THE Subaru Impreza is back – although as yet there isn’t much to excite traditional fans of the model, or, for that matter, tax-conscious company car drivers.
That’s because, initially at least, there’s just one engine option available in the UK, a four-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol using Subaru’s traditional boxer layout.
Power output is 114PS, which gets the Impreza from rest to 62mph in 12.3 seconds on the way to a top speed of 114mph, hardly enough to set the pulse racing for fans of past high-performance competition-inspired STI and WRX Impreza models.
At the same time, there’s no tax-friendly, economical, low-CO2 diesel to entice the business motorist – the Impreza delivers a combined 44.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 147g/km as a manual, although these figures improve to 46.3mpg and 140g/km when the Lineartronic automatic gearbox is chosen. An automatic stop/start system is fitted as standard.
One big plus for the 4th generation Subaru Impreza when it arrives in the UK in May; it will be the only car in this bracket fitted with all-wheel drive as standard, so some buyers are bound to find it indispensable when the weather turns bad again next winter.
Prices start at £17,495 for cars with manual gearboxes and £18,995 for Lineartronic automatics.
