2021 Subaru Impreza

Some circles believe that the Impreza compact sedan is the face of Subaru. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, the Impreza drew the spotlight on the international stage, winning World Rally titles and acting as the ambassador for the brand’s all-wheel-drive performance and safety.

Today, the Impreza remains popular in parts of the world that sees the best and worst of all four seasons, mainly because of its affordability and confidence in adverse environmental conditions.

The 2021 Subaru Impreza, now in its fifth-generation, pleases modern buyers with roomier-than-expected interiors and top-notch all-weather performance. It comes in two body styles–a four-door sedan or a “five-door” hatchback–and standard symmetrical all-wheel drive. Both body styles are offered in four trims: base, Premium, Sport and Limited. The availability of a hatchback gives buyers with more cargo carrying needs 20.8 cubic-feet of space behind the rear bench (55.3 cubic-feet with the 60/40-splitting seats folded). That’s compared with the 12.3 cubic-feet in the enclosed trunk of the sedan.

The Impreza offers one engine choice: a 2.0-liter boxer engine that delivers 152 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque. Only the base sedan and five-door as well as the Sport five-door can be equipped with a manual transmission. All other models come with a continuously variable transmission. Upgrading to the CVT on the base is $1,300 and $1,100 on the Sport. All models but the base come with SI-Drive (now standard on the Premium), which enables two different modes of performance.

The base Impreza sedan isn’t a street racer, but with a light foot (and maybe a little extra air in the tires), the proven reliable 152-horsepower boxer engine gets 27 mpg in the city and a whooping 38 mpg on the highway. Its excellent symmetrical all-wheel-drive system remains confident and safe in snow, sleet or rain.

The Impreza’s cabin is tidy, comfortable and durable and provides ample rear legroom. The base and Premium trims use a 6.5-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, which is standard across the lineup. The Sport and Limited have a larger 8-inch touchscreen that offers built-in navigation among other features.

The options are many and varied, but the base Subaru Impreza starts at $19,720 (including the $925 destination fee). The base and Premium models offer buyers durable cloth seats, and the Sport models add a red contrast stitching. Limited models get the luxe treatment with leather trimmed upholstery. Keyless access with push button start is standard on the Sport and Limited. All models get dual USB ports in the front and Sport and higher add two more for rear-seat passengers. Only the Limited model gets automatic climate control. All models get 4G LTE Wi-Fi connectivity.

Subaru’s EyeSight suite of driver-assistance safety tech is $845 on the base, but standard on Premium, Sport and Limited. It includes adaptive cruise control, a pre-collision braking and throttle management system that will slow or stop the vehicle if it sense an oncoming object, lane departure alerts and lane keeping assistance. EyeSight in not available on models with the manual transmission. Higher trims can add blind spot monitoring (standard on the top-end Limited).

While the Impreza isn’t some sort of design icon, it still looks sharp, especially in Crimson Red Pearl. There aren’t any gimmicky flares, fake vents or silly wings. It’s a car, a good car. And it’s paying for itself.