The Volkswagen Golf R. The eighth and probably final generation. Maybe when they facelift the Golf VIII, they'll release a tweaked R as well,
with an additional ten horsepower. However, because of the uprise of electric vehicles and especially at Volkswagen in particular,
and the launch of Volkswagen's new GTX-label, which is supposed to be the sports-label for electric vehicles,
I think this is going to be the final new Golf R. And that's something we have to remember fondly.
It all started with the Golf IV R32, with that famous six-cylinder engine in the front. In the Golf VI, they switched to a turbocharged 2.0-litre...
which is actually still in here. Albeit very much improved. It now produces 320 horsepower, as opposed to the 310 horsepower from the VII.5 R.
You won't notice the additional horsepower, but you will notice that the drive is completely different. If you want to, you can send even...
more power to the back. And through differentials, you're able to get it to go sideways. Quite impressive for a front-wheel drive car.
However, we've seen it before with the Ford Focus RS and the Mercedes-AMG A45.
In black, it's a really inconspicuous. I'm sorry it's this dirty by the way. I washed it up this morning, but because of this rainy weather, it was...
immediately dirty again. Oh well, it suits the wild personality. Anyway, this particular R has the optional Akrapovic-exhaust system.
Also, there are a few blue lines here and there, but it doesn't really jump out of a crowd.
But I think that's what R-drivers usually like. Anyway, it's time to find out how it drives.
There's a little bit of inflation when it comes to sprint times. That's because a lot of cars use electronic support for that.
So when you get into this Golf, you might think it's not that fast. However, when we push it to the very limit...
Full throttle...
It's quite fast, you know. And it's not like it's stopping at 100 km/h. It can easily keep going. Only when you reach 250 km/h, it'll stop accelerating.
If you remove the limiter, it can keep going until you reach 270 km/h. That's a speed you won't reach with the ID.3, even though it might seem...
just as quick at the traffic lights. No, this Golf has more than enough power.
I think it's very cool that Volkswagen has kept the power relatively modest with 320. They didn't jump to 350 all of a sudden, they just kept it cool.
There's probably more power in it anyway. When we put new cars on the rolling road, they usually produce more than they indicate.
But Volkswagen thought this was enough as standard. Enthusiasts who really want more power, usually find their way to the good tuners.
That way, people can get 350, 400 or even more from this engine block. I know for sure that it's able to handle those amounts.
Right, the Golf R. It's always been a car that told its own story. In the Golf IV and Golf V, you had the six-cylinder, which gave...
it so much emotion and such a great soundtrack. Sure, a tuned GTI was about as quick in the sprints, that engine was of such added value.
When the Golf VI R came around, it was powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre. And it was not bad, but it was heavier because of the...
four-wheel drive, which made me think 'is this it?' After that however, the Golf VII R came around.
Immediately it became clear that something had changed. Why? Because Volkswagen let their R-team go wild.
And we've seen it before like at Peugeot with Peugeotsport and at Renault, with their RS-division. When you let a small...
group of people loose to do whatever they think is necessary, they will make a car better. No doubt.
They won't be held back by marketing regulations, because that usually leads to quite a boring car.
So back when the Golf VII R was released, I remember being very impressed. I liked it a lot.
In 2013, we put it up against the then-new Audi S3 and the then-new Mercedes-AMG A45, and the Golf was not only the cheapest car of the three,
but it actually was the best as well. Especially when you looked at the performance you got for that price.
I loved the way it drove, and there was a lot of feeling in the steering wheel for a Volkswagen.
And that brings us to this Golf VIII R, and I'm really curious what this is going to bring to the table.
When it comes to power, it was already good and it still is. 320 horsepower is more than enough for a car like this, even for when you're just...
hauling on the motorway or Autobahn.
What has remained, is the all-round personality of the Golf. If you look around you, there's more than enough space everywhere.
Even the boot is very spacious, so it's very usable as a car.
Right now, I'm thinking it's a boring car. Why? Because it's in Comfort-mode, which means it becomes incredibly accessible.
It's quiet, it's not very hard... I mean, it's sturdier than a normal Golf, but that's not a surprise because the Golf is a very soft car nowadays.
You can easily take this on a vacation towards Spain. This Golf won't have any trouble dealing with the roads there.
It's all alright. When I put my foot down in Comfort-mode however, you can feel there's some power somewhere, but it feels very far away.
No worries, that's because the differences between the driving modes are bigger than ever. Luckily, you don't have to get into the menu's...
to change the modes. You now have an R-button on the steering wheel and that let's me change driving modes. Comfort, Sport, Race,
to Individual. And the fun part is that you can customize everything. In Race-mode, the dampers aren't on the hardest setting, and if I...
start sliding in Individual-mode, you can go all the way up to fifteen. You can have harder dampers than in Race, if you want.
We're on silky smooth Dutch roads, so let's go. If you buy the additional Sport-pack, you also get two additional...
Race-modes. In those modes, you can put it in Nürburgring-mode. Volkswagen is a little bit hazy about what that does exactly,
but that would be the ideal setting to drive on the Nordschleife. Also, there's a Drift-mode. And that's new.
What have they done? Well, through clutches, they're able to divide the power at the rear in a way that the Golf R can go sideways on power.
The previous Golf R had a similar function, but only when it was wet. There was just enough power going to the back, pushing the back...
out when you just steered in. But this is very different. It's much more similar to what Ford does with the Focus RS. Mostly in second gear,
you steer, you put your foot down, and the rear will break out. That means you're able to produce short drifts, but that's not what it's about.
It's about driving pleasure. When you're cruising around in the Eifel and you turn into a hairpin, usually when you put your foot down...
you just understeer and you'll go straight ahead anyway. Even in expensive four-wheel drive cars like an Audi RS4.
That's an incredible buzzkill, really stupid. You then have to release the throttle again and you won't look good.
But if the rear were to break out a little more, and in this Golf it's more than just 'a little' more.
You can literally push the car around the corner, which makes it much more fun to drive.
That's why a rear-wheel drive car is usually more fun than a front-wheel drive car. Or that a four-wheel drive car is more fun, like...
a Porsche 911 Carrera 4. That sends most of the power to the back. There's much less understeer that way.
The most important advantage of this Golf is that they removed all of the understeer in tight corners, because of that Drift-mode.
That makes it much more fun to drive, especially when you're driving it on the limit.
You can do much more with it now. Throw it around corners, put your foot down, countersteering. You can really twist and turn it.
That's what this car was made for. And that makes it so much better than the current GTI.
So now the question, is it worth the money? Because it's easy to say all these things when I'm driving on a German-plated car.
If I were to put this particular car on Dutch plates, I would have to pay €75.000. That's mostly because of added taxes though.
In Germany, you'll pay around €15.000 less already because of lower taxes. And I'm not talking about the added taxes here.
So that's quite heavy. On the other hand, there aren't a lot of cars that are this all-round for this price.
The future Audi RS3 will be faster, but much more expensive. So what's left? The Mercedes-AMG A35? Won't be cheaper in any way.
Audi S3 won't be cheaper either. So are there any 'normal' hot hatches to consider?
The final Focus RS was very hardcore when it came to driving and it might've been cheaper, but you wouldn't want to take it on a road trip.
You'd bounce out of that car. And that's the great thing about this Golf. You can use it to move house, for a roadtrip, but for comfort as well.
If I want, I can talk very softly despite it being a very windy day. That's how quiet it is.
The fact that it's able to do everything, is what makes this the Golf R. I do think the biggest drawback is the electric performance inflation...
because every Tesla Model 3 Long Range will have around 440 horsepower, so the sprint time won't be as magical as it used to be before.
However, when you're looking for the best car to drive as a daily driver, you'll definitely want this Golf R.
It could've been €10.000 cheaper if you ask me, but the performance is still up there.