A few weeks ago I had the happy fortune to pilot Audi?s new Allroad around the Rocky Mountains. It?s a sporty, all-wheel-drive wagon with a slick cockpit, excellent road manners, and a turbocharged motor that throttles to peak torque just above idle.
In my review I said that given all the Allroad delivers, Audi doesn?t really have many rivals. You can get an Outback for way less, but that Subaru is basic all-wheel-drive transportation with prodigious cargo capacity?and nothing more. Its personality is like a CPA?s in comparison to the Audi?s, which is sexy inside and outside and a rewarding machine when you push it around windy two-lane country roads. Cadillac?s excellent CTS Wagon comes closer to the Allroad?s personality, but there?s no AWD option with the Caddy.
But there is one car to truly rival the Allroad. It?s even made by Audi?s parent company.
I just got some time behind the wheel of the new AWD Golf R. Its 256-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four (which is really a slightly detuned version of a 2.0-liter developed for the Audi TTS) is a lot more potent than the Allroad?s four, which delivers 211 horses.
The kick to Audi?s kidneys comes with the R?s $33,990 sticker. That?s $6000 less than the least expensive Allroad. Now to get closer to apples versus apples versus the Allroad, you?d go for the Golf R with front and rear doors. VW bundles the five-door Golf R with sunroof, touchscreen nav, keyless entry, and premium audio for $36,090. Even at that price, you?ve got a lot of features you can?t get for the $39,600 base price of the Allroad.
At 500 pounds less than the Audi, the Golf R is supremely nimble, and the six-speed manual gearbox is one of the tightest and most flexible VW/Audi transmissions to come to America. One of my favorite features of the Allroad is its strong torque very low in the rev range, but here the Volkswagen is no slouch. The R?s 243 lb-ft peak at 2400 rpm?not bad.
There?s also more communication from the steering wheel in the VW than in the Audi, though as our friends at Car and Driver pointed out, the Pirelli P-Zero Nero all-season rubber isn?t as grippy as that of the similarly priced Subaru WRX STi and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. However, the Golf R is a far more grownup sled than those boy-racer beasts are. The R, like the Allroad, is rewarding to drive as fast as you?d really want to go on public roads, but it?s also enjoyable when you?re not thrashing it. Even Evo and WRX STi diehards wouldn?t argue those cars are "easygoing."
So the only car that really compares to the Audi is made by Audi?s parent company. But before I sing the praises of the Audi/VW duo too much, there is one fly in the ointment. It?s called the Ford Focus ST, and PM?s James Tate was just at that car?s debut. The Focus ST barges onto the scene costing a paltry $24,495 (no extra charge for five doors!), and while it can?t boast AWD, it packs 252 hp and 32/23 EPA fuel economy, which is considerably better than the VW?s 19/27. (The Volkswagen?s disappointing highway figure, I?d wager, is at least partly the fault of a not-very-tall sixth gear; you?re turning over 3000 rpm at 70 mph.)
In terms of utility, this matchup is also a little close for Audi/VW?s comfort. Cargo capacity of the Allroad with rear seats flipped forward is 50.5 cubic feet; the Focus ST has 44.8; the Golf R has 46. With rear seats up the R has the least cargo room of the bunch.
The Audi and VW are huge winners on refinement. They?re daily-driver comfortable, and the interiors of both are gorgeous even compared with cars costing ten grand more.
The Allroad is an engaging drive. But when you look at the numbers, especially price, the Audi becomes a tougher sell versus the VW. And if AWD isn?t a must (buy some snow tires!), the R starts to look less sexy versus the Focus ST. Even if you choose the sweet but optional Recaro seats, as Car and Driver test driver Michael Austin recommends, the Focus costs nowhere near the Golf.
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