The Subaru Impreza Mitsubishi Lancer rivalry stems from the companies’ competition with rally cars in the WRC, and is in full swing with the Lancer Evolution and Impreza STI.  The rivalry may be born of the fire breathing rally cars and live for the most part in the sports cars, but it is still alive in the commuter cars those monsters are built from.  The Subaru Impreza has always had the advantage of all-wheel drive available even on the lowest trim levels, while the Mitsubishi Lancer was only available in AWD in Evolution form. Now, Mitsubishi has made an all-wheel drive Lancer available for the masses.

The 2012 Subaru Impreza (above) has done away with the company’s long lived and much loved 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer engine in favor of a 2.0-liter boxer four.  The smaller engine makes less power than the old 2.5-liter, just 148 compared to 170 in the old engine, but trades that 22-hp drop for a huge jump in fuel economy.  The 2012 Impreza is rated at 27-mpg city and 36-mpg highway with an automatic.  The Impreza is also available with a five-speed manual transmission, which is rated at 25-mpg city and 34-mpg highway. As always, all Imprezas are all-wheel drive.

The 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer (above) is available with two different engines.  The base Lancer engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 148-hp.  This engine is only available with front-wheel drive, but can be selected with either an automatic transmission (26-mpg city, 34-mpg highway) or a five-speed manual  (25-mpg city, 34-mpg highway). The Lancer is also available with a larger 2.4-liter four-cylinder that can be bought with either front- or all-wheel drive.  The 2.4-liter engine makes 168-hp and is rated at 22-mpg city and 29-mpg highway with all-wheel drive.

As far as options go, the Lancer and Impreza are pretty evenly matched.  Both have available heated seats,  Bluetooth connectivity and navigation.  The Lancer is available with push button start and satellite radio, which the Impreza isn’t.  The Impreza on the other hand has the option of HD Radio and a built in Ipod hookup, which aren’t available on the Lancer.

Impreza is a bit larger inside, with front head room of 39.8 inches and leg room of 43.5 inches, compared to 39.6 and 42.3 in the Lancer. The Lancer does have more rear leg room though, with 36.1 inches to the Impreza’s 33.5 inches. Cargo capacity is almost identical, but the Lancer gets the edge with 12.3 cubic feet of room compared to the Impreza’s 12.0 cubic feet of trunk space, in sedan body style.  In hatchback form, the Impreza has 22.5 cubic feet of cargo space and the Lancer has 13.8.