Long-Term Road Test Wrap-Up
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Unloved but widely respected.
Months in Fleet: 13 months
Current Mileage: 41,099 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 28 mpg
Range: 406 miles
Service: $812.00
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $5746.00
If John Deere made cars, we’re confident they’d be as trustworthy and straightforward as our long-term 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i hatchback was during its year in our care. We’re not saying that driving the Impreza was akin to plowing the back forty—far from it—but the deliberate nature of its handling and performance and the directness with which road, wind, and engine noise were transmitted into the cabin took us back to a simpler time.
Are You Sitting Down?
The Impreza may be Subaru’s smallest car, but it’s surprisingly commodious, the space all the more accessible in our as-tested hatchback body style. (It’s for this reason we chose it for long-term evaluation, rather than the sedan). One driver took a double bass, bass amplifier, fiddle, microphone stands, two overhead-bin-sized roll-ons, plus assorted boots and hats to Nashville and back. Clearly, the ease of loading stuff via the hatch was a big plus. The reasonably spacious back seat was appreciated as well, a pleasant surprise in Subaru’s least-expensive offering, whether it was used to ferry folk to folk concerts or folded down to do an impromptu impersonation of a cavernous crossover.
The Subie’s front seats fit almost every one of our drivers well, and they racked up a long list of compliments. One description said they were “as comfortable as pajamas and supportive as a cupped hand.” However, another driver commented that seat comfort was okay initially, but his lower back started to ache on stints longer than 100 miles. Top praise was reserved for the Impreza’s seat heaters, which were “strong enough to leave griddle marks.”
Still, the Impreza’s mission anchoring not only our bottoms, but also the bottom of Subaru’s U.S. lineup, became more obvious with continued use. By the time the odometer hit the 40K mark, the sport-cloth seat fabric was pilling across the more highly trafficked portions of the front seats like lint balls on an old sweater. And the driver’s seat began squeaking like a cheap motel bed. Any shifting of weight—to shift, brake, accelerate, or to reach for something—set it off.
About that Noise
We’re not sure if the car’s downmarket feel is a result of weight-reduction measures or pernicious cost-cutting—it’s tough to make a profit when your least-expensive car is produced in a country with high labor cost and strong currency—but driving the new Impreza is a bit like visiting the old neighborhood. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, when America was getting to know Subaru, plucky DLs and GLs were unstoppable with great dependability and four-wheel drive, but also were noisy and slow and quirky—yet nobody complained. But consumers and the industry have moved on, and our long-term Impreza’s logbooks filled with comments about the car’s aural cacophony, which made conversing with passengers or listening to the audio system a challenge while cruising at speed. At least the noise covered up the seat squeaking.
Subaru engineered the 2012 Impreza with an eye toward improving fuel economy. Weight was reduced, says Subaru, by up to 165 pounds, and a 148-hp 2.0-liter boxer four replaced the previous model’s 170-hp 2.5-liter. EPA fuel-economy estimates did improve markedly to 25 mpg city/33 mpg highway for the 2012 five-speed manual model, compared to 20/27 for the 2011 Impreza with a stick. And, in fact, our long-term car achieved an average observed fuel economy of 28 mpg, respectable for an all-wheel-driver in enthusiastic hands.
But performance took a hit compared to the outgoing car, not unexpected with 13 percent less horsepower and 15 percent less torque but only about 5 percent less mass. Just about everyone who drove our long-term Impreza commented on the horizontally challenged nature of the smaller horizontally opposed four-cylinder. One described its character and performance “as a big pile of meh.”
At least it was consistent: Our Impreza turned in the same 0-to-60 and quarter-mile results at both ends of its stay—8.0 seconds and 16.3 at 84 mph—placing it solidly mid-pack among its compact-hatch competition. It’s just that with the 2.0-liter’s lower torque output, our Impreza felt less responsive to part-throttle inputs. The five-speed manual transmission didn’t help matters, as its widely spaced cogs let engine speed drop off more than a six-speed would, further conveying the feeling of sluggishness. Then there was the whirligig sound of Subie’s boxer four itself, an acquired taste we wouldn’t rank with audio tracks composed in Stuttgart or Maranello. Some drivers never got used to the way the engine rocked and shook on startup or during shifts, either.
Cognizant of a Missing Cog
In addition to additional sound deadening, another forward cog would have helped. One tester noted that he couldn’t often find a gear that he liked at highway speeds. The rough engine drove him to upshift, but the lack of torque put him back in the lower gears. And even though we always prefer manuals to soupy CVTs, the Impreza’s clutch had a tricky, abrupt engagement that could stall the engine if not released just right. In addition, the notchy shifter never felt like a willing partner and reverse gear sometimes got shy and resisted selection.
And yet our long-term Impreza racked up its 40,000 miles with little hassle. Besides the seats, its cushy suspension tuning took Michigan’s underfunded and pockmarked road surfaces in stride. Some drivers who might have been irritated with the Impreza’s grittiness may have taken the surprising grippiness for granted. Rolling on the Impreza Sport Premium’s standard 205/50-17 all-season rubber, braking performance was deceptively good, the Impreza stopping from 70 mph in 164 feet (two shorter than at the beginning of the test), an amazing 20 feet shorter than a 2012 Honda Civic EX sedan and 19 feet shorter than a 2012 Mazda 3 i Touring we tested. Likewise, our Impreza’s 0.87 g of lateral grip (0.85 g during initial testing) compared favorably to the 0.82 g of the Civic EX and 0.81 g for the Mazda 3 i.
Trusty and Dependable
When the snow started flying, we swapped the all-season treads for Bridgestone Blizzaks. Compared with the all-seasons, they cut steering precision, allowing the car to wander some within its lane, made it more sensitive to crosswinds, and increased understeer on dry pavement. But the winter rubber also made the car’s impressive traction even more formidable, with the little Subie pressing on through piles of the white stuff even as others wagged and spun and slid off the road.
Aside from $5533.83 worth of body damage suffered in a spring hail storm and $212.86 to replace a tire holed by a random chunk of semi-truck tread, our long-term Impreza required little professional attention. The Impreza received regularly scheduled oil changes and tire rotations at 7500-mile intervals, and only saw the local Subaru dealer’s service bay twice for unscheduled reasons, once for a rattle in the gauge cluster and another time for a random engine miss. The former was fixed under warranty, while the latter couldn’t be duplicated by techs, as it occurred quite sporadically—although it once backfired so hard at 60 mph that the exhaust banged against the floor. After a couple thousand miles, the miss went away and never returned. There was no addition of oil required between scheduled oil changes. The general reliability reinforces memories of the sturdy Subarus of yore, and somewhat tempers concerns we had after more checkered tests of a 2010 Legacy and a 2008 WRX STI.
Turtle and the Hare
Few liked the dated-feeling interior infotainment and dash layout, but several editors warmed to the Impreza’s Sport’s quirky exterior design, likening it to “an upside-down turtle.” Given good weather and a curvy stretch of high-speed pavement, the Impreza’s ignition key wouldn’t be the one we’d grab for a little head-clearing romp, but mix in degraded roads or deteriorating atmospheric conditions and the little AWD Subie is instantly more desirable. Ultimately, our Impreza inspired little love, but everyone came to respect it, given our base in the heart of the Snow Belt. Nothing runs like a John Deere, sure, but nothing runs through bad weather like a Subaru.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door hatchback
PRICE AS TESTED: $21,114 (base price: $21,045)
ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 122 cu in, 1995 cc
Power: 148 hp @ 6200 rpm
Torque: 145 lb-ft @ 4200 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed manual
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 104.1 in
Length: 173.8 in
Width: 68.5 in Height: 57.7 in
Curb weight: 2997 lb
PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES
Zero to 60 mph: 8.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 26.5 sec
Rolling start, 560 mph: 9.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.3 sec @ 84 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 119 mph
Braking, 700 mph: 164 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.87 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 25/33 mpg
C/D observed: 28 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt
PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 8.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 25.5 sec
Rolling start, 560 mph: 9.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.3 sec @ 84 mph
Top speed (redline limited): 120 mph
Braking, 700 mph: 166 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.85 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 25/33 mpg
C/D observed: 28 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt
WARRANTY:
3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;
5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;
5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;
3 years/100,000 miles roadside assistance
Continued…