Some cars I test-drive are magnets for people to come and take a look.

The bright yellow 2010 Camaro, the first Scions, the Jag XFR....and the Subaru WRX STI.

This car has a lot of followers.

Given the Impreza WRX STI is a well-known rally/race car and a popular choice of virtual race car on all my 11-year-old’s racing video games, I was a little surprised at all the middle-age men who were drawn to this car and wanted to talk shop about it.

You know the main things I care about are how hard it is to get the car seat in and how many cup holders are in the back, so I had to do a little research to keep up with the fans of this winged sports car.

Changes for 2011 include upgraded audio features, STI-inspired styling for the WRX and a sedan version of the WRX STI (this is the model I test drove). The lineup loses the 2.5 GT.

Under the hood, the STI has a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine that cranks out 305 horsepower and 290 lb-ft of torque. With its standard six-speed manual, the STI achieves fuel economy of 17/23/19 and, according to Subaru, reaches 60 mph in a blazing 4.5 seconds. I didn’t try that.

I was perfectly fine with the manual transmission, but there is no automatic transmission option. Frankly, it really is one of those kinds of cars best driven with a stick-shift.

If I wanted a rally car, this would be my choice. Handling is as sporty and grippy as you can get. Curves slide tight and the brakes are spot-on.

The base price for an Impreza WRX STI is about $33,400 and my test vehicle was $39,870.