The first thing that commands attention is the car's rear wing. It's as big as the Arch, fer cryin' out loud. Every time I looked in the rear-view mirror I felt like I was leaving town.

And that, by the way, is something you can do in a great big hurry in the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, a blurry fast pocket-rocket that, for the first time in this Impreza's generation, is available in the sedan body style we drove. It also can be had as a five-door hatchback.

In total, Subaru's full line of compact Imprezas offers more flavors than Baskin-Robbins — four-door sedans, five-door hatchbacks, a base 2.5i trim along with a 2.5i Premium model, an Outback Sport wagon, WRX performance iterations and WRX STI high-performance versions.

There's a lot to ponder there, but the most expensive, most outrageous and most exhilarating is the STI, with its bulging fenders, ground effects, 18-inch Dunlop performance rubber, single-nostril hood scoop, quad tailpipes and, in sedan guise, that humongous rear wing.

It's a sight to behold! But, as the man said, it ain't braggin' if you can do it.

WRX STI can do it.

This one backs the brag with a 305-hp flat-four turbo that sends 290 lb.-ft. of torque to all four wheels via a six-speed manual — the only transmission offered with STI. That drivetrain launches this over-achiever to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds as that blown engine howls with delight.

And it's delighted a lot, constantly rumbling and growling during routine driving, snarling under provocation.At the same time, the speed-rated tires happily send plenty of pavement descriptions to the cabin.

The result is a raucous interior that, coupled with a lower ride height and an even stiffer suspension for 2011, may put off the faint-of-heart, but that joyous noise and buckboard ride add to the fun for enthusiasts.

So does the manual transmission, which not only snaps off shifts with alacrity, but which provides a Hill Hold feature, preventing the car for three seconds or so from rolling back on steep hills, making vertically daunting launches much easier.

Inside, this sedan is remarkably roomy.

Up front, space is plentiful in hugely bolstered sport buckets that will be too tight for the horizontally gifted. In back, room is quite good. The rear seats, however, offer no lateral support, so cheap-seat passengers will want to cinch the seat belt tightly if the driver is having some fun.

That fun is enhanced with what Subaru calls its SI-Drive System, which, among other things, allows the driver to tailor throttle response to taste — "Intelligent," the standard setting for daily driving; "Sport," for increased throttle sensitivity; and "Sport-Sharp," which makes the skinny pedal so sensitive it almost seems a light breeze over the gas pedal would launch the car forward.

WRX also is available in a slightly tamer 265-hp version, but the STI is the choice for the speed obsessed. In this class, only the Mitsubishi Evo can run with it.

For the record, we got 20 mpg in 120 miles of mixed city/hwy driving.

WRX STI prices start at $34,720.