The 2008 Impreza launches as both a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback. Both designs are relatively conservative, for Subaru, the sedan variant being particularly drab.
"How is it possible to make a 230 bhp, four-wheel-driven hatchback that looks so dull?" asks Autocar Features Editor Mike Duff of the WRX ('Oedipal WRX is a tragic disappointment,' Mike Duff, Autocar.co.uk, October 30th, 2007).
The STi version will dress it up some, and will add the power to beat the SEAT Leon Cupra and Mazda3 MPS, while stiffening springs that seem surprisingly languid.
At 4.59 meters in length, the sedan is 17 centimeters longer than the hatchback.
Subaru claims a better torsional rigidity, while weight has been reduced, and the rear suspension, improved. VDC stability control is standard equipment, as are six airbags.
1.5-liter; 2.0-liter, and 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline four-cylinder engines are available at launch, the most powerful producing 225 horsepower.
For Europe, there is a 180-horsepower turbodiesel.