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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

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2007. - 2011.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
4 x 4
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2007. - 2011.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4415 mm
1740 mm
1475 mm
301 liters
1216 liters
60 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4239 mm
1748 mm
1421 mm
330 liters
1150 liters
51 liters
2007 Subaru Impreza
2007 BMW 1 Series

Engine

Diesel
4 - Boxer, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1998 cc
150 hp
350 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
143 hp
320 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1385 kg
8.6 s
205 km/h
6.8 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
152 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1295 kg
9.0 s
210 km/h
5.4 l/100km
4.0 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
119 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1320 kg
9.1 s
210 km/h
6.9 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.4 l/100km
140 g/km

Expenses

4600 EUR
Price from
2500 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Subaru and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Subaru-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 143hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the BMW being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 7% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Subaru does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Subaru, as well as BMW, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Impreza as average reliability-wise, and 1 Series is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Japanese car rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.1 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Subaru is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.4 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 205 kilometers per hour, 5km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 4.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (63 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 29% difference compared to the Japanese car.


Verdict

Subaru appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the German car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Subaru offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the BMW. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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