Good, but soulless. The 2020 Subaru Impreza review.

I recently bought myself a brand new 2020 Subaru Impreza hatchback. It's the newest car I've ever owned, with 10 miles on the clock, the new-car smell that people love so much, and all of the perks that come with buying a new car. For example, I don't need to worry about maintenance, or any mechanical problems I may encounter. I have a warranty that takes care of all of that. It's nice not to have to worry about these things. 

I had to get a manual transmission, it was a requirement for me, and the 5 speed given in the Impreza is not bad, even though gear changes aren't always consistent. Sometimes the gearshift gets in gear very smoothly, but sometimes it has a clunky feeling to it. I don't know why. It's also impossible to heal-and-toe for me, the pedal position doesn't allow that, or my feet might be too big.

It's relatively well-balanced and pretty predictable at it's limits. It's comfortable and civilized, but to be honest, that's just a respectful way of saying that it's slow. It's not too much of a problem though because that means I get to floor it from 1st all through 4th and still be under the speed limit, or around that. 

I still have the stock wheels and tires, so when driving through twisty roads and if you're really pushing the car, you can definitely feel the tires roll. A new set of aftermarket wheels and tires would considerably improve the performance of the car on twisty roads. 

I use Android Car Play a lot, for navigation and music. It's good, when it works. Sometimes it disconnects my phone or plays music in the back speakers only. Same for the touch screen, it's pretty responsive until it isn't. Sometimes it will not let you pause your music or I need to press five thousand times before it understands what command I'm trying to select. It needs work. The whole infotainment system needs work. But it's on the right path. 

The sound quality of the speakers is alright. It lacks bass but you can play with the equalizer a bit to remedy that. The biggest complaint I have about the sound system is that the music doesn't feel like it's directed to me, it's more dominant towards the center of the car, so it feels like the volume in my right ear is a little higher. I was told that it was a stupid complaint, but I feel like it's justified - I will be the one spending the most amount of time in the car, so I feel like most, if not all of the features, should be targeted to suit me, not the other people in my car. 

I had the choice between the sedan and the hatchback. I picked the hatchback because I personally think the sedan looks terrible nowadays. But the 5-door, as Subaru calls it, is not a great looking car either. It's bigger than previous generations. The Impreza has definitely been eating McDonald's on a regular basis these past few years.   

I live in Park City, Utah. The land of the greatest snow on earth. We had a pretty heavy snow fall last week and I wanted to see how the Subaru would handle the conditions on the all season tires I have. It did great, good handling, good traction, good control. No complaints. Unless you're trying to have fun. The traction control can't be turned off. It only reduces the traction control to 60%, nothing less. So it's always keeping an eye on you to see if you need saving. I asked the Subaru dealership if they could let hit me fully turn it off an they told me that they are not legally allowed, the government is not letting me have fun, as per usual. Additionally, if I were to take it to a mechanic who knows how to let me turn the traction control off, I'd lose my warranty... 

Now that doesn't mean it can't go sideways, it will, trust me. But you can feel the car tell you that it's not safe. It's like having your grandma watch you cycle fast as a kid "be careful honey, you might get hurt, slow down !". Leave me alone, I got this.

I've owned a reasonable amount of cars for my age, some of my favorites I bought for less than the new iPhone. A couple come to mind : my 1993 Mercedes 190e and my 1991 honda Accord. They were great, very different cars but they had one thing in common : they had a story to tell, a personality. 

The Subaru on the other had, is soulless. It doesn't speak to me. It might just be because it's new. And new cars are engineered in a way to appeal to the most amount of people, including and most importantly, they are meant to appeal to normal human beings that don't see cars as an essential part of their life. They just want it to go from A to B, the most important part of the journey being the destination. That doesn't work with me, I deliberately take the long way there, wherever 'there' is : I enjoy the journey. I don't think that Subaru is at fault, I think this applies to most car manufacturers. The cheaper end of the car market is trying to meet standards that doesn't let the driver have as much fun as they could have. Times are changing and I understand that, but it's a shame. 

The only way to have fun in this car is if you're pushing your limits and the limits of the car. That's fun in some ways, but I do miss having fun at low speeds. Like in my Accord for example, it was always a pleasant experience driving to the grocery store, or getting to work. Old economy cars were designed in such a way that regular every day driving was a lot more enjoyable, sadly It will never be that way in this new era of cars we are now experiencing. The Subaru definitely doesn't feel as connected to me as the older cars I've owned or driven. And, like I said previously, it's a shame.