Put cross climates on the Impreza. Drives like a different, better handling car.
Reviews of spare parts for Subaru Impreza
Insurance covered for the OEM windshield.
You can get a good all weather tire with 3PMSF rating for less than the CC2s. See Vredestein Quadtrac Pro, Falken Aklimate, and Altimax 365AW. All of these will be cheaper than the Michelins but will provide long tread life and good performance in snow + cold temps. I put the Quadtrac Pros on my mom's Impreza a couple years ago (Chicagoland area) and they've been great. So much better than the Firestone FT140s it came with from the factory.
I have a 2017 Impreza Sport CVT 2.0 and was skeptical of the CVT at first. I had test driven an Outback CVT several years earlier and wasn't impressed with that earlier version, but they've really improved the CVT post 2017. I've driven several 4EATs ranging from 1996-2017, including a WRX (with a VTD 4EAT) and they really weren't as fun - which is surprising considering this car only has 140hp and no SI drive. I would love to try a WRX with the SPT and SI drive, I'm sure I'd like that.
I've got 125,000 miles on this car, and I've probably done 20% of that in manual mode. Normal commuting is mostly in "D". Some times I'll slip into manual to accelerate from a stop, when I don't want to deal with the car upshifting as early; around 20mph it really wants to drop the rpms down to ~1200 unless I'm heavy on the accelerator. Same on a long ascent or decent, or stop-and-go traffic, if the car is hunting gears a little too much for my liking. Taking any corners quickly is better when you preselect your gear. Sometimes merging onto the freeway, as the car has no real power.
I'm in manual the most when I'm having fun. Every Saturday morning, I'll pick a fun road or mountain that I can get to within a day. Usually I'll do 200-400 miles, around 6-12 hours depending on my mood. I'm in the California, Bay Area, so there's plenty to choose from. For this I'm only in "D" for the commute out/back and in "M" most of the time I'm somewhere twisty.
The car is much more controllable in manual on windy roads. Uphill the throttle response is more linear, downhill the speed is much more controlled in 1st and 2nd gear and lets me tap the brakes if I'm coming in a little too fast without upsetting the cars balance. 1st and 2nd gear the car is also very neutral, letting me feather the throttle for a bit of power-on oversteer (like a rear wheel drive car). Not nearly as aggressive (well, 1st gear is), but nice when I just want a little extra slip angle on slower corners (e.g. hairpins).
I've done deep snow and soft dirt only once or twice. The Impreza (and BRZ) are definitely better suited to asphalt. The dirt/gravel road definitely made me wish I had the tires and ground clearance of the Crosstrek. But I prefer pavement so the Impreza suits me better.
Honestly, I'd suggest everyone with the paddle shifters to at least practice using manual mode or semi-auto mode (paddle shift in "D") so you're not scared to use it in the situations where if it might be beneficial. Even if you do so only rarely.
I just recently paid $227 for my CVT fluid drain/refill on my Impreza at the dealership.
Did you use a high quality timing belt? We had a 98 impreza 2.2 and put an aftermarket timing belt kit on it and the belt broke in 30k miles for no reason. Tensioner and pulleys were all fine.
Reacquainting with traditional brakes felt strange. Kept releasing the accelerator, expecting it to brake. Takes getting used to.
Set of Bosch Icons on my STI were installed in 2019. Being in Socal, that's quite a while (UV degradation usually gets them). They still haven't torn but they're starting to streak a bit
My '09 Impreza had a clunk after installing MOOG ball joints and it turned out that the bore on one side wasn't tight enough/the part was too small, allowing it to move up and down against the retaining bolt.
I came to reddit to make sure I wasn't crazy. 2025 Impreza. I just got it and had it out at night for the first time last night. Same exact issues. Very odd cutout on the road in front of me. Very distracting.
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