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Subaru's new Impreza will be launched at the New York show this week ahead of UK sales starting in late autumn.
The new model, which has been revealed in both hatchback and saloon forms, takes some styling cues from the concept that was shown at last year’s Los Angeles show . This is particularly evident around its front end, which features sharper lines than those of the outgoing model.
The new five-door is 4414mm long, just a single millimetre shorter than the current car. It’s exactly the same width, but 1463mm high instead of 1475mm. The new car’s wheelbase is slightly longer, too, at 2644mm compared with 2621mm. Subaru claims that this frees up extra interior space.
The US-spec Impreza is being launched with a normally aspirated 2.0-litre flat four powerplant that offers 148bhp at 6200rpm and 145lb ft at 4200rpm. It replaces a 2.5-litre motor in the US market and delivers a fuel economy gain of about 30 per cent.
Subaru USA claims that the car will return 30mpg in town and 41mpg on the motorway when equipped with the five-speed manual transmission — although these figures improve slightly with Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT gearbox. Four-wheel drive comes as standard.
The cabin gets a revised fascia, with a flatter display, new materials, more storage space and a multi-function display for the trip computer. Options will include steering wheel-mounted Bluetooth controls, USB and iPod connectivity and a 6.1in touchscreen sat-nav.
Subaru UK has already confirmed that it will not take the four-door version of the car, even though the current WRX STi has been offered here as a saloon as well as a hatchback.
