Toyota Corolla vs Subaru WRX

The Toyota Corolla needs no introduction. With 12 generations spanning over five decades of production, the Corolla is the bestselling nameplate in automotive history. And it continues to be a popular choice for new car buyers looking for a reliable and sensible compact car, competing against other established names like the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Nissan Sentra, Subaru Impreza, and Volkswagen Jetta for sales.

The only significant change for 2022 is the addition of two new colors: Ruby Flare and Windchill Pearl. What hasn’t changed are the number of other choices buyers get. Toyota offers sedan and hatchback body styles, manual and automatic transmissions, and multiple powertrain options—including a hybrid. The Corolla Cross SUV also launched for 2022 but, while it shares a basic platform with the Corolla sedan and hatch, it’s effectively a different vehicle.

Finally, you get the expected array of trim levels. The Corolla sedan is available in L, LE, XLE, SE, and XSE grades, plus Apex Edition and Nightshade Edition versions of SE and XSE, with more limited options for the Corolla hatchback and hybrid (both of which will be covered separately). For this review, we tested the Apex Edition sedan in its lower SE grade. The Apex is the sportiest Corolla variant, at least until the GR Corolla hot hatchback arrives for the 2023 model year.

Subaru's image is centered around rugged station wagons, outdoor activities, and cute dogs, but the automaker also has a sporty side—exemplified by the 2023 Subaru WRX.

The WRX first appeared in the 1990s as a homologation special for the World Rally Championship (WRC), which at the time required cars to be closely related to production models. Subaru viewed rallying as the perfect way to show off its all-wheel drive (AWD) vehicles so, after a trial with the Legacy midsize sedan, it launched the Impreza-based WRX with the goal of becoming more competitive. It worked: Subaru has won multiple rally championships and the WRX has endeared it to car enthusiasts.

Subaru didn't begin selling the WRX in the United States until the 2002 model year, but it's remained a fixture of the automaker's U.S. lineup every since, competing against other sporty compact cars like the Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Elantra N, Volkswagen Golf GTI and Jetta GLI, and other derivatives of those models.

The current, fourth-generation WRX was introduced for the 2022 model year, so there are no changes to report for 2023. The lineup includes base, Premium, Limited, and GT trim levels. For this review, we drove the WRX GT, which sits at the top of the range.