The latest Impreza handles like a dream,
rides like a magic carpet and is as solid as a rock – unfortunately in the
engine department there is a severe shortage of Snap, Crackle and Pop!
From a standing start in the Grand Prix du
Traffic Lights it takes off like a startled rabbit. But that’s when the fizz
fails to follow. On the road, in normal give-and-take traffic, the Impreza is
about as exciting to drive as a cardigan-clad Camry.
What’s happening here? The last Subaru I
drove was the fast and snappy Levorg wagon with 2.0L turbocharged Boxer engine,
mated to the identical CVT transmission, and that car was a truly impressive
performer. The Impreza leaves you feeling they left off two cylinders when they
built the engine!
However, at the critical suburban traffic speeds the Impreza is, quite frankly, a slug. And, it’s not that economical either. After a week of motoring in urban traffic and some freeway driving, the car returned an average of 8.2L/100km!
My own Alfa Romeo 1.9 automatic gets 8.2L/100km in urban traffic, with the air con going all the time – and Alfa Romeo’s were never advertised for their fuel economy.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. You
can inject a lot of life in the car by flicking the transmission lever to
manual and using the paddles. That gets things moving more satisfactorily.
So, if high performance is not top of your
bucket list for a new car, the new Impreza will probably outlive you. It’s beautifully
designed and built and in terms of driver aids, you get the ‘eyesight’ camera
system, very intelligent adaptive cruise control and every safety aid known to
man.
In that regard, the AUD$24,690 list price is probably an excellent investment.
In that regard, the AUD$24,690 list price is probably an excellent investment.
The new model is just 10mm lower, and 35mm
wider than the previous model, although styling flourishes (which Subaru
describes as a 'dynamic blade' ) appear to
make the car look longer than the model it replaces.
Like the Levorg, it is built on the Subaru Global Platform (SGP), which will
underpin every new Subaru to come. The engineering integrity provided by the
new SGP brings greater rigidity, new levels of quietness on the road, and higher
levels of active and passive safety.
Added to the lessons Subaru learned about body construction from its extensive rally experience, the Subaru engineers have excelled themselves in the design of the SGP – it is world-class benchmark engineering.
The Impreza is just the latest in a long
line of excellent Subarus – pity about the lack of snap, crackle and pop.
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