Thankfully for shrinking violets, the Prodrive-tweaked car has no visual differentiators from the usual STi. Mind you, shrinking violets are unlikely to be attracted to an Impreza anyway; any turbocharged Impreza attracts the attention of every Nova-driving, baseball-capped boy in the vicinity, and an STi-badged one has all comers lining up to try and take you on at the traffic lights. The STis all wear gold-painted six-spoke alloys (17x7.5in, with 225/45 tyres), blue alcantara seats with large STi logos, an even huger intercooler air scoop on the bonnet and further pink logos on the side sills and fog lamp blanks, as well as the vast tea tray of a rear spoiler. They're not subtle.
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And neither is the Impreza's dynamic appeal. Basically, in Prodrive-tweaked form, it has the potential to be a right brute of a car the further you get up the rev range. Yes, it's got supercar-like acceleration and rocketship in-gear pull, but it certainly doesn't have supercar-like sophistication. This is a hold-on-tight, shake-your-teeth-loose and hold-your-hair-down experience. As one of my (nervous) passengers succinctly put it: "I think my testicles just retracted." That said, if you can put up with a slightly heavy clutch - jerky on the car we tested, probably due to 10,000 miles of abuse by journalists rather than by design - it's surprisingly docile and easy to drive around town, though judging it on those criteria seems to be rather missing the point. Criticising it for having a cheapo interior, some rather ropey plastics, fixtures and fittings not befitting a £25,000-plus car and a less than distinguished audio system is missing the point, too.
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What you're paying for here is essentially an engine, a powertrain and an accomplished all-wheel-drive system, and these do live up to the as-seen-on-the-WRC hype. I'm not quite convinced by the steering, however; although the STi has its rack tuned for sharper responses, with fewer turns lock to lock, it isn't quite as communicative as expected yet it transmits every lurch and rut in the road right the way up to the driver's shoulders. You could get RSI driving this car. The six-speed gearbox is not as slick as that of some rivals, and the sixth gear is low-set enough to make longer-distance motorway commuting wearing without delivering any of the usual benefits such as improved fuel economy - after all, even Impreza drivers must have some practical considerations. Mitsubishi's equivalent Evo VIII is a more rounded, complete package, even if it is more expensive, and it has the nicer-feeling gearbox, an important factor if most of your driving is on the road when you rarely get the opportunity to use much of the performance potential anyway. The Impreza has more potential to be frustrating, and the more the power is boosted, the more frustrating it can be.
But you either get this type of car or you don't, and if this is what your boy racer dreams are made of, then of course you have to have the ultimate Impreza and the full collection of letters after its name. The ultimate Impreza, that is, until the next one: with Mitsubishi launching the 330bhp Evo MR FQ-330 this month, we'd hazard a guess that an even more powerful Scooby isn't far off. God only knows what they'll call that one.
*STOP PRESS: Since the above road test was written, Subaru has announced the
limited edition WRX STi WR1, launched to celebrate Petter Solberg's Drivers'
Championship title in the 2003 WRC. It's got 320 bhp, a driver-controlled
centre differential allowing for manual selection of the torque distribution
between the front and rear wheels, uprated Prodrive-developed springs and
bump-stops, suspension lowered by 25mm, Prodrive seven-spoke alloy wheels
with Pirelli P-Zero tyres, a stainless steel mesh grille, driving lamps,
anthracite-coloured alcantara sports seats, a special gear knob and mat set
plus unique Ice Blue metallic paint. Just 500 will be imported to the UK,
each costing £29,995. Although the power upgrade and exclusive features will
only be available on this model in the near future, once the 500 have sold
out it's likely that they will be offered as options with the "standard" WRX
STi. Watch this space for a road test of the WR1.
