• Excellent rear passenger room
• Plenty of boot space
• Ample interior storage

Fitting four passengers into the Impreza should be an easy task, thanks to the excellent levels of space in the front and rear. Legroom and headroom in the back of the car is ample for two fully grown adults, with space for a child on the middle seat.

There is space for three adults in the back on short journeys, yet the person sat in the middle will struggle to find somewhere to put their feet. The transmission tunnel protrudes upwards and robs most of the space, while the runners for the front seat also reduce the amount of room on offer. 

There are two Isofix points fitted on the outer rear seats of the Impreza. Both are easy to access, while the ample rear passenger room means there should be no issues fitting child seats into this Subaru.

Bootspace in the Impreza is impressive, beating the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra. It can’t compete with the Honda Civic and Skoda Octavia, but certainly fits into the best of the rest category. The loadbay is wide and well-shaped meaning it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge loading large, bulky items. Underfloor boot storage is also included.

Should you need to fit longer objects into the Impreza the rear seats fold down reasonably flat in a standard 60:40 split. 

Those used to a more mainstream hatchback such as a Volkswagen Golf or a Ford Focus won’t find the Impreza’s dimensions that much different. There’s also a rear camera to help with parking, plus the car’s blindspots are relatively manageable. However, the lack of front or even rear parking sensors may frustrate some drivers. 

Subaru Impreza safety

• Excellent standard safety tech
• Five-star rating from Euro NCAP
• Scores incredibly well in American and Asian crash tests

Similar to the record scores the Impreza achieved in American, Canadian and Japanese crash tests, the Euro NCAP safety experts rated the Subaru as a five-star car.

Subaru EyeSight safety technology

Much of the Impreza’s standard safety kit is grouped into what Subaru calls EyeSight. It’s essentially a suite of advanced driver assist technology that is designed to act as a second pair of eyes for the driver. Using two stereo cameras to capture the road ahead, Subaru claims that EyeSight can recognise vehicles, motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians and lane markings.

All of this works to help the driver avoid accidents using various technologies that operate in tandem with the EyeSight system. These include:

• Adaptive cruise control – capable of maintaining a set distance from the car in front by adjusting the car’s speed accordingly
• Pre-collision braking – if a potential collision is detected the vehicle will alert the driver using visual and audible warnings. Should the driver not take action and an accident is deemed imminent, the car will brake automatically to either avoid the accident entirely or lessen the impact
• Pre-collision throttle management – if the car is parked facing an obstacle, EyeSight will alert the driver should drive be selected instead of reverse
• Lane sway and departure warning – alerts the driver if the vehicle sways in its lane or departs the lane without indicating
• Lane-keep assist – offers gentle steering control to keep the car within its lane at speeds of approximately 40mph and above
• Lead vehicle start alert – prompts the driver with a visual and audible warning that the traffic ahead has started moving

Further safety equipment is present in the Subaru Rear Vehicle Detection System (SRVD) and includes:

• Blindspot detection – alerts driver if a car moves into the vehicle’s rear blindspots
• Lane-change assist – uses a subtle visual indicator to warn the driver if another vehicle is approaching the car in neighbouring lane
• Rear cross traffic alert – provides a visual and audible alert if another vehicle is passing behind the car when reversing

Other safety kit includes seven cabin airbags, high-beam assist and steering responsive headlights – capable of swivelling in line with steering inputs.