2008 Subaru Impreza

New for 2008, the Impreza is powered by a 2.5L four producing 170 hp that may seem high, but remember those 170 hp must cart around about 3100 lb of AWD sedan or five-door hatchback.

Should something happen to you on the road, the Impreza covers the safety front well. Besides the expected front airbags, the Impreza comes standard with chest side impact and side curtain airbags. The compact Subaru's crash test scores are impressive: 4 and 5 stars all around for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tests as well as scores of "Good" for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's front- and side-impact tests.

Subaru forgot to inject this base-model Impreza with any of the uniqueness that traditionally has set Subarus apart from Hondas and Toyotas. The only compelling reason I can see to consider this car over Civic and Corolla is the all-wheel drive, which is indeed a big bonus in a car that stickers for only $17,737.

Other than that, the Impreza is uninspiring to drive, with a soggy chassis, a four-cylinder boxer engine that does little to raise your pulse, and a distinct lack of joie de vivre. And its fuel economy ratings aren't that great, either, at only 20/27 city/highway.

The manual transmission, however, is something Subaru needs to work on.

"You can be forgiven for thinking that it looks a lot like a Toyota Corolla. It does. The 2008 Subaru Impreza may be the least expensive all-wheel-drive sedan on the U.S. market today, but it's also the most obnoxiously styled." "Subaru focused heavily on reducing NVH and increasing interior refinement on the latest Impreza, and it shows."

With a base price of $17,640, the Impreza 2.5i four-door is the least expensive all-wheel-drive equipped sedan on the U.S. market.

The '08 WRX is built on a new chassis, has a longer wheelbase and an all-new rear unequal-length control arm suspension. While the muscular fenders are gone and the shape of the Subie is controversial (good or bad) on many fronts, popping the hood reveals a 2.5-liter boxer four rated at 224bhp. For the tuning crowd, the familiar turbocharged platform represents a good starting point.

Our first impression was (as with the WRX and base Impreza) that, while still a fast machine, the STI had become softer and more docile.

The newly designed '08 Subaru Impreza STI, powered by the infamous 2.5L boxer engine is rated at a factory 305 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque.

The '08 model continues the Subaru legacy as its rally proven symmetrical all-wheel-drive system and turbocharged powerplant have been a successfully lethal combination in the world of automotive performance.

Impreza and Outback Sport use a 2.5-liter horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine teamed with a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission.

The Impreza powertrain is competitive with anything in the compact class, but some rivals offer six-speed automatics that improve fuel economy. The Impreza's fuel economy is on par with other all-wheel-drive compacts, but it suffers compared to front-drive rivals.

The Impreza 2.5i and Outback Sport use a 2.5-liter horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine that churns out 170 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 170 pound-feet of torque at 4400 rpm. Those numbers make the Impreza as powerful as just about anything in the class, though the four-cylinders from Nissan and Toyota feel more responsive.

The Impreza also has a handling advantage versus several competitors. The Impreza hosts the performance-oriented WRX and WRX STI models, and the base models benefit from the built-in handling prowess needed for the top models. In addition, Subaru's flat boxer engines can sit lower than other engines, allowing for a lower center of gravity and therefore better handling.