2024 Subaru Impreza

2024 is the launch year of the sixth-generation, hatchback-only Impreza, and the volume Base and Sport trims carry over the 2.0L naturally aspirated BOXER at 152 hp; only the newly revived RS steps up to the 2.5L at 182 hp. Both figures sit near the floor of the compact-hatch band.

The volume 2.0L boxer makes 145 lb-ft, with the RS's 2.5L at 178 lb-ft. With no turbocharging anywhere in the range, both peaks arrive high in the rev band and little pull is available at everyday engine speeds.

The 2.0L volume car needs about 9.0 seconds to 60 mph; the RS's larger engine only trims that to roughly the high sevens/low eights. Slow for a compact hatchback, where the segment norm is comfortably into the sevens.

The naturally aspirated boxer must be worked hard to deliver its modest output and gets coarse and loud doing it, with no turbo torque to fill the low-rpm gap — reviewers of the new-for-2024 car repeatedly describe the base engine as underpowered on the highway. Throttle response is at least linear and predictable, which keeps it out of the bottom band.

A Lineartronic CVT is the only transmission on any 2024 trim — no manual is offered on the hatchback-only lineup. It is smooth and unobtrusive at part throttle, and Sport and RS add an eight-ratio manual mode with paddles that approximates a conventional automatic, but it drones under load and is slow to answer a request for passing power.

Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive is standard on every 2024 Impreza — best-in-class availability in a segment where the Civic and Corolla hatchbacks are front-drive only — and 2024 adds standard Active Torque Vectoring plus a revised, faster-reacting AWD system. The hardware stops short of sophisticated: no low range, no locking differential, and unlike the Crosstrek the Impreza is not offered with X-MODE.

The 2024 lineup is two naturally aspirated gas boxers — 2.0L on Base/Sport, 2.5L on RS — behind a single CVT, with AWD standard and nothing else: no turbo, no manual, and no hybrid, plug-in or EV variant. That covers the trim walk but leaves a buyer no electrified path at all in a segment where the Prius and Leaf sit.

The volume 2.0L Base/Sport returns an EPA-rated 30 MPG combined; the RS's 2.5L gives up one MPG on every cycle. Respectable for a compact hatchback carrying standard all-wheel drive, but short of the front-drive class leaders and well behind the segment's hybrids.

27 MPG on the EPA city cycle for the volume 2.0L trim. With no hybrid assist and a permanently engaged AWD driveline, the naturally aspirated boxer is capped in stop-and-go running, though auto stop-start is fitted.

34 MPG highway for the 2.0L volume trim — mid-pack for a compact hatchback. The full-time AWD hardware and the boxer's modest thermal efficiency cost roughly 4–6 MPG against the best front-drive rivals in the class.

A 16.6-gallon tank at the EPA's 30 MPG combined gives about 498 miles of range on the volume 2.0L trim, dropping to roughly 481 miles in the 29-MPG RS. Comfortably more than a long day's driving but unremarkable for the class.

EPA estimates $2,050 a year for the 2.0L at its standard 15,000-mile assumption, and $2,100 for the RS. Regular-grade fuel keeps the figure moderate despite the economy penalty of standard AWD.

Both 2024 boxer engines run on regular 87-octane unleaded — no premium recommendation on any trim, including the RS — and there is no plug, charging hardware or special fuel handling to budget for.

NHTSA crash-tested the redesigned sixth-generation car in its 2024 model year and awarded a clean sweep: 5 stars overall with 5 stars in every frontal, side and rollover sub-rating. Rollover risk is 9.3% with no tip in the dynamic test.

The all-new 2024 Impreza is an IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK — its 17th consecutive award year — with Good ratings in driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, the updated side test, headlights and pedestrian front crash prevention. It falls short of TSP+ on one specific result: Marginal in the updated moderate overlap front test, which grades rear-passenger protection, and that is a real gap rather than a technicality.

Every 2024 Impreza, including the $22,995 Base, carries the latest EyeSight suite standard — pre-collision braking and throttle management, full-speed adaptive cruise with lane centering, lane departure and sway warning, and lane keep assist — which covers three of the five features this item looks for on the cheapest car in the range. Blind-spot detection and rear cross-traffic alert are the hole: unavailable on Base, an extra-cost option on Sport, standard only on the RS, so the volume car does not have them unless the buyer pays.

The redesigned EyeSight hardware earns IIHS's top pedestrian front crash prevention result — Good under the 2024 criteria, and Superior in both daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian testing under the prior scheme — which is exactly the night-pedestrian capability this item's top band asks for. It is held just under the ceiling because the car has no published result in the newer, harder vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation.

Blind-Spot Detection with Lane Change Assist and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert reaches only two of three trims — a paid option on Sport, standard on RS, and simply not orderable on the Base car — and both function as warnings rather than braking or steering interventions. The one active element is Automatic Emergency Steering, which Subaru bundles only with the blind-spot hardware, and there is no 360-degree camera or safe-exit alert anywhere in the range.

Lane departure warning, sway warning, lane keep assist and lane centering are all standard on every trim, and testers of the 2024 car found the system genuinely holds the lane, feeding in enough steering to stay put through curves rather than bouncing off the markings. Reviewers consistently rate the centering a step below the adaptive cruise for polish, which keeps it out of the top band.

EyeSight's full-speed-range adaptive cruise with stop-and-go and lane centering is standard on the cheapest Impreza, and reviewers of the 2024 car rank it among the better systems in the compact class for how smoothly it holds gaps and modulates speed. What is on offer is a lane-centering highway assist, not a supervised hands-off system, so it sits at the bottom of the top band rather than higher.

No hands-free highway driving mode is offered on any 2024 Impreza trim. EyeSight is a hands-on lane-centering system with a torque-sensing steering-wheel check; Subaru had no BlueCruise/Super Cruise equivalent in the US lineup for 2024, and there is no driver-monitoring camera on the Impreza to permit one.

The 2024 redesign put Good-rated headlights on every trim — steering-responsive LED units standard from the Base car up — which IIHS specifically called out as an improvement over the outgoing Impreza, where lower trims rated Marginal. That is exactly the top-band condition of Good headlights standard across the range.

The hatchback body keeps a fairly upright greenhouse with slim A-pillars and large side glass, and the low cowl of the boxer packaging gives a clear forward view — sightlines are one of the car's quiet strengths in the class. Rearward vision is average for a modern hatch, with a thick C-pillar and a raked rear window, and Subaru compensates only with a standard back-up camera; no surround-view system is offered on any trim.

IIHS rates the Impreza's LATCH hardware Good and credits it with extra usable positions — two full sets of lower anchors at the rear outboard seats plus a tether anchor for the centre position, with anchors that do not require digging into the seat bight. The limit is the compact hatchback's own dimensions: three seats across the back is a squeeze, and a rear-facing seat costs the front passenger meaningful legroom.

The sixth generation launched for 2024 as a five-door hatchback only — the sedan was dropped — and every trim is a five-passenger car with a 60/40 split flat-folding rear bench.

39.8 inches sits near the top of the compact-hatch range, a product of the tall, upright greenhouse the sixth generation kept; the Sport's optional power moonroof costs about an inch.

42.9 inches is in the upper half of the compact-hatch band and pairs with 56.8 inches of front shoulder room, so the front cabin feels roomy in every direction despite a 176.2-inch overall length.

38.0 inches is generous for the class because the hatchback roofline is held high rather than tapered, and it is the one interior dimension the moonroof does not reduce — though Consumer Reports still found the back tight for the tallest passengers.

36.5 inches is the weakest of the Impreza's interior dimensions and mid-pack at best — the 105.1-inch wheelbase is short and class leaders give second-row passengers two to four inches more. Adequate for adults on shorter trips and for child seats, tight behind a tall driver.

20.4 cubic feet behind the rear seats is solidly above average for a compact hatchback and opens to 56.0 with the bench down, over a load floor that stretches from 32.1 to 63.9 inches and loads over a low 26.0-inch lip — though it trails the Civic hatchback's benchmark.

Competent and conventional with no signature idea. The volume Sport adds a folding rear armrest with dual cupholders and an illuminated glove box to the standard console-with-armrest-lid, dual console cupholders and a bottle holder in each door, and the cargo bay comes with two grocery hooks and four tie-downs on every trim. But there is no underfloor bin, no fold-flat front passenger seat and no onboard AC outlet on any trim, the retractable cargo cover is RS-only, and rear USB ports and the wireless charger are RS-only too.

One of the car's strongest traits at launch — the redesigned front seats draw praise for thick cushioning and natural built-in lumbar support, and reviewers call out room for adults front and rear. Held below the top band because the volume Sport's driver's seat is 6-way manual (a 10-way power seat exists only inside the RS's $2,070 package) and the rear bench is flat with a short cushion.

Better damped than most compacts and composed over broken pavement, but the all-new sixth generation is tuned firmer than the car it replaced, and the volume Sport's standard 18-inch wheels on 225/40 tires let sharper impacts through. Solidly mid-band rather than segment-leading.

The weakest part of the comfort case. Wind noise builds at highway speed and the naturally aspirated boxer paired to the Lineartronic CVT drones whenever the car is asked to climb or pass — a complaint that shows up in both professional tests of the 2024 launch cars. No acoustic glass or active noise cancellation is offered on any trim.

Dual-zone automatic climate control standard from the $22,995 Base is unusually generous at that price, but the cold-weather kit above it is thin: heated front seats arrive only in the All-Weather Package, which is not offered at all on the Base, costs $1,900 bundled with a moonroof and blind-spot detection on the volume Sport, and is standard only on the RS. There is no heated steering wheel, no ventilated seats and no rear climate controls on any trim, and remote start with climate control needs a STARLINK subscription.

The 2024 redesign opened the range at $22,995 for the Base hatchback, which with the $1,090 destination charge lands at $24,085 out the door — the cheapest way into a new all-wheel-drive car sold in the US that year.

The Sport is the mid-ladder volume seller, adding 17-inch alloys, dual 7-inch/11.6-inch STARLINK displays, paddle shifters and body cladding over the Base for $2,000, and delivers $26,085 with destination. The single option package on that trim — moonroof, Blind-Spot Detection and the All-Weather Package for $1,900 — is commonly ordered and takes it to $27,985.

Subaru's 6-month/6,000-mile service interval means roughly twice the number of dealer visits a Corolla or Civic needs on their 10,000-mile schedules, and the CVT fluid service falls inside the five-year window — which is why the Impreza lands a little above the compact-hatch peers despite a clean repair record. The 3-year/36,000-mile basic and 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranties absorb most component failures, so the figure is mostly scheduled maintenance and wear items rather than repairs.

The Impreza holds value like the Toyota and Honda compacts rather than like a discount-brand small car — standard all-wheel drive keeps demand steady in snow-belt used markets and Subaru's supply has never run to fleet volume. Every industry source points at or above 60% retention, and the figure is set slightly under the most optimistic of them because those measure a used market still running hot.

Subaru's bumper-to-bumper coverage is the industry-baseline 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first — no better than the Corolla or Civic, and half the 5-year/60,000-mile basic term Hyundai and Kia put on their compacts.

The boxer engine, CVT and symmetrical all-wheel-drive hardware are covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles — again the segment floor, against the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain terms on the Elantra and Forte. Rust perforation is the one place Subaru beats the norm, at 5 years with no mileage cap.

Subaru includes no complimentary scheduled maintenance in the US at all — every one of those 6,000-mile services is out of pocket from the first one, where ToyotaCare covers 2 years/25,000 miles on the rival Corolla Hatchback and Honda gives two years of included service on the Civic. What the 2024 Impreza does bring is 3 years of STARLINK Safety Plus with SOS emergency assistance, automatic collision notification and diagnostic alerts, plus 3-year/36,000-mile roadside assistance, which is a longer connected-services trial than most of the class — enough for the bottom of the middle band, not more.

$26,085 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (61% retained, or about $15,912) leaves about $10,173 in depreciation. Add the projected $4,300 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $14,473 in total.

2024 is the launch year of the sixth-generation (GU) Impreza, and the forecasts reflect that: J.D. Power rates it 78/100 for quality and reliability — the middle of its "Average" 70–80 band, and explicitly a prior-model-year rating carried onto an unproven redesign — against 83/100 once the 2025 carry-over had a year of data behind it. Consumer Reports is more positive, calling the 2024 car more reliable than the typical vehicle of its model year, helped by carry-over hardware (Subaru Global Platform, FB20 boxer, Lineartronic CVT) that limits how much is genuinely new. The launch-year trouble spots CR does list — CarPlay dropouts, over-the-air updates that disabled infotainment and driver-assist, cold-weather 12V battery drain — are why this sits below the same car's 2025 score rather than alongside it.

The 2024 model year is the one in which Subaru reached the top of Consumer Reports' reliability survey for the first time in that survey's history, displacing Lexus and Toyota — CR's own analysts credited exactly the component-sharing across models and model years that this Impreza benefits from. The dissent is J.D. Power's 2024 Vehicle Dependability Study, which still had Subaru below the industry average on three-year-old vehicles even after a 16-point year-over-year improvement, and which is measuring 2021 cars rather than this one. Top-tier by the newer, more directly relevant signal; merely mid-pack by the older one.

NHTSA lists two campaigns against the 2024 Impreza, both filed during the 2023 launch ramp and both shared with the Crosstrek: an instrument-panel harness that can chafe on the steering beam bracket and short (35,357 vehicles, remedy is an added clamp) and front driveshafts whose outer race can crack (4,701 vehicles). Both carry a loss-of-drive-power consequence, which is not trivial, but both are discrete build/supplier faults with straightforward inspect-and-replace remedies rather than anything systemic in the engine, CVT or structure — and nothing further has been added against the 2024 car in the two years since. Two campaigns in a first model year is ordinary launch activity, but it is measurably worse than the clean sheet the 2025 build carries.

The volume Base and Sport trims use the FB20 2.0L boxer, in production since 2011 and good for roughly 200,000 miles with no head-gasket epidemic of the sort that plagued the older EJ series; the RS's FB25 shares that record. Two things hold it in the middle band. The FB20D direct-injection variant fitted to the redesigned 2024 car brings the usual DI carry-ons — intake-valve carbon accumulation and a timing chain/tensioner that punishes stretched oil intervals — and the Lineartronic CVT remains the component that caps a Subaru's service life, with independent shops still citing a 120,000–150,000-mile common failure window even though the current TR580-family unit is materially better than the 2010–2015 boxes that drew Subaru's warranty extension. Proven engine architecture in its first year of this application, a transmission of merely acceptable reputation, and no manual offered as an escape.

Reviewers split on the redesigned cabin, and the split itself is the verdict: those grading it against its sub-$30,000 price found the front touch surfaces genuinely soft and well finished, while those comparing it directly with the compact-hatch benchmarks found it short of them. The consistent thread is that the soft-touch treatment stops at the front row — rear-cabin surfaces are hard plastic — and that the Civic Hatchback, Corolla Hatchback and especially the Mazda3 Hatchback all use less hard plastic where occupants touch. Competent for the money, plainly not class-leading.

Sixth-generation US Impreza assembly returned to Subaru's Gunma, Japan plants from the Lafayette, Indiana line that built the fifth-generation car, and reviewers who criticize the materials still describe the body and cabin as solidly put together — the GU body also gained high-strength steel for a claimed ten percent torsional-rigidity improvement. Two launch-year facts keep it out of the upper band and below the 2025 build: the WRL-23 recall is literally an assembly-clearance defect (a harness routed close enough to chafe on a bracket), and Consumer Reports' first-year owner data flags in-car electronics — CarPlay dropouts and over-the-air updates that bricked infotainment and driver-assist — plus cold-weather 12V drain. Solid structure, first-year electrical shakedown.

Subaru's roughly 630–640 US retailers make a thinner network than Honda's or Toyota's — dense in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and mountain states, noticeably sparser across the South and Plains — but the experience inside it is among the best in the mainstream market. J.D. Power's 2024 Customer Service Index put Subaru in a tie for second among mass-market brands at 877 points, and the brand went on to rank highest outright in the 2025 and 2026 studies. Excellent service satisfaction on a merely adequate footprint.

OEM supply is not a problem — the Impreza shares its engine, CVT and platform with the far higher-volume Crosstrek, so mechanical parts move in quantity and the two recalls were remedied without reported parts delays. Running cost is the weak spot: RepairPal puts Impreza repair and maintenance at $653 a year against a $526 compact-car average, with repair severity above average even though unscheduled visits match the class norm, and boxer-plus-AWD service (opposed cylinder banks, a four-wheel driveline, matched-tire requirements) is inherently costlier than a transverse front-drive Civic or Corolla. The enthusiast aftermarket is active through the WRX but small next to those two.

The volume Sport carries the portrait-oriented 11.6-inch Multimedia Plus display, which is also the largest offered anywhere in the range — the $27,885 RS gets the same unit, not a bigger one. The $22,995 Base runs a different architecture entirely: dual 7.0-inch stacked touchscreens.

Genuinely workable despite dated graphics, and saved by hardware Subaru did not delete: chunky volume and tuning knobs flank the portrait screen, temperature and defrost stay on real buttons, and heated seats get console switches rather than a menu. Held to mid-band because reviewers of the launch cars found the 11.6-inch unit slow to respond regardless of task, and secondary climate and vehicle settings still live behind screen taps.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on the volume Sport and on the RS as part of the 11.6-inch Multimedia Plus system — a real advantage in a class where wireless projection is often reserved for top trims. It stops short of the top band only because the Base is wired-only through its dual 7.0-inch setup and cannot be optioned up.

No factory embedded navigation is offered on any 2024 Impreza trim — Subaru fits the Multimedia Plus system rather than the Multimedia Navigation variant sold on larger models — so mapping depends entirely on a connected phone. Built-in voice control handles basic media, phone and climate commands rather than natural language, and most owners default to Siri or Google Assistant through projection.

The volume Sport's six speakers are unremarkable but adequate, and the Base makes do with four. The one genuine upgrade — a 10-speaker Harman Kardon system with a 432-watt-equivalent amplifier — exists only inside a $2,070 package on the top RS, so the great majority of Imprezas sold cannot be optioned with premium audio at any price.

Analog speedometer and tachometer with a small 4.2-inch color LCD between them on every trim — no full-digital or reconfigurable gauge display is available anywhere in the 2024 lineup, including the $27,885 RS. The 4.2-inch panel is crisp and carries trip, EyeSight and AWD data, which keeps it off the floor, but the layout is fixed.

The 11.6-inch system supports firmware-over-the-air updates for multimedia software and map data, delivered over Wi-Fi or the embedded data module, with the MySubaru app flagging availability. This is infotainment-scope only — Subaru does not push whole-vehicle software that adds features or retunes systems the way OTA-native brands do — and on this generation the cellular update path depends on an active connected-services subscription.

MySubaru Connected Services covers the expected set on the volume Sport — remote engine start with climate control, remote lock/unlock, vehicle locator, automatic collision notification and SOS — but the useful half sits behind a paid subscription once the trial lapses, the Base cannot have it at all, and there is no phone-as-key or digital key sharing.

Adequate up front and nothing behind: the volume Sport gets illuminated front USB-A and USB-C ports, but rear-seat charging ports are exclusive to the RS and no trim offers a household AC outlet, so back-seat passengers in the two cheaper trims have nowhere to plug in. Wireless charging is available on the Sport only as a port-installed accessory rather than factory equipment.

Keyless Access with Push-Button Start is standard on the volume Sport and RS, and subscription-based remote start rides on that hardware. The Base is left with a conventional keyless-entry fob and twist ignition and cannot be optioned up, there is no phone-as-key, and a hatchback of this class gets no power or hands-free rear hatch.

A rear-vision camera is standard across the range and the Impreza's upright glasshouse and good outward visibility genuinely reduce how much help a driver needs, but the hardware roster is thin: no surround-view camera, no front-view monitor and no front or rear parking sensors are offered on any 2024 trim at any price, and rear cross-traffic alert rides along with the blind-spot package the Base cannot have and Sport buyers pay $1,900 for.

No head-up display is offered on any 2024 Impreza trim or in any option package or accessory — Subaru fits none to this model line.

The car-seat hardware is a genuine strength of the all-new 2024 car — IIHS rates the LATCH system Good and credits extra usable positions beyond the required two, and the rear doors are short but open wide, so swinging a seat in is easy. The limit is the footprint the sixth generation kept: 36.5 inches of rear legroom means a rear-facing seat pushes the front passenger forward, three across the bench is not realistic, and beyond the 60/40 fold there is no family-flexibility kit at all.

Strong where it costs a family nothing: five NHTSA stars overall, an IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK award for the redesigned 2024 car, and the latest EyeSight — full-speed adaptive cruise with lane centering, pre-collision braking and Good-rated pedestrian AEB — standard from the $22,995 Base, which is more than most rivals give entry buyers. Two family-specific gaps hold it mid-band: the updated IIHS moderate overlap test rates the car Marginal specifically on rear-passenger chest injury and restraints, and Blind-Spot Detection with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert cannot be ordered on the Base at any price and costs $1,900 on the volume Sport.

Front-seat comfort is genuinely good and 20.4 cubic feet behind an occupied rear bench swallows a family's luggage without folding anything, but the back of the cabin is bare on the trims families buy: no rear climate controls or vents on any trim, no rear-seat charging at all on Base or the volume Sport, no shades or entertainment, and a cabin noisy enough over several hours to wear on passengers.

This is the Impreza's natural habitat. Light, quick steering, an upright seating position with excellent sightlines, a Lineartronic CVT that is smooth and unobtrusive at commuting speeds, and full-speed-range adaptive cruise with lane centering standard on the cheapest trim make it a low-effort car in traffic. What keeps it out of the top band is the volume 152-hp boxer's reluctance when a gap needs closing — the CVT is slow to answer a request for a burst of speed, and reviewers of the launch cars found the engine underpowered on the highway.

30 MPG combined on regular 87-octane works out to roughly $2,050 a year at EPA assumptions — reasonable in absolute terms and impressive for a car with permanently engaged all-wheel drive, but four to eight MPG behind the front-drive compact hatchbacks a commuter cross-shops and well behind any hybrid in the class. Consumables are ordinary, though RepairPal puts Impreza upkeep above the compact-car average, and there is no plug-in or electric path to a lower per-mile figure.

A 176.2-inch hatchback with a 34.8-foot turning circle, a low boxer-packaged cowl, thin pillars and tall upright glass is about as easy to place in a city as anything on sale, and the Base's 16-inch wheels make curbing cheap to fix. It falls short of the top band only on the assistance side: a rear-vision camera is the entire toolkit — no front or rear parking sensors and no surround-view camera are offered on any 2024 trim at any price.

Not a work vehicle in any meaningful sense: no US tow rating is published for the 2024 Impreza, there is no bed or open load area, and the 152-hp naturally aspirated boxer already strains with five aboard and takes about nine seconds to 60 mph unladen. The 56 cubic feet available with the bench folded is genuinely useful for hauling supplies, which is the only reason this is not at the floor.

The FB-series boxer has a sound long-run record and standard Symmetrical AWD helps on rough site access, but nothing about the car is built for abuse — cloth upholstery with no vinyl or wipe-clean option, no work trim, unibody compact construction, and no commercial-fleet presence to draw a track record from. 2024 is also the launch year of the sixth generation and carries two NHTSA recalls plus first-year electrical shakedown, so the specific build has less proving behind it than later years.

Essentially nothing beyond the basics: four cargo-area tie-down hooks and two grocery hooks on every trim, factory crossbar mounting points on the roof, and a dealer accessory catalog that runs to bike and ski carriers rather than ladder racks or work gear. No household AC outlet on any trim, no washable interior surfaces, no factory trailer hitch and no upfit ecosystem of any kind.

A capable if unexciting tourer: a 16.6-gallon tank at 30 MPG gives roughly 500 miles between fills, the redesigned front seats draw praise for long-stint comfort and natural lumbar support, and standard full-speed adaptive cruise with lane centering genuinely cuts highway fatigue on every trim including the cheapest. The cabin is what caps it — wind noise builds at speed and the boxer-plus-CVT drones whenever the car climbs or passes, with no reserve of power for a quick move on a two-lane.

Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive standard on every trim — newly revised for 2024 with standard Active Torque Vectoring — is a real differentiator in a segment where the Civic and Corolla hatchbacks are front-drive only, and a snowy trailhead or a washboard forest road is well within reach. The ceiling is set by what the 2024 car does not have: 5.1 inches of ground clearance, no X-MODE or hill descent control anywhere in the lineup (the Crosstrek exists precisely for that), no low range, no skid plates and no tow rating for toys.

The hatchback body does the heavy lifting: a wide, square 20.4-cubic-foot load bay with a low 26-inch lift-over that opens to 56.0 cubic feet on a 60/40 flat fold, a 63.9-inch load floor, four tie-downs, and factory crossbar mounting points for a roof box or bike carrier. Short of the top band because the fold is only 60/40 with no pass-through or fold-flat front seat, there is no underfloor bin beyond the tire-kit well, the retractable cargo cover is RS-only, and no factory hitch is offered for a rack.

2024 launches the sixth generation on a substantially stiffened structure with standard Active Torque Vectoring, and the chassis is the best thing about the car: testers found it agile and very secure, with little body roll and only mild understeer at the limit, and the volume Sport turned an impressively quick 56 mph through Consumer Reports' accident-avoidance run. Held below the hot-hatch tier because grip is limited by all-season rubber and the car is composed rather than genuinely playful at speed.

The dual-pinion electric rack borrowed from the WRX is quick — 13.0:1 and just 2.5 turns lock-to-lock — and reviewers of the new-for-2024 car consistently rate its response and on-center accuracy above the compact-hatch norm, calling it sharp and naturally weighted. It stops short of the top band because the feedback is more about precision than genuine texture from the front tires.

Hardware is adequate — Sport and RS get 12.4-inch front vented rotors over the Base car's 11.6-inch — and dry stops are short enough in normal use, but the one instrumented figure for 2024 is an unremarkable 127 feet from 60 mph with poor pedal feedback, and 149 feet on a wet surface disappointed Consumer Reports. Confident and fade-free in everyday driving, without the short stops or firm pedal of the class benchmarks.

Subaru retuned the Lineartronic CVT for the 2024 redesign and the low-speed calibration is genuinely good: smooth and seamless, with simulated upshifts that keep revs down and no jerky stop/start. Response is the problem — the volume 2.0L needs 9.4 seconds to 60 mph and the transmission is slow to answer a request for passing power, while the Sport/RS eight-ratio manual mode responds indecisively to the paddles.

The weakest part of the driving experience. The naturally aspirated boxer has to be worked hard for its modest output and turns coarse and droning doing it, and the CVT holds it there under load — testers describe an unmistakable racket whenever the powertrain is loaded up. Subaru did quiet the cabin somewhat for 2024 and vibration through the controls is well isolated, which keeps it off the floor.

A 34.78-foot curb-to-curb circle sits at the tight end of the compact-hatch band and is one of the Impreza's quiet everyday strengths, keeping U-turns and parking-garage ramps easy despite standard all-wheel drive. The figure is identical across Base, Sport and RS.

An unusually good small-car driving position: high-set behind a low hood with tall glass, so sightlines are near the top of the class, and Consumer Reports found the driver's seat accommodates all sizes with sufficient built-in lumbar support even in manual form. Two things hold it out of the top band — the volume Sport's front seats are manually adjusted, and several climate functions live in the 11.6-inch touchscreen rather than on the hard buttons beside it.

The 2024 redesign gave the Impreza a willing chassis — quick steering, standard AWD grip, minimal roll, and reviewers who genuinely enjoyed hustling it — but nothing to drive it with. The 152-hp volume car needs 9.4 seconds to 60 mph, the manual transmission is gone for good, and the coarse boxer through a CVT undercuts every corner the chassis wins; even the RS is more satisfying than exciting.

The $22,995 Base is the cheapest new all-wheel-drive car in America and still arrives with the full EyeSight suite (adaptive cruise with lane centering, pre-collision braking, lane keep assist), steering-responsive LED headlights, dual-zone automatic climate control and wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto — content most compact rivals either charge for or, in the case of AWD, cannot supply at any price. It falls short of the top band because the Base is otherwise plainly furnished: cloth, manual seats, steel wheels with covers ($350 for alloys), the small 7-inch display, and Blind-Spot Detection not even orderable.

Symmetrical AWD plus an IIHS Top Safety Pick body plus full driver assistance for well under $25,000 is a genuinely hard package to match, and reviewers repeatedly call it a lot of car for the money — the RS tops out under $29,000 with 182 hp. What holds it out of the standout band is what the money does not buy: 152 hp through a CVT in the volume trims, an interior a class behind the Civic's for material quality, and fuel economy that trails the front-drive competition, so the value case rests almost entirely on the driveline.

The 2024 redesign narrowed the lineup rather than widening it: the sedan was dropped from the US range, leaving one body style, one drivetrain, one transmission and no manual anywhere — just three trims spanning $22,995 to $27,885, with exactly one option package offered per trim. There is a real ladder there and two engines across it, but a buyer has almost nothing to configure.

An all-new generation is normally the year sales jump, and the Impreza's fell — 31,366 US units in 2024, down 9.7% on 2023, then down again to 27,942 in 2025. That is roughly half what the nameplate sold earlier in the decade and a small fraction of the Civic's or Corolla's volume, so the redesign did not arrest a multi-year slide.

Subaru carries one of the strongest owner-loyalty and brand-affinity records in the mainstream US market, built on standard all-wheel drive, an unbroken safety-award streak and an outdoors identity that supports resale — a real halo for a $23,000 hatchback. The Impreza itself is the least aspirational car in that lineup, the entry point beneath the Crosstrek and Forester that carry most of the brand's image, which keeps it out of the top band.

Subaru runs one of the thinnest incentive programs in the mainstream market and the 2024 Impreza was no exception — no broad cash rebates, with the buyer benefit coming as subvented financing at 2.9% APR for 48 months. Because the car is a slow and declining seller rather than a hot one, it transacts at or below MSRP with room to negotiate, which is worth something but is not the meaningful-incentive top band.

2024 is year one of the sixth-generation Impreza — a fresh body, a new interior with the tablet-style 11.6-inch STARLINK screen on upper trims, the latest dual-camera EyeSight hardware with an electric brake booster, and the new RS trim. A 2024 buyer is at the very start of the cycle with no redesign risk in sight.

Reviews are warm rather than enthusiastic: critics credit the standard AWD, the safety credentials and the value, then dock the car for a CVT and a 152-hp engine that make it slow and coarse, plus highway wind noise — it is a recommendation for Subaru buyers, not the pick of a compact comparison test, where the Civic, Mazda3 and Golf take the wins. The awards it does hold are safety awards rather than car-of-the-year hardware.