It recently occurred to me that hooning around on a mountain pass – like Frisbee and, er, table tennis – is more fun when you’re not alone. Invite Wayne’s autobahn-storming BMW 335i with its much lauded turbo performance package and sport suspension into the fray and you’ve potentially got a very entertaining dogfight on your hands. Yes, on paper these two are worlds apart. The Bimmer boasts rear-wheel drive antics versus the Fuji rally projectile’s all-wheel grip, not to mention the chasm between power outputs: team Japan scoring a respectable 169kW versus Germany’s rather healthy 225.

Not really a fair scrap on a circuit but on the freestyle topography of Table Mountain they proved equally entertaining. I was capitalising on traction and acceleration at the exit of each turn, and the sound of the four-pot boxer reverberating off the cliff face sent shivers up my spine. The soft suspension and easy to live with demeanour of this new WRX lulls you on your daily commute, blunting the edge of what is still very much a driver’s car.

On a set of twisties like the cable car road however, I do wish I had an upgrade option for a firmer sport-oriented suspension and a performance exhaust to really amplify that beastly howl. Perhaps a lightweight set of STI-alike alloys, and stickier rubber… Oh dear, I knew this would happen.

Recently Subaru dropped the price of the WRX by R60 000. That plants it squarely in Focus ST price territory and undercuts the mighty GTI. I’d have to say that at this revised price the Subaru is much more competitive. You could now literally have two of these for the price of the more athletic STI. I’d have one. With my own money. And I’d spec it up to create a very capable mountain pass plaything for less than R300 000. Then really show that 335i.