the Golf R
so soon after experience of the reborn Subaru WRX STI has resulted in a surprising conclusion. And rather overturns a number of lazy assumptions I'd made about the two cars based upon the on-paper stats. If nothing else it goes to show how little numbers can tell you about how a car will make you feel.
Wet B-road, turbo 4WD car with blue paint ... oh
Accepted wisdom has it the Golf, A45 AMG, S3 and others have annexed the ground Japanese rally reps once claimed as theirs and theirs alone. And even as a bit of a Subaru fan I felt resigned to
the WRX STI
feeling like a bit of a relic; the old fighter who really shouldn't have attempted one last comeback.
Basically the Golf R is a (stereo)typically Germanic and ruthless piece by piece annihilation of any remaining selling points the Subaru had left, wrapped up in coolly conservative design and mainstream acceptability. They've even contrived some sort of off-beat engine noise fakery to make it sound a bit Scoobyish and painted it metallic blue. What chance the winged and scooped 90s throwback with its drinking habit and plasticky interior?
In fairness to the Golf we've only had it for a short period and I've not had That Drive yet. Whereas the Subaru was gifted with a launch event and weather that played perfectly to its few remaining strengths.
Wait a minute though; old dog still has tricks
But where I got behind the Subaru with
zero expectation
I did the same in the Golf off the back of a considerable wave of hype and glowing reviews. First impressions on the handling track seemed to confirm all those suspicions about the Subaru too; it felt like the last 15 years hadn't happened. While from the off the Golf grabs you by the scruff of the neck and impresses you with the sheer explosiveness of its performance - those 300 German horses feel stronger than their Japanese equivalents from the off.
But after longer in both cars those respective first impressions were turned upside down. The fast, hydraulically assisted steering in the Subaru at first felt a bit a bit light and vague. But then all that discussion in the tech presentation about significantly increased stiffness in the suspension and steering components and transparency in response started making sense. There is some electronic control over the diff in the Subaru but fundamentally the four-wheel drive system is mechanical and once you understand its quirks you can use that to your advantage. Likewise the honesty of the feedback from the passive dampers and the satisfaction of a typically mechanical feeling manual shift.
It's not for everyone, but then it never was
A DSG equipped Golf R is a very different experience. From that engine note to the variable assistance to the steering, adjustment to the dampers, everything feels a little synthesised and artificially augmented. The engine is tuned to give you a punch in the back before the rev counter has passed 2,000rpm but runs out of puff just where the Subaru is giving its best. Latest generation or not, the Haldex four-wheel drive retains fundamentally a front-driven bias too while a fiddle with the Subaru's diff switch at least offers some adjustment to counter its natural understeery tendencies.
A WRX STI remains a niche choice and for the committed only; it's not going to tempt any Golf R buyers but then it wouldn't have done back in the day either. As a pure driving tool it still has some lessons to teach the VW though, which based on the on-paper stats I'd have never thought possible. Nice to be proved wrong sometimes.