In the world of rallying there have always been two big names. Mitsubishi and Subaru. Sure Ford is doing well this season, and Peugeot and Citroën were pretty dominant for the past two years, but they are not bedroom wall pin-ups. Those are reserved for the Subaru that make a splash, Burn’s 2001 championship pose on top of the car, or a Mitsubishi on ice in Sweden – it’s the shots that capture the essence of rallying.
What we want to know is which one is better. The Impreza or the Evolution.
We’ll go straight to the (almost) top of the tree for the Impreza with the 2.5 WRX STi (AWD) 4-door, starting at £ 26,995. For this you get drilled aluminum pedals, some pretty sticky plastic on the center console and a single radio CD, with a pair of tweeters and 4 speakers. Standard items include the hood scoop, gold alloys, two spoilers, and lots of pink STi badges, inside and out.
With the Mitsubishi we start with what is essentially the base model, the FQ 300. You get a 2-liter engine and plenty of sporty exterior features, including a spoiler, silver alloy wheels, slatted aluminum pedals, and an even worse interior. the Mitsubishi. Impreza, all for £ 27,999. The stereo is tricky, and you’ll need a Ph.D., or a teenager, to make it work, but it does have Ricaro deep sports seats.
What you really want to know is what will allow you to show off in the pub. The Evo 0-62 is 0.2 seconds faster than the Impreza at 4.8 seconds, but although it has 305 hp, over the Scooby’s 277, its top speed is actually slower. For anyone wanting any of these in a company car scheme, you’ll be interested to know that the extra 28 hp you get with the Evo equals 334g / km of CO2 compared to 257g / km for the Impreza.
Read the conclusion and get all the statistics of these two amazing vehicles on RoadBusters: Mitsubishi Evo 8 vs Subaru Impreza [http://roadbusters.com/feature.php?n=mvss].
