Subaru Impreza vs Audi A1

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.

If you’re eager for a sporty compact hatchback with premium design and luxury car badges, the Audi A1 40 TFSI is a very, very strong contender. It’s fast, fun, and functional for a little hatchback. It’s just very expensive, and for most people the $10K cheaper 35 TFSI model will tick most of the boxes. I’d recommend you drive it before signing on for the top-spec model.

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.

I don’t think I’ve seen a better transformation between generations than the current A1. In its previous guise it was bubbly and cute, but now it’s an angular brute.

This version’s S line sports body kit and funky 18-inch alloy wheels certainly help in that regard, but even the standard lighting signatures - LEDs front and rear - make it stand out as anything but a cutie pie city car.

The good news is that it hasn’t grown too much, either. Sure, it is a bit bigger, measuring 4029mm (on a 2563mm wheelbase), 1740mm wide and 1409mm tall. The last one was smaller (3973mm long on a 2469mm wheelbase, 1746mm wide and 1422mm tall), but this one isn’t elephantine in its proportions and so remains simple to park and squeezy enough to be considered a Light Car by industry standards.

And there are some really, really playful colours available. Like this Turbo Blue (which is only for this spec), and Python Yellow. There’s also black, green, red, three different greys, and two whites. The only issue is that flat white (Cortina White) is the only no-cost paint option. The rest will set out back $490 (for Tioman Green or the blue you see here) or $990 (for the rest). 

And then you can option the paint with a black roof, for $1380 combined with blue or green, or $1880 in all the other colours. The black exterior styling pack adds black highlights around the grille and on the front and rear bumpers. Those little Audi four-ring stickers on the rear doors are standard on this spec.

But to be honest, it stands out no matter what colour you choose, and that’s enough to get people’s heads turning on the street. And the interior design? Well, it has some good and bad points. See the interior pictures below to make up your own mind. 

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.

There are elements of the A1’s cabin design that are tremendous. And other bits that are not so tremendous. 

The bad bits include the fact you’re paying about $50,000 on the road for a car that has hard plastic just about everywhere the eye can see.

The good bits are that the textured plastics on the dash are beautiful, and so are the designed elements on the doors. I love the door handles, I love the metallic finish, I love the layout and I love the way it makes you forget that you’re in a luxury-branded car with hard plastic all around you.

The media screen and digital dashboard help, too - it feels technical and premium in the driver’s seat as a result. The graphics are crisp and clear, the menus are mostly easy to navigate, but I had some issues getting Apple CarPlay to work. It has wireless CarPlay, and I had it plugged in, so perhaps that was confusing things.

But the Audi media system also includes Audi Connect in this spec, meaning there are realtime map, traffic and hazard updates, plus a Wi-Fi hotspot, fuel prices, parking, weather and Google maps and services. It’s high-tech, and if that’s what you like, this is definitely going to please you more than a Mini Cooper.

Practicality is good, with bottle holders in all four doors, cup holders between the front seats and a covered centre console and wireless charging bay in front of the shifter. In the back, storage is sparse: aside from the door pockets, there’s nothing - no cup holders, no map pockets. 

There is enough space for four adults in the A1, so if you plan to take your mates to brunch or if you’ve got young kids, you should be comfortable enough in here.

I had the driver’s seat set for my own height (182cm) and I was able to slide in to the rear seat without much fuss at all, with adequate knee and toe room, and decent headroom too. Try and fit three across the back and it’ll be uncomfortable, unless those three are very slim. 

There are dual ISOFIX child-seat anchor points and three top-tether points, and the seat structure is pretty flat, making fitment of these types of seats simple enough.

The boot capacity is good for a car of this size at 335 litres, which is a solid 20 per cent bigger than before. You won’t find a spare under the boot floor, though, as all A1s have an inflator kit. The back seats fold down to allow 1090L of cargo capacity, but there’s a ledge you have to contend with if you’re trying to load larger items in. Maybe skip the IKEA trips in this one, then. 

The Audi A1 40 TFSI model is far from affordable if you’re looking at city-sized hatchbacks.

The list price for this model is $46,450 plus on-road costs, and for that you don’t even get leather trim! And heated seats? Optional...

You can option the S-line interior package to get a flat-bottomed steering wheel and leather seat trim, but as standard, even on this top-spec variant, you get cloth seats and a boring old round wheel. 

As tested our A1 40 TFSI was $49,720 before on-roads (making for a circa-$55K drive-away price as you see it), because it had the optional blue paint ($490) and black roof ($890), plus the black exterior styling package ($790) and 18-inch Audi Sport wheels ($1100).

It already has 18-inch wheels as standard, plus the S-line exterior body styling pack with sportier front and rear bumpers, sill trims and a rear spoiler.

Plus there are LED headlights and tail-lights, dual-zone climate control, a 10.25-inch digital dashboard, a 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen with Android Auto, digital radio, built in sat-nav, built-in Wi-Fi and wireless Apple CarPlay.

That’s in addition to push-button start, keyless entry, 2xUSB ports (USB-A and USB-C) ambient lighting, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, wireless phone charging, front and rear parking sensors, semi-autonomous self parking, auto lights and auto wipers, heated and folding mirrors with kerb-side dipping, and a few safety spec items you’ll find in that section below. 

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.

This 40 TFSI model is the big humdinger in the range. It has the donk, right?

Yeah, it’s a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, which is a full litre bigger in capacity than the base model car. And it’s the same engine fitted to the Polo GTI - a proper hot hatch!

It doesn’t quite have double the power and torque of the entry-level 30 TFSI model, but it does have solid outputs of 147kW (at 4400-6000rpm) and 320Nm (from 1500-4400rpm). That’s enough to slingshot this A1 from 0-100km/h in a hot-hatch-rivalling 6.5 seconds, according to Audi.

Unlike the lower grades, it runs a six-speed dual-clutch automatic, which it needs because it has so much torque. The 30 and 35 TFSI variants have a seven-speeder. All of them, including this one, are front-wheel drive.

There is no quattro/all-wheel drive A1 this time around, and there won’t be an S1, either. So this is it if you want your kicks in a compact car from the Ingolstadt-based brand.  

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.

Claimed fuel consumption is rated at 6.4 litres per 100 kilometres. You might see close to that on a highway drive, but if you’re primarily city-dwelling like me, then expect higher.

I saw an average of 10.1L/100km during my urban review of the A1 40 TFSI. That was with stop-start engaged the whole time, and the occasional squeeze of the accelerator to test out the claimed acceleration.

Fuel tank size for the A1 is just 40 litres, so if you’re doing what I did with this grade of A1, you can expect to visit the servo every 400km or so.

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.

You shouldn’t be surprised to know that the A1 40 TFSI feels a lot like a Polo GTI to drive. It’s quick, it’s entertaining, it’s refined… it’s just about 50 per cent more expensive.

That mightn’t matter to you or factor into your considerations. I just want to point out that you can get a car that’s just as good to drive as this one, and still with a premium German brand attached to it, for a lot less.

The A1 does have it’s own spunk, though. It has a more masculine character, more aggressive styling, and more delightful interior design.

But it also has steering that is predictable and easy to judge, helping it feel nimble and grippy. From tight twisty roads to roundabouts, you’re going to be having fun in the A1 if you’re tooling around town. 

It feels planted and grippy - aside from some front-wheel spin during take-offs if the tyres are cold - and you might notice the suspension can be a touch noisy as it pitter-patters over inconsistencies in the road surface, but the ride is firm yet controlled, offering enough comfort over potholed city roads and speed humps for this tester. And there are several of each of those obstacles on my daily drive to work.

The engine is a sweetheart, offering brilliant linearity to its power delivery. It pulls hard from low in the rev range, meaning you’ll be able to zip through traffic without much hassle at all. The powertrain is super responsive to inputs at speed, especially if you put it in Dynamic mode, which also allows you to hear some pops and crackles from the exhaust system. 

That said, there is some vibration, shuddering and hesitation at low speeds, which is a combination of the stop-start system kicking in and out, a small amount of turbo-lag from the engine and some shuffling behind the scenes from the dual-clutch transmission. You might find the lurchy nature of the first-gear take-offs to be a bit hard to get used to, especially if you spend a lot of time in bumper-to-bumper traffic. 

While this is an Urban Guide review focused on city driving, I thoroughly recommend you find a quiet stretch of twisty road outside the city limits. You won't be disappointed.

The Audi A1 range scored a five-star ANCAP crash test rating in 2019, and it comes kitted out with some impressive safety tech.

There’s auto emergency braking (AEB) that works up to 250km/h for cars, and up to 65km/h for pedestrians and cyclists. There’s also lane departure warning and lane keeping assistance.

You don’t get adaptive cruise control as standard, even on this expensive top-spec model. You can option it but you shouldn’t have to.

There’s no blind-spot monitoring or rear-cross traffic alert, which mightn’t seem like a big issue for a little car, but you’d be surprised how handy that tech can be when you’re reversing out of a parking space or trying to merge.

And while the previous A1 never came with a reversing camera, the new one does - it has guidance lines displayed on the screen, and there are front and rear parking sensors, too. Very handy for the urban jungle. 

All A1s have six airbags (dual front, front side and full-length curtain). 

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.

While the VW Polo GTI that this spec of A1 shares plenty with is backed by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty plan, the Audi-badged compact hatch still has a lesser three-year/unlimited kay cover. 

The A1 requires servicing every 12 months or 15,000km (just like a Polo), and there’s a pre-pay service pack you can roll into your finance if you so choose.

That service plan covers either three years/45,000km of driving ($1480) or five years/75,000km ($1990). In the case of the five-year plan, Audi is actually better value than the Polo GTI (which costs $2200 for pre-pay). 

Where is the Audi A1 built? You might be surprised to learn the answer is Spain.

Concerned about reliability? Got questions over resale, problems, issues, faults, recalls or something else? Check out our Audi A1 problems page.