Compare the2024 Subaru ImprezaVS 2024 MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Impreza have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Impreza are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Impreza are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Impreza has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Impreza has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The Impreza (except Base)’s optional blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Impreza (except Base)’s optional Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.

Both the Impreza and the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems and rearview cameras.

The Subaru Impreza achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

Subaru’s powertrain warranty covers the Impreza 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than MINI covers the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 6 times as many Subaru dealers as there are MINI dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Impreza’s warranty.

The Impreza’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 18 more horsepower (152 vs. 134) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder.

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Impreza lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability (That’s why Porsche uses boxer engines.). The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Subaru Impreza uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Impreza has 5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (16.6 vs. 11.6 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Subaru Impreza higher (7 out of 10) than the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (6 to 7). This means the Impreza produces up to 1.1 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door every 15,000 miles.

The Subaru Impreza comes standard with an automatic transmission, for driver comfort, especially in the city. Automatic costs extra on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

The Impreza has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better stopping power the Impreza’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door:

The Impreza’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door are solid, not vented.

For better traction, the Impreza has larger standard tires than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (205/55R16 vs. 175/65R15). The Impreza Sport/RS’ tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (225/40R18 vs. 205/45R17).

The Impreza’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door Classic’s standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Impreza has standard 16-inch wheels. Smaller 15-inch wheels are standard on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door Classic.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Impreza’s wheelbase is 4 inches longer than on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (105.1 inches vs. 101.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Impreza is 1.8 inches wider in the front and 2 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

For better maneuverability, the Impreza’s turning circle is 1.4 feet tighter than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s (34.8 feet vs. 36.2 feet).

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Impreza a Large car, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door is rated a Subcompact.

The Impreza has 16.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (100.5 vs. 83.8).

The Impreza has 1.5 inches more front legroom, 5.6 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 4.2 inches more rear legroom and 5.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

The Impreza has a much larger trunk with its rear seat up than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door with its rear seat up (20.4 vs. 13.1 cubic feet). The Impreza has a much larger trunk with its rear seat folded than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door with its rear seat folded (56 vs. 40.7 cubic feet).

The engine in the Impreza is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

The Impreza offers a remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Impreza’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Impreza has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Impreza’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s cornering lamps activate a lamp on the front corner when the turn signal is activated. The Impreza’s standard adaptive cornering lights turn the actual headlight unit up to several degrees, depending on steering wheel angle and vehicle speed. This lights a significant distance into corners at any speed.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Impreza has standard extendable sun visors. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer extendable visors.

The Impreza Sport/RS has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

The Impreza has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door Signature/Iconic.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Subaru Impreza and the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door, based on reliability, safety and performance.