We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. Even though they belong to the same vehicle segment, their purpose might be slightly different with BMW being a hatchback while Subaru, on the other hand, is a sedan. Another thing to consider here is the number of doors each one of them offers. The first one is a 5-door, allowing access to both front and rear seats and a usefull hatch on the rear end as well. The other one though is a 4-door, allowing access to both front and rear seats.

The fact that the BMW got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. 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. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Subaru does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Subaru badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 1 Series as average reliability-wise, and Impreza is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 3.2, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.

Subaru is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 230 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the German car, averaging around 5.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (52 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 89% difference compared to the Japanese car!

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 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Subaru outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but BMW. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.