The dealer carried out a Field Update, which improved it a bit.

At 75,000km,it started to loosen up (yes it took that long) and now at 100,000km, it is going so well!! Can’t believe it is the same car. It still feels new as well, no squeeks or rattles. I do a lot company business in it, and perhaps the gentle highway cruising prevented earlier loosening up – tyres are original and just ready for replacement.

Apart from dealer servicing it hasn’t cost me a cent. I change the engine oil half way between recommended intervals (about 6,000km).

Complaints? Small boot, taken up by that fantastic suspension I believe.

If you’re thinking of one – go for it!

I test drove a Impreza (sorry, not sure which model) on the weekend with auto. It felt a underpowered but a friend who owns a Subura told me this is just low torque at low revs.

HOWEVER the main problem I found was the `squishy’ steering. Some of the posts say the handling is fine.
QUESTION 1: Is this just a poor demo car or is there somethin here?

The visibility was excellent. I am 198cm tall; I can sit up straight with the car “at the start line” and still see the green light.

(My friend has a Subaru that has done 300,000 kms and has some good life in it yet. This is the sort of car I’m after.)
QUESTION 2: My overall impression of Subaru is they do have a premium on the upfront price but you make this back over the life of the care, especially if you keep it. Is this fair?

Thanks.

I have read numerous reviews, blogs, opinions, etc on the Mazda and the Impreza. I ‘was’ well and truly leaning towards the 3, however the more I have read, the more I am becoming ‘sold’ on the Impreza. Obviously am still going to test drive both – but definately leaning towards the Impreza.

I saw pictures of the Impreza and HATED it, however I’ve seen two of them in the last 48 hours on the road, and they actually look really cool.

The AWD system is selling me bigtime. Wish I could afford a WRX – maybe in my next life. Until then…..

We have both Mazda 3 (MAXX) 06 and Impreza (RX) 09, so no bias.
None of them is better over the other. Let me point out pros and cons – the only fair way to compare.

MAZDA3
Pros:
Better interior style (design, finish and functionality). Examples: better plastic, door trims, much more functional glove box, middle compartment, etc.
This car is great in the city while driving in traffic. Active-matic is comfortable and still gives the zoom-zoom when used in the semi manual mode.
Longer wheel base gives extra stability.
More consistent torque across the rev range.
Some external features look more stylish. I like mud flaps – should be compulsory in all cars in Australia.

Cons:
Poor visibility looking back, when reversing.
Since the boot and engine bay are deep, there is a little less leg room inside.
Lower ground clearance.
Since it has long wheel base and FWD, the rear is dragged behind. Sometimes the rear wheels would go their own way on the corners, touching road kerbs.

IMPREZA RX
Pros:
To take full advantage of AWD and its capability, manual is the way to go. Then, it is a far more interesting car to drive then Mazda.
Safety is a big plus, including inherent stability with the boxer engine sitting low. That engine – working nicely so nicely. Sometimes you want to turn the radio off and listen to the engine.
Superior, strong pickup at 3000 rpm.

Cons:
Heavier due to AWD. The torque dies off outside the optimum 3000rpm.
On a bad-mood-day looks cheaper than Mazda; plastics can be annoying, no mud flaps.
With manual version, the gear box can be stubborn when trying to put the reverse gear in.

PERSONAL PREFERENCE”

Mazda3 – red colour and tinted windows look great.

Impreza – grey or black look far better. These colours blend with interior plastic well, so the plastic is much less annoying.

We have both Mazda 3 (MAXX) 06 and Impreza (RX) 09, so no bias.
None of them is better over the other. Let me point out pros and cons – the only fair way to compare.

MAZDA3

Pros:
Better interior style (design, finish and functionality). Examples: better plastic, door trims, much more functional glove box, middle compartment, etc.
This car is great in the city while driving in traffic. Active-matic is comfortable and still gives the zoom-zoom when used in the semi manual mode.
Longer wheel base gives extra stability.
More consistent torque across the rev range.
Some external features look more stylish. I like mud flaps – should be compulsory in all cars in Australia.

Cons:
Poor visibility looking back, when reversing.
Since the boot and engine bay are deep, there is a little less leg room inside.
Lower ground clearance.
Since it has long wheel base and FWD, the rear is dragged behind. Sometimes the rear wheels would go their own way on the corners, touching road kerbs.

IMPREZA RX

Pros:
To take full advantage of AWD and its capability, manual is the way to go. Then, it is a far more interesting car to drive then Mazda.
Safety is a big plus, including inherent stability with the boxer engine sitting low. That engine – working nicely so nicely. Sometimes you want to turn the radio off and listen to the engine.
Superior, strong pickup at 3000 rpm.

Cons:
Heavier due to AWD. The torque dies off outside the optimum 3000rpm.
On a bad-mood-day looks cheaper than Mazda; plastics can be annoying, no mud flaps.
With manual version, the gear box can be stubborn when trying to put the reverse gear in.

PERSONAL PREFERENCE

Mazda3 – red colour and tinted windows look great.

Impreza – grey or black look far better. These colours blend with interior plastic well, so the plastic is much less annoying.

its about the driver, not a car!

if u’re shit at driving and u’re driving one of the fastest car that can beat anyone but you can’t handle yourself, you’re just talking full bs!

the way to keep a car at its best performance, not hurting any gears and engine, as a real pro driver, any car can beat you guys.

trust me! i’m driving a 6 years car and i can kill a GTR easy!

you guys talk trash…btw, my car is a corolla…

After reading reviews, notwithstanding caradvice.com’s review of the Imprezza RS and at the sametime forced by the breakdown of my old forester 97 model (bloody mechanics) I went out and purchased a Imprezza RS in Oct 08.

Now I was a little hesitant but then again for $30k what else is there in the market that has AWD and isn’t a piece of crap? Really there isn’t that much to choose from, apart from other Subuaru’s and they at the time were quite a bit more (they weren’t doing drive away deals on Foresters).

Now i guess i’m a little biased, for one reason or another my entire family, my in laws combined, all own Subaru vehicles. Sure they’ve had others makes, but for one reason or another over the last 10 years they’ve all purchased, and kept purchasing Subarus. I guess understand why now. They go and go (nay a problem, except with a dodgy mechanic), they are as stable as a fricken rock (no slip sliding whatsoever) and when you need it they have a bit of grunt.

Back to the story, so after purchasing Lucky (name so for the period of terrible luck I was going through, damn mechanics). The RS, looks fine inside. Yeah its got a plastic console but for $30k so does pretty much everything else. Personally I find the interior quality to be much better then a Holden or Ford. If you want to talk about sterile design, plastic galore then by all means we can engage in a bit of cockney word play.

Definitely a step above a Toyota who’s designs are just weak (and talk about plastics), a bit more exciting then a Nissan. Against Honda, well Honda are good but then again your paying $5-10k more. Against the Mazda 3, well I’d say I’d prefer the cabin over the Mazda 3, it feels taller, wider, and not so claustrophobic. The quality, well I just feel better in the Subaru and the seats against the wooden pews of the Mazda….

So yes it could be better but its functional, looks great at night with the red glow (far better effect the Mazda 3). The wife reckons the cup holder should be up in front of the vents like the forester but personally i like them down next to the handbrake. Definitely don’t have to worry about a ton of coke spilling all over the place. Stereo is a bit weak, can be played loud but with many bodies in the car, it seems to lose detail and fidelity. probably will get it replaced one of these days. 3.5mm jack in the centre console is quite handy though.

Best of all the seats. I found the seats on many other makes to be harder, lacking support. The RS’s seats just cup your ass up and well hold you like a baby. To be frank it was the seats that did it for me, the moment i sat in it i knew i’d buy the car. I just can’t stand to be uncomfortable, and thus so far so good, on the long journeys up to the mountains it seems to be working. Definitely not feeling fatigued by the seats or the driving position.

The engine will disappoint you for the first 4,000km, you’ll get to about 1,000Km and be wondering “is that it”, a bit annoyed that whenever you want a bit of oomph you’ve got to stick it 2nd, that 3rd doesn’t seem to be all that effective unless you’ve got the rev’s up high (like 4000rpm), which your not meant to do until you’ve got past 5,000km.

So soon after hitting 5,000km and the first service the car’s behaviour changed completely. Its almost like owning a new car. Now i got the auto (i sit in a bit of traffic so no point destroying my leg on the clutch) and thus noticed that I no longer need sports mode. Car just leaps when ever you put a little pressure on and its just so much more quicker.

sure the auto can forget, fairly rarely, to pick the right gear but “sports” (ha) mode allows you to choose the gear and hey the auto seems to do the right thing most of the time. Far superior to the old imprezza’s, and much better then any other 4 gear auto i’ve driven.

I really think Subaru needs run 5000km on the clocks before they sell an Imprezza, they’d be selling them like hot cakes.

Lastly the handling. Now i’ve driven many a car, holdens, Nissan silly car (a Silvia), Subarus (liberty’s, foresters, imprezza’s) etc and they all had body roll. Things would slide around the cabin depending on speed and angle of turn, and yet irrespective of what I throw at the car I, my belongs, the thousands of toys that litter my vehicle, seem to do nothing, it is like the universe is turning around me and the car is staying absolutely straight.

Suspension, well its pretty good. I reckon to have good suspension is not to even notice or remember that you’ve a teeth rattling trip, or journey. It soaks it up.

Brakes are also quite effective, with much progression.

Perhaps Subaru need to run obstacle outside of every dealership.

So that’s with the good. The bad, well its a bit small. The boot is a bit of a squeeze with the pram and, well if you’ve got a baby seat, and want to go somewhere, with the pram and luggage, well you’ll be playing tetris for about 30 minutes whilst you load the car. A little annoying.

Petrol wise, well on long trips you can squeeze nearly 460-80km out of the tank, very impressive. During the week going to work, you might be lucky to get 360-400km out of it.

That said, when you’ve got it on the Woodford bends, in 2nd, sun shining brightly and doing the legal speed limit of 80kmph then you’ll find with your Imprezza RS that things ain’t so bad. especially for $30k

I’m looking at a few options to replace my incredibly unreliable Holden Astra SRI 2.2. The Impreza RS appeals as I end up on plenty of unsealed roads and find the average modern FWD car (especially if equipped with electro-mechanical steering as opposed to hydraulic) can not comfortably drive on them. I don’t need an SUV as ground clearance isn’t a problem (I coped with the Astra’s 102mm), just better stability and confidence inspiring handling and steering feel on both mountain roads and gravel tracks.

I am disappointed the current Impreza RS only comes with the 2.0 when in the US and Canada the non-WRX Imprezas only come with the 2.5 engine from the Forester etc. It is also a bit rough accepting the low-rent Subi interior when for the same money you can get a VW Golf, but I think I will actually utilise the AWD. We shall see!