Unfortunately for everyone at the Cars In Action offices, that time has come. No, it's not winter that I'm talking about, it's a far worse time of year. It's a time of year that comes round every so often. It's a time of year that most motoring journos around the country, at different publications, experience, and it's a time of year that I can almost guarantee we all hate. It's the time of year when we bid a fond farewell to an absolutely awesome long-term companion — in this case, our black Subaru WRX.

Over the months, it became ever so much more evident, that the keys to our beloved 'Rex' were not always easy to get in one’s hands, as they had usually already been snapped up by another power hungry staffer looking for some weekend fun. And with good reason.

The WRX proved to be hugely practical, given the fact that it has two more doors than many of its competitors, and made easy and comfortable work of transporting four adults, albeit with minimal luggage.

With Subaru setting its sights for this latest Impreza incarnation at a more mass market level, and aiming for broader appeal, they seem to have overlooked the fact that a big, useable boot is very much a real world necessity. The boot isn't tiny, but it's by no means large. The boot is long and wide enough, but due to the rear diff that an AWD car must have, it doesn't have much depth.

The car does offer fold down seats, so in the event of really big items having to be loaded, it can be adapted to offer plenty of loading space. I for one would have no issue living with this small boot if I had this awesome piece of equipment parked in my garage.

One of the complaints I heard muttered over and over again in the confines of our offices, went something along the lines of: "Mumble... mumble... such heavy fuel consumption... mumble... mumble." This was usually heard from the mouth of the lucky driver who happened to have snatched the WRX keys for the previous night or weekend.

It's not monstrous, especially considering the types of vehicles we get to drive, but you really need to have just stepped out of an M car or and AMG to climb inside the Rex and smile about its fuel consumption. At this point the average fuel consumption readout is sitting around the 12l/100km mark, but this is prone to a steep increase when the 2.5-litre flat-four turbo's legs are stretched.

At this point, however, I must mention that the above listed complaint was usually followed by some or other praise, and the small issue of fuel consumption was quickly forgotten. You see, the fuel consumption issue was quite clearly aggravated by the free-flow aftermarket performance exhaust system that was fitted to our car. But the flip side of this was that it came with a small but noticeable increase in performance too.

On that subject, the WRX's turbo-charged flat-four boxer engine was a real peach. Not only offering awesome acceleration, but doing so from the very moment we floored the accelerator. Our car had absolutely no lag on pull off and could cruise around comfortably at low revs with ease. It might have only had five gears, when we expect six in a car of this calibre — which would have helped open road fuel consumption — but such was the flexibility of this engine that minimal gearchanges were required in most situations.

This being the long-term wrap-up, I'm almost forced the bring the Subaru's flaws to the fore, and I think I've almost covered all the bases. There is one that I haven't mentioned, and that's the so-called (by some members of staff) low rent interior. I say sure, the plastics are a little cheap and hard, but they're all layed out very logically and fall to hand quite easily.

Plus, I need to mention that with the car having almost 15 000km on the clock, the interior is still, dare I say, in mint condition, which is less than I could say for our previous long term Audi S3's optional R40 000 seats. Expensive isn't always better, plus it's a matter of taste, and I quite like the curved dash interior of the Subaru.

There you have it. A few niggles here, and a few there, but all in all an absolutely super experience, that's over much too soon if you ask me. It is quite unfortunate that the Rex is leaving us now, and doesn't stay with us for one last blast.

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