Parked amidst some of Japan’s most mental metal, the penny has finally dropped: the WRX is seriously lacking in street cred. To be fair, the lairy collection of cars I’ve managed to insinuate myself among are members of Cape Town’s Drift Squad, resplendent in the obligatory spoilers, alloy wheels and anime-inspired liveries that befit extrovert drift cars.

The Subaru’s conservative hatchback shape and family oriented visage really let down its turbo performance and all-wheel capability. Despite this, its performance and driveability are never in question with even the gifted sideways drivers of the aforementioned scarier stuff conceding that as a daily driver capable of delivering thrills on demand the WRX remains a tough prospect to beat. ‘I could get used to this easily,’ blurted out a bandana-swathed member of the squad. I seriously doubt it though, as that all-wheel grip would struggle to entertain these okes who are more accustomed to steering from the rear. It certainly had no trouble keeping up with them on the straight bits however. Truth is the WRX remains truly capable, and is now well overdue for some track time. Drift action? Check out our full smoky, twisty, bespoilered feature next month as we throw snapper Marc Bow and a few wayward spin-doctors into the thick of things. 

UPS: Unwavering reliability and performance
DOWNS: Now looks unequivocally bland

Odo reading at start/now: 8 698km | Distance covered: 6 892km | Fuel consumed: 888.71ℓ | Av. fuel consumption: 12.8ℓ/100km | Service interval: 12 500km | Total fuel cost: R5 780.08 | Running cost: 83.86c/km