2021 Volkswagen Golf GTI vs 2020 Subaru WRX

For many, Subaru is synonymous with camping, skiing, and dog lovers. This active, outdoorsy reputation is one that Subaru has carefully cultivated through the years. But there is another side to the brand and one that is just as critical to its success. Its performance and motorsports efforts helped develop the symmetrical all-wheel-drive system found in nearly every modern Subaru. The 2020 Subaru WRX is the road-going manifestation of decades in world rally racing.

The WRX is a home-grown celebration of all the technologies that underpin the lineup of reliable, efficient Subaru wagons, sedans, hatchbacks, and SUVs. But in the WRX these chassis and powertrain innovations are distilled to their hard-driving extremes. Can a four-door, four-cylinder car be a halo car for a brand? When that brand is Subaru, the answer is “yes.”