These are two small cars that need little introduction, but I'm gonna give you a brief
one anyway. On the right, we have the Toyota Corolla, Australia's best-selling small car,
and on the left is the all-new Volkswagen Golf Mark 8. The question we wanna answer
here today is how Australia's favourite small car stacks up against its newest rival,
which happens to be the most popular small car in Europe. Stay tuned if you wanna find out too.
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Let's start with the elephant in the room: The price. In this comparison, we have the entry-level
Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hatch, which is priced from $25,395, with a petrol engine and
CVT auto. Our tester is fitted with just over $1500 in extras, including pearl finish paint
as well as a navigation and digital radio pack, which boosts its price to a smidge under 27K.
Meanwhile, the all-new Mark 8 Golf is here in mid-spec 110TSI Life guise, wearing a much higher
starting price of $34,250 plus on-roads. This Golf is packed with loads of options, including a $900
metallic yellow paint job, $1500 sound and vision package, and $2000 comfort and style package,
which add items like a head-up display, Harman Kardon sound system, panoramic glass sunroof and
comfort sport seats, among other things. All of that brings its total cost closer to
$39,000 before on-roads. There's no hiding the $12,000 difference between this pair,
but it is worth noting the Life will be the most popular variant in the new Golf range,
which will be limited in supplies until later in the year due to the global semiconductor shortage.
In terms of styling, the Corolla hasn't changed much since it arrived in 2018.
What you're getting is a sensible but fairly adventurous design for a Toyota. Curvaceous
panels and sharply-angled lights at the front and rear make it look a little athletic, but overall,
the Corolla has fairly sedate proportions. Sixteen-inch alloy wheels come standard, as
do LED headlights and daytime running lights. The Mark 8 Golf's design is relatively understated,
but for many, its classic and conservative shape will be central to its appeal.
Despite the instantly recognisable silhouette, styling cues like these body-coloured grille
louvres and scalloped headlights clearly identify it as a new model. This mid-spec Golf Life rides
on larger 17-inch alloys, and LED headlights and tail lights are standard inclusions. Convenience
features such as keyless entry, push-button start and power-folding mirrors are also standard.
On paper, the Toyota delivers more power from its naturally-aspirated 2-litre, four-cylinder engine,
but the Volkswagen's turbocharged 1.4 litre has more torque and, on paper, is more economical.
Both hatchbacks on test are automatics, with the Corolla using a 10-speed CVT
and the new generation Volkswagen Golf getting an eight-speed torque converter automatic,
instead of the dual-clutch unit it employed on previous gen Golfs.
Manual seat adjustments and hard plastic all-round make it clear that you're in the
most affordable variant, but those same things also give you the impression that nothing will
ever break or fall apart. It feels really solid. The Corolla's 8-inch touch screen
is the smaller unit in this pairing, but it offers Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Bluetooth.
As mentioned, the optional digital radio and navigation pack are also fitted to our tester.
In isolation, the Corolla's infotainment unit is easy to use and live with,
but it's definitely not the most advanced, and the screen resolution is nowhere near the best.
Buttons on the steering wheel are intuitively laid out and offer quick access to things like
driver assistance aids and the digital speedo. It's the kind of car you can just get in and
start driving without having to worry about where everything is. That goes for storage too,
which is still pretty decent for a car this size. A small center console features the one and only
12-volt outlet in this Corolla, while a tray up front gives you somewhere to place your phone.
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In contrast, the Volkswagen's classically-styled cabin feels a lot more upmarket, and so it should,
given the amount of money you've gotta spend. Seat adjustments are still done manually, but
there's an extra adjustment for lumbar support, which the Toyota doesn't get. The Golf also adds
an extra USB port up front, although you'll need the newer USB-C cables. Where tech is concerned,
the Volkswagen is also miles ahead. The driver has plenty to play with and customise in this huge
digital instrument cluster. It's not extremely quick to respond, but the touch screen is larger
and much clearer in resolution. It also brings more options, including customisable light themes.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard, along with AM/FM radio and navigation,
but there's still no digital radio. Elsewhere, shortcut buttons to access
functions like the tri-zone climate control mean adjustments are easy to make on the move.
Volkswagen seems to have made better use of cabin space as well, with the deletion of
the conventional gear stick. Instead, you get this new toggle, which means there's more room
for handy storage bins and shelves. This Life grade also adds a wireless phone charging pad.
The Volkswagen Golf has the most to offer when it comes to safety and driver assistance features.
It ticks every box with the inclusion of Volkswagen's IQ Drive System,
adding features like junction turn assist and tyre pressure monitoring. In the Corolla Ascent Sport,
autonomous emergency braking also covers pedestrians, but only recognises cyclists
in daylight. The base Corolla also misses out on blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert
and driver attention alert. The Golf gets a total of eight airbags, which is one up on the Corolla,
but the Toyota gets a driver's knee airbag, which the Volkswagen does not.
The rear seat of the Corolla isn't somewhere you'd wanna spend lots of time.
It's hard to get in and out of because the doors don't open wide enough,
the seat back feels a little too upright, and there's not enough vision outwards in
any direction. There are no power outlets or even rear air vents on this base-spec Corolla.
Although its exterior dimensions make it close to 100 mm shorter in overall length, the Golf's
rear seat feels slightly more accommodating, with more headroom, even given the optional sunroof.
The softer sport seats are more comfortable too if you plan on carrying rear passengers more often.
Not only does the Golf come with rear air vents, but there's also a temperature control function
as well as two USB-C ports. There's less room in the boot of the Corolla,
but you get a full-size spare tyre, while the Golf only gets a space-saver. Both offer
storage bins and a shopping bag hook at either side, but you'll fit more in the Volkswagen.
Righto, now it's time to get them on the road.
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Finding your way around the Corolla is a breeze. Its small proportions make it easy to place on
road. Just about anyone will be able to find a comfortable driving position,
and it just does what it says it'll do on the pack. That's the ability to get you from A to B
with very little fuss. Its naturally aspirated 2-litre engine probably won't win any awards,
but it is capable and competent, if not a little loud and trashy when you're revving it hard.
That's mainly due to its CVT auto, which can be a little clunky during some low-speed manoeuvres,
but is otherwise a seamless unit on the move.
The steering isn't overly light for a small car, which is nice, because there's a bit of
feel behind it. Overall, ride quality is good. But hit a larger imperfection in the road,
and you'll get a fair shunt through the cabin. Even still, it's quite quick to get settled again.
Meanwhile, changes in direction feel good, but there's a bit of side-to-side wobble when you're
on uneven roads, and the cabin can feel a little tinny in response. The brake pedal has a solid
feel to it, and vision in every direction is good but not great at the small rear window.
Well, the Golf feels immediately more polished. It's quieter inside
the cabin and feels more refined over more types of road surface.
On road, its turbocharged engine is not only punchier, but it doesn't produce
anywhere near the same amount of noise as the Corolla does when you're rowing it out.
The Volkswagen's engine feels more easily accessible, and even though it's the less
powerful dunk in this pairing, it seems happier building speed and is much quieter in doing so.
The Golf suspension feels sportier on road, but it also feels more composed over bumps and potholes.
But while both have fully independent rear suspension, the Volkswagen's multi-link setup
feels more confident over uneven road surfaces and doesn't shake passengers up as much as the Toyota
does. The Golf also adds steering wheel-mounted shift paddles to offer more driver engagement, and
on test, the new eight-speed gearbox feels much more alert than the old DSG. The cabin is quieter,
but there's more of an artificial feel to the steering and less immediacy to the brake pedal.
We saw good fuel consumption figures on test, with the Golf averaging as low as 6 litres and the
Corolla managing 6.2 litres per 100 K's. Overall, the Volkswagen is the more fun hatchback to drive,
and even if we had the entry-grade Golf with the same powertrain and dynamics,
it would have been as impressive as this mid-spec variant on road.
It's just that bit more versatile and is more of a driver's car than its Japanese rival.
Both are covered by a five-year unlimited kilometre warranty,
and both need to be serviced every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres. But over the first three years,
the Golf will end up costing more than twice the amount than the Corolla.
Despite the popularity of SUVs, small cars are still big sellers down under, and with so much
choice, it can be difficult to know where to look. But these are two solid offerings, and few
people will be disappointed with either. So, do we think the Golf justifies its higher price tag?
Well, there's definitely a place for the cheap and cheerful Corolla,
and the sales charts are proof of that. But where safety, tech and cabin comfort are concerned,
the Volkswagen trumps the Toyota in all key areas. Be better suited to small families,
and is overall more enjoyable to drive. That's why it's our pick in this comparison.