The Subaru Impreza has been named 2016–2017 Car of the Year Japan. The fifth-generation Impreza scored 420 points to clinch the award, ahead of the Toyota Prius (371) and B9 Audi A4 (149, wins the Import Car of the Year award). This is the second time Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) has been awarded the honour, following the Legacy’s win in 2003. The Mazda MX-5 was last year’s JCOTY winner.
The latest Impreza made its debut at the New York show in March. In about a month since its launch on October 13 in Japan, the new Impreza outsold its monthly sales target of 2,500 units by more than fourfold, with 11,050 orders.
FHI says that demand from customers switching from other brands has been notable, representing 51% of all orders. This is an indication that the Impreza is now attracting a wider range of customers in the Land of the Rising Sun, the firm suggests.
The new Subaru Global Platform underpins both sedan and hatch versions of the Impreza. It has an increased rigidity of 70% to 100% over the outgoing model, and a lower centre of gravity by 5 mm. The suspension has been setup for better comfort and Active Torque Vectoring also helps improve dynamics. The car is longer and wider than the old one.
Powering the Subaru is a revised version of the FB20 2.0 litre direct-injection boxer-four. With around 80% of parts revamped, the engine produces 152 hp, four horses more than before. The marque’s Lineartronic CVT has enhanced ratio coverage, better acceleration and fuel economy. Symmetrical AWD is standard, of course.
Subaru’s EyeSight suite of active safety functions is available. It is also the first car ever produced by a Japanese brand to include a pedestrian protection airbag as standard.
GALLERY: 2017 Subaru Impreza
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Seems good but 152 hp from a direct injected flat 4 is rather low By 2016 standards when the last gen Forte is hitting 155hp from an MPI engine. Should have been between 165 to 170 at the very least.
I dont trust kia/Hyundai power output numbers… U drive them n they all feel gutless…
I think the improvement just to save fuel and better torque distribution good for cvt tranny and AWD system. It doesn’t mean for performance. Is there any other manufacturer use boxer 4 non turbo for their car? Im not sure but Latest Toyota Altis Facelift just on sale on 9/12/2016 only got 143.016hp at 6,200 rpm and 187 Nm at 3,600 rpm (145PS) vs 152hp and 196Nm on Impreza.
True, seems under powered for a DI motor, still, have to see the dyno graph before we any assumption. Headline figures dont tell the full story.
Durability, economic and environmental friendly is modern automotive targets.
Direct injection engines are more durable and lower NOx. Not all new engines are equal or powerful than predecessor it’a engine.
One thing Korean cars should be sued is their specgate issue. Their paper spec doesn’t reflect in real life.
Even with 152hp this car beat Audi A4, BMW M2, Fiat 124 Spider, Honda Freed, Jaguar F-PACE, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Nissan Serena, Toyota Prius and Volvo xc90 to claim japan car of the year
Well no one complains about 60+hp from viva. Numbers don’t justify physico-mechanical experience. Maybe if your brain is less dumb will translate into lighter body weight.
Agreed. Would strongly encourage you to head to a kimchi showroom and make downpayment for a unit.
Need more sorhai tai lan ngongs to prime the used kimchi market
This is a reasonable priced car in Japan. Come to Malaysia, if it comes, it will be RM250k.
Where is Jib’s promise to reduce car prices by 30%? Already Malaysians are suffering so much with high cost of living. Even our local cars like Bezza and Persona is unaffordable to most of the rakyat. All have to take loan to buy even a cheap car.
Work harder kunta to own a vios. I give you 3% discount
3% discount, minum teh oso tak cukup LOrrrr… few showrooms already offer 0 d/p for Vios since last month (for J and E spec). A friend of mine got her facelifted Vios E spec 2 months ago (with VSC and CVT gearbox) with just RM5k d/p from a salesman (UMW Toyota branch) which is our friends as well (that time UMW not give any rebate yet), car can be collected 2 – 3 days later after loan approval.
he is either Teana owner or Nissan salesman, keep on emphasizing Teana is worth to buy for rm120k…lol
what are u talking about? It is talking about 2.0 NA, not STI or WRX la
You will need the horsepower when racing. In city drive or highway, u rarely need all the horses. In fact, you only utilise like 70 horses only…what is more important is torque figures and how they are delivered will translate to better driveability. This is one reason why you don’t get many likes
Those hp number did not tell the whole story
biasa la, orang malaysia hanya nak toyota & honda for good RV…mana tahu orang japun pilih subaru…lollll
walao, u r still syioking sendiri with ur old forte? tolong jangan buang muka di sini la…
TakNak CVT!
Tak nak cvt tapi bila bagi manual engine mati bila naik bukit pulak
With the full time all wheel drive, you will need those cvt to keep the fuel consumption low
CVT adalah masa depan automotif Jepun. Kena terima.
maybe u think your 4-speed auto MYVI Malaysia Car of the year 2016-2017 is way better than this?
I find the dashboard is a bit Iriz/Persona.
I have always love Subaru’s boxer and symmetrical AWD system.
Too bad the standard car will be priced close to RM200,000 if it ever gets here.
Yes, too bad Subaru Malaysia is only interested in bringing in the Impreza in fully kitted WRX guise (or whatnot). The same for the Legacy too.
I reckon if they brought the Impreza as a 2.0 N/A and sold it round 100~130k price range they have a very competent car against the Corolla/Mazda 3. Maybe a more premium turbo for the 135~150k price range.
Really hope their 2.0 N/A Forester does well. That will give them the encouragement to bring in a 2.0 Impreza.
Honda – the power of dreams
Subaru – the power of tan chong
Actually my Biza was nominated higher than Subalu thanks to our innovative prototype-to-showroom car development, but becoz it not jepunis brand, so they malu wanna announce Biza as the rightful winner.
Becoz we P2an cannot persoal our jepunis overlords, so we just accept this wrong results. But in all our MY pipu heart, we knows Biza is #1 and we gip 3,200 deadak to show our appreciation of your love to our untested car.
Thank you MY pipu and non-P1 salesmen.
Are the japs lowering their standards?
Low wud be selecting altis as winner
So….are they going to bring in the vanilla Impreza and price it like any other sedan here for the masses?
@LOL …So 13 to 18 hp is the only component you can find to complain about? You are obviously in the wrong car segment (go buy a WRX). You might do some research on the 30 other items Subaru improved on with this new model Impreza.
Not to mention being the safest vehicle manufactured in the history of a company noted for its attentiveness to producing safe vehicles.
I personally love impreza. It is impressive it won COTY. But what are the parameters of judgement scheme? Technological breakthrough? Considering prius enhanced drivability and battery package, what did Fuji Heavy Industry did which makes they won the crown?
Janji volvo got.
Subaru and Mitsubishi have totally screwed up the legendary Impreza and Lancer rally heritage by putting a CVT into these cars. They just went from rally car to granny car. Such a let down.
the legendary rally is wrx sti 2.5T la, it is still manual gb. this is 2.0 NA with cvt, tak tahu diam diam, buang muka je
Not sure if i would ever need AWD on a sedan, but its a cool manly feature to have….
” yo man! Scooby All wheel drive here! ”
Price it right and ckd that theng here….
aiks…civic 2016 no win?
scooby won? i wonder why….
stupid japs.
civic should be car of the year. revolutionary design. extreme engineering. 1.5 turbo. top speed 230kmh.
subaru is out of way. nobody needs 4 wheel drive. stupid.
No one wants CVT , but anyway it’s still much better than a Toyota.
Subaru cvt must be one or the finest out there, no lag or revvy feel, really direct and quick..should give it a try before doing a blanket hatred to it..unlike fwd wheelbarrow economy shitboxes, impreza will way ahead mechanically, longitudinal drivetrain layout plus the awesome all wheel drive..driving in the wet is no different from dry..subarus are awesome
i own a forester 2.0NA. I must say that the CVT is very good. I had some doubts initially about the CVT but after driving it for a few months .. no regret.
Proton Called, they want their Iriz/Persona Dashboard back!
but the car so damn ugly
ugly la tjis car
why malaysia didn’t bring in this impreza..? why WRX and STI only?
same goes to renault megane.. why megane RS only..?
Proton car is the best……and my Neo can smoke this imprezza when it reaches malaysia.
i see so many XVs everyday. subaru is slowly but surely regaining the market share here. its always the price that counts.now we wait and see how the 2017 XV will be priced.their design is slowly improving as well.
Subaru is selling well in US and other countries, they don’t care how bad the sales in Malaysia.
Subaru is a good brand..my xv is fantastic…i’m mulling over Forester as my next car…just buy if you can afford it…otherwise just buy Almiera or Vios…or MyVi lah..
Sales of this impreza is 4 times of its forecast. subaru sales are at record high elsewhere. can see people starting to appreciate AWD. Stability and control comes first before power, this is the philosophy for making car in subaru
I have one of the first 2017 Sport Impre in the US
I ordered one the day you could
If it didn’t have a Subaru name badge on it you would think your driving an Audi.
It is quiet, corners amazing and the sound system is very good.
I laugh when US magazines rate the Mazda 3 better.
What a joke and I will never read US car magazines again that said that, remember Subaru is all- wheel drive.
How much you paying Ford to US magazines that didn’t rate the impressa #1