A Subaru Impreza WRX Sportwagon was bought by one of Top Gear's hosts, Richard Hammond for £1,500, the equivalent of just over $2,200. For a price that low, you know that Subaru had given good service for a number of years before it ended up in Hammond's hands. However, it captured the hearts of many, successfully leading the pack of Top Gear hosts across Africa in search of the source of the River Nile in the latest episode.
The two other hosts chose a BMW 528i and a Volvo 850R, both "estate" cars -- the British term for a station wagon -- for £1,500 as part of the challenge. During the first leg of the journey, the hosts decided to make homes in their wagons because of the horrible hotels they encountered. While we wouldn't recommend making a kitchen and bed inside of your Subaru, it was pretty impressive. What's more notable is that the roads in the area of Africa they traveled through were a washboarded, muddy, car-killing mess.
The Subaru, unsurprisingly, conquered all the obstacles the roads in Africa threw at it with ease. At one point during the trip, the roads became a muddy mire of rutted tracks. Both the Volvo and BMW kept getting stuck and the nimble Impreza WRX took to the mud like a duck to water. The Subaru towed the others out on many occasions.
Poor road conditions also weren't a problem for the Impreza, which conquered them gracefully without injury to Hammond. The Volvo, however, wasn't so lucky, cracking both tire rims on one side in two and causing severe pain to the driver's neck after hours of driving on terrible roads. The BMW didn't fare much better, constantly bottoming out on massive speed bumps installed along the main roads through many towns along the way.
There's no denying that all the cars were abused, especially when at the end the BMW dropped its axle in the final race to the finish and had to be abandoned. The Subaru, however, kept on going, through thick and thin, even after what could have been a disastrous break that needed a quick repair. Subaru is obviously the best choice for rough terrain conditions out of the three wagons and the safest for your family, even if you're not going across Africa anytime soon.
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