Dragon & Knight

The fire-breathing Japanese dragon takes on the shiny Teutonic knight in this station wagon showdown.

- Jeremy Chua

STATION wagons aren’t as popular as hatchbacks in Singapore, but that hasn’t stopped Subaru and Volkswagen from introducing the Levorg and Golf Variant respectively.

The latter’s model name is easy to comprehend, since it is literally a variant of the Golf hatchback. The former’s oddsounding moniker, on the other hand, is derived from “Legacy”, “revolution” and “touring”. “Legacy” refers to the fact that the Levorg shares its platform with the Legacy model.

There’s nothing odd, however, about the Levorg’s aggressive design. To many people, especially boyracers, this is how a Subaru should look.

The face of the “dragon” is dominated by a prominent bonnet scoop, which feeds fresh air to the top-mounted intercooler. Further hinting at its performance potential are the muscular lines found throughout its body, and a “tail” with a pair of exhaust tips.

The Levorg makes the Golf Variant, the Teutonic knight in this tale, seem meek in comparison. Mind you, the only Golf Variant sold by Volkswagen Singapore has the R-Line package, which comes with a bodykit and upsized wheels as standard. Despite these, the neatly styled Golf Variant remains as understated as ever.