In the world of rally there have always been the two big names. Mitsubishi and Subaru. Sure Ford is doing well this season, and Peugeot and Citron were fairly dominant for the past couple of years, but they aren't the pin ups of the bedroom walls. Those are reserved for Subaru's making a splash, Burn's 2001 championship pose on top of the car, or a Mitsubishi on ice in Sweden, they are the shots that capture the essence of rallying.

What we want to find out is which is better. The Impreza or the Evolution.

We'll go straight to the (nearly) top of the tree for the Impreza with the 2.5 WRX STi (AWD) 4 door, starting at 26, 995. For this you get drilled aluminium pedals, some fairly tacky plastic on the centre console, and a single CD radio, with a couple of tweeters, and 4 speakers. Standard items include the bonnet scoop, gold alloys, two spoilers, and plenty of pink STi badges, inside and out.

With the Mitsubishi we start at what is essentially the base model, the FQ 300. You get a 2 litre engine and lots of sporty exterior features, including a spoiler, silver split rim alloys, slatted aluminium pedals, and an even worse interior than the Impreza, all for 27,999. The stereo is fiddly, and you will need a PHD, or a teenager, to get it working at all, but you do get deep Ricaro sports seats.

What you will really want to know, is which will get you the bragging rights down the pub. The Evo's 0-62 is 0.2 seconds quicker than the Impreza at 4.8 seconds, but whilst having 305 bhp, over the Scooby's 277, it's top speed is actually slower. For anyone wanting either of these on a company car scheme then you'll be interested to know that the extra 28bhp you get with the Evo equates to 334g/km of CO2 compared to 257g/km from the Impreza.

Read the conclusion, and get all the stats of these two amazing vehcles at RoadBusters - Mitsubishi Evo 8 vs Subaru Impreza.