Minority Interest
by David Finlay (11 Dec 07)

The scuttlebut from within Subaru is that when the Forester SUV is fitted with a turbo diesel engine in 2008 it will become the most popular model the company sells in the UK. Until then, the Impreza leads the field, and it will still be very significant once the diesel Forester takes over, so it's kind of important that the recent and fundamental redesign has been a step in the right direction.

"Nice car," murmured a young lad as I parked the 2.0R test car next to him. Well, that was a good start. I wasn't fond of the new Impreza's shape the first time I saw it, but I do believe I may be getting used to it. Perhaps, though, that's because I've spent some time with a WRX, whose various exterior add-ons do it no visual good whatever.

Whatever your own views on the appearance may be, it's going to help UK sales that the Impreza is now available only as a hatchback, rather than a saloon/estate as before. Hatchbacks are not universally popular, but they're well-loved by British motorists.

Equally well-loved by manufacturers the world over nowadays are tiny rear side windows, and Subaru has fallen into the trap of providing these too, with predictably appalling results in terms of rear visibility.

Unlike the old Impreza saloon, this one gets a full-sized tailgate and provides 301 litres of luggage space with the split-folding rear seat up and 1216 litres with it down. The latter figure isn't bad at all for a C-segment car; the former is less impressive, but you won't be worrying about that too much if one of your reasons for buying an Impreza is the standard provision of four-wheel drive (the rear axle being what reduces load volume).

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