The Subaru Impreza WRX has always lived in the shadow of the full-house STI’s enormous rear wing; a bit softer, a bit slower, a whole lot less exciting. Or at least that’s what you might think.

Priced from $38,490, the Megane GT is priced dangerously close to the 162kW Volkswagen Golf GTI ($41,340), the 184kW Ford Focus ST ($38,990), and the 197kW Subaru WRX ($39,240) – all excluding ...