LITTLE Pollyanna had it right, you know, trying to go through life always looking for reasons to be glad. On a particular day in March, I almost had too many reasons to mention.

Having just finished a pleasant job in the beautiful city of York, my next was at Chop Gate on the North York Moors, a stunning drive in any vehicle, but off the gladness scale in this particular new car.

Miles of empty, twisty, undulating country roads separated the two and as I climbed into the new-look Subaru Impreza WRX, just to top things, the sun came out and the sky turned deep azure.

Something went awry with the last Subaru Impreza turbo. It needed a bit of a freshen up, a more modern slant on the old rally theme, but for some inexplicable reason its new clothes just did not seem to hang right. It looked kind of gangly, awkward, wrong.

Well the men at Subaru must have thought so too as, in the blink of an eye, another new Impreza WRX has found its way into the showrooms and while the changes look slight the differences are huge - and I'm glad.

The new look, of course, matches the 2003 World Rally Car and isn't just for aesthetics, it's for aerodynamics too. That said it looks tonnes better, more purposeful and sporty, lower to the deck and sleek. The bonnet is different too - and so is the huge scoop for the turbo that sits in it - as are the wings, which have developed muscle. The dinner plate spotlights have shrunk to saucer size and at the rear there are new curvy taillights and bumpers to finish off a look that can't fail to appeal.

WRX's power is also up from 218PS to 225PS from the turbo charged 2.0 boxer engine with a commensurate rise in torque. Not that it matters to most mortals, but if you do hit the track, top speed is up 3mph to 144mph while the 0-60mph times has dropped to a truly incredible 5.6 seconds - that's supercar performance for a reduced price of a fiver under £20,000.

If you think things couldn't get any better, that your heart couldn't be more glad, then you'd be wrong. Fuel consumption has been improved by three miles per gallon and because the engine burns cleaner the car now falls into the cheaper 27 per cent company tax bracket instead of the 32 per cent one.

Honed suspension and steering boosts an already superb handling package even further and the four wheel drive system gives awesome levels of grip through the bends as the roads of North Yorkshire are traversed with great pleasure. There's nothing to prove in this car, no need to go brain out, just revel in its surefootedness.

The interior remains neat and tidy rather than flash but the sport seats are supremely comfortable and supportive.

Of course little Pollyanna was knocked down by a car so she would be pleased to hear that the new WRX is more pedestrian friendly, featuring a more rounded contour to the top of the bonnet and safety wipers that crush to soften impact.

The working day over, there's just one more reason to be glad to be behind the wheel of the new Subarau Impreza WRX and that's the drive home.

PS: You can add to the Impreza's dazzling looks with a 265bhp performance pack, that is £1,600 worth of extra pulling power under the bonnet, shaving the sprint to 60mph to 4.8-seconds, and featuring a reprogrammed electronic control unit, free-flow exhaust system with a large single pipe. Vroom! Vroom!

Updated: 10:45 Friday, March 14, 2003