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Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

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

compare selected cars
2009. - 2013.
C - Small family car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2007. - 2011.
C - Small family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4580 mm
1755 mm
1470 mm
430 liters
430 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4580 mm
1740 mm
1475 mm
538 liters
538 liters
60 liters
2009 Mazda 3 Sedan
2007 Subaru Impreza Sedan

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1598 cc
105 hp
145 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Subaru
1.5 EL15
Petrol
4 - Boxer, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1498 cc
105 hp
142 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1155 kg
12.2 s
184 km/h
8.3 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
149 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1310 kg
14.0 s
175 km/h
9.6 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
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 - 4 gears
1310 kg
15.1 s
167 km/h
9.8 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
g/km

Expenses

5100 EUR
Price from
4600 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 petrol engines and utilizing the 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Mazda and 4 x 4 in the case of the Subaru). The first one has a Mazda-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 105hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 105hp engine designed by Subaru.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the Mazda being a slightly better choice apparently. 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 that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Impreza offers a considerable difference of 13% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Mazda does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Mazda with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Subaru badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 3 as average reliability-wise, and Impreza is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Mazda 3 rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.1 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Mazda is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.8 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 184 kilometers per hour, 9km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Mazda 3, averaging around 6.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (45 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 19% difference compared to Impreza.


Verdict

Mazda 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 this case though, it seems that both cars show similar levels of passenger protection all together, so that won't break a tie. But one thing that actually could is the performance, with Mazda being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Mazda. 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. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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