2026 Subaru Impreza

Name: 2026 Subaru Impreza Review
Brand: Subaru

Release Date: Late 2025

Estimated Price: Starting around $25,000

What the 2026 Subaru Impreza lacks in excitement, it makes up for with convenience, comfort and capabilities in inclement weather. It's only adequately powerful, however, and its cabin favors durability over refinement. Overall, the Impreza should work out well if you're looking for sensible and practical small car.Read full review

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2 Trims
1 Package

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2026 Subaru Impreza Review

Pros

Roomy seating and cargo area
Comes standard with all-wheel drive
Many standard or optional driver assist features
Smooth ride

Cons

Lackluster acceleration with base engine
Bland interior design

What's new

No significant changes expected for 2026
Part of the sixth Impreza generation introduced for 2024

Overview

Written by automotive expert Mark Takahashi

7/23/2025

Are you thinking of getting back to the basics with your next car? Consider the 2026 Subaru Impreza. Though small, the Impreza is mighty in terms of practicality, if not personality. Available only as a hatchback, the Impreza offers standard all-wheel drive at a budget-friendly price. The body style supplies extra utility, while the all-wheel drive ensures you make it home no matter the weather.

Edmunds spotlight: Subaru Impreza vs. Subaru Crosstrek

Cars are no longer the stars in dealership showrooms. For 2026, the long-running Subaru Legacy has been canceled, and the smaller Impreza might be the next one headed for the shelves of history. The main reason for such speculation is that Subaru's own Impreza-based Crosstrek is potentially more appealing. For starters, it sits higher off the ground, giving it a remarkable 8.7 inches of ground clearance. That makes it easier to enter and exit, and it looks more like an SUV than a car. The 2026 Crosstrek also offers a new hybrid powertrain promising improved fuel economy. The Crosstrek, however, costs more than the Impreza.

Competitors to consider

Some people don't want to drive a crossover SUV. If you're of that mindset and want a small car with a handy hatchback and all-wheel drive, the 2026 Impreza is the only game in town at its price. One affordable alternative is the Toyota Corolla Hatchback, which doesn't offer all-wheel drive like the Subie. Others cost significantly more than the Impreza, such as the Honda Civic hatchback, Mazda 3 hatchback and Volkswagen Golf GTI. Of these, only the Mazda is available with AWD. In this automotive niche, the Impreza is synonymous with value.

Edmunds Expert Rating

edmunds TESTED

Driven, tested, rated by automotive expert Reese Counts

Average

7.6

out of 10

We drove the 2026 Subaru Impreza on our test track and on real roads. Our Edmunds team conducts rigorous independent vehicle testing, driving 500,000 miles a year.

Performance

7/10

How does the Impreza drive? We were able to test the new Impreza RS trim, which exclusively comes with a more powerful engine. Alas, our test car accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in an unremarkable 8.4 seconds. That's slightly off the times we recorded in the Honda Civic and Mazda 3 hatchbacks, and you can expect the other Impreza trims to be even slower. Additionally, the car's continuously variable transmission can be slow to respond when you need a burst of speed. Merging or passing on the highway requires a little more planning.

Braking and handling capability are also little behind the class leaders. The Impreza changes direction without excessive body roll on twisty roads, and the steering is light and quick enough to make parking easy. But if you want a hatchback that feels a little sporty, we suggest looking elsewhere.

Comfort

7.5/10

How comfortable is the Impreza? The Impreza hatch is one of the more comfortable vehicles in its class. The front seats are soft and offer decent support. The rear bench is a bit flat but is generally comfortable. Our RS trim test vehicle featured heated front seats. They work well and can be set to automatically turn on when you start the car. We also like the Impreza's ride quality and its general smoothness over bumps. The car is quiet most of the time, though the engine is loud at full throttle.

All Impreza hatchbacks feature standard dual-zone automatic climate control. That's great, but we've found the automatic system tends to run warm, though full AC is still plenty cold. The lack of vents for rear passengers is a disappointment.

Interior

8/10

How’s the interior? The Impreza hatchback has one of the roomiest interiors in its class, offering more headroom and legroom than nearly every other compact hatch. Rear headroom in particular is a standout, so taller passengers shouldn't feel claustrophobic. There's good room up front, too, and drivers shouldn't have any trouble finding a comfortable driving position. It's also easy to get in and out of thanks to short but wide-opening doors. We also like the Impreza's low hood and tall windows for visibility.

Our test Impreza had the available 11.6-inch vertically mounted infotainment screen. It houses controls for everything from navigation to climate control. The resolution isn't great, and it can wash out if you're wearing polarized sunglasses, but it's large and responsive. That big screen provides plenty of real estate for the rearview camera too.

Technology

8/10

How’s the tech? The Impreza hatchback is available with either dual 7-inch displays in the base model or an 11.6-inch display in the Sport and RS. The dual-screen setup looks pretty low-buck, so spring for the big single display if you can. The resolution for the 11.6-inch screen isn't particularly sharp, but the navigation system and maps themselves are easy to use. The large screen provides plenty of room for your map, music, podcasts or more.

If you prefer to use your smartphone, Subaru has you covered on every angle. There's standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Sport and RS trims come with wireless connectivity. Also, depending on the trim, Subaru offers both USB-A and USB-C ports, an auxiliary jack and a wireless charging pad.

The Impreza hatch is available with a decent suite of driver aids, quite a number of which Subaru includes as standard equipment. Those include adaptive cruise control, which is among the better systems in the compact segment. It holds good gaps and adjusts speed smoothly. The lane centering system wasn't quite as refined, but it's easy to deactivate.

Storage

8/10

How’s the storage? The Impreza hatchback's cargo space measures 20.4 cubic feet with the seats up or 56 cubic feet with the seats down. That's less space than the Honda Civic hatchback but more than rivals from Mazda and Mini. The seats fold in a 40/60 split, though they don't quite fold flat. Still, there's plenty of space, including some extra storage under the hatch's floor. The center armrest doesn't offer a ton of storage, but the door pockets and console provide enough space for your phone or sunglasses. We like the water bottle holders in the hatch, perfect for tailgating.

The relatively spacious rear provides decent room for child safety seats, and all of the anchors are tucked out of sight but are very easy to access. The wide-opening doors should help when buckling or installing the seat.

Continue reading Edmunds Expert Rating below

Fuel Economy

6.5/10

How’s the fuel economy? The Subaru Impreza with its base engine has an EPA-estimated fuel economy of 30 mpg in combined city/highway driving. The RS, which is what we tested, featured the upgraded engine, though it only takes a small hit to fuel economy — 29 mpg combined. That's a bit worse than the Honda Civic and most (but not all) versions of the Mazda 3. We only managed 28.4 mpg on our mixed-mileage test route, which is lower than expected since we cover a lot of ground on the highway.

Value

7.5/10

Is the Impreza a good value? The Impreza hatchback is one of the more affordable vehicles in its class, with a base price that undercuts many of its rivals. And it's not like Subaru is skimping on equipment. In addition to standard all-wheel drive, the Impreza comes with a decent list of driver aids and tech, and options don't send the price as high as with Honda or Mazda. But the Impreza lacks the polish you'll find elsewhere. While there's nothing truly flawed about the Impreza, it feels a bit cheap inside compared to other compacts. There are more hard plastics, and the design isn't as clean. Subaru's warranties are all average for the class.

Wildcard

7/10

Subarus in general have never been particularly flashy cars, and the Impreza falls in line with that trend. The latest Impreza's exterior styling looks fresh but not wholly different than prior generations. Other small hatchbacks offer a more premium look and feel.

The milquetoast styling wouldn't be as big of an issue if the Impreza were a bit more fun to drive. Even in the RS trim, handling and overall driver engagement aren't as strong as in other small hatchbacks. The numb steering and wheezy powertrain are two of the car's biggest issues. As for the latter, the exhaust note is so coarse that you don't want to rev out the engine too much.

Which Impreza does Edmunds recommend?

Subaru hasn't released official information on the 2026 Impreza as of this writing. We'll update our recommendation if anything changes, but based on last year's Impreza, we make the unusual recommendation of going with the range-topping and sporty RS trim. We're not basing our pick on its looks or the few extra features, though they don't hurt. Instead, we suggest it for the more powerful engine.

MSRP is subject to change and varies based on availability, trim level, option packages, and retailer-installed accessories. MSRP excludes destination and delivery charges, tax, title, registration, and other fees. Retailer sets actual price. See your retailer for details.

2026 Subaru Impreza

2026 Subaru Impreza Review

Pros

Cons

What's new

Overview

Edmunds spotlight: Subaru Impreza vs. Subaru Crosstrek

Competitors to consider

Edmunds Expert Rating

Performance

Comfort

Interior

Technology

Storage

Fuel Economy

Value

Wildcard

Which Impreza does Edmunds recommend?

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