Subaru Impreza vs Fiat 500E

What's the difference?

For over thirty years, the Subaru Impreza has been an icon on Australian roads.

If you’re a member of the ‘PlayStation generation’ like me, there’s a very good chance you slapped P plates on one as your first car.

For Subaru the Impreza is more than that. Along with its WRX performance variant, it's the car which put Subaru on the map, raising it from a relatively unknown Japanese automaker to a global household name.

Things change, though, and despite 30-plus years of history as a beloved nameplate, the Impreza has gone from a best-seller to tumbling down the sales charts as buyers shuffle into small SUVs rather than hatchbacks or small sedans.

The question we’re looking to answer today is what this new-generation Impreza has to offer in 2024, and whether it is still worth a look.

Read on to see what we found.

You wouldn’t know it to look at it, but this is a brand-new — as in really and truly all-new — Fiat 500.

That has got to be a big deal for fans of Fiat’s pint-sized city car, with a genuinely all-new 500 about rare as spotting Halley’s Comet soaring over Turin. The last time was way back in 2007, by the way, and that car will remain on sale alongside this new one for the foreseeable.

But that’s not the only surprise. This 500 is also entirely electric, properly modern inside, and it has actual technology in its cabin and on its safety list.

Fiat reckons this is a big reset for the 500. And that there will never be another all-new petrol model again.

So, how does this new 500e stack up against the recent flood of small EVs, predominantly from China?

Let’s go find out.