Call it an emotional lift kit - this medium hatch’s update is all about using more plush to pull a crowd.

RAISE the price, raise the specification - elevate the opportunity.

Having found selling Impreza to the $35,000 budget crowd didn’t work out as well as hoped, Subaru New Zealand has used occasion of the current car’s refresh to start again.

Same five-door hatch, still running a 2.0-litre flat four making 115kW/196Nm, married to a CVT transmission, with all-wheel drive.

But dressed to the nines. Which you’re paying for. So really, it’s to the 10s. 

In taking every enhancement the factory can provide,  the car has pitched with a sticker $10,000 higher than it initially released with. 

Is this what you want? Having considered the market dynamics, Subaru NZ reckons a ‘pay more, get more’ process is meeting consumer trends. 

It’s accepted that sedans and hatches aren’t anywhere near as popular as they used to be. The big swing toward sports utilities is stronger in the medium sector than any other. Moreover, the pendulum seems glued toward that genre.

But some people still want cars and, moreover, those people also want to have all the luxuries. So the Impreza gets them and … well, if it sells more strongly, the marketing team will be proved right. 

And if not?  Well, no foul, really, because there’s nothing much else that could be done for it. Further, the car’s in the final stage of its life any way. The replacement is still under cover, but since Subaru has committed to electric, it’s a safe bet to think it’ll be quite a lot different to the petrol type we get now. 

No argument, today’s car is a nicer looking and more affluent-feeling product than it was this time last year. It’s still on 18-inch rims, yet the new alloy wheel is so much sharper in design you’d think they were larger.

The extra spend specifically pays for leather upholstery, heated front driver and passenger seats, a panoramic sunroof and a banging 10-speaker Hardon Karmon sound system. 

Even if it hadn’t gained those, the upgrade would have nonetheless logically delivered an expanded Eyesight driver assist that adds in speed sign recognition and lane centring. 

Plus the car has the 11.6-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. As this is in other updated Subarus, it assuredly was always coming here.

Powertrain-wise, it’s continuation without alteration with the petrol naturally-aspired engine that’s not bad, but not exactly a class leader either. 

Just to remind that the United States market gets a 136kW 2.5-litre Impreza RS range-topper and Japan has gone to an all-hybrid line-up. 

The bigger capacity engine won’t ever make right hand drive, but there’s potential yet for the battery-assist type to come here. Be aware, though, that it’s the mild assistance powertrain as per the current Forester and Crosstrek, not the more advanced, Toyota-supplied coming to next-gen Forester next year.

The drivetrain here has the usual S mode and the paddles behind the wheel allowing you to take over ‘gear' - well, step changes, since CVTs lag cogs - changes if you want, but you really need to work the engine to make it feel remotely sporty. 

The transmission generally isn’t in that frame of mind, but a plus side is that it is tempered toward economy. That’s not always easily accomplished with boxer engines, but if driven with consideration here you’ll see reasonably numbers. The taster drive, on state highway between Auckland and Taupo, resulted in a 7.7 litres per 100km average.

How resolved might the Impreza prove to be if a driver asked it to dance? There’s no reason why it shouldn’t behave friskily. The right ingredients are in place., after all.

Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system is well proven and Subaru’s Global Platform is a decent underpinning. Though Impreza isn’t wholly firmly suspended, the car also now amusingly takes the dual-pinion steering from the WRX, to lend the same front end sharpness. It doesn’t have the same tyres, of course, so perhaps that more reactive turn-in will take it only so far, but perhaps there’s fun to be had.

Really, the primary allure of this car is that it is reasonably roomy, formats in a shape that as result of market shift to SUVs has become a bit of point of difference and that it is much better-presented. Albeit for a price.

Whether the steeper price will also reset the car’s residual value will be interesting. Insofar as the car’s recommended retail goes, there was a clue to it potentially having been under discussion until the very last.

That thing about ‘sticker’ prices was literally true. Within the press kit brochure, the price was printed onto an adhesive label which, when carefully away peeled away, revealed another figure. Seems when the material was printed the car was originally intended to sell for $45,990 - so, another $1000 more than was ultimately decided.

The writer attended this event as a guest of the brand, with travel, accomodation and food provided.