Subaru wanted to compete in the world market where hatchbacks are very popular. Even though the current Impreza is a compact by US standards, it's a long, oversized vehicle to much of the rest of the world. Parking a hatchback on a city street is much easier, and most people never utilize the extra cargo volume of the wagon over a hatch anyway. Also, Subaru is one of the only remaining marques to campaign a sedan in the World Rally Championship. Longer cars are much harder to slide sideways down a narrow road.

In addition to that. Subaru realized that it had more wagon models than any other brand, and quickly put a halt to it. For 2007, the Legacy Wagon has been discontinued and for 2008, the Impreza hatch will replace the Impreza wagon. Subaru's strategy is based on the belief that someone looking for an Impreza wagon will have the option between the smaller hatch and the larger Forester, and someone looking for a Legacy wagon will have the option of an Outback wagon or the Tribeca.

How is this any different than a wagon?But what about the sedan? I want my sedan!What about the STi? It will be a sedan, right?I heard Subaru is going to build a 2 door hatch, where is it?What is improved by going to the new platform?

The exhaust pipes are still on the left side of the driveshaft. The shortened rear overhang means that the muffler was turned 90 degrees and the tailpipe now exits on the other side. The exhaust is kept on the opposite side of the car from the evaporative emissions equipment that must be close to the fuel filler tube.

The important question is, "Why not?". Modern plastics used for manifolds are extremely strong and much cheaper to produce than metal, are better at insulating heat, smoother on the inside (for better flow) and, best of all, lighter. Currently, aluminum prices are skyrocketting. Most carmakers, including Subaru, are reducing the amount of aluminum used to build their cars... the old intakes were made out of aluminum.

Just as the previous Impreza was built on the previous Legacy platform, this new Impreza is built on the 2nd Legacy platform (debuted in '05). The platform is shortened in wheelbase resulting in less passenger room (than the Legacy), but retains the same forward chassis members and suspension pickup points,.. just like last time. The new Impreza's wheelbase is still 3.7" longer than the current one, which should translate to more interior room.

But, what about the engine? Why the Legacy engine?

Sadly, no. Subaru is discontinuing the use of aluminum on all the cars except for the STI models. Aluminum is just too expensive right now and Subaru (actually, nearly every car manufacturer) doesn't want to raise the prices as they don't believe most of their buyers understand the benefits of the aluminum components anyway. On the plus side, carbon fiber hoods could actually be considered 'upgrades' again.

The Impreza wagons never had fender flares before, so it shouldn't be very surprising that the new hatch lacks them as well. Again, this is a world car.. a bread & butter vehicle for Subaru to sell to people all over the world. What is surprising is that the sedan lacks them this time around.

Apparently, not everybody loves fender flares on their car (I know, hard to believe!) The good news is that we may still see an STI with very aggressive flares. There have been a number of very direct hints to this by some of our sources.

The steering wheel is right out of the Legacy and the seats remain unchanged. The lighting is red and the gauges perform a sweep calibration at startup. The stereo unit seen in the pictures has a DVD Navigation system. Behind the 7.5" screen is a 6 disc CD changer, and located in the console is an auxiliary input and even audio\video inputs for use on the screen when the car is at a stop (handbrake engaged). The longer wheelbase and an additional 2" in interior width should made the car feel much more roomy inside.

The WRX and most likely the STI will have them. The lesser models will have more traditional red lamps. We are unsure at this point as to whether or not this means the lesser models will have incandescent bulbs or if they will be lit with LEDs like the WRX. Since all cars must have red reflectors facing the rear, Subaru mounted them down low on the bumper.

While the 4-pot brakes are nice, they don't provide any more braking power than the 2-pots. The number of "pots" or pistons that a brake caliper has, only affects the feedback to the pedal. The 4-pots were added to the 2006 & 2007 WRX to add interest to an old chassis. This sort of de-contenting is perfectly normal for carmakers to do when introducing new vehicles. As the car ages, Subaru will add more features again to boost sales. For now, take solace in the fact that the mighty Honda/Acura NSX.. the only supercar designed with the help of Ayrton Senna and hailed as having the best brakes short of a Porsche 911, sported sliding calipers at all 4 corners. Besides, the 4 pots are actually heavier. (Correction - The 4 pots are actually 500mg lighter than the 2 pots, Thanks Siper2!)

Those are 17" wheels, just like on the current WRX. Just as in the current lineup, the lesser models will get 16" wheels standard.

Yep. It looks like Subaru is going to move away from frameless. The pillars still look relatively thin, so we can probably expect minimal intrusion into the driver's visiblity. Subaru probably made this move to attract people to their cars that would otherwise be turned off by what they consider to be 'inferior' doors, and to reduce warranty work on misaligned frameless windows.

Steering ratio has been improved to 15:1 (up from 16.5:1) which is the current STI's ratio.
Subaru is estimating a 10% improvement in fuel efficiency!
There are more specs here.

No, not at all. General Motors was holding onto a non-controlling share of Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company) up until this past Fall when they sold them. Some of them (8.7%) were sold to Toyota. Shortly afterwards, Toyota was looking at some major profits and several rumors began about them being in the position to buy Subaru entirely. Toyota quickly dismissed the rumors citing that they felt comfortable with their current involvement with Subaru, and were enjoying the collaborative efforts that were underway.

The new Impreza is 100% Subaru (if you don't count the individual parts made by Nissan, Mitsubishi, KYB, Brembo, etc, etc, etc). It's a Subaru design, through & through.

The new Impreza is to be built in Gunma, Japan. There were rumors about the Impreza being built in the US alongside the Legacy (in Lafayette, IN), but agreements made with Toyota have led to Toyota using the extra space.

I'm sorry. Subaru can not make you another GC8. Safety mandates and the fact that the 1990's are over have forced Subaru to move on. Please try to do the same, or just buy a Subaru that you do like. They last a long time.

There aren't too many different shapes that a hatchback can take... at least, not that are considered attractive (take a look at an AMC Gremlin or Pacer). The Subaru, while very similar to the Mazda 3, is lower, wider and has a longer hood.

The sedan's shape is very similar to other sedans in the same segment. This is probably due to the emphasis on practicality. The rear seat passengers should have enough headroom to be comfortable and the trunk should be nice and spacious. It may be similar to a Corolla or Ion from the rear 3/4 view, but we have to remember that those cars outsell the old Impreza by orders of magnitude.