Comparison Test: 2015 Subaru WRX CVT vs 2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG

2015 Subaru WRX CVT, 2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG. Click image to enlarge

Review and photos by Brendan McAleer

In our recent affordable fun car shoot out, a septuplet of reasonably priced hooligans had an all-out battle royale over who did the best blending of shenanigans and sensibility (by Jane Austen. Just kidding). Just one problem: every single one had a manual transmission.

Won’t anyone think of the pirate community: those who have been robbed of the ability to do the three-pedal waltz thanks to a vicious blow from a cutlass, or a well-aimed cannonball, or just picking at a scab too much? What of them, ye landlubbers? D’ye have any idea how hard it be to heel-an’-toe with a peg-leg? It’s arrrrrrrrrduous.

And perhaps you have reasons for eschewing a six-speed manual, reasons that are more reasonable than having had your left leg gnawed off by a Red Seas shark. Maybe you split driving duties with a spouse who doesn’t want to learn to shift. Maybe your commute is so much gas-brake-honk that constantly shifting around would eventually drive you to honk-honk-punch and then gas-gas-gas. Maybe you just plain don’t buy into the idea that a stick-shift transmission is somehow more fun than a modern automatic transmission. Automatics these days are more economical than a stick, more flexible, and there’s often even a straight-line bonus because they shift faster than a human can.

From the podium of our everyday hot compact comparison test come two family four-doors with a snootful of boost underhood and an automatic transmission bolted to the engine. One’s a refinement of an existing product, and the other’s a semi-heretical change that’s riled up the rally faithful.

Both the Volkswagen GTI and the Subaru WRX are all-new for the 2015 model year, and while both are still available with a six-speed manual transmission, here’s how they stack up as paddle-wheelers. If you thought they represented different philosophies of compact performance before, then check this out.

2015 Subaru WRX CVT. Click image to enlarge

Practicality

One’s a hatchback, and one’s not anymore. Case closed: cue letter-writing campaign to Subaru headquarters, smash head on desk, sob uncontrollably, repeat as necessary.

In terms of flexibility nothing beats a hatchback for cargo carrying, and with slightly increased boot space thanks to a bump in overall length, the GTI has the clear advantage here. By the numbers, it’s a crushing victory for the Vee-Dub, with nearly 650 L of space behind the rear seats, as compared to 340 L listed for the WRX.

Thing is, they don’t look that much different. If you take the figure supplied by VW under the parcel shelf, the GTI’s trunk space drops down to 490 L. That includes two useful cubbies tucked either side, but when I measured the distance between the wheel wells, maximum distance from front to back, and maximum height with the adjustable cargo floor in its lowest position, I came up with figures of 100 cm wide, 75 cm deep, and 50 cm high. That’s 375 L of space, which ignores the scallop of the trunk and the sloping back of the VW’s seats.

Suffice to say that the VW’s trunk space is better and more flexible, but the WRX isn’t the cargo-area pipsqueak the numbers might initially show. Let’s leave it labelled as “usable” and under no circumstances go look at the base Impreza 5-door’s claimed 640 L cargo capacity. Nope. I’ll just start crying again.

2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG. Click image to enlarge

In terms of cabin space, both vehicles are almost identical in dimensions, differing by just a few mm in width and headroom. However, with a rear-facing child seat installed, the WRX has a little more room up front than the GTI. It’s fractional, but combined with the Subaru’s extra-wide door opening, the WRX claws back a few points on the family-friendly scale.

Comfort/Livability

If you’re selecting this vehicle as a true do-everything machine, please note that the GTI is considerably more quiet at idle. Those quad exhausts on the WRX emit a bassy thrum, especially with the windows down, where the GTI is more polished. The difference is borne out on the highway, where the GTI is relatively quiet, and the WRX produces a considerable amount of tire roar.

Both have comfortable seating fore and aft, with the rear seat bottoms of the GTI particularly good. Ride quality earns the GTI kudos as well: despite 18-inch alloys sized larger than the 17-inch wheels on the WRX, the German car is far more forgiving over rough pavement than the Subaru. Curiously, speeding up a little in the Subie smooths out some of the vibrations, but the GTI is certainly the more polished product.

2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG seating, cargo area. Click image to enlarge

The WRX rides on summer-only Dunlop rubber, which means that a set of snow tires are going to be in your future come winter time. They should be anyway: a WRX with a set of dedicated snowies strapped on is one of the most fun machines you can own, and the 17-inch sizing should make pricing reasonable. The GTI’s Pirellis say “all-season” on the side of them, but to eke out a proper winter without dedicated rubber is foolish in the extreme, regardless of how good VW’s traction aids might be.

From a purely subjective styling perspective, the GTI is a far more grown-up car than the WRX. If you need your car to pass the theoretical mother-in-law test, the GTI is reserved enough to avoid the gimlet gaze, whereas the WRX has a great big hood scoop for a nose. Happily, both cars look like they should age well, and resale values are strong on both – traditionally though, the WRX hatchback always did better than the sedan.

2015 Subaru WRX CVT seating, trunk. Click image to enlarge

Technology

It’s not even close. Just as the interior of the WRX (while hugely improved) still looks like all the development money went into tuning the chassis and powertrain, Subaru’s onboard infotainment is a bit of a hodge-podge. The Starlink system now found on the new Outback shows promise, but the WRX’s version of navigation isn’t really worth the price of entry (it’s paired with the leather seating), and the standard back-up camera is very small.

The GTI, on the other hand, comes with a 5.8-inch touchscreen that’s not huge (and indeed, not of the highest resolution), but looks good and functions with speed – it even has proximity sensing that opens up sub-menus, to make up for the smallish screen. The Fender audio system is very good indeed, you get adaptive front lighting and rain-sensing wipers, and there’s an available front-collision warning.

If you choose to tweak your GTI’s engine settings and steering settings through the three-mode program (normal, sport, and individual), it’ll stay in that mode the next time you start it up. What, no constantly pressing the Sport button every single time? One million points to you, VW.

2015 Subaru WRX CVT, 2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG centre stack. Click image to enlarge

However, it is handy that Subaru puts their sport/eco (called “Intelligent”) toggle right on the steering wheel so you can flick into boost mode to pass someone through a short two-lane section and then right back into normal mode. Moreover, connectivity functions through a standard USB jack worked just fine, whereas the GTI requires one of their proprietary adapters. Perhaps it’s closer than it first appears, although the VW clearly still comes out on top.

Performance

Now here’s the biggie: VW’s automatic option is the quick shifting six-speed DSG dual-clutch, and the WRX now comes with a continuously variable transmission. Say what? The bookies know how to set a handicap when somebody brings a knife to a gunfight, but what do you do when Subaru shows up with a slingshot?

First though, a discussion on powertrains. On paper, the GTI is completely outclassed by the WRX’s direct injection turbocharged flat-four. There’s a peak horsepower gap of 58 hp (268 hp at 6,500 rpm for the WRX, 210 hp at 4,500 rpm for the GTI), making the Subaru more than 25 percent more powerful. What’s more, the WRX isn’t the lag-tastic slop-monster it used to be, with peak torque of 258 lb-ft arriving at just 2,000 rpm. Subaru now mounts the turbocharger directly underneath the engine, making for quicker spool-up, particularly with the new direct injection.

2015 Subaru WRX CVT engine bay, headlight. Click image to enlarge

However, the GTI matches that torque output, and makes it a further 400 rpm earlier. With less drivetrain loss than the Subaru’s AWD, the GTI doesn’t get off the line quite like the WRX does, but it’ll scream through the quarter-mile at pretty much the same trap speed. Cole’s Notes: even though they differ in piston arrangement and driven wheels, these cars are closer than you’d think.

And then the CVT/DSG come along and muck everything up. Firstly, the WRX is affected by a bit of off-the-line slack, almost what you’d call driveline lag. The turbo spools, the engine revs up into the powerband, and then zoom – you’re off after it like mountaineer roped to a plummeting Pavarotti. Problem is, winding up the all-wheel-drive through the CVT takes a half-step, in which time the more directly connected GTI has scampered off the line, quicker even than its six-speed manual compatriot.

2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG, engine bay. Click image to enlarge

But who said anything about drag racing? These are backroads cars, apex predators who live for the winding mountain road, free of traffic. Here, the WRX is surprisingly good. Actually, if you’re one of the folks that think a CVT is the wrong transmission for a car like this, it’s irritatingly good.

Mated to grippy, neutral all-wheel-drive with a brake-based torque-vectoring front end for corner bite, the WRX is simply relentless. You flick the silly-named Sport-Sharp button with your left thumb, bury the throttle and brace yourself as the Subaru slices through the corner with little drama and considerable speed. If you’re using the paddle shifters you get a quick slide between the eight preset ratios – one that’s a lot less satisfying than the VW’s binary thump on upshift – but if you just leave it in gear it’s like riding a juiced-up snowmobile on tarmac tires. The steering is quick and accurate and the ability to balance thrust with the continuously variable gearbox makes the CVT an advantage rather than a demerit.

2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG, 2015 Subaru WRX CVT. Click image to enlarge

Most of all, it’s actually quite good fun, and why else would you buy a car like this? By comparison, the GTI, even in sport mode, comes with a tendency to upshift a little too quickly, and the DSG gearbox’s ratios are more widely spread than those in the six-speed manual. If you take control yourself, the GTI becomes considerably more lively, which makes me wish the gear-position indicator in the central display was just a little bigger.

This is not quite the same car I had the opportunity to drive at the Volkswagen full-line drive last year –  a Euro-trim vehicle, it had the late-availability Performance Package which includes a who-cares 10-hp bump, bigger brakes, and hydraulically actuated torque vectoring up front. That car was an absolute blast, better even than the much more powerful Scirocco R I also drove.

This car is not quite so much fun. It’s more buttoned-down, more sensible, more of a Venn-diagram overlap with an Audi product. It’s deft enough to be a great point-to-point car, but the “whee!” factor is a little light. With a six-speed, you can probably get away with a more basic car. If you’re going to go DSG and you want a bit more fun baked in, wait for that Performance Package.

2015 Subaru WRX CVT, 2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG. Click image to enlarge

Value

At $32,895 for the four-door version, the GTI looks massively more expensive than the $29,995 entry-level WRX sedan. And the Subaru comes with all-wheel-drive, of course. Ouch.

However, all that’s happened here is that VW Canada has ordered the sort of cars they’ve been selling the most of: very well equipped ones. To get a WRX with the same equipment level as the standard GTI – sunroof, LED running lights, rear spoiler – you’d have to spend $32,495 for the WRX Sport.

Thus, it becomes a balancing act trading off the WRX’s all-wheel-drive do-anything power versus the GTI’s classy 18-inch alloys, trick adaptive front lighting and more refined interior. The basic WRX is very good value, but move even one step up and the GTI is very closely matched.

It’s also cheaper to run, with official fuel economy figures of 9.5L/100 km in the city and 7.2 L/100 km on the highway. This next to the WRX’s less-good 11.0 L/100 km city and 7.9 L/100 km highway. You can put the Subaru into Intelligent mode to squeak out a few more miles per tank, but observed real-world mileage shows at least 1 L/100 km in favour of the GTI.

As a quick note on reliability, well, that’s hard to judge on two brand new vehicles. But don’t think the Subaru’s going to be completely bulletproof next to the theoretically high-maintenance GTI. In the past, Subaru has had issues with everything from head gaskets to ringland failures. Neither is the GTI’s history anything approaching complete dependability. It’s the old case of cheap, fast, or reliable: pick any two. Still, both cars do a better job of getting closer to that holy trinity than most (did someone say Mini? Wasn’t me).

2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG, 2015 Subaru WRX CVT. Click image to enlarge

Conclusion

The seventh generation GTI is the real deal, no matter what the transmission is. It’s the ultimate all-rounder, polished and refined, and then polished and refined some more until the four-decade-old ideal has become a glittering diamond. It’s beautiful – and a bit cold.

And then there’s the WRX, which frankly doesn’t seem to care which transmission you plunk in it, but could we please go find some gravel and go walkies? Preferably sideways?

Talk about your hallmarks of the golden age of motoring – a manufacturer can build a car with a dang CVT in it and it’ll still be fun. However, there’s only one clear winner of this competition and it’s the GTI. I’d still wait for the performance package (or, let’s be honest, for the WRX to come back as a hatch), but when it comes to having your cake and driving it too, the GTI is tough to beat. You could say it’s a parrrrrrrragon of the breed.

Pricing: 2015 Volkswagen GTI DSG
Base Price: $27,795 (3dr)
Base Price: $32,895 (5dr)
Options: $3,190 (Technology package [touchscreen satellite navigation, forward collision warning]- $695; Leather seating – $1,095; DSG transmission – $1,400)
Freight: $1,395
A/C Tax: $100
Price as tested: $37,580

Pricing: 2015 Subaru WRX CVT
Base Price: $29,995
Options: $3800 (Sport package [power driver’s seat, trunk spoiler, LED headlights, fog-lights, automatic headlights] – $2,500; CVT automatic – $1,300)
Freight: $1695
A/C Tax: $100
Price as tested: $35,590

Crash Test Results:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)