2019 Mazda 3 vs Subaru Impreza

What's the difference?

If you will indulge me, I'd like you to cast your mind back to the mid-90s. If you're too young, ask your parents or Google to do the same.

Have a peek at the pretty but not especially amazing 323 Astina. Some folks call it a four-door coupe, but it's a sedan. It was not nearly as attractive as the more adventurous hatchback.

The 323 went dull for almost a decade and then when the 3 arrived, it was the sedan that I thought was the looker. Sure, they weren't completely different like the old days, but the proportions were nicer and it was just a better thing to look at.

Then along came the most recent fourth-generation 3, the BP. The hatch, I think, is the gorgeous one while the sedan is a more sober. And while still made of lovely proportions, it seems to have been... flattened a bit.

Thorough as we are here at CarsGuide, I spent a week with the new sedan to ponder not only its looks, but whether it's much different to the hatch.

There’s a lot to admire about Subaru.

For one, the brand is hell-bent on committing to all-wheel drive across its range where its major competitors benefit from selling (often cheaper to manufacture) front-drive cars, plus its current safety push is admirably reminiscent of Volvo’s efforts in the field.

Subaru’s stalwart hatch and sedan, the Impreza, can’t afford to let up, though. In a world where some of Japan’s most beloved nameplates are losing ground to SUVs in a big way, can the fifth-generation Impreza still hold its own in 2019?

We’ve spent a week in the top-spec 2.0i-S hatch to find out.