Subaru Impreza vs Toyota Yaris

What's the difference?

The 2024 Impreza delivers on all the key things which have made the nameplate so well regarded for the last 30-odd years.

The issue is, buyer expectations have moved on. Hatchbacks need to do more than ever to compete with small SUVs, and with today’s fuel prices it’s far more valuable to offer hybrid rather than all-wheel drive.

This is why, despite the sixth-generation Impreza being a tidy high-tech offering with an admirable commitment to safety, I think it will ultimately continue to shrink its market share. This Impreza really is one for the fans.

The Toyota Yaris is as much car as many people should really need, and it's a refreshing antidote to the largely unnecessary shift towards SUVs as the ‘default vehicle’.

In the case of the ZR grade, the pricing could understandably be a reason you might consider an SUV instead. There are plenty of options for a similar price.

The problem with an SUV though is it will likely be less efficient and, due to physics, less agile and fun to drive.

Given the price and the fact that a couple of features are missing, the ZR probably isn't the variant to go for, but the Yaris is an overall solid foundation for a very convincing hatchback.

Over the years the Impreza has changed in its design and intention so much.

Once known primarily for its sporty sedan variants, today’s Impreza is a far more contemporary hatchback, forgoing the once wagon-like shape for something with the traditional bubble silhouette to align with its rivals.

For better or worse, it also syncs up with the rest of Subaru’s range, with the brand’s current design language on full show, but it also barely evolves from the previous-generation version from the outside.

It trades the chunky square light fittings from the previous car for something a bit more refined this time around, with a similar look and feel to the WRX and Outback.

Inside also gets a similar fit-out to other Subarus in the range, complete with a raised centre console, shapely dash, and the same huge screen from the Crosstrek and Outback which dominates the space and helps simplify things compared to the busy interior and multiple screens of the previous car.

It’s a cosy space with chunky comfortable seats and the signature bumper car steering wheel is a stand-out bit of Subaru design.

Even the base car with its plastic trimmed wheel and basic cloth trims in the door is basic in an almost refreshing way, but unlike some rivals manages to be comfortable, too, thanks to soft trims for your elbows in the doors.

The Yaris’ best selling point could very well be its looks. While there are a lot of differences between the ZR and the bespoke GR Yaris hot hatch, they do look similar, especially from the rear.

Any small car like this is going to have an element of ‘cutesy’ about it, but the Yaris does well to look like a more sporting car than its rivals.

The grille is the only big design change Toyota made as part of its most recent update in early 2024. It's a new design that’s finished in partial dark chrome for the ZR.

At the rear, the ZR gets a spoiler above the rear window, helping it look a little more like its Gazoo Racing cousin, as does the block of black trim flanked by the tail-lights and the ‘Yaris’ and ‘ZR’ badges.

Even its front lower bumper would look reasonably at home on a more powerful car if the plastic trim at the sides had actual air vents rather than being closed off.

Inside, things are less exciting. The ZR’s interior seems plasticky and its grey cloth seats do nothing to make the space feel premium.

The ‘two-level’ look on the dash and the arrangement of the multimedia screen and climate controls below it feel outdated, but the cabin is (perhaps more importantly) clear and functional.

Living up to the adventure-ready Subaru promise, the Impreza's interior is quite functional.

Even though many controls have moved to the big central screen, there are individual buttons for temperature adjustment and a permanent touch function for fan speed on the lower third of the screen.

It would be nice to see a full set of physical buttons for climate functions, but this seems like a decent compromise.

Elsewhere there are large bottle holders in each door with a small accompanying pocket, two more rigid bottle holders in the centre console, a small tray behind them, and a huge armrest console box.

Under the multimedia screen there is a bay with a wireless phone charger, but like the Crosstrek, it is finished in a hard plastic material, which means your phone will easy slide around and out of the charging area in the corners, which seems like an oversight.

Adjustability is great, even in the base car, with flexible seats and a wide range of movement for the wheel, letting you easily find a suitable seating position. Width in the cabin is okay, but headroom is excellent.

The back seat offers a solid amount of room for myself behind my own seating position, at 182cm tall, but the middle position is no good for an adult thanks to the presence of a large raise in the floor to allow for the all-wheel drive system underneath.

Amenities for rear passengers are only okay in the base car, with a large bottle holder in the door and a further two in a drop-down centre armrest. There are no adjustable rear air vents or USB power outlets in the L, but outlets are added in the R and S.

Boot space is on the small side, with only 291 litres (VDA) on offer. The high floor means a limited amount of space with the luggage cover in place, although I was surprised to find we could fit the full three-piece CarsGuide luggage set once it was removed, so long as you’re okay not being able to see out the rear window.

Under the floor, the Impreza sports a space-saver spare wheel - a must-have for long-distance regional travellers.

For all its grey trim, the Yaris actually proves a very usable space for its size. The two front ‘sports’ seats are quite comfortable with decent bolstering.

The steering wheel is nicely shaped, and big clear buttons (like most of the cabin) mean controls for all the car’s functions are obvious.

The digital driver display is customisable in terms of its style, but the information you might need is easy to find and not distracting while you’re trying to concentrate on the road. The head-up display also helps there.

The physical climate control panel isn’t exactly ‘pretty’ but it’s infinitely better than needing to navigate through the screen above. 

That screen itself is also easy to use. Toyota’s multimedia systems can feel outdated but the upside is there aren't loads of submenus to get lost in.

Storage is well covered: two cupholders are out of the way of elbows, plus a little storage space behind that between the front seats. There’s a small space behind the gear shifter for a phone, a couple of small 'shelf' spaces above and in front of the passenger, and there are decently spacious door card places for water bottles and the like. 

In the second row, behind my own (178cm) seating position, ‘spacious’ is less applicable. It’s not surprising that the second row in a light hatch would be a little tight for an adult, but it’s not restrictive and some kindness from the front passengers could see the back seats become a comfy place for a sub-60-minute trip. 

There’s no centre armrest, but each door has a water bottle holder and the aforementioned storage spot between the front seats is accessible from the second row.

Behind the rear seats, there’s a 270-litre boot which is decent for its class. The non-hybrid Mazda2, for example, has 250L.

The boot floor can be lifted to sit flush with the seats when folded down, and underneath there is a space-saver spare tyre, which is a huge plus.

In the grand scheme of new-car pricing, $34,530 before on-road costs doesn’t sound like a lot of money. That’s how much the Yaris ZR is new.

But compared to other top-spec trims in rival models, it’s one of the most expensive in its class.

It battles the Mazda2 ($28,190 for the top-spec GT), Suzuki Swift ($29,490 for the Hybrid GLX), MG3 ($32,819 for the Essence Hybrid+) and VW Polo ($34,790 for the Style). Only the Polo is more expensive as its top-level variant.

Regardless of the size of the car, the Yaris ZR is missing a couple of extra things that could make it feel properly top-of-the-range. 

It’s not missing the essentials though. After an update in early 2024 it comes with a decent 8.0-inch multimedia display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus an adequate six-speaker sound system.

On top of those Yaris standards, the ZR gets a 7.0-inch digital driver display, keyless entry, a head-up display, 16-inch alloy wheels, automatic air-conditioning with an air purifier and ‘premium cloth fabric’ for the sports-style seats.

It could do with a wireless phone charger and perhaps even leather seats - the latter available in the more affordable Mazda2 GT. Cloth seats and a cable to charge your phone don’t feel very ‘top-spec’. There are, however, two USB-C charging ports for doing so.

Premium paint colours (anything that’s not Glacier White) are $575, while the two-tone look with the black roof (available with Coral Rose, Bronx Bronze and Massive Grey) is $775. Our test car is Massive Grey with the two-tone black roof.

The Impreza is equipped with just one engine and transmission for its sixth-generation, a 2.0-litre (FB20) four-cylinder horizontally-opposed ‘boxer’ engine mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission, driving all four wheels via the brand’s signature ‘symmetrical’ permanent all-wheel drive system.

The FB series is a development of the successful EJ series engines which lasted from 1989-2021. This more recent engine has new material science, heads, and seals which have helped the brand push service intervals out to 12 months rather than six, and should address issues which the older engines developed over time.

Power is on-par, but not a stand-out in the segment, with peak outputs of 115kW/196Nm.

The Toyota Yaris is a hybrid-only offering, with all variants powered by a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine that makes 67kW/120Nm and a 59kW/141Nm front motor-generator.

Toyota quotes a combined output of 85kW and doesn’t specify a total torque figure.

The electric motor draws power from a 4.3Ahr lithium-ion battery and is able to drive under electric-only power at low speeds.

One issue with having a non-turbo, non-hybrid 2.0-litre engine with all-wheel drive is relatively high fuel consumption. The Impreza has an official combined cycle fuel consumption figure of 7.5L/100km which is less than impressive in today’s market of hybrids and downsized turbocharged engines.

In my week of mostly stop-start city driving, the test example drank 11.1L/100km, which is disappointing.

Mercifully, it is capable of running on 91RON unleaded. For those who care, the CO2 output is officially 170g/km which is well above the 140g/km it would need to be at to avoid the wrath of incoming vehicle emissions regulations.

Toyota claims a 3.3L/100km fuel economy figure under the combined WLTP cycle, and says it produces 76g of CO2 per kilometre.

With its 36-litre fuel tank, theoretically the Yaris should be able to travel almost 1100km on a single tank, though even Toyota admits the 3.3L/100km fuel economy figure was obtained in a lab (as is usually the case) and doesn’t reflect real-world driving.

For reference, on test the Yaris ZR didn’t display a fuel economy figure of more than 5.0L/100km during reasonable standard driving conditions.

Have you driven a Subaru in the last 10 years? The drive experience here is pretty much uniform with the rest of the automaker’s range.

This means a lot of very appealing traits. For example, the new Impreza has a comfortable, compliant ride, really nicely weighted steering, and solid handling even on slippery surfaces courtesy of the all-wheel drive system.

The FB series engine also has a good bit of pull fairly early in the RPM range which makes it deceptively spritely, although power really hollows out the more you push it.

This makes it nice to drive around town, but less impressive when it comes to overtaking on the freeway.

This is reinforced by the continuously variable automatic which lends the engine a thrashy, rubbery character when pushed, but is nice and predictable at lower speeds.

The rev-happy engine is also quite noisy when a lot is asked of it, and like a lot of Japanese cars, but Subarus in particular, tyre roar picks up in the cabin above 80km/h.

It’s a comfortable and family-friendly drive, and I particularly like the way the plethora of active safety systems sit by the wayside and don’t interfere with the overall experience.

It is just a bit of a shame it doesn’t move the drive experience forward by a huge amount. The current Impreza doesn’t feel meaningfully different from the fifth-generation version which debuted in 2016.

A series of factors that make the Yaris an excellent car for the inner-city also happen to make it engaging from behind the wheel.

Its small footprint and relatively low kerb weight are key to this, but it's also built on Toyota’s excellent TNGA platform which, in one form or another, underpins most of the brand's line-up.

It means the Yaris has characteristics that align with other Toyotas - it feels related to a Camry or a RAV4, even if it doesn't behave in the same way physically. 

The Yaris is understated in how it behaves on the road during regular driving, quietly switching between hybrid and electric mode, rarely letting the engine get coarse unless you put your foot down for more power.

And while the Yaris isn't quick by any means, there's just enough urgency to get you out of trouble should you need it. It's not a drivetrain that encourages spirited driving, but if you should choose to do so you'll find some surprising capability in the way the Yaris is set up.

Steering that feels light and accurate day-to-day is handy when it comes to steering the Yaris quickly on twisting roads, and the platform underneath does well to keep the light hatch and its short wheelbase in check.

It doesn't feel like it's ready to 'bounce’ off bumps and uneven road surfaces like some similarly sized hatches did even a generation or two ago, and while one wouldn't imagine the Yaris hybrid is choice number one for a weekend driver, there's still fun to be had.

But in urban environments the Yaris is in its element, and its efficient engine and small footprint make it ideal for inner-city traffic and parking.

The Yaris ZR is pretty well stocked when it comes to safety features, more so than the lower variants in the range. Great for the ZR, a bit of a let-down for the others.

It comes with all the necessary kit including auto emergency braking (AEB) with a pre-collision safety system that “recognizes motorcycles and oncoming vehicles in addition to cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles ahead”.

It also has daytime intersection collision avoidance, daytime emergency steering assist, active radar cruise control and lane trace assist, auto high beam, road sign recognition, blind spot monitor, parking support, safe exit assist and a rear parking camera with parking sensors at the front and rear.

The Yaris also has eight airbags, which is a decent count for a light hatch. There are also ISOFIX points on the rear outboard seats.

In 2020 ANCAP tested the Yaris for a five-star result, though that result expires in December 2026 and the testing criteria has since changed to become stricter.

If you’re a driver who prefers minimal technological intervention (read: beeps and bings or the steering nudging you around) the Yaris’ safety kit does a very good job of remaining in the background unless it’s really needed.

Subaru offers its fairly standard five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty on the Impreza, with 12 months of roadside assist included.

There is also a five-year fixed-price service program covering the first 75,000km, although it’s nowhere near as affordable as the Corolla or i30, coming in at an average annual cost of $464.64.

The Impreza needs to be serviced once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Toyota offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty which covers the Yaris, as well as capped-price servicing for the first five years/75,000km - whichever comes first.

Intervals are 12 months/15,000km for servicing and each costs $250.

If servicing is undertaken at Toyota dealerships, Toyota extends the engine and driveline warranty from five to seven years. It also increases the hybrid battery warranty to ten years “as long as you undertake your annual inspection as part of routine maintenance according to the vehicle logbook”.

There’s also seven years of conditional emergency assistance related to car hire or towing expenses while Toyota is maintaining the car.