Volkswagen Golf R vs. Subaru WRX STI - AWD Performance Review - Everyday Driver 

AR Taken Or you can put it this way: The Golf R is more refind, more comfortable, has a more premium look and feel. It has a much nicer interior with better materials where they count and is easier to live with on a day to day basis. Its quicker than the Sti but does not feel as nimble or as aggrssive as the STi. You need to push it more to get the performance out. Its a better daily driver thats not as track focused as the STi.

AR Taken To quote Paul,"The R is kinda keeping up with the STi" oh really? www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1503_2015_subaru_wrx_sti_vs_2015_volkswagen_golf_r/

The article you linked by motortrend came to the same conclusion as these guys. Did you just not read it? They said that the STI is a lot more fun and aggressive feeling. Feeling go is the keyword here. Also as much as I hate to admit it the dsg is probably superior to a manual gearbox.

AR Taken my boss has a Jetta. A small piece of the smog system was broken, said piece only functions--when it's working for 15-20 seconds. It was necessary to pull the engine to replace the piece. They wanted several hundred dollars to repair a part that operates for 15-20 seconds. I don't really like VW either.

Matthew Fang Superior for what? The driving life is more than driving on a racktrack or in stop and go traffic

did u sit once in the back of it? i bet u didnt... ;)

Well if that's the case, then what is the GTI? I would say that everything you mentioned would be found in the GTI. Once you move up to the R, you get much more aggression and "difference". I'm not knocking VW, I had the same complaint with my GLI. I just wish they would put more into their "more" category.

I bet the golf r is a lot faster than the sti

Tungi Martyn I know it been a few years but I just bought a 2019 Golf R and before that I spent time driving 2019 GTi, and believe me the R is a hell of a lot “more”. It’s way faster, way more planted and has way more performance features like launch mode. No comparison . Also 288 hp vs 228, 0-60 In 4.5 vs 5.5-5.7 sec . Also in the after market, the car can handle about a lot of power upgrades in which I don’t plan to do because mine is fast enough stock .

Adam McGee We hope you noticed last week's announcement - we are going to weekly videos starting Thursday May 14th. Thanks for liking what we do!

You're right! This channel or this 2 legends are the best and most honest car reviewers in youtube. Thanks guys & keep up the good work!

EverydayDriver This channel is cool but these guys dont understand Volkwagen's targert market for the R. The Golf R is a German performanc hatch thats well rounded not a Japaneses all out performance car. If these guys dont understand that, they will never like what VW brings to the market. The R actually quicker than the STi, they seem to ignore this fact.

AR Taken So the target market for the Golf R are people who like well rounded sports cars that look boring and conservative?

RexSpec06 the target market include the first batch of 500 cars that was shipped to the US that were sold out in 3hrs, you're obviously not part of the target market. So yes I guess so.

You mean the one in the Fast and Furious movie? Running the smuggling tunnels? That was a cool car. Still want one.

Doug T I don't remember much about that movie.. I saw the hatchback sti's in rally, they looked great

Dee Jay Those are the only Impreza scubbies other than the hawkeyes that I like :/

Do you think the newer impreza hatchback would make a good base for a WRX/STI hatch? I'm having a hard time imagining if it would look as good as the old one or not

SoSickWidit As far as I know they won't be making a hatch back version anymore

Julian Sam Sinclair well said bro

+herrdoktorknowitall staid

I drive in to work looking and driving like I just came out of fast and furious. And I fucking love it

herrdoktorprofessor good comment that. Personally I prefer the Subaru brand as a whole, as I like the offbeat sound of the boxer engines. Dont see many on UK roads either, so it would feel more special in one. A rare sight actually, and thats the appeal

+thillyard1 The Everyday driver review is both incisive and accurate. The fact you're trying to compare a WRX to the R and indeed the STI is fairly naive. The WRX and STI may look similar, however they deliver very different driving experiences and performance levels. I have no doubt you're modified suspension gave you a hard time, they usually do as people select springs/coilovers with silly rates and then fail to adjust the damping rates appropriately. The STI has very well controlled damping and well balanced front rear spring rates. The ride is firm but supple. This means the wheels stay connected to the road surface ensuring max traction and grip in all conditions. Importantly, the AWD system can be adjusted manually through the DCCD system making it much more versatile than the R. The ability to go to full lock or bias front to rear is invaluable to those that understand the system and know how and when to use it. From a performance perspective the STI is much more dialled in from the get go relative to the R and it gets more rewarding the harder you drive it. In contrast the R is quite elusive and can be vague at the limit. The reality is a lot of people seem to be modifying Rs because they are missing something - I have no doubt you will have done the same. However, if you have done this, your car will be TD1ed by VW despite what you may have been told by which ever supplier provided the reflash/piggyback system. The reality is, the current STI is a very very effective point to point weapon in all conditions and the dual AVCS EJ257 is a remarkably effective and tractable engine - well matched with the Aisin six speed and allround performance pack Brembo brakes which allow differential torque vectoring. Your comments on the R are very telling - at the end of the day you want a spirited daily as opposed to a performance orientated car. The R is a very good daily and will suit your needs, in contrast the STI is a very good performance orientated car that delivers exactly "whats on the box". The reviewers nailed it.

well fucking said sir

+thillyard1 I think they hit it really well. The Golf R is the better daily driver, the STi is the better performance enthusiast machine. Things like rain sensing wipers and lights aren't relevant in performance schema, but do matter when it comes to daily driver status, which they clearly differentiated the two on. One is the better daily driver, the other is the better performance car. The DCC is very cool, and tuning has a lot to do with how it feels, however the STi has a DCCD transmission which has it's own merits as well. They are both wonderful cars with slightly different target audiences, and I think they nailed that pretty clearly. Comparing both in the same light is flawed because they are designed for different markets and applications, even if their performance is similar on paper.

The numbers disagree with you. Also, the Golf lacks an adjustable center differential. They are both great cars and the review indicates what they are good at. Check your fanboy.

MrThePrivateer Your insistence in telling me all about your knowledge and ownership without any numbers indicates you have none. I don't care how much experience you don't have. Show me how the car is better, objectively.

Revoe Lucion - Thanks for watching and we appreciate your thoughts. But know that we had two dedicated shotgun mics with heavy duty wind-stopper/dead cats on them. Unfortunately, the wind was bad enough we had to resort to the guy's backup body mics to get consistent audio for this closing. Would benefit from a dedicated sound person and a super long boom pole... Always something to improve!

EverydayDriver Absolutely, a dedicated sound man makes all the difference in the world and I'd volunteer these sound engineer's hand if you ever get out to NY. I completely understand the issues given the conditions and a dub over would probably be the only recourse.

EverydayDriver The shirt noise was bearable... But the high-pitched bleeping noise in basically every static fly-by shot made my ears bleed...

ravesilly breaking news top gear is no longer a thing

Ara J I am very aware of this

ravesilly The last Top Gear ep will be getting aired after all, apparently its the STi Vs the R. Cant wait.

aaronprakash I thought it was all 3 remaining episodes?

ravesilly I LOVE TOP GEAR, but one thing I will say about them. They are an entertainment show. A lot of what they say is balanced out on a scale of what will stir up the biggest uproar. Look at what JC said about the RCF. Then read what the entire of the rest of the automotive press says. OK a lot of people aren't in love with it. But has anyone dismissed it as flatly and thoroughly as JC (and did anyone else noticed how firmly JC's tongue was planted in his cheek). I mean honestly, he didn't even "show us" if Stig ran it around the test track. That alone sounds far more like entertainment than honest opinion to me. They themselves, in interviews, constantly poke fun at the show as an authority on the automotive industry. Just look at their news skit. I say skit rather than report quite on purpose. They could get work on Saturday Night Live without changing anything of their content Mind you, as soon as JC announces his promised new show I will rejoice and I will eat up every minute of it.

zed4me Maybe you're right about the maturity part, But I'm 60 and I wouldn't buy one. The Rs best virtue is as a q-ship

zed4me Fun Maybe. Performance hell no, Golf R is better in performance straight line and also track stock vs stock.

zadjaliz DSG yes, Manual no.

zed4me the STI will be waiting for you when you're ready :) Unlike Mitsubishi, we're not going anywhere.

zed4me Btw, love your videos, keep making em

He's talking about the throtle mapping not the gear selection

@@dallasmellsop5488 yea fr people need to chill

It actually goes faster when in sports shift mode

WiseGuy02 I don't think he has. It's like Todd said, it's like a somewhat higher performance GTi, when what it should be is something entirely unique. Something really badass and separate from the GTi. Or why bother paying $40k for it? The power bump over the GTi is not that much, and you can just get an API stage 1 for the GTi if you want more power. Yes you can also do that to the R, but the point is that since the differences between the GTi and the R are so relatively slight, doing an APR stage 1 on the GTi is almost the same thing as getting an R. Just cheaper.

Vernon Price Except then you can't put that power to the ground in the GTI. That is the point of AWD. And if we use that logic, then just stage 1 tune the Golf R and you have almost 400hp..

David Proux At which point you have a golf R that is only slightly better than a GTi stage 1. Point still stands. And you missed the point entirely, we all know you can chip a golf R. That's not the point. The point is that the R is not enough of an upgrade over the GTi to justify the cost. As far as AWD, yes I know what AWD is for. And it's not just for straight line acceleration either. But saying a chipped GTi CAN'T put power down is ridiculous. Of course it can. Yeah there's a little bit of wheelspin in 1st gear, big deal.A chipped GTi is not making 500 HP.

Way more than a little wheel spin. Have your driven a tunes 15 GTI yet?

David Proux No, but I have a 730 HP CTS-V and I used to have a 400+ FWHP Sentra SE-R. THAT is a lot of wheelspin. A chipped Golf GTi is not spinning the wheels through 3rd gear.Or 2nd. Or even all of 1st.

Gt3 Fire Do you have a massive head injury or something

***** Agreed. Although, changes to the interior, which can cost literally hundreds of millions of dollars are unlikely in the near term for the simple reason that they have to bring the engine into the newer architecture first

***** wym

***** Agreed, and this is to say nothing of actually finding an R for sale and affording the markup--never mind (and a buyer won't.) the maintenance and repair bills

***** If you order one, you can definitely get a GTI for $25,000

Randall Collins ill take you up on that bet

Outdoor Layne I have read somewhere that they are going to make a golf R mk7 with 400hp. Might be just the car that will press that statement.

The Subaru is cheap plastic garbage on the inside. You've clearly never been inside a GTI/Golf R

supercooled or how the golf looks like a Elantra, Wait.. No looks worse.. ;)

Tony Edwards I think the cabin is nicer and a more comfortable place to be in over time and is the one that will drive most like a regular car when you're in everyday traffic and public roads. Which is 95% of the time for me. That is my own personal opinion and why I would choose the R over the STi. You may have another opinion.

Yippie for an everyday driver i think the regular WRX would make a better comparison to the golf R. its a very conformable car, i have one and commute 70+ miles a day. The R has a bit more power but the WRX handles better. and its 10k cheaper.

Alex Chan-Kai I agree with your WRX comment, especially if you live in the snow belt. However, if you live where it doesn't snow then the same argument could be made for the standard VW GTI.

+soundseeker63 I think what they are going for is that some of us want something closer to the middle. Something less sensible than the R, that can really flaunt itself when asked, but less ostentatious and obvious than the STi, less track oriented. They both went too far in either direction. The STi is too hard and track oriented, the Golf R is too...dry. Someone needs to take both cars, look long and hard at them, and make something right in the middle. The car for the mature fun loving enthusiast who also likes practicality and a bit of mad fun on the side.

DarklightRebel Enter new Ford Focus RS.

soundseeker63 That thing is what dreams are made of.

the golf is only catching up like crazy nothing wrong with Subaru, unless you put a bigger engine in there isn't much on making it faster other than giving it a better turbo.

If you watched the whole video you would have heard them saying that the manual Golf R wasn't available at the time for shooting

David Kerry I tried watching the whole video but the whistling noise annoyed the fuck out of me and made me pause the video and leave XD. Either way, a true Golf is a manual Golf.

My MT Golf R is on it's way... :-)

Owismael the dsg is faster than the manual....trust me.

Tim Davidson The thing is tho, that something as simple as a remap of the cars ECU can really "wake up" a car. In my own case, I went from 150hp to 225hp and 300nm. Cost me 400 dollars. Most turbo cars run a really conservative tune from the factory. Increasing the boost can really make a difference. In my case it was 0.5 BAR, which was increased to 1.2. Most turbo cars have forged internals or at the very least, pistons, so they can easily handle the added power from a remap, without reliability issues.

That may be true but to me its not worth jeopardizing my peace of mind knowing i havnt gone screwing around with the engine.

Tim Davidson "A sense of peace" is not what street-tuners are going for. I have never owned an unmodified car (I'm 65). If you're worried about trade-in value, take up Competitive Sewing. The whole point of modifications is to make your car higher-performance, and different, from the stock version. Resale value is way-, WAY- down on the list of worries. I race with guys that take a $50,000 Corvette and put $50,000 in mods into them. It's called SCCA "Unlimited" class.

Whatever makes your boat float old timer but its a fact : If you mod a vehicle, doesnt matter how much money you spent in doing so, when you try to sell it, its not worth as much as it is if left stock especially with dealers and i personally would not buy a modded vehicle from a private party because chances are it was heavily abused . Only an ignoramus would disagree.

Justo Talkalottashit No, it's an '02 Audi A3 1.8 turbo, and not a diesel.

Boosted Subaru as an audi owner and a huge VW fan i completely agree. the MK IV 337 was the last awesome golf

Boosted Subaru the point VW has been trying to make since the early 2000's is they offer cars the everyday person can still afford that feel a class above. like take a regular golf or jetta and compare it to a regular impreza. its a night and day car in terms of refinement, they seem to have carried this trend over to their performance vehicles and while yes it may not be as rewarding when you want to go hard, it makes up for it when you just want to get in the car and haul without constantly having the vehicle nag you. Now as an auto enthusiast i know that sounds ridiculous but i can see why VW does the things they do. the golf R is on my list for a new vehicle purchase when i graduate college solely because i will have my current car, and that to drive every day. i'm a bias Japanese car driver as well but lately i have been looking more at how well rounded a brand new car over 30 grand would be as a daily driver versus just as a performance machine.

Could not agree more with this comment. As a performance car, the Golf R looks so dead boring that it feels like it was designed for old conservative people in mind, who happen to like fast cars. Whereas the STi looks how a performance car should look.

***** Nearly everything on a VW is optional. Not in a good way either.

Boosted Subaru im not a vw fan but the r is not boring

Frank Nero Funny... that horse is been beaten to death. Leave it alone

My car is AWD lol, it's okay STI blow up stock and are slower than golf r and s3. Be mad

I have a 2015 audi s3 you dumbass lol.

No my forza garage has a veloster turbo lol with 800hp. Close though

Zero No point in arguing with him Zero. He is 15 years old and doesn't own jack most likely. You can easily read a few of his comments and see the level of education is low.

BurnDuration It's just you.

BurnDuration and doesnt the golf look like any other boring ass golf for half the price? Yes.

BurnDuration Toyota did copy Subaru in a lot of aspects in their new cars, but it's not surprising since Toyota owns a share of Fuji Heavy Industries

BurnDuration Are people really still calling it that ? Drop that nonsense already. The car looks like a beast in person and drives like it too although i would just recommend a wrx. New engine, New twin scroll, New transmission, tighter suspension and chassis. Better gas mileage as well.

BurnDuration Yes it does lol. It looks good in person though.

The RS will blow them out the water.

KillerJay17 By the time the RS come out, Subaru will probably be on the next gen with the FA motor.

I hope you're right. Competition is good for consumers. But to be honest I doubt Subaru will refresh the new STI in the next year or two. Would be dope tho, just a huge kick in the balls to anyone who bought the 2015 model year.

VW will be making the R400, not sure if it's north america bound though. It'll be interesting to see how the playing field shifts.

KillerJay17 Honestly, wouldn't be sad. I'd be happy Subaru is improving the line. The 2015 has more than enough power to enjoy... and I'm quite happy knowing that I have one of the last cars with the Subie Rumble Pack installed...

Did you get it

@@nigelholland1714 no, I ended up getting a BMW M235i. It is the rwd, 6MT version, with N55 engine. Great value for the money.

Yes. That's exactly the point.

Exactly, STI looks like an upgrade from a tuner's Civic

Anders Kristensen Lol I own the new STi, i've owned many subaru's and driven many old STI's, this one in my opinon is fantastic, handles, drives & feels great. My mates blob eye is just as quick but not as nice to drive. I've owned the 335i and driven numerous M3's, so versus Euro still very nice, but not as refined obviously :)

it's a good car. the problem is paying 15 grand more for something that is only marginally better than the gti...

I would say hardly $15k difference, the top trim GTI is $34k now, and a Golf R is $40k, so that's $6k ;)

Schwabo my se gti with dsg came with a apr tune. Car had only 12k miles on it and love the power. Got mine for only 22k while the cheapest used r still is about 34k and that's a big difference for only extra traction.

Ismet Zonic Yeah thats not comparing apples to apples. An autobahn trim is equivalent to the R interior amd exterior features (sans moonroof). Either way, I'm sure your traction control light is flashing at you quite a bit on more spirited driving.

Schwabo the autobahn is kinda a rip off. All you get over the se is navigation, climate control, the driver seat is adjustable in more ways. Those options are in my opinion useless. The things i wish I had is the limited slip differential. My traction got better after I put ultra high summer performance tires on. I got the big sunroof, leather and fender sound system.

Very true I hav the latest r Wolfsburg and it suits every day driving and does need a bit of waking up,I find a car annoying that wants to be driven hard when not in the mood,VW has designed it to suit to perfection

EagleLogic Not really. Automatics, even in terms of performance vehicles are far more popular than manuals; you only need to take a look at Subaru's WRX sales to see that, despite it having what the purists would call a "shitty" CVT (spoiler: It's actually pretty impressive).

SICEM_Rex have you driven a manual transmission on thesti

SICEM_Rex Yeah you're right. I owned the 2015 CVT WRX for a while. It's a solid transmission, but certainly nothing like a manual. Part of the reason I traded the CVT WRX for an STI.

jay czyzyk Yes of course, for all generations. Not sure what that actually has to do with the sales of CVT WRXs or the performance of that transmission; the STi is a considerably different beast to the standard WRX.

***** The STi is still a better car when you really get up it; the WRX is certainly very competent as a road car, however - The 6-speed manual is still considerably weaker (and still not as good in shift quality either) than the STi unit and the Lineartronic does blunt off-the-line acceleration slightly. The STi is also stiffer, has better brakes, better diffs, it's only real downfall is that the EJ25 is of course old tech. When you're tracking the MY15 STi as I suspect many owners would, the only real competition for it is the old Evo X for which they both feel very similar. Most of the response from the FA20DIT in the WRX is from the Honeywell twin-scroll turbo. which, like older WRXs with the old-school Mitsubishi TD04, starts to run out of puff at the top-end where the VF52 still kicks you up the arse and sends you down the road.

RS

***** No reason why the car would have to cost any more. VW has a much nicer interior for the same money. A lot of it is just design. The STI interior looks like something out of the 90s.

future62 have you sat in one? Functionality wise, it feels like a 2015 car... Everything I've ever wanted in a sports car is in there. It has cup holders for days ( 4 up front, 2 in the rear )... it has 2 cubby holes and every single radio input you could want ( iPod / USB / Aux / Bluetooth / XM / CD ). Both the gear shifter and the steering wheel are wrapped in leather. All the buttons have a very satisfying "click" to them without making any noise and the sounds made are pleasant, not annoying. Honestly, I'm tired of people saying the interior on the STI looks like trash and old styled... It looks fantastic and feels fantastic. The box look of the Gulf R just looks... like something out of the 80s...

Sparatan117 Golf has a better interior than the Impreza, period. Much higher quality materials and it doesn't have that garish cheap silver plastic like a 10 year old Hyundai. Impreza interior isn't bad for an economy car but for $40K they need to do something with the STi, period. If STi interior is good for you, cool, I am happy with my Civic interior, but I'm not going to sit here and say my Civic interior is comparable to that of a Golf. It just isn't.

Why so defensive lol. Are you going to pretend like the GD WRX 5 speed transmissions werent made out of glass or the EJ doesnt chew through head gaskets like Cheese Doodles? Lol. No car is perfect, the WRX interior is its worst asset. Its a better driver's car than the Golf though so I dont see why youre upset

Jaylo 2873 RexSpec555 I wonder why Volkswagen Won the 2016 GRC World champs and the 2016 WRC world champs... didn't see any rice cookers anywhere near the top

It looks like a car for 18 year olds who are really into EDM and kanye. it's cheap looking and likely is. it's american after all. enjoy your plastic...everything

With the Golf R being AWD, couldn’t it handle itself with getting out of a snowy ditch?

German engineering is top quality only Japan comes close

jacko Too bad quality in German doesn't also mean reliability.

jacko I went from Evo X to Golf R and it's not even close.

***** Oh, please stop with the jokes and troll attempts.

kenmastersmaster And how many 10 year old $30k mustangs do you still see on the roads compared to 10 year old BMWs? Oh yeah oops, they're all in scrap yards.

ER B We'll see.... you still have an Electronic Power Steering and lack LSDs .... the key is going to be putting that claimed 340 HP to the ground...

Can't wait to find out. Hopefully it's not a letdown like the R is

ER B Can someone explain to me the appeal of the focus RS and the Golf R. Is it specifically because they're hatchbacks + performance?

ER B that remains to be seen

ER B As a Subaru guy, I really hope so. The power plant in the STi is over a decade old and I would hope that the new Focus RS would be able to match it. Subaru needs someone to challenge them on the 'fun factor'. That being said, I had a chance to drive an ST a couple weeks ago. I loved the noises it made, seemed to pull very nice too, but something just felt off. Maybe the steering was too tight, or the clutch didn't engage how I liked or something. I couldn't point out the fault, but sitting in a Subaru just felt more like home.

gilles esterhuizen well there is at least tasty sushi, better than stinky dutch, wannabeen german, cheese. At least a Subaru gives you the feeling of safety on all road conditions, pathetic to see how a beemer struggles on rainy dutch weather conditions. you can have your nazi uber machine, it's uber in your mind only, the world knows better these days and there is no way back boy. Subaru is competing @ VLN 24h racing as well, doesn't take long and they will dominate the upper class as well once they introduce the race version of the 6-cylinder 3.6l boxer.

vaajchang sti is not reliable and not tuneable because is blows up

GTI/Golf R is the easiest car to tune out of every car in the world. Just about everyone gets at least a Stage 1 flash because its affordable, easy, and reliable. Enjoy your blown head gaskets on the STi. The engine hasn't been updated in well over a decade.

subaru never been the type of car you bought for its interior, not saying its justify its 40k Price tag but thats the thing about those kinds of cars, All Drivetrain/Motor/Dynamics,Etc. no premium

True enough!

Better yet, have VW remap the ECU a la APR stage 1.

I just got the APR stage 1 tune on my GTI and it totally transformed the car. Sadly, the stage 1 tune for the R is not as potent as it is for the GTI btw.

no offense but you sir too old for these kind of cars.. get a chevy

+Earth Since Birth some of the best drivers on the track days and autocrosses that ive been to were oldies haha

+Christian Herrero Thanks. I just happen to be old enough to get me this great toy and enjoy it. I plan to take some lessons in Rally driving as I have never drifted before and I got interested in this after seeing a bad movie "fast and furious Tokyo Drift" Before then, I was cruising in my 2003 Z06 which was modified and doing 600 horses. Too old? I think that was funny