Automotive Industry Spy: Subaru Impreza WRX STi (2006) Road Test

Control Freak!

Who's the best race driver? Jeff Gordon? NASCAR fans might agree, but not F1 fans - they'd choose Michael Schumacher or Fernando Alonso. IRL groupies would point to Sam Hornish Jr. who just won the coveted Indy 500, while it's hard to argue against Sebastian Bourdais who regularly cleans up in one of the most competitive series anywhere - Champ Car. But if you ask those same top drivers who the best person behind the wheel of a car is, they'd more than likely point to any one participant on the WRC circuit, because keeping a hurling rally car together while drifting sideways at 150 mph on a 10-foot wide snow covered road while hanging the tail end out over a cliff takes driving to otherworldly levels.

One of these drivers, young Chris Atkinson, currently 12th of the 22 currently running in the World Rally Championship, took time out of his hectic schedule to help us mere mortals understand what is possible behind the wheel of a four-door economy car... ahem... OK, Subaru's WRX STi is hardly an econobox, what with 300 enthusiastic horsepower peaking at 6,000 rpm and an equally outrageous 300 lb-ft of torque ripping into four corners of asphalt simultaneously via the Japanese automaker's now legendary symmetrical all-wheel drive, there's plenty to differentiate it from a $23,495 Impreza 2.5i. No, there's only one rally replica that rivals the WRX STi, Mitsubishi's sensational EVO IX, but we can't get that in Canada so bring it up further is a moot point.

Chris wasn't around for the first half of the day, when we snaked through circuitous

highways and side roads that network the numerous farming homesteads and getaway cottages that make up the area surrounding St. Jovite and Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. Wicked hairpins adorned with ten different patches of mismatched pavement are just finger food to the STi, gobbled up without concern or even a passing thought. Where there weren't myriads of varyingly sized potholes, frost heaves raised upward to wave hello, followed by blind high-speed corners lovingly finished with loose gravel exactly where the road dipped into an off-camber curve - the roads in rural Quebec are anything but well cared for. No worries, mind you, I'm behind the wheel of a WRX STi, what some will attest is the most agile four-door on the planet.

Who am I to argue? I've just been saved, literally, by a car that reacts so intuitively, with grip so riveting that I'm lost for words to describe. I've been fooling around with its exclusive Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD), biasing power to the rear wheels to induce oversteer, too much fun, or dialing it to achieve a perfect 50:50 setting in order to make four identical black 225/45R17 tire patches on the pavement. Ooh, this car could bring the bad boy out in a Tibetan monk.

Subaru has had its track marshals set up a shortened version

of Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, which basically cuts off the two longest straights so that we don't allow ourselves to get overzealous and transform our little sedans into all-wheel drive lawnmowers. This is a disappointment, as I know this course extremely well and now I've got to learn something new, all the while wondering how fabulous it would be to keep going past turn five, hold to the left past six and hardly let off as I nudge turn seven, dropping downward, hugging the left curb as turn eight approaches, and then drift it sideways around its wacky hairpin, climb up the hump past nine and then down into my favourite right and left sweepers anywhere, ten and eleven. Ah, it'll forever remain a mystery, as we're forced to the right at six, a sharp turn that can tax the STi's undercarriage if taken too quickly, leave seven, eight, nine and ten for naught, and then rejoin the

track with an entirely unique take on ten, dip into the Gulch as the course curves to the left at eleven, up the hill with breathtaking acceleration, and then under the rather uncooperative Bridge Turn, twelve, take the Kink at thirteen at high-speed before diving downward and up again for fourteen, or Namerow. Whew! The course dips and undulates before sweeping past Paddock Bend down one of the shorter straights, right past the tower and then on to a fabulous lift, right hand corner, steep dive and series of esses comprising turns one through five. Yes, this is still pretty exhilarating stuff, but to know what I could have experienced has me a bit miffed.

What has me feeling good, however, is the way this car turns a

slightly better than average driver into a weekend hero. OK, I've driven this circuit a great deal and have spent some time on many more, such as Willow Springs, Road Atlanta, Portland International and a dozen others that aren't quite in the same league, so I suppose I'm a little more advanced than stated, but then again, sitting shotgun next to Chris Atkinson, my own "advanced" abilities seem ridiculously feeble in comparison. I inform Chris, one of three Subaru WRC drivers hand picked by one of the most celebrated rally teams in existence, that I'm scared of nothing, which, in a car piloted by a top-tier driver, is true, and he responds with an impish grin before burying the throttle into the floorboards, snapping the

six-speed manual into second and mashing at the go pedal once again; third, fourth, yikes! The last time I was on this track with a driver of Atkinson's caliber I was in a Saleen Mustang with Alex Tagliani at the wheel, and while a ruddy blast (we drifted all the way 'round turn eight), it was nothing like this. Chris made the STi dance like in ways the live axle Mustang couldn't dream of, and just when I was feeling comfortable, he purposely headed for the grassland to see how much dirt he could spew from behind, twirling around in circles until I was giggling like a 13-year old school girl who'd just fallen in love with her eighth grade French teacher. Only my teacher wasn't French, but Australian, and I wasn't in love, I was awestruck!

It's settled. Rally drivers are the best there is. I've witnessed it

first hand, and wouldn't even think to contest it. And the WRX STi? It's easily one of the best road cars on the planet, no matter the money you want to spend. It's not particularly pretty, although its purposeful stance and oddly shaped nose give it an air of distinction - definitely a car that commands deep respect by those in the know. Its interior is great for an Impreza, adequate for a compact car and hardly impressive for something costing close to $50K, but who gives a rip? The seats are absolutely perfect, steering wheel ideal, shifter precisely where I wanted and needed it, and handbrake within reach when that urge to spin arises. The gauges are large and easy to read, switchgear up to the job at hand, front, side-thorax and curtain-type airbags reassuring, automatic climate control a nice touch, audio system good and six-disc in-dash CD changer appreciated, plus overall build quality is seemingly capable of being tortured for years without complaint.

At the end of the day I've got it entered into my mental notebook... cars that I have to own: McLaren F1, 1969 Ferrari 365 GTC, early BMW 3.0 CS coupe, Ford RS200 Evolution Group B rally car, Lotus Elise, 300C SRT8, Maserati Quattroporte, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X (when it comes to Canada), and Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Oh, and to answer that question that everyone keeps asking me, the Subie is no better or worse than the EVO, it's just different. Some character traits, like its torquey engine, I like more, others, like the Mitsu's lighter curb weight, are obvious. Can't say whether I like the STi's multi-adjustable centre diff better than the EVO's disengaging centre diff, which is why I need to own both. I'm sure you understand, no?

Specifications (WRX STi):