Despite thicker anti-roll bars and stiffer springs being introduced last year, both the WRX and STI soak up bumps, ruts, potholes, and coarse surfaces with aplomb. The ride is beautifully smooth and isolated; the handling wonderfully direct and taut. At highway speeds, apart from a little engine rumble and wind noise from the side mirrors, the cabin is very quiet. Slide behind the steering wheel of either the WRX or STI and you're greeted by a well-lit instrument cluster that's dominated by a large, centrally mounted tachometer.
It's flanked on the right by a smaller speedo in Porsche fashion, and all the gauges are clearly marked and readable in an instant—gone are the tacky boy-racer and econo car designs of past generations. A pair of racing-style bucket seats is positioned up front, and while they are incredibly supportive, we did have some qualms.
Namely, the seats come with a fixed headrest the entire seatback is just one long piece that some testers find uncomfortable. Note that STI model gets more upmarket Alcantara trim, and for , black Alcantara with red stitching replaces last year's gray and silver stitching.
The rear compartment is happily much bigger than the car's tidy exterior dimensions suggest. Headroom in back, a sore spot for most small and even mid-size cars, is fantastic even for those unusually long in the torso. Trunk space is reasonable at For both style and practicality, we think the hatchback's the way to go. One issue in the STI especially is that it throws up a bit more road noise and a rather jittery ride.
All Impreza variants come with side impact and side curtain airbags, electronic stability and traction control, anti-lock brakes with brake-force distribution and brake assist, and daytime running lamps as standard.
Manual models also get hill start assist. Once upon a time getting an STI meant getting a very basic tuner-car interior with limited options, but you'll no longer need to make that compromise. Sound systems are all-new this year, with standard USB and iPod connectors, while a touch-screen nav system with Sirius Satellite Radio remains optional.
Now, for , both of these rally-themed models get a more aggressive look, but it's the top STI that gets the most performance innovation this time. First, the look: Line both of these models up side by side and they're closer than ever in appearance. The new wide-body look brings a new grille, a new inch alloy wheel design with wider tires, and a WRX spoiler for the sedan. Up in front, the lower air intake is wider and lower, the lip spoiler is resculpted, and blacked-out foglamp bezels further help the wide, low look.
In back, both models get a more aggressive lower-body look with quad-tip exhausts, and of course alongside the front and rear fenders now bulge outward, giving the car more voluptuousness. Both models remain offered in four-door sedan or five-door hatch bodystyles. But arguably, contrary to what we suspected in pictures, it's the sedan that benefits the most from the new wide-fendered look.
From rear three-quarter angles in person, where the sedan has looked a bit dowdy and awkward since its redesign, the flared sheetmetal makes the whole design pop. The sedan also gets a more aggressive spoiler configuration that helps improve aerodynamics and raise top speed to mph for the STI. However, TheCarConnection. Reviews of the sedan are average, as Edmunds finds, reporting that "from the rear doors back, the styling screams econobox, with homely taillights" and a wealth of uninspiring trim elements.
The hatchback, on the other hand, is a different story; Jalopnik's testers say that the STI model "isn't what you'd call traditionally handsome," but they praise its "air of purposeful muscularity," which is enhanced by the "wildly flared arches, huge hood scoop and restrained rear wing. It's a huge improvement over the rather Spartan interior that characterized previous versions of the Impreza.
Jalopnik describes the "swoopy and odd" interior as "positively refreshing," while Edmunds raves that the "legible gauges remained so in practically any lighting situation, with a simple layout centering the large tachometer prominently behind the steering wheel. Even before looking at what the STI's extra toolkit does, there remains quite a difference between these two models, just in the way they respond to your right foot—even in how they sound.
Start the STI up and take off gently and the engine sound is deep and pulsating, with more of a tuner note; the WRX sounds more like a 'normal' car. Indeed, these two models have very different tuning, and the uninitiated might think, at first impression, that the WRX has the stronger engine. It's a little deceiving that both engines are listed as producing their peak torque at 4, rpm, and the STI produces a peak boost of Shift a little too early and the STI feels almost sluggish, but keep the revs up and somewhere north of 3, rpm it'll suddenly pin you back in your seat.
Fortunately, the six-speed manual has closely spaced gears, and once you're on top of that peak boost you can keep it close. The WRX, by comparison, comes on smoother, torquier, in a way you can feel a full 1, rpm lower; and the combination of slightly larger gaps between gears makes it feel more docile, more flexible, though ultimately less aggressive. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
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