Subaru Impreza review: the compact sedan that treats AWD as standard, not an upsell
3.4/5motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy the Impreza if the reason you are looking at a compact sedan includes driving in weather, sand, or on worn tyres, and standard AWD is worth more to you than the badge recognition Toyota and Honda buy you at resale. The mid-grade trim is the sweet spot — it adds EyeSight without chasing options that barely move the used price. Avoid pre-2019 cars without EyeSight if driver-assist features matter to you, and budget for the fact that Subaru's Bahrain service network is thinner than the mainstream Japanese brands.
Pros
- Symmetrical AWD standard on every trim, not an upsell
- Genuinely durable cabin — rattles and trim wear are rare even at high mileage
- Composed, planted ride over rough sections thanks to the flat-four's low centre of gravity
- EyeSight driver-assist package on facelifted (2019+) grades
- Realistic ~7 L/100 km despite sending power to all four wheels
Cons
- 152 hp is modest for the segment and the CVT drones under hard acceleration
- Thinner Subaru dealer and parts network in Bahrain than Toyota or Honda
- Resale demand is a fraction of the mainstream Japanese brands'
- Pre-2019 cars lack EyeSight entirely
- Firmer ride over speed bumps than front-wheel-drive rivals
Subaru's pitch with the Impreza has never changed: while every rival compact sedan makes all-wheel drive an option you pay extra for on a handful of grades, the Impreza is symmetrical AWD from the base trim up. In Bahrain, where the appeal is less about snow and more about the causeway in a downpour, a wet roundabout, or a soft shoulder off the highway, that is a genuinely different ownership proposition than a front-wheel-drive Corolla or Civic.
The 2.0-litre flat-four is the honest weak point. 152 hp is modest for the segment, and the CVT does the usual thing of holding revs under hard acceleration while the car catches up. Around town and on the highway at a steady 120 km/h it settles down and is genuinely quiet — the flat-four's low centre of gravity also gives the Impreza a planted, slightly more composed ride than most compact sedans manage, which owners notice on the rougher patched sections of Bahrain's older roads.
Living with it in Bahrain
The cabin is plain but durable, and Subaru's build quality on this generation is a genuine strength — interior rattles and trim wear are rare complaints even on high-mileage examples. What owners do notice by month three is CVT drone under any kind of overtaking effort, and a firmer ride than a Corolla over speed bumps, a direct consequence of the extra AWD hardware underneath.
The practical catch is Subaru's dealer footprint here. Parts and specialist labour are not hard to find, but they are not on every street corner the way Toyota's are, and resale demand is a fraction of the mainstream Japanese brands' — which cuts the purchase price on the used market but also caps what you will get back.
Fuel economy around 7 L/100 km in mixed driving is respectable for a car sending power to all four wheels, and the AWD system needs no driver input to engage — it is simply always working, which is the entire point.