Alex Unleashed on Cars

  There have been plenty of great rivalries in the world of cars: Ford v Ferrari, Senna v Prost, Veyron v F1 etc. But the Subaru Impreza v Mitsubishi EVO has to be up there as one of the all time great rivalries.  These two cars defined an era in the late 90s and early 00s of humble saloon cars that could keep up and surpass purpose built sports cars all whilst having big boots, solid reliability and being relatively affordable, they were what the Quattro and Sierra Cosworth had been back in the 80s, the peoples supercars. The first EVO, full title Lancer Evolution I, was launched back in 1992, 2 years before the Impreza Turbo. It had a powerful 247 BHP engine as well as a 4-wheel drive system from the Galant VR-4, it was also available in a lightweight RS trim with no alloys or even ABS. The next two EVO's II & III didn't change much from the original, mainly a power jump to 256 and then to 266, bigger alloys and fuel tank and the III got some more aggressive styling comp...

  When you say Subaru to someone, chances are they think of the Impreza, the high flying turbocharged rally machine. And rightfully so, the Impreza Turbo and later WRX & STi models defined an era of ultimate bang for your buck performance. And yet, after 10 years, something happened, the usual fanfare and praise for the hot Impreza fizzled out, it was just more of the same, the same old same old Impreza. But back when the Turbo 2000 first hit UK shores it was a revelation, here was a humdrum saloon (or 5-door hatch or estate) with 208 BHP, could hit 0-60 in a confirmed 5.2 seconds, top out at 140 MPH all for less than £20,000 and that infamous flat-four engine note, it was one of the all-time greats of the 90s a real era defining car. And if perhaps you hadn't being paying attention to the car magazines then just one year later Subaru took the WRC title with the late great Colin McRae at the wheel which propelled the Subaru Impreza to a new level of stardom, here was a car now ...