Talk about good timing. Just as gas prices are creeping perilously close to the psychological breaking point of five bucks per gallon, the all-new 2012 Subaru Impreza is heading to dealers this fall with an emphasis on fuel efficiency. Subaru is attempting to catapult the 2012 Impreza into mainstream relevancy without abandoning its enthusiastic core.
An all-new 2.0-liter "FB"-series flat-4 engine churns out 148 horsepower at 6,200 rpm and 145 pound-feet of torque at 4,200 rpm, some 22 hp and 25 lb-ft less than the base 2.5-liter EJ25 in the outgoing Impreza. It's a safe guess that the 2.5-liter FB currently in thewill eventually find its way into the new Impreza, but at launch the 2.0-liter will be the only engine available.
Adopting a much more undersquare (its stroke is larger than the cylinder bore diameter) layout, the new boxer is heavily slanted toward fuel economy, although acceleration is said to improve slightly, too. In Subaru's testing, the 2012 sedan with CVT reaches 60 mph in 9.8 seconds, an improvement of 0.3 second to the outgoing car equipped with the automatic.
The view from the driver seat is impressive. Visibility has been markedly improved, a result of a lower dashboard and a window line that slopes down to a fixed corner window at the base of the A-pillar. The side mirrors are positively huge and the steering wheel adjusts for both reach and rake. Soft-touch materials have been added all around, too, raising the cabin's perceived quality.
he Impreza's basic layout remains intact — the front end is supported by MacPherson struts and the rear by double-wishbones, though the geometries are new. For sharper responses, engineers added rebound springs to the front struts to limit body roll, and replaced several rubber bushings with reduced-compliance spherical bearing attachments. The steering rack is more solidly mounted, too, which ought to add some precision to the helm.
We'll have a better idea of how these efforts have coalesced once we drive the 2012 Subaru Impreza in a few months. Stay tuned.
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