COLUMNISTS A while back my racing teammate Richard Chamberlain and I did a "pro" drive for one of the big banking groups, giving passenger rides to its major fleet customers round Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit. The "taxis" we were given were a pair of Subaru Impreza WRX STi four-door, four-wheel-drive saloons, a close relative to the cars that have won Subaru a succession of world rally championships.
From 9am to 5pm they had the living daylights hammered out of them, stopping only for fuel and changes of tyres and brake pads. Through all the abuse - these were ordinary cars straight off the production line - they never missed a beat and, with nearly 280bhp on tap, were fast enough to be entertaining even on Silverstone's wide-open spaces.
In dynamic and outright performance terms, the cars rightly deserved a great deal of respect. But it is the "respect" demanded in another sense, by the Impreza's intimidating appearance to other road users, that can be unsettling and potentially off-putting for prospective buyers.
There's no other way to say it: our Imprezas were black, bling and brutal - aggressive snouts, huge bonnet-mounted air scoops capable of sucking up small animals and children, and vast rear spoilers. In terms of looks Imprezas are, along with Mitsubishi's even more thuggish-looking Evo, the automotive equivalent of skinheads. Even the most popular "uniform" for the Impreza, bright metallic blue with gold metallic wheels - based on the rally cars - does nothing to diminish the air of brashness.
It is an issue that has been troubling Peter Kinnaird, managing director of Subaru in the UK. Like almost anyone else who gets behind the wheel of an Impreza, he revels in the car's performance. You can go from standstill to 60mph in five seconds flat and the car does not run out of steam until the speedometer hits 160mph.
But Kinnaird was convinced that Subaru might be missing out on a lot of potential customers, who would love to have that performance but cannot live with the boy racer image and so opt for the "safe" choice of a BMW instead. So he persuaded the factory to come up with the Impreza "Spec D", which is just going on sale.
To learn that in Subaru parlance D stands for "Discreet" is a bit like saying Casanova was celibate but there has been an earnest attempt to tone things down. Gone is the park-bench rear spoiler, replaced by a much smaller affair that's still deemed effective in helping pin the rear wheels to the ground.
Banished from the inside are the Impreza's garish, go-faster deep bucket seats, replaced by a full leather interior. More soundproofing has been added. There is an upgraded stereo system and comprehensive instrumentation, including an effective satellite navigation system. And you can have any colour you like, as long as it's subdued metallic grey-silver.
Mechanically it is still the full-blown, 276bhp STi version of the Impreza and it still goes like one. That means a prodigious kick in the back when the turbo comes fully on song at 3,000rpm and superb chassis control over bumpy or winding roads, as one would expect of a car with such a competition heritage. But it is achieved at the expense of a ride that is very firm, bordering on harsh. Nor is it helped, in everyday road use, by the fitting as standard of what are essentially semi-competition track day tyres. And while the extra soundproofing helps, the Impreza remains distinctly raw-edged.
Mazda's new 6 MPS does things somewhat differently. It has identical torque to the Impreza. But with "only" 256bhp to propel it and 1,665kg to move around - compared with the Spec D Impreza's 1,550kg - it doesn't quite match its fellow Japanese rival for pace.
Out on the road, however, it does not feel that much slower and like the Subaru it has four-wheel-drive. It has sophisticated suspension and where the Impreza's ride jars, the Mazda's is fluid and lacks drama. Its refinement is on a different level from the Subaru's but the car still manages a restrained exhaust growl to remind the driver that it too is intended to be a serious sports saloon.
The 6 MPS is also roomy, has supportive seats and an interior that contrives to look both sporting and restrained. The same could be said of the exterior styling, an area in which Mazda, under styling boss Moray Callum, has gained something of a reputation with cars such as the innovative RX-8 coupe.
For the most part, the MPS and Impreza will compete in different markets - traditional Impreza buyers are a loyal, cultish clique. But the thinking behind the Impreza Spec D emphasises that the Mazda has the potential for making converts - particularly when, at £23,950 in the UK, it comes in £4,500 cheaper than the Subaru.
TEST DRIVE
How much? £23,950 (Mazda); £28,540 (Impreza)
How fast? 0-60mph in 6.6 secs, 150mph (Mazda); 0-60mph in 5 secs, 158mph (Impreza)
How thirsty? 27.7mpg on EU combined cycle (Mazda); 25.9mpg (Impreza)
How green? 245g/kilometre CO2 (Mazda); 257g/k (Impreza)
You might also like: Mitsubishi FQ 300 (£27,999); Vauxhall Vectra VXR (£23,995).
More reviews at www.ft.com/testdrive
