23 Nov 07
After a fast run from Sligo in the Republic that takes us past Ballyshannon, Donegal and Ballybofey, we spear past Londonderry and into Northern Ireland proper. We spend a lot of time on the N17 and N15, major roads that, while not dual carriageway, are wide and fast. Having spent a fair amount of time in previous-generation hot Imprezas, it takes no time at all to clock the first major difference with this new version.
Mainly, it rides very well indeed, with the suspension quietly going about the job of smoothing out broken patches of tarmac and easing the shock of expansion joints and potholes. Also, the power delivery definitely is more progressive, less explosive than previous iterations. The result is that after a long day of high-speed cruising in appalling conditions, we emerge from the car fresh and unstressed. Which is not something I'd have said about earlier Imprezas in the same circumstances.
We overnight in Coleraine, from where we will head directly north to join the Antrim Coastal route at the Giant's Causeway. The morning brings with it a vicious gale and great roiling sheets of rain. With cameraman Anthony and his helper Emil, we are three up and suddenly very grateful for the Impreza's all-wheel drive.
After another fast run across country, we join the coast route at the Giant's Causeway, which has been a tourist trap for upwards of 400 years. It's a collection of black basalt columns in eerily man-made polygons, hexagons or pentagons. It is intriguing, but I'm afraid I've got some sympathy for William Thackeray, who remarked upon seeing the Giant's: 'I've travelled 150 miles to see that?'
