Hatchback Subarus rule: Tell Me I'm Wrong

It's the Impreza everyone loves to hate but Chris Rees reckons is the best of the bunch

The Subaru WRX STI five-door hatchback is a savagely brilliant, savagely underrated car. It is, in fact, the best car that Subaru has ever made. There, I've said it. And the fact that I'm pretty much alone in saying it is why I'm here.

WRX wasn't exactly a cracking start

I've been thinking a lot about the late - and indeed great - WRX STI hatchback ever since Subaru announced that the STI badge is to return in 2014 with an all-new £28,995, 305hp model. "Let's hope they fix everything that was wrong with the last one," I hear you say. But here's my retort: what the hell was wrong with the 'GH' series five-door WRX STI?

Ah yes - it had five doors. Not four like a proper Scooby of old. Not four like Subaru has finally conceded it must have with its new 2014 STI.

The whole 2007-2013 five-door Scooby generation is the absolute poor relation of the Impreza family, the one everyone leaves off their Christmas party invitation list. 2007 was the point when the British public definitively fell out of love with Subaru's most iconic model ever. With good reason: the basic Impreza was a total schlonk - it looked terrible, drove like a mid-1990s Hyundai and was more expensive to buy than a VW Golf.

UK STI was real deal but damage was done

Mission ... accomplished?
The popular wisdom is that the Impreza failed in its mission to muscle in on the mainstream hatchback market. In the UK and Europe, that was absolutely true: it was a sales disaster. But almost everywhere else the dumpy Impreza hatch has actually been a resounding success. In its launch year (2007), the Impreza had its best sales performance ever, and it remains a Top 20 best seller in Japan and is doing very nicely thank you in the USA and Australia.

If turbocharged Impreza fans thought they were going to get a break with the 230hp WRX - a hastily launched 'stop-gap' model until the STI got here - they had another thing coming. The WRX was also a ghastly crate, with far-too-soft suspension settings that made for some scarily wallowy cornering, and a none-too-impressive 0-62mph time of 6.1 seconds that was then being beaten by much cheaper hot hatches.

Enter the 330S and the best UK STI yet

Arguably the damage had already been done by the time the hot STI arrived in 2008, but it was a totally different animal, and a wonderful one. The usual objection to the five-door layout - that the bodyshell is inherently less rigid - simply doesn't apply here. The wide-body new STI got loads of extra strengthening so that it was in fact much more rigid than the previous four-door 'GD' STI. (And if you're a four-door die-hard, Subaru did eventually cave in and make a four-door STI too).

Not a 'proper' Impreza?
To most Scooby fans, the whole hatchback period marked the end of 'proper' Imprezas - a feeling that Subaru itself very much fed into by eventually removing Impreza badges from the WRX STI. But I've always thought the hatchback STI was the best Impreza turbo of the lot. After driving the Jap-spec version around Fuji Raceway in October 2007, I declared that it was the best all-round Impreza ever made, and I haven't changed my opinion since.

330hp really put meat on the hatch's bones

Indeed, I went on to run a WRX STI 330S for a year, and I had a fantastic time with it. The 330S's Prodrive mods boosted power from the standard 300hp to 330hp, making it a truly, epically quick car (0-60mph in 4.4 seconds, faster than any previous Impreza). I do concede that the Prodrive mods did nothing to bring back the 'Impreza burble' as Subaru claimed they would, leaving me to lament the loss of that legendary off-beat rumble. I got 23mpg on average - no diesel I admit, but then you ask most owners of enthusiast cars what their real-world fuel consumption is and it's usually something pretty eyebrow-raising.

Joker of the pack
Yes, the STI 330S had more body roll than I wanted in a hard-edged hot hatch, the turn-in wasn't as crisp as a RenaultSport Mégane's and the steering was typically Japanese (read over-light). But the flipside was monumental grip, and always I had total trust in the four-wheel drive system to deal with almost anything I threw at it - and you could even dial in a bit of oversteer with the DCCD (Driver Controlled Centre Diff). Another plus: the STI had a surprisingly compliant ride, the likes of which most hot hatch drivers would die for.

Less lairy looking but just as fun to drive

Although I regret to say, I did ruin the ride on mine. As a result of which I have a word of warning for any potential owner of a GH STI: buy it standard and don't modify it. I got tempted to fit shorter springs to my 330S but it made zero difference to the handling and ruined that wonderfully compliant ride. In fact, I'd steer clear of any mods to the STI engine, drivetrain and chassis because it's too easy to spoil a perfectly good package. Not for no reason are modded cars viewed with profound suspicion in the used car market...

So uncool it's... er, cool
The final plus point for me is that the STI's very unpopularity makes it kind of cool. There's a lot of kudos in a car with as much rarity value as this. You just don't see STI hatchbacks on the road, and on the very rare occasions when I do clock one, I find a real frisson of excitement tingling up my spine. I can't help feeling a little pang of jealousy that the STI five-door driver has got something truly magical in his hands. Unlike gold-wheeled four-doors, the subtlety of the hatchback's shape totally sidesteps any negative lairy image.

Not fashionable but something of a steal

Best version? Probably the post-2010 upgrade model with its Spec C-based suspension, plusher cabin and stronger bodyshell. But you'll be paying £20K for one of these, whereas a hatchback that's two years older can be had for half that.

Yes it's true. Being the unloved runt of the Impreza litter pays off in another way: it's brilliant value for money. A quick look in the Pistonheads classifieds reveals that you can now buy a WRX STI hatch for less than a late-model four-door 'GD' - there are several at around the £12,000 mark and it's possible to find them closer to £10K. Still want that £29K new STI?

SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI
Engine: 2,457cc flat-four, turbocharged
Transmission: 6-speed manual, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 300@6,000rpm (330@5,400rpm)
Torque (lb ft): 300@4,000rpm (347@3,400rpm)
0-60mph: 4.8sec (4.4sec)
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 1,505kg
MPG: 27.4mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 243g/km
Price: £26,595 (new, WRX STI)

(Figures for 330S in brackets)

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Drakey52

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170 months