Rally rivals

By on June 1, 2008

One of the great ironies in life is that by the time you are old enough to afford monthly payments and the insurance for the type of car you’ve always wanted, you’ve probably also got a couple of back seat occupants that preclude running a Ferrari or Lotus as your sole set of wheels.

 

Now that you have kids’ child seats, ISO fix points and airbags are supposed to be more important to you than BHP and 0 – 60 times, but as it’s Father’s Day this month I thought it appropriate to compare two cars with fours doors and five sets of seat belts that can take you from zero to traffic court in well under 5 seconds.

 

The rivalry between Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evolution and Subaru’s Impreza STI is legendary and began in 1993 when both models entered the World Rally Championship. Since then, drivers in Imprezas have won three championships and Tommi Makinen racked up four wins in as many years in Evos. Competition has been fierce in the street too: the 1st through 3rd Evolutions of the Lancer were appreciably slower than their Subaru rivals, but then the Evo IV trounced the STI, and so it continued with the Evo V and VI until Subaru Technica International got the better of the VII, VIII, and IX.

 

Now we have the all new five-door hatch back Impreza STI and the totally revamped EVO X. Within a few days of both being launched at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, journalists from Car Top magazine proved that the new STI is… 0.5 seconds per lap quicker than the EVO X around Tsukuba circuit. Wow, you are probably not thinking. A more interesting, and far more relevant fact is that Toshi Arai, driving an only slightly modified Impreza in the 2005 Production Car World Rally Championship set faster stage times than the late, great Colin McRae managed in his full blown rally Impreza on the way to his WRC crown in 1995.

 

So they’re both quick, but as they utilize sophisticated all wheel drive and stability systems, they are both remarkably easy to drive quickly. In two 30 minute sessions at Fuji Speedway in the STI I was able to repeatedly pass Ferrari Testarossas and Porsche 911s through the bends before they all got their revenge on the straight. That was in the dry, on a perfect surface; on a wet, twisty mountain road there are very few cars in the world that can keep up with these two.

 

However, both are based on budget compact cars, and as such, are perfectly adept at ferrying a family of four and all their luggage on weekend breaks. Headroom in the back of the EVO could be better, but unless your kids are six-footers, they probably won’t notice. As the Impreza is a hatchback, it currently wins on the out and out practicality front, but Mitsubishi aren’t daft so they have a fast-back EVO in the works as I type.

 

Breaking with years of tradition, Subaru have also managed to fit a decent interior. It’s no Audi, but it’s in a different league to the Mitsubishi, which no matter how far the Lancer has evolved, is still firmly stuck in the ‘90s. But on the outside it is the EVO that catches your eye. EVOs have always looked aggressive, but this one is downright menacing. The STI though… well its looks grow on you.

 

Economically and ecologically, neither of these cars is likely to put a Prius or K-car to shame, but at the same time, they’re not complete gas-guzzlers either. One advantage of turbocharged engines is that the turbo doesn’t do much, if anything at all, at low revs, which means you can pootle around town, sticking below 2,000 rpm, getting similar fuel economy to a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. Lingering in gear tough tends to make the scenery go all blurry. Subaru have capitalized on this characteristic in the new Impreza STI. A knob set near the gear stick allows you to select I (intelligent) mode, which all but keeps the turbo offline for city driving, S (sport) mode for occasional blasts between traffic lights, and S# (sport sharp) which lets all 308 horses out of the stable for attacks on your favorite mountain pass or circuit. Expect around 10km/l in I mode and less than half of that in S#, but that little gadget, along with better build quality, a slicker manual gear box and superior interior make the Impreza the car for me, despite its gawky looks.

 

But don’t take my word for it. If you’re not sure what to do this Father’s Day, might I suggest going for a test drive? Actually, two test drives. Even if you have no intention of buying a new car this year, pop down to your local Mitusbishi and Subaru dealers. And Mitsubishi and Subarus’ HQs won’t mind me saying that one bit because after just a few minutes behind the wheel of these two beasts you may well discover that what you need more than anything else, or at least as much as beer, televised sports and the love of your family, is a road-going rally car.


Mitsubishi Evolution X

from ¥3,329,000-


Subaru Impreza STI

from ¥3,280,000-

About Justin Gardiner