I drive a 2003 Subaru Impreza Outback. I would say if most of your driving is city, you should steer away from the WRX unless you really want the turbo. Because of the turbo, it requires premium gas, and the turbo doesn't really get going until about 3.5k rpm. I've found that I do most of my driving around 3k rpm. Without the turbo up to speed, the stardard impreza engine outperforms the WRX engine (being larger...), although once that turbo gets going it kicks in an extra 70 HP or so. I have found that the AWD is great, I drove around quite a bit in the snow we had in Boston a few months back and had no problem driving through some pretty messy conditions. One thing about the Impreza though, the back seat doesn't have the best leg room. But man can you put a lot of stuff in that thing if you really try.
