remind me how sporty small sedans used to feel, when they were actually small and actually sporty.
The Cobalt SS. The Lancer Ralliart. The Sentra SE-R. In some ways, the Impreza calls characteristics of these machines to mind. A good thing, and largely apparent because someone spent some time dialling things in and fine tuning what the driver experiences.
Specifically? Light and feisty and very direct — and also, flat and tidy when you drive it with some intent. So, sporty, in a word, and with a steering that’s just that little touch lighter and quicker than it needs to be, for a playful nudge that suggests you enjoy yourself when the road gets to some winding.
Impreza also feels durable, even on the sort of blown-to-pieces pothole patches that pass for roads in my locale. The ride imparts a higher-than-average sense of toughness, and you don’t get the sense that you’re breaking something, even on the sort of surfaces that can coax plenty of wince-inducing harshness from even really good suspension systems. This is an Impreza attribute I’ve appreciated for years, and it’s alive and well here.
Still, if a very smooth ride is a major thing for you, you might find it a tad bit too stiff (go test drive the latest VW Jetta, if that’s the case).
As a sports-car fan, I found Impreza’s ride to be firm enough to get the point across, but backed by a strategic layer of softness in the suspension travel that kept it from ever getting too harsh or unbecoming. It’s comfy-taut.
My tester’s two-litre flat-four is the only available engine on mainstream Impreza models. With 152 horsepower, it’s more the revs and eagerness and pleasing sound of this little mill that impress.
Overall performance is adequate, though driving enthusiasts will wish for a few dozen more ponies and more still will wish for some more low-end torque.
Traction, not firepower, is the name of the Impreza’s game. The AWD system requires none of your attention or decision-making capability. Even when challenged, just keeping your foot down about half way on the gas for a moment is sufficient to see the Impreza dig itself out. In regular driving, there’s nothing to it. Just drive as you’d drive anything else, and smirk as your car finds traction and takes off in a blink, as the front-drive compacts spin and slip behind you (This never gets old).
Further confidence comes from good headlights, communicative braking feel with drama-free stops, and the EyeSight safety system, which uses cameras to warn you of potential hazards up the road and can even automatically prevent certain types of accidents.
If this might be your first car with a CVT transmission, there’s little to know: just put it in drive and go, basically, it’s just a really smooth automatic that doesn’t shift gears, and works invisibly in the background to enhance performance and fuel efficiency.
The average driver will rarely detect the transmission’s existence at all, though enthusiasts will gravitate toward the more natural feel of the manual transmission.
Gripes? Some interior plastics are easily marked and scratched, particularly on the driver’s door, and especially if said driver is wearing big winter boots. Any regular user of a modern Smartphone or tablet will be disappointed with the graphics of the central command system, and finally, someone forgot the trunk closer handle, meaning you’ll have to touch salt and sand when closing the trunk in winter. Thankfully, there’s a wide opening and a good amount of space inside.
Priced at a smudge over $30,000 with a sunroof, heated leather, EyeSight safety, push-button start, and more, Impreza Sport is easily among the best compacts on the scene today, and an excellent test drive exercise for the shopper after an athletic-feeling car that kicks absolute butt in the snow.
The specs
- Model: 2019 Subaru Impreza Sport
- Engine: two-litre flat-four,
- 152 horsepower
- Drivetrain: AWD
- Transmission: CVT
- Features: LED lighting, sunroof, push-button ignition, backup camera, heated leather, touch-screen interface
- What’s hot: wickedly good in the snow, smooth and eager engine, feels light and feisty, great ride and handling balance, even on rougher roads
- What’s not: dull central command graphics, could use more power, needs a trunk closer handle
- As tested: $30,195
