Is this a great time for Japanese carmakers or what? Who would've thought we'd see the day when Subaru would have a car with 300 horsepower? It wasn't that long ago that car enthusiasts lusted after BMW's previous-generation M3 with its 240-horse straight six. Not only does the WRX STi have serious horsepower, it has all-wheel drive to effectively put it to use.

Fans of The Fast and the Furious should like what they see when they pore over the STi. The big hood scoop (which feeds air to the intercooler) leans forward into the wind, as if drawn by a cartoon artist. And the big wing, like that on the Evo, makes a strong statement from any angle. This year, Subaru got rid of the cute, wide-eyed look of the previous version's headlights, replacing them with somewhat meaner-looking units more in keeping with this car's personality. Oddly enough, foglights, which are standard on the regular WRX, are not available on the STi, though we admit we like the look of the "STi" monogrammed covers that fill the spot where the lights would be. Given this Subie's stance, the proper attitude is 17-inch, 10-spoke BBS wheels shod with sticky Bridgestone Potenza performance tires.

With racing-style seats and a sporty three-spoke steering wheel with a fat rim, the STi's cockpit won't be mistaken for a standard WRX's. But in spite of their aggressive appearance, the seats didn't hold a few of our drivers (ranging from one at 5 feet 5 inches with a medium frame to another at 6 feet 2 inches with a lean build) as tightly as they anticipated. And although most agreed that the seats were generally accommodating, one editor stated that the seat bottom was too flat and hard and that she became uncomfortable after a half-hour stint behind the wheel. In terms of creature comforts, the cupholders drew fire for their small size, which seemed suited only for soda cans. But we imagine that cupholders won't be all that high on the list of priorities for the potential buyer of this road rocket. Forget about the java; if this car can't wake you up during your morning work commute, then we doubt that a double espresso will.

After taking care of the more mundane aspects of car criticism, we exploited the STi's capabilities by blasting around the Streets of Willow road course. Of course, this was great fun, but we were doing it purely for the purpose of thorough automotive journalism, right? Well, maybe not purely, but under the harsh spotlight of the racetrack, a car's dynamic strengths and weaknesses come into sharp focus. Taken on its own, the STi is very impressive with its fat power band, excellent steering feedback, commendable handling and forgiving nature. But when driven back-to-back with the Evo, the STi feels heavier (interesting considering that the cars weigh exactly the same), yet not quite as solid. And although its shifter worked fine, the stick didn't move through the gates with the satisfying precision of the Evo's unit.

Three out of four dentists…I mean drivers, felt that when pushed very hard within the safe environs of the track, the two cars were pretty darn close, but the Evo felt just a little more taut and responsive. The fourth driver preferred the Subie over the Evo, as he felt more comfortable pressing it when compared to the more reactive Mitsubishi. The independent suspension's tuning is expectedly stiff, though not as much as the Evo's, thus yielding a somewhat more compliant ride over the bumps and ruts.

In the real world, the one where you don't get to drive a car quite that hard, the hyper STi is nearly as easy to live with as a regular Impreza, except for the noticeably stiffer ride. Moving away from lights and dealing with the stop-and-go of the daily grind reveals no awkward lurching and doesn't require mucho revving and clutch slipping. If, however, you choose to dust that smirking 20-something-year-old in the sports job over in the next lane, it won't be a problem. Not many cars could outgun this Subie in a stoplight sprint — with all that usable power, this car is scary quick. Zero to 60 takes just 5.8 seconds and the quarter-mile is unreeled in 14.1 seconds. Amazingly, these times are but one-tenth of a second different from those of the Evo.

Equally impressive is the STi's braking ability. Stopping from 60 mph consumed only 110 feet of asphalt, basically a world-class effort and, incredibly, a tie with the Mitsu. The big Brembos (sporting four-piston calipers and 12.7-inch rotors up front) are easy to modulate and linear in action.

Although both cars have virtually identical performance, they use two different powertrain architectures. Whereas the Evo uses a more traditional inline four, the Subaru uses its trademark boxer (or "flat") arrangement that has two pairs of horizontally opposed pistons. With this layout comes a unique growl that sounds more muscular than the Evo's smoother, but less entertaining, voice. As with the Mitsubishi, an intercooled turbocharger helps the Subaru's flat four make V8-like power not to mention a stout 300 pound-feet of torque! With an additional half liter of displacement and nearly 30 more horsepower over the Evo, we expected that the STi would feel stronger, but it didn't. Both cars simply have buckets of power everywhere.

Another difference is gearbox choice; the STi has a six-speed tranny versus the Evo's five-speeder. Most of us felt that six cogs were excessive with such a torquey motor and that it may be more of a marketing tool than a mechanical one. Although both cars feature all-wheel drive, only the Subie has a driver-adjustable center differential (DCCD). Worked by a thumbwheel on the center console, the DCCD allows the pilot to control the power split between the front and rear axles, for optimum traction in varied conditions.

The STi may have finished behind the Evo, but it sure was a close fight. All else being virtually equal, the Subie's slightly less communicative chassis and bigger price tag ended up tipping the scale in the Evo's favor.

Second Opinions:

Editor in Chief Karl Brauer says:
Back in 1991 you could buy a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 or a Dodge Stealth R/T Twin Turbo for around $31,000. For that price you got a 300-horsepower, all-wheel-drive performance coupe that could pull sub-6-second 0-to-60-mph times. The 3000GT and Stealth models have been left in the automotive history books (largely because their price ballooned to nearly $50,000), but 300-horsepower, all-wheel-drive performance cars that cost around $30,000 still exist. In 2004, they are made by Subaru and (once again) Mitsubishi, only now they have four doors and a usable trunk.

The WRX STi feels like the more grown-up of the two cars. There's a heft to the steering effort and an overall sense of "meatiness" when running the car around the track. This is good for generating confidence, but bad in that the "fling-ability" of the STi doesn't match the Evolution's. The engine is excellent in terms of usable power, but the transmission's short gear ratios don't allow full exploitation of the 2.5-liter's wide torque band. Instead of simply leaving it in second for much of my lapping sessions, I was forced into third on most of the straightaways. And while the shifter itself was easy to move between gears, I found myself landing in fifth instead of third a few times.

The hard numbers don't give either car an advantage, so choosing between an STi and Evolution really comes down to personal preference and driving style. The Mitsubishi has the price advantage, but the Subaru's extra gear, additional horsepower and adjustable center differential help justify the car's higher cost (as does the more upscale interior).

I guess that's the good news here: You can't lose when choosing between these players.

Road Test Coordinator Kelly Stennick says:
I've always liked the Subaru Impreza lineup, believing the small all-wheel-drive sedan to be a good value. Whether it's the base Impreza or the more powerful WRX, each new version just gets better (and faster). Just when I was convinced that the WRX was as good as it gets, Subaru finally brought the internationally acclaimed 300-horsepower STi to American shores.

Driving the STi and Evo back-to-back, I immediately realized why I liked the Subaru better. It was definitely more of a real car to me, with better seats, higher-quality interior materials and more cargo space. Everything I touched from the shifter handle to the climate control buttons seemed to exude better craftsmanship than the Mitsu offered. As an adult living in the real world, with a long commute to work and a baby stroller to load in the trunk, these subtle differences between the Evo and STi make all the difference.

Never mind just going fast. Both cars can handle getting you anywhere you need to go, and in record time. I had just as much fun in the Evo as I did in the STi, but the STi is a car that could make me consider plunking down my own hard-earned cash at my local dealer.