If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you might have watched the most recent episode of The Grand Tour - called ‘A Scandi Flick’.
If you did, you’ll have seen the three amigos Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May enjoying the spectacular scenery of the Arctic Circle in three rally-derived motoring icons - the Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and the Audi RS 4.
The show might even have inspired you to get behind the wheel of your own all-wheel-drive, all-terrain devouring machine.
But there’s a problem.
Subaru pulled the plug on the entire Impreza line-up from the UK - including the red-hot WRX and STI variants - almost a decade ago.
The Mitsubishi Evo has also barked its last exhaust note in the UK, being quietly dropped in 2015.
So, with that in mind, what’s left to fill the gap if you’re looking for a sure-footed vehicle with rallying blood running through its veins?
Here we take a look at some alternatives.
Toyota currently competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with a spectacular ‘GR Yaris Rally1’, a 1.6 litre petrol hybrid with power of 500 PS. And the nearest you’ll get to that competition motor is the regular GR Yaris.
It launched in 2020 to celebrate ‘Toyota's title-winning experience in the World Rally Championship’ and you can expect AWD, power of 260 PS and razor-sharp styling.
Ford and its official rally partner, M-Sport, switched from a Focus-derived car to a Fiesta-based one back in 2011.
And M-Sport now compete in Rally1 - the top rung of WRC - with a Ford Puma Hybrid.
The most snarling Puma you can lease right now is the Puma ST. It comes with power of 200 PS, thanks to a 1.5 litre engine.
Meanwhile adding the ‘Performance Pack’ option brings you a performance limited-slip differential from motorsports giants Quaife.
Italian performance-peddlers Abarth has some considerable chops when it comes to rallying - just look at the victories enjoyed in years gone by with the Fiat 124 Abarth Rally and the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally.
And the new Abarth 695 Tributo 131 Rally, launched in May this year, pays homage to that past.
There’s a huge adjustable rear wing, a tweaked exhaust system and uprated suspension compared with the regular 695. You also get power of 180 PS.
For years, fans for the Honda Civic Type R argued that it’d make a strong basis for a full-on rally car. And in 2019, Honda dutifully obliged, creating the Honda Civic Type R Rally which took ‘huge influence from Rally Raid, Overland and Safari models from the world of rally and adventure holidaying’.
The regular Type R ain’t too shabby, either, and has recently been revamped as a 330 PS weapon for launch next year.
The humble Mini scored a slew of international rally victories in the 60s and 70s. And these days it’s the larger MINI Countryman that provides the fundamentals for MINIs rally cars. The Mini John Cooper Works WRC was based on the Countryman and debuted during the 2011 World Rally Championship season, notching-up seven wins between then and 2015.
Meanwhile the current Countryman John Cooper Works is a belter - coming with all-wheel drive and power of 310 PS.
No, we’ve not gone mad, Lamborghini really has made a rally version of its Huracan supercar, called the ‘Sterrato’. What’s more, those in the know suggest it’s actually heading for full production.
It sits 47mm higher than the regular Huracan, has larger tyres and new front wings - but you still get that unmistakable 5.2 litre V10 with power of 640 PS.
In ‘A Scandi Flick’, messrs May and Hammond took great delight in telling Clarkson that the Audi RS 4 he’d brought along for the trip wasn’t actually a bona fide rally car.
And they’re right - the RS 4 has never done rallying. But there’s no denying the Audi pedigree, with the Audi Rally Quattro re-writing the rally rulebook in the 1980s.
And the RS 4 is as potent now as it was when first launched in 1999. You get Quattro all-wheel drive and power of 450 PS. The only fly in the ointment is that it’s no longer available as a saloon.
In February this year, Swedish firm Polestar launched a special rally-inspired version of its all-electric Polestar 2 model, called the Arctic Circle. It’s built to tackle snow and ice and comes with power of 469 PS. It’s a complete one-off, for now, and the nearest you’ll get to it is the dual-motor, all-wheel drive Polestar 2, which gives you up to 301 miles between charges as well as a rapid 0-62mph time of just 4.5 seconds.
All the ingredients for a rally car are here - all-wheel drive, ferocious power and looks to die for. Yet Volkswagen’s most recent foray into WRC, between 2013 and 2016, saw them competing in a powerful Polo R - not a Golf.
Unfortunately, there’s no longer a Polo R available to regular punters like you or I, with the road legal ‘R WRC’ being jettisoned shortly after its arrival in 2013. But the 320 PS Golf R should more than do the trick if you’re looking for raucous thrills.
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