 Hey guys, welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I am Gold Pony, I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the new 2021 Subaru Impreza courtesy of Apple Subaru in York PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so I wanted to check this one out today because this is actually an all wheel drive compact car for under $20,000. And those are rare these days. Not only that, the Impreza does give you great reliability. Just check out consumer reports for that. Great reseal value, which is very typical for Subaru in general. And there have been actually a couple changes for the 2021 Impreza as well. And so of course I will be going over those changes as well as everything else about this one today. So what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. So as you can imagine, there are actually several different trim levels for the 2021 Impreza. First one being the base starting at $18,795. Premium sedan starting at $22,195. Sport sedan for $23,595. That's actually the one we're in today. And the limited sedan starting at $25,895. And so I did emphasize sedan for all of those prices. However, there is a hatchback form of the Impreza as well. If you wanted to go with the hatchback for the base premium and limited add $500. For the sport add $400. Essentially, regardless of trim level, power plant on the Impreza is going to be the same. Powering this little beast is going to be a two liter direct injected four cylinder boxer engine putting out 152 horsepower at 6,000 RPM. 145 pound feet of torque available at 4,000 RPM. Power sent to all four wheels through Subaru's legendary symmetrical all wheel drive system. Now power is sent to the ground through a five speed manual which comes standard on the base trims. And actually the sport hatch as well or a linear tronic CVT which is the one we have today actually. And by the way though, that linear tronic CVT does come with a seven speed manual mode if you were to go with the premium trim level and up. And so of course we will be testing that out a little bit in this video as well. But before we have some fun with that when it comes to zero to 60 time on this one approximately nine seconds flat for the sedan 9.2 seconds for the hatchback. We're gonna see how that feels in a little bit as well. As far as MPG numbers go, 28 in the city, 36 on the highway which is actually pretty impressive considering all wheel drive does come standard. But before we do that acceleration test to do what I mentioned, there are some drive modes that do come with this one as well that is gonna be labeled SI drive as Subaru likes to call it. Those buttons are located on the right side of the steering wheel there. They are labeled S and I of course. S meaning sport and I meaning intelligent. They will adjust things like the shift points and the throttle response. So if I press that S right now, it is immediately going to downshift for me holding the RPMs in a much higher level giving you more power on demand essentially. So that is what that is there for. But so now having mentioned all of that, like I said, we do have the CVT. There is a seven speed manual mode. What I am going to do to utilize that is to push the shifter all the way to the back and to the left it is telling me I'm in sixth gear right now. It is gonna display with gear, simulated gear. I should say this is a CVT after all but it is gonna display that up there. So what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find it straight away and let's put the paddle shifters to the test and let's see if this manual mode actually shifts for us. All right, so we are turning. We are in first gear right now. Let's see if it shifts 3,500, no, it's not. All right, shift. Okay, not that bad. Powder shifters are actually pretty quick and it does simulate the shifting really, really well for a CVT. I will say that it almost really does kind of feel like an automatic transmission, which I like. That is pretty cool. Well done Subaru for that. So I'm just gonna put the shifter back to the right here. It's gonna give full control back to the Impreza end. What do you guys say? Let's do a quick little acceleration test here in our Impreza and let's see how quickly we can get this one here up to speed in three, two, one. Adios. Well, it's loud. It's not the quickest thing in the world but yet a boxer engine definitely gets up there. So anyways, CVT is always kind of interesting when you do an acceleration because there's no shifting but not the quickest thing in the world. But hey, if you want quicker, just go with the WRX but yeah, it'll do the trick though. It's gonna give you good MPGs and of course you got all wheel drive. So that's a good thing. But to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important. So upfront, you will find 10.9 inch ventilated front discs in the back, 10.8 inch solid rear disc. If you go with one of the sport trims, you're actually gonna get 11.6 inch ventilated front disc. So I like the performance upgrade with the sport trim levels. A lot of other manufacturers out there, they just make it cosmetic. So well done Subaru for up in the brakes a little bit on the sport trim. As far as that 60 to zero stopping distance goes, it actually comes in at 118 feet which quite honestly is dying impressive. For comparison sake, the Corolla comes in at 119. Civic comes in at 113 feet. So really anything under 120 is really, really good. SUVs typically give you around 120 or even 130s. So 118 feet is pretty good. I will say that. But when it comes to that braking feel, it is perfectly fine. Definitely a good bite to the brakes. There's no brake pedal delay or anything like that. So once again on point Subaru, touching on suspension and handling in the front, you're gonna get an independent strut type front suspension with the stabilizer bar in the back, independent double wishbone type rear suspension. Once again with the stabilizer bar, as far as the steering feel goes, that is once again one of the first things I noticed when I got in this one, the steering feel definitely leans towards the heavier side, which I like. Better helps you point you into the direction that you wanna go. Gives you a little better sportier of a feel I guess you could say. A lot of times you will find loosey-goosey steering feels in other vehicles, but that is definitely not the case in the Aprez. I love the steering feel in this thing. And dare I say a bold statement here, it's almost a Mazda-like. So I really do like it. I will say that. As far as ride quality goes, it actually is a little bit more than I expected. It's soaking up PA's road imperfections quite nicely compared to a lot of the other compact cars that I've tested in its class. So ride quality is actually pretty darn good. As far as cabin noise goes, really not a whole lot of exterior wind noise coming into the cabin, but like I said, when you really hit the gas, you will get that engine noise, which really isn't all that much of a bad thing to me. I like hearing the engine, but maybe you don't, but the exterior wind noise is definitely on point there. Touching on visibility, I absolutely love this visibility. Honestly, you can see perfectly fine out the back, but the reason I love it is because of that rear spoiler back there. And we'll get into the exterior in a second here, but love looking at that rear spoiler. That is pretty dang cool. But anyways, that is about it for the performance segment of this review, guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this brand new 2021 Subaru Impreza. All right, so here she is, you guys. The new 2021 Subaru Impreza finished in dark blue metallic. In case anybody was curious, let's go ahead and start up front on this one. When it comes to ground clearance, ground clearance for the Impreza is going to come in at 5.1 inches. To the sides, multi-reflector halogen headlights are going to come with the base premium and sport trim levels. The, of course, will come with the automatic feature, meaning when it starts to get dark out at night, those headlights will turn on automatically for you there, one less thing you have to worry about. LED daytime running lights also coming stated across the board. However, if you were to go with that limited trim level of the Impreza, you will actually get LED steering responsive headlights, meaning when you're going around a bend at night, those headlights will swivel based on your steering angle, better help illuminating what is around that bend. So you're less likely to hit a deer, something else basically, it's always nice. And also with that limited trim level just below, you will also get fog lights down there as well. So that's pretty cool. But let's go ahead now and make our way to the side of the Impreza. And so to the side, raised silver roof rails are going to come with the premium hatch and limited hatch. Power adjustable black side mirrors will come with the base trim, body color side mirrors coming with the premium trim level and up. You will actually get integrated turd signals with those side mirrors if you were to go with the sport or limited trim levels. And of course, that is what you're looking at right now. Chrome door handles coming with the limited trim level only. Otherwise, you will find body color door handles for all other trims. Then taking a look down at the wheel setup, 16 by 6.5 inch wheels with covers coming with the base trim level, 16 by 6.5 inch aluminum alloys coming with the premium. Sport is going to up that to 18 by 7.5 inch alloys. And lastly, the limited is going to come in at 17 by seven inch alloy wheels. So they're all essentially going to differ slightly dependent upon the trim level that you go with. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the back of the Impreza here. So now since we are around back shark fin antenna coming standard, of course, just below that, that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light that is going to come with the hatchback. However, you will get a trunk mounted spoiler with the sport trim level sedan. And that of course is the one you were looking at right now. One of the cool little things I wanted to point out about that spoiler, I don't know if you guys can tell or not since we have a dark blue exterior, but the center portion of that spoiler is actually a gloss black that is not body colored. So a nice little accent color to whatever exterior color you end up going with on the Impreza. So did want to mention that to you guys, but just below that, you will get some sport trim level badging. If you were to go with the sport trim level at least and just below all of it, a single exhaust outlet with a stainless tip. If you were to go with the sport sedan or the limited sedan, so that of course is what you're looking at right now. But having said that, I do think you guys know what we have to do next. As always here is that exhaust clip. It's open now since we are around back here of the Impreza. When it comes to opening that rear trunk, there is a button on the trunk itself or there's also a button to unlock it on the actual key fob. So either way is perfectly fine, but once opened up, cargo capacity comes in at 12.3 cubic feet for the sedan, which of course is what you're looking at right now. However, that does jump up to 20.8 cubic feet if you were to go with the hatchback version of the Impreza. So did want to mention that either way though, there's rear seats do fold down. There's a 60-40 split, so you do have a good bit extra space there if you needed it at least. If you were to go with the hatchback, you also get two grocery bag hooks back there. There's also four cargo tie-down anchors back there and a retractable cargo cover as well. But of course you're not gonna get any of that with the sedan. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the rear legroom of the Impreza, 36.5 inches for both the sedan and hatchback. So for reference, I'm an even six feet tall. This is how much space I had back there. One of the things I like about that rear legroom is the back portion of those front seats. You can press in a little bit on that, so you do have a little bit extra knee room. If you're a taller person back there, as opposed to the hard plastic backs that a lot of other manufacturers will use. So I did want to mention that too. Rear center armrest with cup holders for the rear passengers coming with a limited trim level only. Also for the sport trim level and limited, you will find dual rear USB charging ports for those rear passengers as well. That's always something I personally look for, but then make our way to the front seats, manually adjustable claw seats with the base and premium, sport cloth with red stitching for the sport trim level, leather seating for the limited heated front seats for the premium trim level and up, power adjustable front seat for the limited trim level only. And as far as the seat comfort goes, it's okay. It's not the best I've ever tested. And the reason being is that there is no lumbar support. Unfortunately, that would have made it so much more comfortable, but it is okay. It's certainly not bad. It's not the worst I've ever tested. So I don't want to say that, but taking a look at the steering wheel, it is tilt and telescoping. It is leather wrapped for the sport and limited trim levels only. And of course you get some cool red stitching if you were to go with that sport trim level too. Then make our way to the startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key here. Essentially, all of your buttons are located on one side of the key. Lock, unlock, and that button to unlock the rear hatch or trunk, whichever. As far as that unlock button goes, it's actually going to be the Subaru logo in the middle of the key fob there in case anybody was curious. But if you wanted a push button start that is going to come with the sport limited and it's going to be optional on the premium trim if you went that route. So all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button located just by the driver's right knee there. Let's open it once started up. When it comes to the gauge setup, it will do a full sweep upon startup. Of course, tachometer all the way to your left, speedometer on your right. I like how the gauges are finished in red. It's a little sportier of a feel to go with our red interior. We have here in the sport. So that's pretty cool looking, small digital display front and center to control what is on there. There's some steering wheel mounted controls on the left side there. Of course, you could check out what driving mode you're in up there as well. But also there is a digital speedometer. You can display up there if you want to do how many miles you'll have left until you hit empty. Your fuel information at any given time when you need your next oil change, the list goes on. So quite a bit up there. Then make our way to overall interior quality. There is a power moonroof is going to be optional on the premium trim level and up. We do have that option. So it's letting in a little extra light for this video. So I'm appreciative. If you were to go with the sport trim level, you're actually going to get aluminum alloy pedal covers as well. Automatic climate control is going to come with the limited trim levels only. But having said that, I kind of like the old school climate control that we have in the sport trim level here. It's just easy to use. Like anybody is going to figure out how to use it in a split second. So I kind of like it for that reason. Just in front of the shifter, you have a little bit of storage and auxiliary port to USB charging ports and a 12 volt power outlet there. If you went with the premium trim level and up, your heated seat buttons are going to be located directly behind the shifter. Just behind that, you're going to have dual cup holders, of course. And within the center armrest, two more USB charging ports actually and a 12 volt power outlet and a decent amount of storage within that as well. But I do like the sport trim level. You have a carbon fiber look found on the doors. It's not authentic carbon fiber, but it does look pretty dang cool. Also a lot of red stitching in this one to tie in with the seats and the steering wheel and even the shift boot that I have here. So overall interior quality is pretty much as expected. And not only that, I just found there's homelink controls. That is going to be optional, by the way. I forgot to mention that for up to three different garage doors found on the bottom portion of that rear view mirror, which also has a compass in the upper right hand corner. That's pretty cool because the alternative is that rattling garage door opener that you clip to the sun visor, which can get annoying when you're driving down the highway. So I do like the homelink controls found on the rear view mirror there. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the tech display on this one. There's actually two tech displays. There's an upper one, which I'm going to cover first here. Essentially to control that, there's an info button on the left side of the steering wheel. If you press that, you could scroll through different things like how many miles you have left until you hit empty, what day of the week it is, what the date actually is. There's some off-road information, although I'm not sure if you're going to go off-roading in a Prezza, but it's there for you. Also your average speed, there's some weather information, radio information, the list goes on, but it's a good bit of information up there and I like that it's there. Just below that is going to be the main tech display and that's going to be either a 6.5-inch color touchscreen display for the base and premium trims or an eight-inch color touchscreen display if you were to go with the Sport or Limited. Either way, you still get Bluetooth and audio streaming, you still get Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, even for the base and Prezza, that's always nice. That means if you have a smartphone, simply hook it up to the Prezza via USB cable and you got free navigation displayed up on that tech screen, as well as the ability to liken just like your Pandora songs and there's a couple other compatible apps as well. If you wanted factory navigation system and it's going to be optional on the Limited, you really don't need it, maybe unless you live in the mountains or you do a lot of mountain driving, perhaps I don't know, something like that. You can of course check out your radio information up on that screen as well and by the way, the sound system will differ substantially amongst the trim levels. Four speakers is going to come with the base. Six speakers is going to come with the Premium, Sport and Limited and then there is an eight speaker Harman Kardon sound system which is going to be optional for the Sport and Limited and actually we do of course have that option here today. That does come with 432 watts by the way with an external amp. So having said all that, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio and see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. The base is on point in that Harman Kardon sound system. A ton of bass, really very good clarity actually as well and it felt like a really well thought out sound system for the size of the Impresa. So, well done Silver, I like the Harman Kardon and that did well there but last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that tech display at least is when you do put the Impresa in reverse, of course you will find a rear view camera for all trim levels across the board letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety. And so to start the Subaru Impresa is an IIHS top safety pick when equipped with the LED headlights, essentially the top trim level there. Front side, side curtain airbags do come standard also a driver's knee airbag up front as well. In the back you're gonna have latch AKA lower anchors to tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, it's all pretty basic stuff at this point but Subaru iSight is going to come with the premium trim level and up. It is going to be optional on that base trim level but what Subaru iSight is is that's going to give you pre-collision braking system, pre-collision throttle management, lane departure and sway warning and lane keep assist as well. Then if you were to go with the limited that's going to add a few things as well including high beam assist, reverse automatic braking and a blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert which by the way is optional on the premium and sport and we do have that there today. Overall when it comes to my final thoughts here of the Impreza of course you have the best all-wheel drive system standard on every single trim level and the fact that it comes standard at under $20,000 is a very good thing so great price point for this all-wheel drive compact car. Android Auto Apple CarPlay coming standard on all trim levels is also a big plus although wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay would be pretty darn sweet so you don't have to hook it up with the USB cable, a lot of other manufacturers are just now starting to do that so I hope Subaru follows that trend in the future because nobody likes those extra wires but another constructive criticism of the Impreza is it is a bit slow, that's pretty much as expected with those engine specs that are rambled off at the beginning of the video but maybe an optional turbocharged engine would be a pretty cool setup for the Impreza but on the flip side, on the plus side when it comes to driving dynamics it has great braking and incredible handling or should I say steering feel, the steering feel is wonderful, I love the heavier weight that the Impreza gives you a little better feeling of being in control but that about rounds out this review you guys thank you so much for watching if you're free to follow me on social media if you wanted to see which videos were coming next on the channel be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews that is what we do here after all do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video stay gold