Good stuff
Phenomenally easy to drive fast, also excellent at ‘just being a Golf’ when you want something comfy and mature
Bad stuff
Hateful haptic switchgear, the noise is pure PlayStation 3, you can buy a Mk7.5 for half the price
Overview
What is it?
It’s the fastest, most expensive Volkswagen Golf, and the latest generation of ‘R’ tracing its roots directly back to the wideboi Mk4 R32 of 2002. These days the V6 has long gone, replaced by a ubiquitous 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, but much of the recipe remains: twin-clutch automatic gearbox, four-wheel drive, GTI-scaring attitude. And too many tailpipes.
What’s new for the Mk8.5?
Well spotted: we’re now on the facelift Mk8, which has been mildly boosted from 316bhp to 326bhp, which VW says shaves 0.1 seconds off the 0-62mph time: now 4.6s. We wouldn’t pay too much attention to that: when we timed the Mk7 and Mk8 off the line they always beat their ‘claimed’ acceleration benchmarks by a tenth or two. So this one won’t feel faster, but it’s definitely quick enough to be the ultimate Golf. Spec the Performance Pack and it tops out at 167mph.
On our German test drive, we scorched up to an indicated 162mph on a short stretch of quiet autobahn, where the car felt totally stable with plenty of revs left to reach for. Speed and power might well have gone mad these days, but the notion of a 170mph Golf – a Golf! – is still quite funny.
Back to noticeably new bits please.
Even more aggressive front bumpers with sparing mesh to expose the radiators (and the gaudy illuminated VW badge) rob the Golf R of what little dignified subtlety it had left.
Happily, the new 19-inch wheel design is handsome, helps with improved brake cooling and doesn’t spoil the ride, while inside VW has transplanted its latest touchscreen infotainment: a notable improvement over the dreadful interface that mired earlier Golf 8s. Sadly, an equally irritating feature has been left unchanged. More on that on the Interior tab.
How much am I paying for the ultimate Golf these days?
If you’re among the new generation of fans the Golf R won when the genius Mk7 landed to huge acclaim costing a fiver under thirty grand (or around three hundred quid a month on one of the then-common finance deals) then you might want to sit down. And read a copy of the Financial Times. Yep, inflation’s a pain. And a new Golf R is £43,895.
It’s also not short of rivals. The related Audi S3 has also been treated to more power and (even) sharper looks lately, and inherited the RS3’s drifty rear diff. The Mercedes-AMG A35 is ageing, but raucously entertaining. And BMW has been busy heaping improvements on the deeply disappointing M135 to make life harder for the Golf R. If your chosen winter weapon is a German 300bhp+ AWD super-hatch, you’re spoilt for choice.
What versions of Golf R are there?
Gone are the days you could buy a three-door hatch: it’s now a five-door only. The manual gearbox is also a distant memory, as the overwhelming majority of buyers wanted the fast-shifting DSG.
The misadventure that was the Mk6 Golf R Cabriolet has wisely been consigned to the bin, but you can spend £1,400 extra to get yourself a miniature Audi RS6 Avant, in the elongated form of the Golf R Estate. None of the Golf R’s rivals offer a wagon bodystyle… okay, there’s the CLA 35 AMG at a push. But that’s a whopping £51k. Too much.
If you’re allergic to colour then VW has cooked you a special version: the Golf R Black Edition, which is so black that even the badges are darkened and the radio stays permanently welded to Black Metal FM. It gets the Performance Pack as standard, and costs from £45,145.
Our choice from the range
What's the verdict?
Are you a glass half-full or half-empty person? A sunny-side-up person will see the minimal changes VW has made to its flagship fast car and assume it was pretty well-sorted to start with and required only marginal sprucing up. The other side will grumble it’s symptomatic of the sidelining of hot hatches in general, as manufacturers wrestle troublesome average CO2 targets and divert their R&D budgets away from going faster around the Nürburgring towards travelling further on a charge.
The latest Golf R isn’t night-and-day better than the pre-facelift car, so if you own a Mk7 or Mk8, it ain’t worth the upgrade. If you’re moving across from a different brand then it’s good timing: the far snappier (if still imperfect) infotainment has soothed one of the real sore points about this car, and it remains a well-packaged, extremely easy-to-deploy all-weather weapon.
Chances are these days folks will see you coming: one too many flatulent pop-and-bang remaps – plus the Golf R’s march towards shoutier styling cues – means this isn’t the B-road stealth bomber it once was. But if it’s the final hurrah for the fast petrol Golf, it’s a well-polished all-round package to finish up with.
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