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2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi Road and Track Test

Control Freak!

Whos the best race driver? Jeff Gordon? NASCAR fans might agree, but not F1 fans - theyd choose Michael Schumacher or Fernando Alonso. IRL groupies would point to Sam Hornish Jr. who just won the coveted Indy 500, while its hard to argue against Sebastian Bourdais who regularly cleans up in one of the most competitive series anywhere - Champ Car. But if you ask those same top drivers who the best person behind the wheel of a car is, theyd more than likely point to any one participant on the WRC circuit, because keeping a hurling rally car together while drifting sideways at 150 mph on a 10-foot wide snow covered road while hanging the tail end out over a cliff takes driving to otherworldly levels. STi... three letters that mean a whole lot to import enthusiasts. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press) />
One of these drivers, young Chris Atkinson, currently 12th of the 22 currently running in the World Rally Championship, took time out of his hectic schedule to help us mere mortals understand what is possible behind the wheel of a four-door economy car... ahem... OK, Subarus WRX STi is hardly an econobox, what with 300 enthusiastic horsepower peaking at 6,000 rpm and an equally outrageous 300 lb-ft of torque ripping

Lining up for a spin around Mont-Tremblant, one of North Americas best tracks. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

into four corners of asphalt simultaneously via the Japanese automakers now legendary symmetrical all-wheel drive, theres plenty to differentiate it from a $18,295 Impreza 2.5i. No, theres only one rally replica that rivals the WRX STi, Mitsubishis sensational EVO IX, and its sensational too.

Chris wasnt around for the first half of the day, when we snaked through circuitous highways and side roads that network the numerous farming homesteads and getaway cottages that make up the area surrounding

High-speed run down the pit straight... (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

St. Jovite and Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. Wicked hairpins adorned with ten different patches of mismatched pavement are just finger food to the STi, gobbled up without concern or even a passing thought. Where there werent myriads of varyingly sized potholes, frost heaves raised upward to wave hello, followed by blind high-speed corners lovingly finished with loose gravel exactly where the road dipped into an off-camber curve - the roads in rural Quebec are anything but well cared for. No worries, mind you, Im behind the wheel of a WRX STi, what some will attest is the most agile four-door on the planet. Out on the road, it seems almost tame. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press) />
Who am I to argue? Ive just been saved, literally, by a car that reacts so intuitively, with grip so riveting that Im lost for words to describe. Ive been fooling around with its exclusive Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD), biasing power to the rear wheels to induce oversteer, too much fun, or dialing it to achieve a perfect 50:50 setting in order to make four identical black 225/45R17 tire patches on the pavement. Ooh, this car could bring the bad boy out in a Tibetan monk.
Subaru has had its track marshals set up a shortened version of Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, which basically cuts off the two longest straights so that we dont allow ourselves to get overzealous

Coming out of the esses... (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

and transform our little sedans into all-wheel drive lawnmowers. This is a disappointment, as I know this course extremely well and now Ive got to learn something new, all the while wondering how fabulous it would be to keep going past turn five, hold to the left past six and hardly let off as I nudge turn seven, dropping downward, hugging the left curb as turn eight approaches, and then drift it sideways around its wacky hairpin, climb up the hump past nine and then down into my favorite right and left sweepers anywhere, ten and eleven. Ah, itll forever remain a mystery, as were forced to the right at six, a sharp turn that can tax the STis undercarriage if taken too quickly, leave seven, eight, nine and ten for naught, and then rejoin the track with an entirely unique

Theres a reason for the two wings. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

take on ten, dip into the Gulch as the course curves to the left at eleven, up the hill with breathtaking acceleration, and then under the rather uncooperative Bridge Turn, twelve, take the Kink at thirteen at high-speed before diving downward and up again for fourteen, or Namerow. Whew! The course dips and undulates before sweeping past Paddock Bend down one of the shorter straights, right past the tower and then on to a fabulous lift, right hand corner, steep dive and series of esses comprising turns one through five. Yes, this is still pretty exhilarating stuff, but to know what I could have experienced has me a bit miffed.

What has me feeling good, however, is the way this car turns a slightly better than average driver into a weekend hero. OK, Ive driven this circuit a great deal and have spent some time on many more, such as Willow

A wave to his fans, Chris puts on a show. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

Springs, Road Atlanta, Portland International and a dozen others that arent quite in the same league, so I suppose Im a little more advanced than stated, but then again, sitting shotgun next to Chris Atkinson, my own "advanced" abilities seem ridiculously feeble in comparison. I inform Chris, one of three Subaru WRC drivers hand picked by one of the most celebrated rally teams in existence, that Im scared of nothing, which, in a car piloted by a top-tier driver, is true, and he responds with an impish grin before burying the throttle into the floorboards, snapping the six-speed manual into second and mashing at the go pedal once again; third, fourth, yikes! The last time I was on this track with a driver of Atkinsons caliber I was in a Saleen Mustang with Alex Tagliani at the wheel, and while a ruddy blast (we drifted all the way round turn eight), it was nothing like this. Chris made the STi dance like in ways the live axle Mustang

An all-wheel drive smoke show like no other. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

couldnt dream of, and just when I was feeling comfortable, he purposely headed for the grassland to see how much dirt he could spew from behind, twirling around in circles until I was giggling like a 13-year old school girl whod just fallen in love with her eighth grade French teacher. Only my teacher wasnt French, but Australian, and I wasnt in love, I was awestruck!

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