Subaru revealed a station wagon-bodied concept from the Viziv series in 2018 at the Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland. The show car in question served as inspiration for the latest rendering from Digimods DESIGN, which is based on the Impreza.
The concept vehicle's design cues are pretty obvious up front, where you'll find sharper headlights, a more striking grille, and some carbon fiber. Whether fake or not, said material is used for the lip spoiler and the bumper's extremities, where the fog lights are gone in favor of air ducts that channel air to the front brakes.
Pictured on rather generic-looking wheels, the Impreza-Viziv design study isn't as dramatic from the side as it is from up front. Digimods DESIGN left the rear end pretty much unchanged as well. Designated a 2024 to 2025 redesign, the rendering is wishful thinking because Subaru is content with its newly redesigned Impreza.
Still based on the Subaru Global Platform of its predecessor, the sixth generation is available solely in five-door hatchback guise. Considering that sedans aren't as popular as they used to be a decade ago, it's not exactly surprising. Manufactured in Japan at the Gunma plant in Gunma Prefecture, the Impreza is available as a 2024 model with standard AWD in North America.
Codenamed GU, the compact hatchback features more torsional rigidity due to more high-strength steel in the unibody chassis. The Japanese automaker also dropped the manual transmission in favor of the chain-driven continuously variable transmission marketed as the Lineartronic. Standard automatic emergency braking, the dual-pinion steering rack of the WRX, and two boxer engines of the naturally-aspirated variety are featured.
Clearly blander in styling compared to the Viziv Tourer Concept mentioned earlier, the Impreza still is great value for the money. Base is what Subaru calls the most basic of specifications, which shares a 2.0-liter boxer with the mid-range Sport. Only the top-of-the-line RS levels up to a 2.5er, and only the Sport and RS come with an eight-speed manual shift mode and paddle shifters.
In the suck-squeeze-bang-blow department, the direct-injected base engine produces 152 horsepower and 145 pound-feet (197 Nm) on full song. The larger sibling improves to 182 ponies and 178 pound-feet (241 Nm).
Starting at $22,995 or $24,085 including destination charge, the 2024 Subaru Impreza Base comes with steering responsive headlights – LED headlights, that is – as well as dual-zone automatic climate control, and two 7.0-inch touchscreens. From the Sport upwards, the infotainment system comprises a single 11.6-inch touchscreen. Even though RS makes one think of a rather sporty machine, the Impreza RS isn't that. Sporty though it may be in appearance, its naturally-aspirated boxer in combination with the Lineartronic transmission are best described as perfectly fine rather than sporty.
The new Impreza should help Subaru sell a handful more cars than the previous gen did last year. Merely 30,846 examples of the breed were delivered stateside, down from 34,791 in 2021. At the other end of the spectrum, the Crosstrek and Outback reign supreme with 155,142 and 147,262 deliveries in the US in 2022.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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