"We need milk. Be back in ten, dear!"

I took delivery of my Blue Black Mica WRX from Motor Image in KL, Malaysia, roughly 6 weeks ago, and believe me, during that time, I was either driving the car or I was dreaming about it! I've racked up about 3000km now. I'd always enjoyed driving, but never had the opportunity to experience a car so awesomely capable as the WRX. So much so that I still find myself conjuring up the lamest of excuses to take it for just one more drive. My wife has given up on me and just rolls her eyes nowadays.

Exterior/looks:
What can I say? Bug-eyes, blister fenders, hood scoop ... you love it or you hate it. I know I hated it when I first set my eyes on it. The car looks much better in the flesh, though, strangely enough. I suppose one must be able to view the lines of the car in 3D to appreciate its purposeful, aggressive, macho (but not overtly so) poise. Yup, it has grown on me. I love the looks now! I have noticed that the paint is pretty thin (especially over the hood) and is susceptible to scratches. The car was delivered to me with very obvious swirl marks all over, and intensive detailing was necessary to get a satisfactory shine out of it.

Interior:
Most reviews I have seen complain about the interior looking cheap - at this price range, I beg to differ. It's very satisfactory. OK, so I'm not a big fan of leather (gets pretty hot in the afternoon and I sometimes have to park outside for hours) and the way I drive, the standard fabric bucket seats are a godsend to avoid slip sliding all over the place. Steering wheel is excellent at just the right size. Steering column switchgear offers nice quiet clicks. Aluminium drilled pedals are a joy to look at and to use. All centre console controls are within easy reach, and simple to operate. My cupholder doesnt work, though. 6 CD in dash player is great, but the stock speakers sound a bit "boomy" for my liking. Nothing I can't fix with an inexpensive upgrade. The aircon works pretty well, I can drive in cool comfort with the lowest fan setting (at 34 deg C outside!). At 5'11", front seating is comfortably roomy, and my backseat passengers have not complained about lack of legroom either. Overall, the WRX does not stinge too much on quality finishing in the cabin, and I find the interior ambience similar to that of any midrange slightly-less-than-luxury Japanese car, such as the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.

Driving:
There is some turbo lag below 3500rpm, but it does still pull just as well as any 2.0 litre car. Useful around town, where you can just putter around in a most civilised fashion. Let it rev up above 3500rpm, however, and you'd do well to find some empty highway pretty quick. Acceleration is so addictively powerful, and so linear in progression, that it is extremely frustrating to be forced to lift your foot off the fun pedal. Turbo whine when spooling up makes you want to mute the stereo. Gearchanges are slightly notchy, but I find that it gets smoother as I rack up the miles. It does give a precise, satisfying feel, though. My wife tells me the biggest grins on my face are when I am high-revving through 2nd to 4th. I have taken it up Bukit Tinggi Resort, which offers half an hour's worth of tortuously twisty mountain roads, and am truly amazed at the incredible handling. Took all corners with supreme grip and barely a chirp from the tyres.

Current Problems:
Only nitpicking here, but can be annoying at times. A slight "creaking" has developed somewhere in the vicinity of the front right suspension, but this can only be heard when travelling dead slow over uneven terrain. I have experienced some slight clutch shudder at soft launch from 1st gear, which comes and goes. Noticable "rattle" from the engine bay upon deceleration which sometimes occurs when going downhill on 2nd or 3rd gear with foot off the gas. However, these noises are very slight and can only be heard if you're actually looking out for it. I have not noticed any detrimental effect to performance. I did a quick search on several online clubs, and the problems above seem to be pretty common among WRXs. I have not tried the suggested fixes, but they seem to be easily done, although I'm sure my warranty should cover it.