Subaru Impreza Saloon (93-01) - Review

Review by Parkers on
Before Impreza, Subaru was a rather obscure Japanese manufacturer who made solid four-wheel-drive cars favoured by farmers. But once Impreza started winning rallies (and then rally championships), it became popular with Colin McRae wannabes everywhere – and made it a must have car.
2.5 out of 5

Safety

Impreza's design dates from the early nineties, so the chassis design lacks the safety features you'd expect from a modern car. However, top models are better protected with driver (and later passenger) airbags, ABS and side impact protection. Only the 2.0 and Turbo came with an immobiliser until 1996 (the Turbo also came with an alarm from 1998), wiser drivers should have fitted a tracking system (especially on top-end cars). No Euro NCAP result.

NCAP Test

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4 out of 5

Reliability

Little goes wrong – and then it's usually due to re-chips and sports modifications. Imprezas have no known weak spots unless turbo drivers get over enthusiastic!

Car check problem points

Body

Tends to get bent by would-be rally drivers, so check carefully.

Engine/Gearbox

Check that any Turbo is original spec - inexpertly 'chipped' cars can give lots of problems.

Other

Damage to exhaust system; heavy tyre wear on 4x4.