2021 Mazda 3 vs Subaru Impreza

What's the difference?

FEW cars have been as complicated or controversial as this current-generation Mazda3.

Launched in early 2019, it would have garnered stellar reviews if Mazda hadn’t decided to ditch the base Neo and kick things off instead with the mid-spec Pure. Consequently, the price of entry jumped by $4500, with predictably many buyers feeling abandoned by the brand. Sales have since declined, but that’s the general small-car trend anyway as the SUV’s stranglehold tightens.

Some enthusiasts weren’t too keen on the rear suspension’s switch from a sophisticated multi-link to a simple torsion beam either, claiming it didn’t align with Mazda’s sporting reputation.

Then the long-awaited, much vaunted Skyactiv-X models arrived in mid-2020 – a compression-ignition supercharged eco model promising diesel-like petrol economy without the noxious fumes and with improved performance and refinement to boot. Years in the making, the hype had perhaps been overblown because what eventuated wasn’t a Prius-rivalling yet GTI-like saviour, but something altogether… more nuanced. 

Now, as the dust settles, we take another look at the Skyactiv-X-equipped 3 (X20) in flagship Astina auto guise, to see if the mainstream small car has evolved as much as Mazda has us hoping.

And, more importantly, whether the Mazda3 can cut it as a premium proposition.

Subaru is now known best for being an SUV brand that doesn’t really make SUVs.

Its range of lifted wagons and hatchbacks are successful evolutions of its once-popular sedan and hatch ranges, which included the Impreza.

Now the Liberty mid-size sedan has reached the end of its long run in Australia, the Impreza hatch and sedan represent a little slice of Subaru’s past. The range has been updated for the 2021 model year, so what we’re set on finding out is whether the storied Impreza badge should take your eyes away from more popular rivals.

We took a top-spec 2.0i-S for a week to find out.