Subaru WRX STI: PH Fleet

One German rival seen off; another more formidable one has now joined the PH Fleet

The NotImpreza has certainly been working for its supper of late. The inevitable comparisons with our recently delivered Golf R will happen in due course but first up it faced up to the closely related Audi S3 saloon.

On-track battle revealing of Subaru's pace

The homepage story off the back of that attracted an awful lot of comment, much of it highly entertaining. Those who still believe in the Subaru dream are as passionate as ever; those who've 'grown up' and realised they can achieve pretty much the same ends behind a more mature looking Audi badge equally eager to declare their love for their cars.

I really enjoyed reading through the 200-odd comments and hearing both sides of the story. PHer WokkaWokka typifies the kind of person I would consider a traditional Impreza customer won over by the charms of the Audi. "I regularly thrash the fk out of mine on North Yorkshire roads," he says, heading off the predictable jibes by concluding, "I don't imagine everyone who says it's boring lives with four strippers and snorts cocaine for breakfast." On the other side MyEvilTwin asked us to imagine the scene at a petrol station when someone wanders over and asks about your car. "Subaru: 'Nice car, bet it shifts a bit.' Audi: 'Nice car, is it a diesel? What mpg are you getting?'" Plenty more like that within the thread too - take a look if you haven't already. The video that featured in our PHTV episode 7 is now available to view as a standalone too - see here.

Fun on the track; this remains its domain

For what it's worth I enjoyed the Audi a lot more than I expected and was impressed with its abilities. I much prefer it to the Golf R too, which is odd given it's mechanically pretty much identical. Whether it's the addition of the boot or just the fact it's nearly as quick but doesn't shout so loud about it the S3 has the feel of a real sleeper about it. I'm determined to spend some more time in the Golf though, if only to see if it really does live up to the at times deafening hype.

I remain loyal to my Subaru fanboy roots though. Even if I have to concede one stereotypical failing in comparison with the Germans. Generally I'm not as offended by the cabin as some but when the aux/USB sockets came adrift and disappeared into the centre binnacle it seemed to confirm the assumptions about plasticky Japanese interiors. First time it happened I unscrewed the casing, skinned my knuckles fishing about within and managed to reattach it. Returning from a stint with a colleague I was dismayed to find it had once again disappeared into the depths. Bah!

Audi and VW fans, I grant you a small degree of uber alles smugness...

Germany Vs Japan 2

FACT SHEET
Car: 2014 Subaru WRX STI
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: December 2014
Mileage: More!
List price new: £28,995 (£30,007 as tested including £1,012 for Pioneer touchscreen navigation unit; c. £75 fitting charge applicable but varies according to dealership)
Last month at a glance: Have the Germans really stolen Subaru's thunder?

Previous updates:
New arrival - the NotImpreza has landed!
Rusty nail plays Scrooge over a white Christmas
Four wheels back on his wagon, Dan's having fun
Busy month for the Subaru in first of showdowns against German rivals