1996 Subaru Impreza WRX STi Version II review from Australia and New Zealand

The water pump failed at 94,000km causing the car to overheat.

The (original?) clutch was totally worn out at 104,000km.

I was mainly attracted to this car by the outstanding performance it delivers for a standard factory model.

The performance is simply hard to beat (exactly even with a Porsche turbo in acceleration and cornering- as he was amazed to discover!),

and for the price you will be hard pushed to find anything that compares.

I preferred this car to a Lancer Evolution II that I also test-drove, as the Subaru's suspension feels more sports orientated, and did not suffer from the terrible body roll and frontal lift-up of the Lancer under acceleration.

I cannot fault this car's cornering ability at all. I have lowered the car on 18 inch wheels wearing 215/35/R18 Falken rubber, and the car will corner as well at 100kmh in the wet as it does in the dry.

The car is very well insulated. The car can cruise at 240kmh and feels the same as 100kmh.

I have also fitted the car with an electronic boost controller, which gives the engine a much flatter and regulated boost pressure throughout the rev range.

My only dislikes about the car are:

The seats, (although extremely supportive and brilliant equipment for standard) become very painful to sit in on long trips or in rush hour traffic, as the lumbar support is non-existent.

Both on lowered and standard springs, the car crashes over bumps, and the hard seats do not help to absorb any of this energy.

The cars are incredibly easy to break into (no window frame), which tends to make me nervous when parked in the central city etc.

Overall, a car with Porsche performance and gokart handling for a tiny fraction of the price.