Have you folks been reading the various forum discussion on this new Impreza? I'm amazed at all the negative commentary - though not altogether surprised. There should be no reason why the expectation ought to be that different from the spy pics of disguised prototypes in the Californian desert. We all knew that the next-gen Impreza was going to be a hatchback and we all know, from the pics, that the car wasn't going to have any radical proportion compared with the EVO X.
In Europe, small "Japsedans" don't sell. In a market segment dominated by premium hatchbacks, cars like the booted WRX were always going to appeal to a limited pool of enthusiasts. As informed as they/we may be, enthusiasts may build a brand's image, but there aren't enough of them to grow the company's profits. What Subaru needs in this segment is a car that has more mass-market appeal whilst still providing the enthusiast with the unique thrill of driving an all-wheel drive, rally racer-derived, tar burner.
This is a thoroughly conventional Impreza WRX that won't have girls laughing at you from the school bus windows and old cronies waving their walking sticks at your vulgar display of social irreverance. This is a much more socially acceptable WRX... whilst still retaining a glimmer of the go-faster image synoymous with the type: the tell-tale bonnet scoop (always a functional feature in turbo'd Scoobs) and rear diffuser are visual reminders of the awesome capability of this car.
Expected power output for the car is not yet available from my sources (and if they did tell me, I wouldn't leak it on a whim) but I expect power to be in the 180 kW zone with torque upwards of 330 Nm for the stock WRX.
Frameless door windows are a thing of the past did you notice? Another clue as to this car's mainstream aspirations.