Last week, my old friend Jim, an amateur racing driver, and I went to Bovingdon Airfield near Hemel Hempstead for a track experience with Drift Limits (https://driftlimits.co.uk/). For just under £45, we enjoyed putting two of the most well-known rally cars of the last 25 years, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, through their paces. Before we set out, we were given a drivers' briefing and were accompanied by an instructor at all times.
In typical rally fashion, the weather was wet and absolutely appalling, and given the choice of any of the other vehicles Drift Limits had on offer (which included a rather nice Lamborghini Gallardo, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Audi R8 amongst others), the Subaru and Mitsubishi were probably amongst the safer options. This has to do with the fact that they both have sophisticated traction control systems, they both have four-wheel drive and that they only produce around 300 bhp, as opposed to some of the others which easily offer double that. Still, it was a little bit hairy out there, but a lot of fun. Let us start with the Subaru first.
The Subaru Impreza was first launched in Britain in 1993, and was essentially a smaller version of their already successfully Legacy large family car. It was available in both saloon and estate forms, offering the option of four-wheel drive traction on all models (the front-wheel drive only variants never sold very well). Soon, things got much more exciting, and an Impreza Turbo was released, which got a 2.0 litre turbocharged version of Subaru's famous "boxer" engine, and just over 200 bhp. It was significantly more exciting than the normal Impreza's 1.6 and 1.8 litre engines.
Soon, the Impreza Turbo (known as the WRX in other countries, which stands for "World Rally eXperimental) gained something of a cult following, especially when a certain Scot by the name of Colin McRae started to campaign vigorously in a modified version on the world rally stage. In its standard form, the Impreza was not that interesting, apart from the four-wheel drive offered on most versions, but the reputation of the Turbo, boosted by McRae's various rally victories, just grew and grew.
The Impreza was replaced with a new version in 2000, complete with a new version of the Turbo now renamed the WRX to bring it in line with the rest of the world, which was facelifted twice before being itself discontinued in favour of the model I tried in 2007. This 2008 Impreza WRX STi (the STi is the slightly upgraded version with flared wheelarches and more power) developed around 300 bhp from a 2.5 litre four cylinder turbocharged boxer engine. The 0-60 mph time was quoted at under five seconds (in dry conditions), and from experience I can well believe that this was possible.
With a ridiculously over the top bodykit, a mean-looking set of alloy wheels and an enormous rear spoiler, the word I would use to describe a 2008 vintage Subaru WRX STi is certainly "purposeful". This example had clocked up over 120,000 miles hard driven miles, but was still in good order, although I would not like to even imagine how many clutches and sets of brake pads it had worked its way through during that time. The transmission is a six-speed manual gearbox with a distinctly long throw, rather like a contemporary Suzuki Vitara, although for the track experience most of the time the car was left in third.
Through the tight Bovingdon Airfield circuit the Impreza certainly has plenty of power, and Jim, who also drove both cars back to back, commented that out of the two, the brakes in the Subaru were much better than the Mitsubishi. We certainly ensured that all the driver aids were switched on during the time, as aquaplaning was not quite what I wanted to do... The Subaru has a switch inside which allows choosing between various modes, such as snow, tarmac, gravel and others, and we selected tarmac. I was grateful that on this UK spec version, ESP and ABS were standard along with a plethora of airbags.
In the extremely wet conditions, the Subaru was not really that difficult to handle. Admittedly, compared with the Mitsubishi, body roll was not as well controlled, and the steering was not as precise, but the acceleration was certainly comparable. On a public road, the Impreza would probably be a little bit more comfortable. However, what was not so good was the tacky interior plastic, including a hard scratchy dashboard, a standard specification far inferior to the Lancer, which I imagine cost much the same upon release ten years ago, and far less easy to use controls. It has to be sad that the frumpy styling of the Impreza hatchback upon which this car is based certainly looks ugly and bloated compared with the Mitsubishi as well.
One area in which the Subaru does claw something back, however, is value for money. Good examples of the 2008-9 WRX STi sell for around £15-18,000, far, far less than the comparable Lancer Evolution X. That said, Subaru are still making the Impreza WRX STi, whereas the Lancer has been discontinued (apart from in China) and the Evolution series died a few years ago, probably making it more desirable due to rarity.
In isolation, then, this era of Impreza WRX STi is a fast, good value car with plenty of power and a driving mode for virtually any occasion, but perhaps there is something missing. Tomorrow, we will go into more depth about what that may be when we look at the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X in more detail. Videos of both experiences will also soon be uploaded (along with bumbling commentary) for all you thrill seekers out there!
