Japan's first-generation WRX never came to North America, kept a gentlemen's-agreement rating of 280 PS on paper while actually making about 300.
Median 159 hp across 508 similar cars
Lead trim: Impreza AWD · 5-spd manual · 1.8L · AWD · up to 276 hp
Subaru Impreza GC / GF / GMGC/GF/GM · 1992–2000
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Subaru Impreza GC / GF / GM yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactJapan's first-generation WRX never came to North America, kept a gentlemen's-agreement rating of 280 PS on paper while actually making about 300.
Announced on 22 October 1992 and on sale in Japan that November, a shortened Legacy floor pan under a sedan or five-door wagon (Touring), front- or all-wheel drive, with a two-door coupé (Impreza Retna in Japan) added in late 1995. Boxer engines from 1.5 to 2.2 L, and, in Japan, the turbo WRX ("World Rally eXperimental") and Subaru Tecnica International WRX STi versions I–VI, the first STi-badged model arriving in early 1994; North America never got the first-generation WRX. Also sold as the Outback Sport (from 1995 in the US), the Impreza Gravel Express in Japan and the limited-run Casa Blanca. The 22B STi (1998) and the GF8 WRX wagon are catalogued separately. Japanese ratings sat at the 280 PS gentlemen's-agreement limit from 1996; the page notes the car really made about 300 hp.
Collectors Spotted in the Subaru Impreza Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Subaru Impreza yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
21 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.6 EJ16 (naturally aspirated) | 1992–2000 | 1.6 L Flat-4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1.8 EJ18 (naturally aspirated) | 1992–2000 | 1.8 L Flat-4 | 109 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| 2.2 EJ22 (naturally aspirated) | 1994–2000 | 2.2 L Flat-4 | 135 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Impreza AWD · 4-spd auto · 1.8L · AWD | 1993–1995 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | 109 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | AWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza AWD · 4-spd auto · 2.2L · AWD | 1995–2001 | 2.2 L 4-cyl | 135 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | AWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza AWD · 4-spd auto · 2.5L · AWD | 1998–2007 | 2.5 L 4-cyl | 165 hp | 167 lb-ft | — | AWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza AWD · 5-spd manual · 1.8L · AWD | 1993–1997 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | 109 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | AWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Impreza AWD · 5-spd manual · 2.2L · AWD | 1996–2001 | 2.2 L 4-cyl | 135 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | AWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Impreza AWD · 5-spd manual · 2.5L · AWD | 1998–2011 | 2.5 L 4-cyl | 165 hp | 167 lb-ft | — | AWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Impreza Wagon AWD · 4-spd auto · 1.8L · AWD | 1993–1995 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | 109 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | AWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza Wagon AWD · 4-spd auto · 2.2L · AWD | 1995–2001 | 2.2 L 4-cyl | 135 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | AWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza Wagon AWD · 5-spd manual · 1.8L · AWD | 1993–1995 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | 109 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | AWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Impreza Wagon AWD · 5-spd manual · 2.2L · AWD | 1996–2001 | 2.2 L 4-cyl | 135 hp | 140 lb-ft | — | AWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Impreza Wagon · 4-spd auto | 1993–1995 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | — | — | — | FWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza Wagon · 5-spd manual | 1993–1995 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | — | — | — | FWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Impreza · 4-spd auto | 1993–1996 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | — | — | — | FWD | Automatic 4-spd | — |
| Impreza · 5-spd manual | 1993–1996 | 1.8 L 4-cyl | — | — | — | FWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| WRX GC8A / GC8B Version I (240 PS) | 1992–1994 | 2.0 L Flat-4 | 237 hp | 224 lb-ft | — | AWD | — | — |
| WRX GC8C Version II (260 PS) | 1994–1996 | 2.0 L Flat-4 | 256 hp | 228 lb-ft | — | AWD | — | — |
| WRX GC8D Version III (280 PS) | 1996–1997 | 2.0 L Flat-4 | 276 hp | 260 lb-ft | — | AWD | — | — |
| WRX Wagon GF8 (220 PS) | 1993–1994 | 2.0 L Flat-4 | 217 hp | 207 lb-ft | — | AWD | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Impreza Wagon · 4-spd auto trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This Impreza generation dropped two things enthusiasts took for granted at once: the sedan body style is gone, and so is the manual transmission — hatchback and CVT only now.
The fifth-gen Impreza quietly made history: it was the first car from any Japanese automaker to put a pedestrian-protection airbag on the standard equipment list.
Japan gets a smaller 1.6 liter engine here purely to slot under a road tax threshold, not for performance.
This Impreza broke Japanese exterior-dimension rules for the first time, the wide-body GR/GV needing 55 mm more girth.
This WRX STI had a badge-engineered twin sold at Saab dealerships: under a GM/Fuji Heavy Industries deal, Saab rebadged it as the 9-2X starting in the 2005 model year.
Subaru badged this Impreza generation as the Saab 9-2X for 2004–06, a WRX wagon wearing Swedish griffins.
Subaru Impreza · Impreza 22B-STi · 1998–1998.
Subaru built just 400 widebody 22B STIs in 1998 to mark its 40th anniversary and third straight WRC title — every one sold out in somewhere between 30 minutes and 48 hours.
All 400 units of the widebody 22B STI, built to mark Subaru's 40th anniversary, sold out within 30 minutes to 48 hours of going on sale in Japan.
Japan's first-generation WRX never came to North America, kept a gentlemen's-agreement rating of 280 PS on paper while actually making about 300.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
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The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
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The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.