LIKES
- AWD comes standard
- Top safety ratings
- Great value
- Decent mpg (CVT)
DISLIKES
- Light on power
- Light on personality
- Light on manual transmission gears
BUYING TIP
The 2022 Subaru Impreza pegs the rational meter, with standard all-wheel drive and excellent crash-test performance.
What kind of car is the 2022 Subaru Impreza? What does it compare to?
The Impreza anchors the Subaru lineup. The hatchback and sedan elevate the compact-car basics when turbocharged and stickered with “WRX” badges, but here they’re more plain transportation with standard all-wheel drive and excellent value. Rivals include the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, and Mazda 3.
Is the 2022 Subaru Impreza a good car?
Yes, particularly for those who want great traction and great crash-test scores. We give it a TCC Rating of 6.5 out of 10.
What’s new for the 2022 Subaru Impreza?
The Limited sedan has been discontinued, and Sapphire Blue Pearl paint is new. That’s all the changes for 2022, as the Impreza soldiers on in four- or five-door body styles. Of the two we prefer the hatchback’s sweeping roofline, not to mention the better interior storage and flexibility. Both versions have a function-first interior with a relatively small touchscreen in base models; they’re just a notch above spartan.
The hatchback’s great cargo space compares well to the Impreza sedan’s small trunk. Cloth seats can be upgraded to heated front seats with leather upholstery and power adjustment in the Limited, but we’d stop well before that at the Premium trim. Value is the Impreza’s safe word, along with safety, which comes in the form of scads of standard safety-tech features with the CVT and stellar crash-test scores.
How much does the 2022 Subaru Impreza cost?
The $19,755 Impreza sedan has a manual shifter and a 6.5-inch touchscreen. Step into a Premium hatchback with the CVT for $23,655 and the Impreza gains a quieter interior, better shocks, and heated front seats—but stop before you spend into the $27,355 Impreza Limited hatchback; its leather upholstery and 8.0-inch touchscreen are nice, but the Impreza’s game is value.
Where is the 2022 Subaru Impreza made?
In Lafayette, Indiana.
Styling
Subtle and clean, the Impreza doesn’t reach for the stars.
Is the Subaru Impreza a good-looking car?
It’s more interesting in hatchback form, without abandoning its hallmark virtue of simplicity. Sedans look more dowdy. We give it a 6 here for the more adventurous five-door body.
Both the sedan and hatchback have a low front end and a wide grille, with wheels as large as 18 inches that beef up its stance. The hatchback’s prettier, with its wagon-like profile and its tapered roofline. The pronounced wheel arches of the hatchback relate the Impreza to the similar Crosstrek; it checks out since they’re nearly the same car, aside from the Crosstrek’s black flares and higher stance.
Inside, the Impreza has a frill-free dash studded by a small 6.5-inch touchscreen in base models; Sport and Limited editions get a more useful 8.0-inch touchscreen. Limiteds also wear contrast-color stitching on their instrument panel and doors, which dresses them up a bit. The Impreza doesn’t have much time for pizzazz, though its interior is nowhere near as spartan as Subaru cockpits of the past.
Performance
All-weather traction is the Impreza’s best performance feature.
With the standard sure-footed feel of all-wheel drive, the Impreza gets a point for balanced handling, but we take it away for sluggish acceleration. It’s a 5 for performance.
How fast is the Subaru Impreza?
It’s not quick, though it has ample power for daily-commuter duty. It develops 152 hp and 145 lb-ft of torque from its 2.0-liter flat-4, which couples to a light-shifting and notchy 5-speed manual for acceleration to 60 mph in about nine seconds. Skip the manual for the CVT, a pulley-and-belt transmission that slides between ratios invisibly, without conventional gear changes. The CVT lets the engine linger at its most powerful engine speed, but that generates plenty of engine noise without any additional power. Opt into Sport configuration and the CVT adopts seven pre-programmed ratios that can be selected by paddle shifters; it’s a very mild concession to drivers who want a sporty car.
Is the Subaru Impreza 4WD?
With its standard all-wheel drive, the Impreza tackles wet and snowy roads with aplomb. We’d still trade its all-season tires for winter treads during the right months, but the Impreza starts out with more confident handling than nearly all its rivals.
In Premium, Sport, and Limited editions, the Impreza adopts SI-Drive, a blanket name for the driver-selectable modes that alter its steering weight, power distribution, and shift schedule. They’re harmless here, more useful in cars like the related WRX.
With great grip but cool and collected handling, the Impreza isn’t sporty, in any sense of the word. It has an absorbent ride but steering feedback is minimal. Sport versions lose some of that balance; their stiffer shocks and thin-sidewall tires transmit too much road harshness into the Impreza cabin. In exchange the Sport adds a braking mode that clamps a front wheel in corners to let the car turn in more quickly, to help give it a more vibrant feel.
Comfort & Quality
The hatchback Impreza has all the space an economy car needs.
With excellent cargo space and good front seats, the Impreza merits a 7 here as a hatchback. That’s the more popular version; the sedan would fall a point behind.
The Impreza comes off rational and comfortable from the front seats. They’re manually adjustable and give most drivers a wide-open view of the road ahead. In the Limited, power adjustment and leather upholstery dress up the interior some, but other Imprezas are fine. They don’t appear overly thrifty, though the Premium and Limited editions certainly sound better, with their additional sound deadening.
Two medium-size passengers fit well in the back seat, with good head and leg room. It’s not wide enough to fit three larger people, though.
The Impreza Hatchback is the more versatile of the duo, with up to 55 cubic feet of cargo space available when the back seats have been folded away, and 21 cubic feet with the rear seats in use. Sedans have about 12 cubic feet of storage space in the trunk.
Safety
The Impreza earns excellent crash-test scores.
How safe is the Subaru Impreza?
It’s very safe, but headlights make a difference to the IIHS, which gives it a Top Safety Pick—but only in the most expensive Limited. The NHTSA gives the Impreza five stars overall.
We recommend the CVT Impreza because manual-shift cars don’t come with automatic emergency braking, active lane control, and adaptive cruise control—all of which are standard on CVT-equipped cars. Blind-spot monitors can be had on the Impreza Premium and Sport; they’re standard on Limited Imprezas.
Features
The Impreza’s best feature is value.
The Impreza offers excellent value, though its base touchscreen is small and its 3-year/36,000-mile warranty and standard features are, at best, average. We rate it a 6 here.
With a manual shifter, the base $19,755 Impreza sedan has power features, cruise control, and a 6.5-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The hatchback costs $500 extra; the CVT, $1,300 extra.
Which Subaru Impreza should I buy?
How much is a fully loaded Subaru Impreza?
The $27,355 Impreza Limited hatchback gets leather upholstery and an 8.0-inch touchscreen. The Limited sedan has been dropped.
Fuel Economy
Pick a CVT for the best fuel economy.
Is the Subaru Impreza good on gas?
It is, so long as you choose the CVT. Based on the CVT sedan’s EPA ratings of 28 mpg city, 36 highway, 32 combined, we give it a 6 here. The CVT hatchback checks in at a similar 31 mpg combined.
From there, gas mileage ratings dip in the Impreza Sport hatchback to 27/35/30 mpg and 27/36/30 mpg in the sedan.
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