The first time. We all have one. That first car you drove and you realized had abilities far beyond your skills behind the wheel.
Mine was an early-era Subaru WRX, probably 20 or so years ago, which belonged to a colleague. He gave me the keys and let me loose.
What followed was a blast around quiet streets with my jaw in my lap over the amount of traction in the WRX.
I returned the keys with my hand shaking, adrenaline flowing through my veins. My eyes had been opened to what a car could do.
Many cars have come through my garage since, several far more powerful and exotic, but the WRX of my memory will always be special.
Fast-forward to the present. It’s time. Time to see if the current iteration can still make my palms sweaty. Can it still hold sway over me?
The car supplied for this highly scientific venture was a 2017 WRX STI with the sport-tech package, in classic Subaru blue, of course.
The core of the STI formula hasn’t changed: Subaru’s trademark all-wheel drive, a growly turbo-four and 305 horsepower.
The STI and its slightly lower-powered sibling, the WRX, are built on top of the Impreza sedan. Mercifully, Impreza styling has settled down into clean but bland lines – the bug-eye look and quirky triptych grille of past generations have been left behind.
Aside from the comically large rear wing, the STI is a good-looking car. Its stance on black rims and low-profile rubber looks like it means business. Firing up the boxer engine releases a stern burble from the quad-pipe exhaust.
Getting comfortable with the clutch and six-speed manual (the only transmission option in the STI) takes time.
The take-up on the clutch is higher than expected and the movement of the gear stick through the ratios is a bit wooly. You adapt quickly, but the gear shifts, especially from second to third while under firm acceleration, can be hit and miss.
It’s the duet performance of the engine and the AWD that make the STI special. Once beyond 3,000 rpm, the turbo is pushing boost and the nature of the car changes. It snarls, and is a bit feral.
The four-paws grip and clever centre differential channels that power well and allows for fun with confidence.
It’s on back roads that are not fully surfaced that this combo shines. You can play at being Scottish rally driver Colin McRae, pushing the car through corners and timing the surge of boost to sprint to the next bend.
As for that centre diff, it can be tweaked. Things can be changed up or down. Or forward and back. I’m not sure. So I left it in auto.
Truly dedicated owners will find ways to shave a few hundredths off a lap time by tuning the differential to their course, but I didn’t notice a difference.
As engaging as the STI is to drive, it’s a mixed bag inside. Even on this top-of-the-line demo, there’s no nav or parking sensor, though it does have a backup camera.
The touch-screen controls for audio and other systems are sluggish. There’s fake carbon fibre draped strategically around the cabin with an STI logo near the shifter. It’s fine, but not class-leading, and an improvement over the acres of squeaky hard plastic that used to make up Impreza dashes.
The tiller is meaty and sized well to handle one-handed while the right mitt is busy on the gears. The seats aren’t hardcore sport buckets but do the job of keeping my burly frame in place.
An overriding plus of the Impreza base is the practical four-dour platform. It’s a fast little family hauler with a decent trunk and its size is a good match for the realities of urban driving.
This STI didn’t scare me like its younger version did so many years ago, but an essential raw eagerness of the car is still there. It’s a factor that will appeal to some or drive away others.
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