2001 Porsche 911 in Los Angeles

Lexington, Kentucky - What's going on here? A Subaru and a Porsche 911 on the same page? In the same test? That's right, Dr. Stuttgart von Zuffenhausen, read it and weep. The scrappy Impreza WRX is finally here, and, as the boxer-gourmand Mike Tyson once quipped, it wants to eat your children.

Not that the 911 and the WRX are competitors, really. Their prices mark two far-flung nodes on the sticker spectrum. Also, one's a coupe and the other's a sedan. Most notably, one's silver and the other's orange. But, in many important ways, these cars are bound together--by the rallying heritage of their all-wheel-drive hardware, by their boxer engines, by their emphasis on handling, and, finally, by their ability to blend refinement with the kind of performance that drains the blood out of your brain.

Even when you examine some of the more intangible aspects of these two, the pairing seems apt. Both are catalysts of male tumescence. Both are basically racing cars for the road. And if you are a rally enthusiast or a PlayStationista, it's fair to say that the WRX holds as much allure as the 911, despite being nearly $50,000 cheaper.

Inasmuch as the Subaru divorces status from price, the WRX is just as revolutionary as the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the Volkswagen New Beetle, or the Mini. Like those fun-buckets, this Subaru is a car you aspire to own not because of its cachet or exclusivity but because of its ability to connect with you on some deep, emotional level.... Read full article