The fab-looking wheels and tyres cost ΂£1800, taking the price of this Impreza to a whopping ΂£28,790 - around ΂£200 less than an Evo VIII FQ300. It's a price worth paying. The slight slop in the steering has gone and front-end grip is greatly improved. Stay hard on the throttle and understeer builds very gently and then the tail begins to slip, neutralising any push. You can still provoke a tail-slide but there's no longer the snappy transition that could be unnerving on the original-fit Bridgestones.

In the wet the STi can still be a bit of a handful (the thumping power delivery sees to that) but there's more grip and a more cohesive, flowing nature about the chassis. You can drive it quickly and smoothly with much less effort and place the car more confidently into both fast and slow corners.

Most of the improvement is down to the Pirellis. They're slightly nosier than the Bridgestones, but the trade-off is superior wet and dry grip and a cleaner link between steering and road surface. Even on standard rims I'd recommend them.