The Impreza WRX is for fast-car fanatics who are not fussy about gadgets or refinement

The last time I took a Subaru Impreza Turbo home for a test-drive was many years ago. Recently it was my assistant Vijo who has been responsible for test-driving the Subaru cars. You might have read his article on the Impreza S204 in September last year.

We had the Impreza Turbo once last year, but that was just to compare it against the BMW 330i when driven hard at the Bira Circuit in Pattaya, not for proper day-to-day use.

I actually ran out of cars to drive a week ago, and suddenly got a call from Motor Image Subaru (Thailand), the importer in Thailand, to attend some of their functions.

They are opening a new head office on Seri Thai road today and wanted me to be there.

I have met them previously and we talked about some of the cars available for test-drives, such as the B9 Tribeca, the Legacy and various versions of the Impreza.

"By the way, do you have any car available this week? I'm out of test-drive cars to write about," I asked. And it turned out they had one car available the following day. It was an Impreza WRX 2.5 MI, which came with a little extra stuff, such as sports seats, aero kit and 17-inch wheels. The car costs Bt2.69 million, Bt100,000 more than the regular WRX.

"It's been a long time since I drove a Subaru," I thought. "Hope it's going to be fun".

And it was fun, but more than that it turned out to be pretty addictive too. This is another car that I didn't want to return. It was like meeting up with an old girlfriend and she is every bit as good as before.

Thankfully Subaru had been criticised hard for the design of the previous Impreza, which to me resembled an ugly amphibian. The current model is not a total model change, though, and despite the modernised front and rear end, you still have the same side profile as the previous model, which is pretty boring to look at. But still much better then that frog face we all hate.

At the time, Subaru designers must have thought that since the car drives so well, they can do pretty much anything to the exterior design, even make it really ugly. It would still sell.

Well, I guess they were wrong, and soon after came this face-lifted version. But after 10 years, the new model still reminds you of the original Impreza Turbo of the 90s.

At the time, the first-generation Impreza resembled a cheap Japanese car (not the performance - only the looks). It was so bland it looked like a car made to compete against the Toyota Corolla, both inside and out.

Apart from the lack of a window frame, it was a Japanese budget car. The doors closed with a cheap sound, and the interior was terrible, with nothing good to look at. It was only the performance that made it stand out from the crowd, as well as the throaty sound through the exhaust that is so typical of its boxer (horizontally opposed or flat) engine.

Acceleration from first to second gear was traumatic for most people, and that was the thing I loved about the car. It kept on pouncing forward and roared like an angry wild beast. Great for adrenaline rushes as well as attracting attention from the public.

Now back to 2007 and the unmistakable character of the Impreza is still there, although gone is that loud roar. The 218hp 2.0-litre engine has been replaced with a larger 2.5-litre block, capable of pumping out 220hp and 320Nm of torque. The engine is more refined, although there's still a slight hint of aggressiveness once you get to high revs.

But at low to medium revs, there is hardly any audio satisfaction at all. You only hear the whining of the turbocharger, which makes you think that you're driving an electric car.

"If I'm ever going to buy this car the first thing I'll do is replace the standard exhaust with a throaty WRX stainless steel pipe or at least get a custom-made set from a local exhaust shop," I thought to myself. "How could they have taken away that wonderful sound? It was so incredible."

And despite the improved exterior looks - a friend commented that the headlights looked as if they was borrowed from a Honda - the interior, particularly the dashboard and console, was still bland. Now even the Corolla's inside looks much better.

For a car costing well over Bt2 million, there are still manual air-con switches and combination sticks that look as if they were from the 1980s.

The three-spoke steering wheel, however, is perfect, whether in terms of design, size or steering weight. It's heavy, but so is the steering of any serious car.

The five-speed manual gearbox felt stiff at first, but after a day of driving you get used to it. Nevertheless, it requires a bit of effort, especially from mid to high engine revs.

The pedals are stainless with rubber studs, and the front bucket seats

wrap around you like armour, which is a good thing considering the nature of this car.

The test car had covered more than 10,000 kilometres of driving (probably hard driving too), and there were shakes and rattles everywhere.

Anyone looking for good construction quality or luxury would be really disappointed with the Impreza.

But that's not the point of this car. It's the performance that would make anyone forget about its little flaws here and there.

Eye-popping acceleration (especially in first and second gear) and the all-wheel-drive system make this a darling for the enthusiast.

The steering is not razor-sharp, but it's beefy and trustworthy, and there's a decent minimum clearance and suspension travel, which means that you won't get stuck on the bridge or at The Mall's parking area like other sports cars.

I spent most of the time driving the WRX like a family car - going here and there around Bangkok.

But I knew that this car has to be driven hard and made sure I did that before I returned it.

So I made an appointment with my photographer to meet at the Bangkok Racing Circuit go-kart track behind Seacon Square. You can't reach high speeds here and you'll end up in a lot of water if you fall off the track. But you can surely do some hard driving in second and third gear without having to worry about other motorists on the road. And there are corners everywhere.

The photo session took just 10 minutes (and the fuel gauge had dropped by almost a quarter tank), and it was worth every second. Perhaps you'll have a better idea by looking at the photos.

The WRX, like its predecessor, suffers from a good amount of under-steer, but if you are prepared for it, then easing off the throttle slightly could easily take care of the problem.

Drifting should also be fun, but these 17-inch Dunlop tyres weren't mine, so I stuck to the old-fashioned hard driving. In fact the tyres were screeching almost continuously lap after lap with the circuit's tight curves.

At certain points the car felt like it was drifting on all four wheels, especially when exiting a corner, but that happens in a pretty controllable manner. You can just keep your foot planted on the metal - just control the car with slight inputs to the steering.

After the session, I drove slowly out of the circuit track, and there was a group of ladies working for True Move (I knew because they had their uniform on) who were equally impressed with the car - probably how it looked - and they started waving at me. Never had this happened before with a test car, so I can confirm that the WRX has really got spectator appeal. (Could it be me with my new short haircut? Probably not). Anyway I didn't stop to chat, just a couple of honks on the horn to acknowledge their enthusiasm, and cruised off smoothly.

As a conclusion, I would say that the Impreza WRX is reserved for buyers who don't care about refinement or gadgets. You've gotta be crazy about fast cars in order to enjoy it and forget about the idiosyncrasies. I'm now surely one of those people.

I returned the WRX a day later, on Friday, and winked at the blue STi version - with 280 horses and a six-speed manual gearbox. Yeah, this car is also available for a test-drive and soon I'll be rock and rolling again.

Engine: 4-cylinder horizontally opposed turbocharged DOHC 16-valve

Displacement: 2,457cc

Bore and stroke: 99.5x79.0mm

Compression ratio: 8.4:1

Max power: 220hp/5,600rpm

Max torque: 320Nm/3,600rpm

Transmission: 5-speed manual

Ratios: 3.454/1.947/1.366/0.972/0.738

Final drive ratio: 4.111

Suspension (f/r): MacPherson strut/dual link strut

Steering: Powered rack-and-pinion

Min turn: 11.0 metres

Brakes (f/r): Vented discs/vented

discs with ABS, EBD

Dimensions (mm)

Length: 4,465

Width: 1,740

Height: 1,440

Wheelbase: 2,525

Track (f/r): 1,485/1,480

Wheels: 17-inch alloy

Tyres: 205/45

Min clearance: 155mm

Weight: 1,405kg

Fuel tank capacity: 60 litres

Price: Bt2.69 million

Distributor: Motor Image Subrau (Thailand) Tel (02) 725 1888

Kingsley Wijayasinha

The Nation