Impreza impresses as a lot of car for the cash

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2008 | by James R. Healey

*Go to cars.usatoday.com to see more photos of the Subaru Impreza, to compare vehicles, to find previous Test Drive columns and to get information on pricing, incentives, crash-test scores and more.

What a treat. A simple, sensible, pleasant car with all-wheel drive (AWD), decent fuel economy, comfortable seats and relatively good people space.

Meet the redesigned Subaru Impreza. Generally in the backwaters of consideration when shoppers head out to acquire a smallish car, Impreza now makes more sense than many rivals; it certainly makes more sense than it ever has.

Not because it's a fuel-economy champ; it's just OK. But because it's a lot of car for a modest price. All those top-of-mind economy cars (e.g. Civic, Corolla) are pricey now that $4...