Mick Kearns Citizen staff
The new Subaru Impreza is out and I think it may have been designed in part by a woman, or at least a man who at some time in his life suffered from insomnia.
Let me explain.
I have often been asked - as I'm sure some of you gents out there have been asked - "do you like my new outfit?"
The answer is always "yes" (because you know what no leads to), but although you think there may be something missing, you are at a loss to know what it is.
There's a dress, there's a pair of shoes. What more do you need?
But if you have ever suffered from a bout of insomnia, you may have found yourself at 4 a.m. watching all kinds of rubbish on the goggle box.
Although generally, all the shopping channel and infomercials tell you is that you are fat and you need to buy more crap that will make your lazy life even lazier.
But once in a while there is an AHA! moment.
For me that came with the statement "all this outfit needs is a
little splash of colour."
Bingo. Eureka. LED lightbulb fireworks going off all over the place.
"Your outfit looks lovely dear, but I think it needs just a little splash of colour," has worked wonders since then, although I do have to use it sparingly.
And that's what I think happened with the new Subaru Impreza. Once everything was almost finished one of the boss ladies, or some guy with insomnia said, "all this car needs now is a little splash of colour."
And this is how the large red hazard lights button got to be placed in the middle of the dash. There is no question about where it is, however it is not overpowering in any way, after all, it is just a splash.
Apparently this splash of colour is something you do with new outfits and this Subaru
Impreza is totally new.
It is larger than the previous model, it looks different, the drive is different and the gas mileage is definitely different.
Gas mileage in all-wheel-drive vehicles is usually lower than in a front wheel drive or rear wheel drive vehicle because the engine is driving both the front and the rear wheels at the same time. However Subaru seems to have fixed this problem with the new
Impreza.
A 2.0-litre engine mated to a continuously variable transmission has been used, and with a sixth gear, these combine to take the Impreza mileage numbers from the high 30s all the way up to 51.
This is phenomenal gas mileage for an all-wheel-drive vehicle and as the Impreza was already a tough vehicle to beat, it is now even harder.
The Subaru has kept pretty much all the options it had before and added paddle shifters to its arsenal. Most vehicles that come with a manumatic transmission (which are all the rage these days) allow the driver to shift gears by tapping the shifter forward and back or to the left and right.
Subaru has gone a different direction, one which allows the driver to keep his hands on the steering wheel. Instead of moving the shifter on the centre console, Subaru has installed paddle shifters on the steering wheel. These are situated on the back of the wheel so they can be tapped with the fingers while the thumbs can be used to operate the cruise, Bluetooth or the stereo controls on the front of the wheel.
The computer also seems to add a little gas when changing up gears as there was always a little surge with each upshift on top of the one provided by my right boot. It means no lagging when changing gears and you can keep climbing up the speedo until you reach desired
cruising speed.
The slightly larger frame means a bit more knee room in the back and extra storage space in the trunk. Rear seats drop for more storage space and a fold down armrest in the back
provides space for two coffee cups.
In the centre on top of the dash is an information centre with some neat graphics and information showing which wheels the power is going to, what your gas mileage is and several others items. It is cool to play with and may come in handy if you are in a driveway with lots of snow and ice so you can see which wheels have the most grip.
The 2012 Subaru Impreza builds on its winning redesign from a few years ago with
customer-winning gas mileage and the large insomnia induced splash of colour for the lady in your life.
SPEC SHEET:
Vehicle
Subaru Impreza
Vehicle type: 4-door
Transmission: 6-speed
Engine: 2.0-litre four cylinder
Horsepower: 148 @ 6,200
Torque: 145 @ 4,200
Mileage: 7.5 l/100 km 38 mpg City
5.5 l/100 km 51 mpg Hwy
Price as tested: $27,680
