► Month four with the Subaru WRX STI
► Family car credentials hindered by ride
► It’s practical, but it begs to be thrashed
Somewhere out there, there’s a rabbit wearing part of my Subaru as a hat. Well, when I say rabbit, I mean a giant hare of the ‘mad March’ variety, about as big as a greyhound dog. The hare in question ran out in front of me and collided with the STI’s nose (a polite way of saying I ran over it). I was on a dual carriageway so I couldn’t stop immediately, but I knew there’d be damage – it sounded like I’d hit a rock. Yuck.
When I eventually pulled over, I was expecting to find gore, but apart from a bit of brown fluff there was no sign of the poor animal. Mysteriously, there was also no sign of an entire black plastic shroud around the driver’s side fog light. It was as though the hare had time – during the collision – to get a screwdriver out and carefully prize it off. Anyway, I need to get it fixed – I’ll report back next month.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the Subaru as a family car. One of the advantages of the original Impreza Turbo that’s still true today is that it’s based on a practical four-door saloon. Some might sneer at its humble origins, but it does make the car easier to live with than, say, its BRZ coupe cousin.
One of the things that surprised me was the size of the STI’s boot. Okay, so my younger daughter is only three, but even so her bike is easily chucked into the cavernous space beneath the blue spoiler, with room to put her in there too, if I wanted. (I don’t actually do that. Just to be clear. I’m just saying I could.) For drivers who need to justify buying their STI on the basis it’ll also double up as the family workhorse, this big boot is your ace card.
As an aside, it’s a shame Subaru doesn’t still make the old Impreza Sport Wagon – remember the short-tail-estate hatchback version of the Impreza? These days the ‘Impreza’ estate is called the Levorg, but it’s longer than the old Sport Wagon (more like a Legacy Outback) and like the WRX it’s only sold in the UK as a single-spec car – unfortunately, a 1.6 turbo with a ‘Lineartronic’ CVT transmission. Ew.
Anyway, all the points our STI long-termer scores as a practical four-door it then loses because of the ride. To be honest, my family’s not dead keen to go on a shopping trip in it, because at lower speeds, when you’re pootling in town, the ride is irritating – I mean, it’s head-wobblingly jiggly, and if you have to do a couple of hill-starts in traffic, the clutch will immediately start stinking like you’ve set fire to some plastic in the footwell.
So our mixed feelings about the STI continue. As always, it’s best when you’re driving flat-out on your own, preferably in the wet. It’s practical yes, but in its heart it’s still a rally car more than a family car.
Logbook: Subaru WRX STI
Engine: 2457cc turbo boxer 4-cyl, 296bhp @ 6000rpm, 300lb ft @ 4000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual, four-wheel drive
Stats: 5.2 sec 0-62mph, 159mph, 242 g/km
Price: £28,995
As tested: £28,995
Miles this month: 696
Total miles: 4997
Our mpg: 21.4
Official mpg: 27.2
Fuel this month: £174
Extra costs: £0
Read more from the May 2016 issue of CAR magazine