Subaru Impreza


The Subaru Impreza is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth generation.
Subaru has offered a 5-door hatchback body variant since 2008. The firm also offered a coupe from 1995 until 2001, a 4-door sedan up to the fifth generation, and a 5-door wagon from the Impreza's introduction which was replaced by a hatchback with the third generation in 2008. Mainstream versions have received "boxer" flat-four engines ranging from 1.5- to 2.5-liters, with the performance-oriented Impreza WRX and WRX STI models upgraded with the addition of turbochargers. Since the third generation series, some markets have adopted the abbreviated Subaru WRX name for these high-performance variants. The first three generations of Impreza were also available with an off-road appearance non-SUV package called the Outback Sport, exclusive to the North American market. For the fourth generation, this appearance package was raised up to be subcompact crossover SUV and renamed the XV, and is sold internationally. Colloquially, the car is sometimes referred to as Scooby.
Subaru has offered front- and all-wheel drive layouts for the Impreza. Since the late 1990s, some markets have restricted sales to the all-wheel drive model, putting the Impreza in a unique selling proposition in the global compact class, which is usually characterized by front-wheel drive or FWD in short. Japanese models remain available in both configurations.
A 2019 iSeeCars study named the Impreza as the lowest-depreciating sedan in the United States after five years.

First generation (GM, GC, GF; 1992)

Announced on 22 October 1992, the Impreza was released in Japan in November and offered in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive versions and as a four-door sedan or five-door wagon. The car used a shortened version of the Legacy's floor pan. According to a Motor Trend article written March 1992 on page 26, the name of Subaru's new compact was, initially, to be called the Loyale, displaying an official photograph of the four-door sedan. In late 1995, a two-door coupe was introduced. In Japan it was called Impreza Retna. Initial engine choices included 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engines.
Subaru chose to continue their longstanding use of the boxer engine in the Impreza. According to Subaru, their configuration of the engine inline with the transmission minimizes body roll due to the lower center of gravity compared with offset engines in most other vehicles. The boxer design provides good vibration mitigation due to the principles of a balanced engine because the movement of each piston is largely countered by a piston in the opposing cylinder bank, eliminating the need for a counter-weighted rotating crankshaft, but with some vibration from offsets. Torque steer is also reduced with this type of powertrain layout since the front drive shafts are of equal length and weight.
At the time of introduction, the Japanese and European market naturally aspirated models received an unusual grille with a small central opening. Only the WRX and regular North American models received a conventional "full" grille until the 1994 facelift, when the regular models' appearance was brought in line with that of the sporting models.
The Outback Sport was introduced to North America in 1994 for the 1995 model year as an updated Impreza "L" Sports Wagon. It was the top trim level of the Impreza wagon model with no significant mechanical or performance changes from the lower trim levels aside from a slightly lifted suspension. Subaru found some sales success with the Outback Sport as a smaller companion with similar ride height changes, body colors and trim levels to the larger, more successful selling Legacy-based Outback. For the first time, the 2.2-liter engine was used in the American Impreza. Later, the 2.5-liter engine was introduced. In Japan, the Impreza WRX Sports Wagon was offered with a similar approach to the Outback Sport, calling it the "Impreza Gravel Express". Subaru discontinued the Gravel Express when the second generation Impreza was introduced due to very limited sales. The hood-scoop found on the American Outback Sport was non-functional but was probably included because the American and Japanese versions were built at the same factory in Japan. The Outback Sport was offered with optional equipment, such as a gauge pack installed on top of the dashboard, that included a digital compass, outside temperature and barometer or altimeter readings.
Trim levels were LX, GL and Sport generation. LX models were front-wheel drive, and powered by a 1.6-liter engine. GL trim levels were either front-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive ; cars launched in 1993 had a choice of 1.6- and 1.8-liter flat-4 engines, the 1.6 being available with 2WD, the 1.8 an AWD version only. From 1996, the 1.8-liter versions were dropped, and replaced by a 2.0-liter engine. Sport versions had alloy wheels, and a 2.0-liter engine only.
During this generation, Subaru offered a limited edition Impreza Sports Wagon called the Casa Blanca, which had a retro-inspired front and rear end treatment, which was inspired by the popular kei car Subaru Vivio Bistro styling package and Subaru Sambar Dias Classic. However, the styling was controversial and the sales were very low. Even though the run was limited to 5,000 units and it was considered a rare find, depreciation values were very low and was a very niche car.
The Impreza received an external facelift for the 1997 model year, followed by an interior redesign in 1998, using the new redesigned dashboard from the Forester.
Subaru of North America initially offered the Impreza with the 1.8-liter engine only, with either front- or all-wheel drive; a 2.2-liter engine became optional for 1995. For the 1995 model year, the 1.8/EJ18 was available with a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission on the 'base' model only. The 2.2/EJ22 was only available with an automatic transmission for the L, LX, and Outback Sport trims. The 1995 model year also introduced OBD-II in the EJ22/Automatic transmission equipped models. The 1996 model line-up replaced the base version with the low-content Brighton trim, also used in the Legacy model. A five-speed manual transmission became available with the 2.2 engine on all models, except the Brighton which was only available with the 1.8 and a 5-speed.
Subaru later decided to emphasize all-wheel drive in North America, making it standard on every Impreza from 1997 onwards. North American markets never received the WRX version of the first generation Impreza. To test the waters for a full-fledged turbocharged model, Subaru showcased a turbocharged Impreza at various car shows around the country. The vehicle was named the 2.5RX and is now located in Subaru of America's Cherry Hill, New Jersey storage facility. Subsequently, the 2.5RS performance model was introduced in 1998. A naturally aspirated 2.5-liter engine and larger brakes were fitted into the coupe body with gold-colored 16-inch five-spoke alloy wheels. The 2.5RS also featured several external cues from its overseas brethren such as hood vents, a hood scoop, and a rally-inspired rear spoiler. The 2.5/EJ25D used in the 1998 RS suffered from a high-rate of head gasket failures. The 1999 model featured several changes: the newly designed "Phase II" SOHC version of the same 2.5-liter engine featured a slightly higher peak torque by, the wheels turned to a standard silver, the interior got an update, and the exterior became visually similar to the Japanese model with an updated front bumper borrowed from the Japanese Version 5 Impreza WRX STI. 2.5RS models became available in sedan form for 2000 along with the inclusion of viscous-type rear LSDs as standard equipment.
The G in GC/GM/GF corresponds to the production line while the following character is the chassis code. In the US and Canada, C denotes a sedan, M a coupe and F a wagon. Note that this is not the case for the RHD vehicles. In the case of the 2.5RS, the VIN would be either GC6 or GM6, with the 6 corresponding to the N/A SOHC EJ253 engine, specifically the engine displacement of 2.5 liters. The 1998 RS came with an N/A DOHC EJ25D.

WRX and STi

There have been seven noted versions of the WRX dating back from Subaru's original World Rally Cross staging vehicles. Subaru adopted the name "WRX" to stand for "World Rally eXperimental" as all WRX versions feature rally inspired technology, including all wheel drive, stiffened suspensions and turbocharged four cylinder engines. The STi versions were the high performance models, homologated for rallying and are labeled as versions 1 through to 6. These come in three different body styles; saloon, Coupé and estate.
Subaru introduced Subaru Tecnica International versions of the WRX in Japan starting in 1992 although the first model badged as an STI was the Version 1 in late 1993. These models were upgraded from the standard WRX in many categories, including blueprinted performance-tuned engines, transmissions, and suspensions. The STi versions of the WRX were immensely successful in rallies and popular among street racers but were only sold in the Japanese market. Compared to the WRX, the STi had mostly mechanical modifications. STi prepped Subaru rally cars since 1988 including the Legacy RS, the WRX STi Version I was just the first car badged as an STi. Model variants are known as Versions 1-6, or by Roman numeric terms.

GC8A (November 1992 – September 1993)

The WRX debuted in November 1992 with. The center differential was a viscous coupling type, the rear limited slip differential was a viscous type. The WRX Type RA is a stripped-down version of the WRX that was available in the Japanese market for people to purchase for motorsports. Targeted for race and rally, the RA versions were generally lighter in weight; featuring reduced soundproofing, manual windows, car horn delete, no air conditioning, no anti-lock brakes, and added racing features such as more robust engines, fifth injection, intercooler water spray and shorter gearing. The WRX Type RA uses a closer ratio gearbox and a three-spoke leather steering wheel from Nardi.
In Europe, the WRX was introduced as the Impreza GT, and as the Impreza Turbo 2000. It came with.