Take vehicles. Say you're shopping for a car and, since you want to save gas, you've decided to go compact.
But the security of allwheel drive is also on your list, so you've narrowed your search to the Subaru Impreza. The Impreza is one of the few small AWD choices available and, happily for you, extensively reworked for 2012 to deliver better fuel economy.
Fine. But now you must choose between hatchback and sedan. Like a lot of compact cars, the Impreza comes in two distinct body styles.
The key strength of a hatchback, especially a fourdoor hatchback, is versatility. Need hauling space? A big useful chunk of it awaits your easy access. Need an efficient people-mover? It's that too.
But some car buyers, especially in North America, continue to look down their hoods at hatchbacks. Too down-market, they think. (You'll notice that most manufacturers even avoid the H-word and instead call these models "five-doors.")
For this group, the automakers offer traditional four-doors-and-a-trunk versions like the $22,995-as-tested Impreza 2.0i Touring sedan that showed up for our one-week test. There's less cargo room - the Impreza provides a compact-typical 12 cubic feet under its trunk lid - but maybe you don't need to carry more than a grocery bag or two.
Regardless of configuration, you'll note some significant styling changes with this fourth-generation Impreza. They start with a hexagon-shaped grille that's a corporate salute to Subaru's larger Legacy, and narrowing hawk-eye headlamps perhaps inspired by the MASH character or The Last of the Mohicans.
The overall shape is sleeker, for improved aerodynamics. The sharply raked windshield is reminiscent of the Honda Civic's, with the same small triangular side widows at the base of the windshield posts. The wheelbase has been extended and the roof is higher, allowing more passenger and cargo space, yet this Impreza is lighter than the old one.
But the biggest gamechanger for efficiency is the new 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. It's still in the Subaru-standard "boxer" format, but displacement has dropped by a full half-litre from the last Impreza's flatfour. Horsepower falls to 148 from the previous 170 and torque is down as well, but hey, mileage, right?
Subaru says the new Impreza is 30 per cent more fuel efficient.
According to the "real world" ratings from the U.S. Energy Department that we prefer to Canada's testing methods, it's good for 8.7 L/100 km city, 6.5 L/100 km highway.
Be aware, though, that optimum mileage requires the $1,300 continuously variable transmission that is an updated version of the CVT automatic in the Legacy. Gone are the days when manual gearboxes were always more efficient. Choosing between manual and automatic in the Impreza isn't quite an either-or, however, because the CVT comes with those steering column paddles that let you upshift and downshift through six preset ratios.
Our tester had the CVT, which we largely left to its own logarithms. This is a perky enough car - perkier than we expected, given the revised engine output - with a nice sense of balance, quick steering response and firm brake feel. But it's not sporty enough to encourage manual shift overrides. You want sporty, Subaru has the carry-over WRX and STI, now offered as a separate model line.
If we did pull on a paddle, it was mainly to avoid the droning, fixed-r.p.m. engine note that is an unfortunate hallmark of CVT powertrains. Manufacturers, tune those exhausts!
Heated seats are usually another either-or item, since most manufacturers make you pay for leather to get that nice warm feeling. But Subaru, bless it, includes heated front seats in the cloth-upholstered Touring model that is one level up from the base $19,995 Impreza 2.0i.
Leather trim is available, of course, along with dualzone climate control, highintensity discharge headlamps and other upscale features in a Limited model that starts at $26,975.
Lower down the model scale, the Impreza interior is rather plain, with some hard plastic surfaces and a 1980s-like fuzzy headliner. Also old school is the squarely wrought instrument panel layout, though we found its clean arrangement of gauges and dials a relief from the whirls and swirls of some competitors' dashboards. And we liked the solid chachunking feel of the Impreza's controls.
Solid is a good word in general for the Impreza, both for its construction and its range of features that extends to cruise control and heated mirrors even in the base model. And then there's the standard all-wheel drive. Not everyone feels they need the four-corner grip of AWD, but some people won't drive without it.
Buy an Impreza, or any Subaru, and you get AWD, no either-or. Hatchback or sedan, though, is up to you.
THE SPECS
Type: Compact four-door sedan, all-wheel drive
Seats: Five
Price as tested: $22,995 plus $1,595 delivery (base 2.0i: $19,995)
Engine: 2.0-litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder, dual overhead camshafts, dual active valve control; 148 h.p. at 6,200 r.p.m., 145 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,200 r.p.m.
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic with manual shift paddles (option)
Tires: 205/55R16 Yokohama Avid all-season
Suspension: Struts (front), dual wishbone (rear)
Wheelbase: 2,645 mm (104.1 in.)
Curb weight: 1,350 kg (2,967 lb.)
Passenger volume: 2,744 litres (96.9 cu. ft.)
Trunk volume: 340 litres (12 cu. ft.)
Notable standard features: Telescopic steering column, driver-side knee airbag, multi-function display, stability and traction control, power heated mirrors, power windows (driver-side auto-up), air conditioning, cruise control
Options as tested: Automatic transmission, Touring package (heated front seats, auto headlamps, rear stabilizer bar, cloth door trim, rear centre armrest, steering wheel audio controls, Bluetooth hands-free system, iPod/ USB media hub, 16-inch alloy wheels, windshield wiper de-icer, illuminated glove box and ignition ring)
Fuel consumption, L/100 km (m.p.g.): City 8.7 (33), hwy. 6.5 (44) - (U.S.
Energy Dept. rating) Fuel type: Regular
Warranty, yrs./km: Basic 3/60,000, major components 5/100,000
