[ Road Test ]

Subaru Impreza 22B

So this is it then. Show time. Far away from the hype, its flat-four gently throbbing like a fast heartbeat, the 22B is facing 15 miles of finest Welsh asphalt.

If cars could show emotions, most would be quaking, but not the most sought-after of Subarus. It looks just right for the job; slap 555 stickers on it and it'd pass for Colin McRae's company car.

The resemblance is more than visual.

Under the bonnet is a 2.2 litre, 276bhp flat-four connected to a close-ratio gearbox via a twin-plate semi-competition clutch. Serious stuff, and there's more. Beneath those glossy arches is a bespoke chassis with beautiful forged aluminium suspension arms that widen the front and rear tracks so that the 17in alloys fill those flares purposefully.

Inside you'll find a switch for the adjustable centre differential and another that sprays water onto the turbo intercooler. In short, the 22B is as close as you can get to a works Prodrive Impreza WRC without working for Prodrive.No wonder the complete run of 400 sold out immediately. This car is number 072, one of an estimated dozen that have already arrived in the UK via the personal import route. It's run-in, warmed up and raring to go, so let's play McRae.

A word of caution, however. The 22B is a demanding drive. This is going to be as much a test of you as it is of the car, and you know it within 100 yards. Push the gearlever into first and feel the tight, mechanical meshing of heavy-duty gears; now ease in the clutch and feel it grab slightly just when it seemed it was going home cleanly. Note the agitation of the race-car-firm ride as you pick up speed. Now floor it. Gulp. If it wasn't for the rocket-sled acceleration you'd swear that the rev-counter needle was moving in double time.

The 22B's handling is every bit as hard-edged as the rest of the car. There's no slack; ultra-responsive steering is mated to no-slip, ultra-grippy Pirelli P Zeros. You point, it squirts, you sneeze, it changes lanes. Previous experience of regular Impreza Turbos is of little use.

Described in one word, the 22B is INTENSE.

Performance
If you believe the hype, the 22B's quoted output of 276bhp should appear in the spec table next to a nudge and a wink because the 'real' figure, they say, is closer to 350bhp.

While it's appealing to imagine Subaru technicians slipping the authorities a few brown envelopes to look the other way, the fact is that the 22B almost certainly has exactly 276bhp, the maximum allowed by Japanese legislation.

No need for pouty bottom lips though, because the combination of the 22B's close-ration gearbox and explosive 2.2-litre engine gives it a manic, head-spinning edge. Indeed, if you were used to the regular Impreza Turbo, a quick blast around the block in a 22B would convince you it had more than 276bhp.

Drive it for long enough, however, and you come to the conclusion that the gearing is short (fifth gear would be fourth in most cars) but that it feels even shorter thanks to the exceptionally responsive motor.At MIRA, the silver performance print-outs confirm the horsepower.

There are other Imprezas with 276bhp, the two- and four-door STi 4s, and they're just as quick as the 22B to 60 and 100mph. Had this 22B not been someone's pride and joy, we might have hung around on the mile straight and shaved off a few more tenths. As it was, the first couple of runs were peachy, yielding 0-60mph in 5.2 secs and 0-100 in 13.3 Pretty darned quick, like the STi4s.

Where the 22B scores over them is right where it counts: in-gear punch. Increasing the capacity of the throbby flat-four from 1994 to 2212cc has endowed it with more buxom power and torque curves.

Peak power arrives sooner, at 6000rpm compared with 6500, while torque benefits more, rising five points to 265lb ft, delivered at a very handy 3200rpm, a whole 800rpm lower. And the effect of all that extra clout ? Acceleration from 50 to 70mph takes 2.5 secs in third, 2.9 in fourth and 4.5 in top, times that any self-respecting supercar would be proud of.

Although redlined at 8000rpm, power tails-away beyond 6000rpm so this becomes the natural shift point on the road. That's why you seem to be forever grabbing higher gears until there are no more and the 22B will go no faster, at precisely 6000rpm in top, just 112mph (more home market legislation).

This is rally-style sprint gearing, with maximum speed and peak power in top coinciding so that the rush up the 'box is as rapid as possible.On sweeping roads, the 22B might as well be an auto because you only ever need fifth, such is the huge, lag-free response at anything over 3000rpm.

In maximum attack mode - and it's hard to resist, the 22B is that sort of animal - third dispatches whole strings of ditherers, and that's when you appreciate those spare couple of thousand revs.

The flat-four is smooth and willing throughout the range, boost building from as low as 2500rpm, and it is totally free of temperament around town. Still, the snappy clutch never lets you forget the 22B's pedigree, always engaging with a slight jerk. The gearshift itself is deliciously meaty and unerringly accurate, snicking around its tight little gate with economical, wonderfully mechanical movements.

Over 500 miles of mixes roads that included a good portion of this-stage-decides-the-RAC-style driving, we recorded an entirely respectable 21.6mpg on obligatory superplus unleaded. This figure would probably be closer to 25mpg in normal driving. No, scrub that last sentence - there really is no point in driving the 22B normally.

Handling, ride and brakes
You'd be much mistaken if you thought the 22B was a regular Impreza Turbo with fatter tyres and wider tracks. You might even be disappointed. The basis of the 22B is the two-door STi 4, the type R, an Impreza that is itself unlike others. The STi 4 is stiffer than the cars we officially get here and its four-wheel-drive system has the cockpit-adjustable centre diff, neither of which help on UK roads. It doesn't ride the bumps as well and in the wet it doesn't find as much grip. Strange but true.

If anything, the 22B is even stiffer, but it has more grip. Lots more.

At each corner, hidden in the shade of a blistered arch, is a 235/40 ZR17 Pirelli P Zero wrapped very cosily around a 17in multi-spoke BBS alloy. That's a generous slice of Mr Pirelli's finest, and it gives the 22B the sort of dry-weather stiction that makes passengers' necks hurt. Add to this suspension that simply doesn't seem to roll and steering that's so fast it warrants a sticker on the rear screen, and you've got a recipe for mind-altering cornering. Or alternatively, Col's set-up for smooth, twisty, Corsican asphalt.Bits of Wales are a bit like Corsica, only colder and with more sheep, and here the 22B is simply staggering. At first your nerve runs out way before the grip, but as your confidence grows the cornering force goes up, and up, and up. Whole strings of bends come and go withouth a dab of the brake, the 22B neither understeering or oversteering, just cornering, very quickly and with inch-perfect precision.

Awesome.However, as well as cold sheep, Welsh roads have bumps. In fact, they have the best selection in the land. And it rains lots of different kinds of rain here, too. The 22B doesn't cope too well with bumps - it leaves that to the driver. Try to maintain anything like its Tarmax pace over undulating, generously textured Tarmax and you'll need to have your wits about you. The wheel travel suggested by the air in the arches never materialises and the 22B will lose grip over cresting corners, at times requiring almost instinctive snatches of opposite lock. The razor-sharp steering is on your side, but it's almost too much like watching in-car footage from the Manx. The realisaion that the ride quality gets better with speed doesn't really help.

Rain really puts a dampener on things, if you'll excuse the pun. Straight-line traction is four-wheel-drive impressive but the 22B's very stiff springing doesn't help wet cornering. Sure, you can still go quickly, but where you'd be pushing hard in a regular Impreza you're pussy-footing, feeling for bite into corners and pressing gently on the throttle on the exit so as not to over-excite the skittish tail. Near tail-slides are there for the taking on smooth corners, like a good rear-drive car, which is a rather back-handed compliment.

The brakes are simply brilliant. They're hugely powerful and the middle pedal has the best feel of any road car I've driven: firm, very short travelled but full of feedback and sensitivity. Perhaps that's because there's no anti-lock, an omission I didn't notice in 500 miles.

Comfort and controls
In common with all great driver's cars, there's a consistency of weight and feel to all the 22B's major controls. Pedals, steering and gearshift are firm and accurate, each system seemingly constructed from precision-machined, high-quality components.

The high-backed driver's seat is from the same workshop, fixing you firmly in place, while its cushion adjusts for height front and back so that with the tilting steering column you can tailor a perfect driving position. The Nardi three-spoke wheel feels thinner than expected and comes without an airbag. Perhaps they expect owners to fit full harness belts. Not a bad shout.

The rev-counter takes centre stage in the instrument pack and the top surface of the facia has a non-reflecting matt finish, but the strongest reminders that this is no ordinary Impreza are in the mirrors. That massive wing bisects the view through the smoked rear screen and the door mirrors reveal the shapely curves of the rear arches.Long motor journeys, if you must, aren't especially tiring.

There's noticeable tyre roar and you'll arrive feeling slightly buzzed if the surface is poor, but the engine hums along unobtrusively at 4000rpm or so. Some people might actually prefer more noise - if it meant that at full chat the note from the fat single tailpipe was more like the distinctive, bassy bark of McRae's car.

Verdict
There's no question that the 22B rates a full five starts on the desirability scale. Chunkily handsome just like the Peter Stevens-styles World Rally Car, developed by Subaru Tecnica International, and strictly rationed, it achieves instant classic status without turning a wheel.

This side of the Prodrive-run versions that you can't buy, it's the ultimate Impreza.If you want a peek at what it feels like to be Colin McRae, the 22B will take you there.

On the right road it's a fast-forward blur driven by slugs of prodigious power, punctuated by rapid-fire gearshifts and memorable for long, long moments at improbable cornering speeds. The brakes are the best, the steering is inspired and the effect is utterly devastating.

Yet the 22B demands flawless roads to fully exploit its prowess. It doesn't like bumps and it's not keen on rain either, and we see plenty of both here. Ironically, the stock Impreza Turbo deals with them superbly, making every road the right road. That's why we love it.

The 22B will quite rightly be loved and cherished by those lucky enough to own one. Perfect road or not, it plugs its driver into another dimension, delivering a raw, thrilling and demanding experience that until now only the likes of McRae had access to. So long as you're up for it and you can muster just a smidgen of Col's commitment, the 22B is one of the greats.