Impreza "hatch" or Forester?

I ran across what may be a decent deal on these 2 Subarus. The Impreza is an '05 RS wagon(?) while the Forester is an '06. What can the Subie experts tell me about the pros and cons of each? In other words, compare these 2 cars only. So far, all I know is that in '05 the Impreza went to drive-by-wire (not sure if that's a pro or con) and in '06 the Forester gained 6 horsepower so that the power to weight for these two is probably about the same.

My wife drives an impreza wagon and I wish it were a forester. They're the same underneath but the forester has so much more useful hatch space.

They are mechanically the same. I have a forester and love it. Just go by what looks the best / suits your needs.

The sloped hatch on the Impreza really hurts the carrying capacity. We use ours to haul 3 dogs, and it simply didn't work. The vertical hatch on the Forester is so much more practical.

The Foz is of course taller and built with more ground clearance, but that's a WRX suspension swap away from being 'fixed' if you want better handling. The only other issue is gearing; the Foz (at least the earlier ones) were geared lower, supposedly for off road use, and the highway rpms will be somewhat higher with the obvious impact on fuel economy, but then, you're not buying a Subaru for great gas mileage if you know anything about them. Ultimately, we dismissed the Impreza hatch as rather silly and useless, considered the Legacy but didn't care for it's old fogey demeanor, and went with the Foz.

Really. I thought the gearing was just to compensate tire sizes. I assumed the lower milage was due mainly because the Foz was as aerodynamic as a brick. Anyhow, milage is pretty close to the same across the board for these cars. Non turbos getting much better milage than the turbo models. The Foz has better ground clearance and more usable space. It's also taller and more roomy feeling inside. I got a Forester because it was much more practical in terms of space.

I have owned both and I love them both. I agree with what ddavidv said about being a strut and spring swap away from making the forester a little more happy (and a bit more aesthetically pleasing) -- just make sure you get impreza wagon springs or else the butt will sag. We did once go camping with 4 adults and gear in our Impreza wagon, but it was very cramped. With the Forester we can get enough stuff in it for me, Mrs. Dave, the 2.5 year old and the 95 lb. retriever to take a pretty comfortable weekend trip (including jogging stroller). I am actually in the process of gathering parts for the Impreza swap right now. I'd get the Forester.

My daughter has a bugeye 2.5TS (Impreza wagon). It's actually pretty decent, and with the seats down she hauls 4 race tires, the jack, the cooler, the EZ-up, and the chairs with ease. I agree, with bulkier stuff like furniture, the Foz would dunk over the Impreza wagon, and it offers more headroom too (though we are fine with helmets in the TS).

I cross-shopped the Forester for her, but found a better example of the Impreza, and it didn't need any lowering.

I fit a 7 cubic foot dryer IN THE BOX in the back of my Forester with no problem.

Do that in an Impreza wagon.

My view: Get an Impreza sedan or get a Forester. The hatchback is a poor compromise between those two options and doesn't look as good or provide the function of either one.

The wife and I own both at the moment, '02 Impreza TS and '04 Forester XS. They're damn near the same car underneath. Her Forester has been a fantastic, faithful road trip machine.

All things basically being equal between them(suspension is a little softer on the Forester, not by much), I'd take the Foz for it's extra cargo capacity any day. It really is near-perfect as a daily driver.

Impreza: handling. Forester: practicality. /thread

Brett_Murphy wrote: I fit a 7 cubic foot dryer IN THE BOX in the back of my Forester with no problem. Do that in an Impreza wagon. My view: Get an Impreza sedan or get a Forester. The hatchback is a poor compromise between those two options and doesn't look as good or provide the function of either one.

I agree with this. Never been a huge fan of the Impreza hatch.

I've owned them both and prefer the Forester as well.
My Impreza was a '99 with a 2.5RS swap. That was a decent machine after the motor transplant.