Should I buy a Volkswagen Golf R or Subaru WRX?
Whether you’re Team Volkswagen or Team Subaru, which of these two recently-reincarnated all-wheel-drive performance icons is the better buy?
Why are we doing this?
Both the 2022 Subaru WRX and 2022 Volkswagen Golf R fly high as the performance flagships for their respective brands – and any occasion one of the two models is renewed for a new generation we sit up and take notice.
But when both nameplates drop new models within mere months of one another it calls for a twin test.
Key to this comparison is: whose version of the ultimate all-wheel-drive performance car is the best? The Subaru WRX derives its learnings from an illustrious history on the world rally stage, but the Golf R is a more tech-oriented take on a hot hatch.
Weighing into this comparison is the Golf R’s sizeable price delta which stands at just under $10,000 – is it that much better of a car?
While we live and breathe all types of cars at Drive by analysing everything from the equipment a car stocks, to how much it’ll cost you to run – it’s not every day we address the smaller enthusiast subset which this comparison aims to speak to. We’ll answer key questions you might have about the purchase of each of these vehicles before deciding which the better performance vehicle for under $70,000.
How much does the Volkswagen Golf R cost?
The 2022 Volkswagen Golf R is priced from $65,990 before on-road costs – around $73,439 drive-away in Melbourne. For the money you receive the fourth-gen EA888 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo with 235kW and 400Nm, Volkswagen's latest 4Motion all-wheel drive, a slick new torque-vectoring rear diff, and the R Performance package dress-up kit.
That R Performance package brings some visual menace, but it sure is subtle. At the front, we’ve got a reprofiled bumper and spoiler with a larger lower air intake to feed the engine. This is also the first Golf with LED matrix headlights.
The Golf R’s roof line sits 5mm lower than the GTI despite sitting on taller 19-inch Estoril lightweight alloys wearing high-performance Bridgestone Potenza rubber. We’ve also got matte chrome capped wing mirrors, the doorhandle recesses all have lights to illuminate them in the dark, and there are puddle lights with the R logo.
At the rear, there’s a new bumper with a more overt diffuser to channel airflow out from under the car. We’ve also got unique to R tail-lights with scrolling indicators, and a decent rear wing.
How much does the Subaru WRX cost?
Prices have risen with the new generation, with most grades in the line-up coming in more expensive than their preceding counterparts. But the 2022 Subaru WRX tS CVT variant on test is a new flagship variant in the range and costs $56,990 before on-road costs.
This rise in price brings it closer to popular performance cars such as the Volkswagen Golf R and Toyota GR Yaris. They’re not nearly the same in terms of size or body styles, but offer similar levels of performance from their turbocharged, all-wheel drivetrains.
Each 2022 WRX is fitted with a turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder boxer engine that outputs 202kW/350Nm to all four wheels. Seemingly incongruous with the car’s performance nature is the fact the top-spec tS variant only comes with a continuously variable transmission. Subaru says the transmission is segmented into eight ratios to simulate gears, which can be selected using paddle-mounted shifters.
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Special for the tS variants is the addition of adaptive dampers, more advanced drive modes, unique wheel designs, and tS and STI branding.
Key details | 2022 Volkswagen Golf R hatch | 2022 Subaru WRX tS |
Price (MSRP) | $65,990 plus on-road costs | $56,990 plus on-road costs |
Colour of test car | Lapiz Blue | WR Blue Pearl |
Options | Harman Kardon stereo – $1000 | None |
Price as tested | $66,990 plus on-road costs | $56,990 plus on-road costs |
How much space does the Volkswagen Golf R have inside?
From the inside, it’s clear the Golf R continues the minimalist theme of lesser Golfs. Spartan and sporty is the vibe, and on first acquaintance it’s intimidating to come to grips with.
I road-tested the Golf GTI in 2021, so I’ve had some experience with Golf’s new less-is-more interior. But when I picked this Golf R up, I found myself having to refamiliarise with where all the secondary controls are hidden in the infotainment system.
The Golf R has nappa leather sports bucket seats with stitching and inserts in R blue. We’ve also got larger gearchange paddles behind a GTI wheel with an extra R button, which is where the magic lies. But I’ll get to that.
The rest of the cabin features little to no switchgear apart from a few surface-mounted capacitive touch buttons instead, like on the steering wheel.
These buttons are not easy to use because they function like a touchscreen rather than a tactile button. It means it is easy to overswipe and change the temperature too much or the volume too much, especially if the car hits a bumpy section of road at that time.
Moving to the back seats and the spartan theme continues. There’s enough space back here for adults, but anyone over 180cm will find that getting decent legroom requires compromise from the person in front.
The back seats have a third-zone temperature control with centrally located air vents, USB chargers, and bottle holders in the door, plus cupholders in the fold-down armrest. There are also ISOFIX mounts in the two outboard seats.
As for the boot, the Golf R has the same 374L of space as a standard Golf, which expands to 1230L if you flip the 60/40 folding rear seats. Generous but not cavernous, and there’s no spare tyre of any kind.
How much space does the Subaru WRX have inside?
Most obvious of all changes inside the 2022 Subaru WRX is the huge portrait-mounted centre touchscreen embedded within the dash, but we’ll deliberately ignore that until the next section.
The cabin of the tS variant scores Ultrasuede upholstery to make sure your butt doesn’t slide around too much on hard cornering, while surfaces of the dash and door cards are covered in soft-touch materials. The top-most dash portions of the instrument binnacle and above the infotainment screen do have hard plastics.
It’s nice to see a sunroof included as standard in all but the base variants of the WRX. Almost comically large is the gearshifter in automatic variants. It’s a big bulbous thing sticking up from the centre console and feels cumbersome to use, though perhaps it was just me.
Door pockets stock a good amount of space for bottles and small items, and are helpfully lined in felt to reduce rattling and noise – a nice touch. Likewise, the sides of the centre console are covered in soft-touch material to ensure knees don’t get crushed when rounding corners.
The two pews up front contain a great amount of adjustability thanks to eight-way adjustable memory seats, while also featuring heating. In fact, the two outboard rear seats score heating too. The headrests have a cool ergonomic tilt function that is super easy to get in just the right spot.
Storage-wise, the WRX has a small slot in front of the shifter for phones, keys and the like, though it’s a real miss that the specification list does not include wireless phone charging.
Space for the driver is comfortable, with a high-perched driving position giving decent visibility out over the bonnet nostril. The second row has a surprising amount of room for passengers. There is loads of space for your legs and a decent-sized slot to stow your feet under the seats. However, head room is limited for taller occupants like my 194cm self.
It seems like there’s a good amount of boot space for a sedan when you open up the gooseneck-hinged rearmost door, but according to Subaru there’s only 411L of space inside. In any case, it was enough space to load backpacks and camera gear.
2022 Volkswagen Golf R hatch | 2022 Subaru WRX tS | |
Seats | Five | Five |
Boot volume | 374L seats up | 411L seats up |
Length | 4290mm | 4670mm |
Width | 1789mm | 1825mm |
Height | 1458mm | 1465mm |
Wheelbase | 2631mm | 2675mm |
Does the Volkswagen Golf R have Apple CarPlay?
Fire up the engine or accessories and the electronics also fire to life. There’s an exclusive R View graphics skin on the digital instrument display that can be customised to show what you want, such as torque or boost pressure.
There are also some unique aspects to the 10.0-inch central display, particularly in the performance pages.
And if you can’t be bothered touching the screen, you can use hand gestures to adjust certain functions, or you can yell at the car: “Hey Volkswagen, it’s cold in here!”.
The Harman Kardon premium sound system and the panoramic sunroof are both optional, raising the price of a fully loaded car by just under $3000 to $69K plus on-road costs. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, or there are two USB-C ports to connect and charge phones up front. We’ve also got a detailed head-up display so you can keep your eyes on the road.
The phone charging mat is present, but it seems to have problems with my Google Pixel 6, never quite committing to the charge. Instead it reminded me every 20 seconds that it’s charging, as though it’s just rediscovered there’s a phone in here. As a result, my phone never charged.
Does the Subaru WRX have Apple CarPlay?
The new 2022 Subaru WRX gets an 11.6-inch colour touchscreen mounted in portrait fashion. It’s embedded within the dash rather than being a stuck-on tablet like you see on some other cars.
It uses a nice starry sky background to display relevant functions in a grid/tile format, while air-conditioning controls are found along the bottom of the screen. There are no button shortcuts alongside the screen, though you can control some functions like skip track, volume, source, and voice control on the steering wheel.
The tS model grade features a 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and I loved it. It features a really high clarity of sound and a good resounding bass that reverberates around the cabin.
It runs Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, though not wirelessly. You’ll have to connect your phone using one of the two USB-A ports to enable. I tried CarPlay for much of the week as I wasn’t a fan of the car’s standard satellite navigation display. The smartphone mirroring system displays in a neat portrait way I hadn’t seen before.
Controlling Subaru’s infotainment software is sometimes slow to respond to touch inputs, and is particularly laggy when inputting navigation instructions. This is why I moved to CarPlay, whereas I’d normally make do with a car’s native system.
Is the Volkswagen Golf R a safe car?
The 2022 Volkswagen Golf range earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating when tested in 2019.
Overall, it scored highly in terms of adult occupant protection (95 per cent) and child occupant protection (89 per cent), and scored a commendable 80 per cent for its safety assist systems.
The Volkswagen Golf R has more active safety than lesser Golfs, as being a range flagship it is equipped with more safety features than other models.
Standard gear includes adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, autonomous emergency braking both forward and reverse, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot detection.
All these and the rest of the Golf R’s active safety suite is packaged as Volkswagen’s IQ.Drive system. This includes Volkswagen’s Travel Assist, which combines active cruise control and lane-keeping assist to ease the ‘strain’ of driving on long journeys.
Is the Subaru WRX a safe car?
Being an automatic model, the Subaru WRX tS scores a suite of active safety measures, whereas its manual WRX alternatives do not. This means our car is serviced by Subaru’s EyeSight safety systems including autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane-centring, adaptive cruise control, and speed sign recognition.
It also gets blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and lane-change assist, which is standard across the range.
Subaru’s driver monitoring system is one of the most insistent I’ve come across, and will regularly make judgements on whether a driver is paying attention or not by sounding an alarm.
The new-generation Subaru WRX has not undergone local ANCAP safety testing at the time of this comparison.
At a glance | 2022 Volkswagen Golf R hatch | 2022 Subaru WRX tS |
ANCAP rating & year tested | Five stars (tested 2019) | Untested |
Safety report | ANCAP report | N/A |
How much does the Volkswagen Golf R cost to maintain?
Like all Volkswagen models, the Golf R comes with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and requires servicing every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.
Servicing is not cheap, but not overly expensive for such a complex and finely honed machine. You’ll pay $1700 for the first three years and another $1400 for the two years after that.
The Volkswagen Golf R requires premium unleaded petrol for its engine, which it consumed at the rate of 10.1L/100km while on test with us. We freely admit that a fair portion of our testing was on quiet country roads where we fully explored the vehicle’s real-world performance.
As for insurance costs, the Golf R costs $1508 per year, which is slightly more than the $20K cheaper Hyundai i30 N ($1334), but a fair bit less than the $25K more expensive Audi RS3 ($2595), comparative quote based on a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW – insurance estimates may vary based on your location and driving history.
How much does the Subaru WRX cost to maintain?
Subaru products are covered off by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. They are also covered by capped-price servicing for the same period. Three years are scheduled to cost $1267, or five years’ worth comes in at $2366. These services are recommended every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever is first.
As the flagship model variant in the WRX range, the $56,990 tS variant competes on price with the Volkswagen Golf R and GTI that cost $65,990 and $54,990 respectively.
Subaru says the WRX tS automatic sips 8.5L/100km on a combined fuel cycle, but our experience was different. After a week's worth of urban driving, along with some spirited spurts up Mount Macedon, our tS returned a 15.0L/100km fuel rating. This is inordinately high for a turbo petrol four-cylinder car of the WRX’s size, performance car or not. Subaru recommends a minimum of 95RON when refuelling.
We searched for a comparative quote based on a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. To insure the Subaru WRX tS costs $1619 per annum according to our research, though insurance estimates may vary based on your location and driving history.
At a glance | 2022 Volkswagen Golf R hatch | 2022 Subaru WRX tS |
Warranty | Five years, unlimited km | Five years, unlimited km |
Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km | 12 months or 15,000km |
Servicing costs | $1700 (3 years), $3100 (5 years) | $1267 (3 years), $2366 (5 years) |
Fuel cons. (claimed) | 7.8L/100km | 8.5L/100km |
Fuel cons. (on test) | 10.1L/100km | 15.0L/100km |
Fuel type | 98-octane premium unleaded | 95-octane premium unleaded |
Fuel tank size | 50L | 63L |
What is the Volkswagen Golf R like to drive?
In short, it’s a riot. The Volkswagen Golf R is a brilliant driver’s car that will thrill on any winding back road.
It’s also a surprisingly comfortable and happy daily driver that trundles docilely around town without complaint.
That means you’re getting the best of both worlds for under $80K. Some may find that expensive, but I can’t think of anything else that can match the Golf R’s breadth of capability and competence for that price. How does it do this?
Electronics, of course. For starters, there are the Golf’s multiple driving modes that tailor driving controls, suspension, and all-wheel-drive system for work or play.
Volkswagen says the Golf R sits 20mm lower than mainstream variants, but thanks to larger 19-inch wheels the roof line is pretty much at the same height. This lower ride does make the Golf R firmer, but you’d expect that – in fact, you’d feel ripped off if it didn’t have a sportier ride. Still, it’s comfortable enough for everyday driving.
The Golf R’s new rear diff, variants of which are also found on the Audi RS3 and Cupra Formentor, has the smarts to manipulate the engine’s prodigious torque better than any Golf R generation before it.
Previous generations could adjust torque front to rear, and across the front axle, but it was a coping mechanism rather than an active driving system. By that I mean it relied on the brakes to ‘reduce’ torque to tyres with less grip once they started to spin.
This new system uses its smarts to feed more torque to the wheels that can handle it instead of braking wheels that can’t.
It’s a faster and smoother system with one huge natural advantage in corners. Instead of the rear axle pig-headedly pushing the chassis wide in corners, it now helps to pivot the car through the bend.
Imagine you’re pushing a shopping trolley with two hands. It wants to go straight ahead, right? Now drop one arm… The trolley naturally wants to turn.
When you’re pushing this car hard, the all-wheel-drive system is an invisible partner, working its magic to get you around corners as fast as physics will allow. VW says this latest 4Motion iteration is better at feeding power to the outside rear wheel, which reduces the likelihood of understeer.
What is the Subaru WRX like to drive?
For all visual indicators that Subaru has matured its WRX, the driving part was where I was most worried about its rate of change. Familiar, at least, is the turbocharged boxer engine under the bonnet, though its displacement is now 2.4 litres. Power has risen 5kW to 202kW overall, though torque output has remained the same at 350Nm.
This drive is sent through Subaru’s synonymous Symmetrical all-wheel-drive system. Together with the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres fitted to our tester, the system faithfully puts as much power as possible to the road without breaking traction. Especially in the wet, grip is very well maintained in all manner of conditions.
Press your foot to the firewall and the powertrain feels very responsive, resulting in a shove in the back as the tyres deliver power to the ground. It’s a much more linear delivery than I’ve experienced in WRXs of old, which were plagued by turbo lag from low revs.
Sadly, the surge of power is no longer accentuated by a warbly boxer exhaust note. The WRX really could have used a variable exhaust system because it's disappointingly silent. You can hear the car when you’re in a parking garage with the windows down, but they’re pretty extreme lengths to go to in order to hear a performance car.
Also on the negatives, I really found it hard to gel with the CVT inside a performance car. It’s an odd sensation where it basically does everything you need, but feels very weird put into practice. It rarely found itself in the right power band for what I wanted, which ended up frustrating me and making me wish I was behind the wheel of a six-speed manual car. Naturally, the experience is helped once you’re in Sport modes, but the CVT unfortunately left me cold.
It should be noted the CVT is stepped into eight ratios, which can be selected using steering wheel paddles. Perhaps it’s just me that didn’t enjoy it – colleague Rob Margeit enjoyed the CVT experience – but leave me with a conventional auto or manual please.
With regard to how it feels on the road, it is still fun to drive with a darty and lively feel to the steering – it is a quick system that weights up nicely around a corner. Somewhat related to the steering are the indicators attached to the column beside the wheel, which feature a funny return-to-home configuration. I absolutely despised them at first, as it was difficult to cancel after flicking on an indicator, but rest assured you do get used to them.
Brakes are also super strong and bitey, as is the stability control when you do get things wrong. Both systems feel super tied-down in the wet and bring the car promptly back into line.
The WRX’s ride control feels good on the whole, only feeling slightly brittle over minute imperfections that are translated through to the cabin. The tS specification gets adaptive dampers, which firm up the ride and keep the car nice and composed around bends when driving spiritedly. You never quite get jolted around inside the car when going over mid-corner bumps or speed humps, it’s just those little bumps that find their way through.
Key details | 2022 Volkswagen Golf R hatch | 2022 Subaru WRX tS |
Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol | 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol |
Power | 235kW @ 5600–6500rpm | 202kW @ 5600rpm |
Torque | 400Nm @ 2000–5600rpm | 350Nm @ 2000–5200rpm |
Drive type | All-wheel drive | All-wheel drive |
Transmission | Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic | Continuously variable automatic |
Power to weight ratio | 157kW/t | 127kW/t |
Weight | 1501kg | 1585kg |
Turning circle | 11.0m | 11.2m |
Should I buy a Volkswagen Golf R or Subaru WRX?
We’ll be the first to say that each of these offerings brings a unique take on what all-wheel-drive performance should look like. With such a wide gulf between their two approaches, this could mean you may already carry a preconceived favourite when choosing between the two, rendering this comparison obsolete.
However, we’ll break it down to the bare bones to find Drive’s pick.
Starting out with what you’ll pay at the dealership, the WRX is the clear winner. Unfortunately for Volkswagen, the Golf R doesn’t claw back many points in terms of extra kit you get for your extra $10k either (it does feature a more powerful engine, but more on that soon). Good levels of equipment are included with each option, leaving little on the table.
The cabin is where things become more subjective, with the Golf’s minimalist layout going up against the WRX’s screen-filled fascia. What isn’t up for debate is the WRX’s added space, especially in the second row. The WRX’s boot also features more space, though its tricky sedan shape holds it back from storing much bigger items.
Infotainment-wise, the Golf stocks the better system with nifty equipment such as wireless smartphone mirroring, an intuitive voice assistant function, and a fully digital instrument cluster. The WRX also can’t match the quick-reacting display of the Golf.
In terms of safety, the Golf again wins out this aspect of the comparison. Speaking broadly across both ranges, it’s the Golf which is better equipped in terms of active safety equipment, with manual WRX variants missing out on key tech. The Golf R also gets a proper five-star ANCAP score.
Running costs will have Golf R buyers paying more for servicing, but on the plus side it uses less fuel than the Subaru WRX, and costs less to insure.
In the driving stakes, both cars are adeptly capable and enjoyable on a quiet backroad. However it’s the Golf R which feels far more comfortable going fast. Its power bump and wizardry under the skin go a long way to make the Golf’s incredible performance more accessible than the WRX’s.
The fact that you have to work harder to get more out of the WRX – combined with a subdued exhaust note as your reward – means the WRX experience doesn’t shape up nearly as sharp as the Golf R’s.
Combined with the above wins in other areas awarded to the Volkswagen, this is why the Golf R is the better all-round choice of these two cars and is worth $10,000 more – if you can afford it.