(engine roaring)
(metal cracking)
(thunder crashes) - [Driver] Hey!
- You name a Volkswagen, and I have probably owned one.
Scirocco.
- That's pretty sweet
- That's custom (laughs).
Golf, Rabbit, different kinds of GTIs,
and one thing that all of my Volkswagens have had in common
is that they're all front-wheel drive.
(engine revving)
There have only been two generations of Golf R,
and only talking about those
would be a really short episode.
So instead, we're gonna discuss every Golf
that had all-wheel drive.
(engine roaring)
This is everything you need to know
to get up to speed on the Golf R.
(upbeat music)
(electric zoom)
Before we get into this episode,
I just wanna thank NOS Energy
for partnering with us here at Donut.
Without NOS Energy we couldn't have started our new show,
Painting With James.
(calm music)
(crashing)
(woman laughing)
Hi, I'm James Pumphrey,
and welcome to the Painting With James.
For today's painting I thought we'd do a
nice little mountain scene.
Look at those big happy mountains,
(paint scratching)
maybe give them some snow capped peaks.
What do you think lives up on them mountains?
Maybe a goat, maybe a nice little hermit man?
And there we have it, nice little mountain prairie scene.
Although I don't think we're quite done.
This space right here, I think that could use something.
Hm, let's see what we got here.
(paint splattering)
(paint scraping)
(slam)
(paint squishing)
So soothing, that's a happy little color.
(paint squishing and scratching)
(paint squishing)
Now I think that's a little bit better, how 'bout you?
A buff old horse running through the prairie.
(horse galloping and neighing)
Make sure to come back next week for more buff horses
and until then, happy painting.
Thanks Nos Energy (sipping)
Ah, now back to the show.
(beep)
The story begins with a little car called the Golf Syncro,
the year was 1986 in a bid to make their
flag shift hatchback even more utilitarian,
Volkswagen decided to give the Golf all wheel drive.
There was just one problem, they didn't know how.
This might seem weird since VW owned Audi
who at this point had a pretty great reputation
when it came to all wheel drive.
So why didn't VW just use a quatro system under the Golf?
Well it's pretty simple, the Golf's engine sat sideways
in the engine bay and Audi's engine didn't.
So Volkswagen outsourced the all wheel drive development
to a little company in Austria called Steyr Daimler Puch.
Instead of designing a system designed centered
around differentials like Audi, Steyr went a
different direction using a little device
called a fluid coupler as the car
drives down the road, the front and rear
wheels are spinning at the same speed
and the coupler, in the middle is disengaged,
but once you hit slippery conditions,
the front end of the case loses traction and those
wheels spin faster than the rears.
Inside of that can, the fluid heats up and expands
and basically becomes a solid, linking the front and rear
wheels together thanks to the power of viscous fluids
you now have all wheel drive in your Golf.
(car engine revving)
The wheels they're synchronized
so they called the system, Synchro.
(water splashing)
(whimsical music)
(beep)
VW unveiled the weird little all wheel drive,
Golf Synchro Hatch in 1986, despite looking
pretty much exactly like any other Golf in Europe,
the front seat was moved about an inch forward
and the cargo floor was raised to make room
for the synchro system.
Unfortunately, for all the work that Steyr did.
VW only built the Golf Syncro for three years.
But that would not be the end of the all wheel drive hatch.
(engine revving)
In the early 1990s, the FIA World Rally Championship
introduced a new class called Group A,
you've probably heard of its older, more aggressive
brother, Group B
(engine revving)
If you haven't, we also made a video about it,
and you should check it out, I'll put the link down
in the description before.
Small boy commuter cars like Ford Escourts
and Lancia Delta Integrales were tearing up Group A
and this got VW thinking.
- Hm, we should do that, ja.
- Of course Hans, ja.
- Ja!
- But Hans, Groupen B proved that the all-wheel drive
is the way to go in rally, our small boy
commuter cars don't have all wheel drive.
- Did you just ignore the first
three minutes of this episode?
- Oh yeah, right.
- So Volkswagen engineers took the MK2 Gold,
added a, hold on.
(upbeat music)
- MK is short for Mark, it's not MK 1,
MK2, it's Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
Back to this story.
So Volkswagen engineers took the MK2 Golf,
threw on some very vapor wear looking rectangular
headlights and some sick rally inspired wheels,
but that wasn't all.
Underneath the car was that same synchro all wheel drive
powered by eight valve, four cylinder engine.
Oh and it had a little thing called a super charger on it.
(engine revving)
The result was an earth shattering, 158 horsepowers.
Can I get a-more power baby? (organ music)
A-more power, baby.
Testify.
A-more power,
baby!
No low power, baby,
only more power,
baby.
(grunts) (heavy breathing)
Unfortunately the Rally Golf had a problem
where the supercharger had to be replaced after
almost every rally stage, a feature that scared away
many teams.
VW had to produce 5,000 of these little things
under homologation rules and no teams wanted one,
so Volkswagen tried to make them as enticing as possible
to the public.
Apparently they let you spec the Rally out
however you wanted in Germany and even built a couple cars
with a more powerful, 16 value, G60 engine,
making 207 horsepowers.
In the end, the Rally Gold experiment was kind of a failure,
but the Rally itself, it's so,
(electric ring) it's so sick you guys.
I'm talking box flares, super charger, really cool wheels,
we never got 'em here.
(slaps)
While the Rally program was fizzling out,
the VW motor sport team had a little fun.
They took the MK2 five door hatch and put all the goodies
from before in it, the synchro, the blower, the steez.
They called it the Golf Limited, it had a 16 valve
G60, supercharged engine, making 210 ponies,
the car hit 0 to 60 in just over 6 seconds
which was fast for the day and it could
get up to 155 miles per.
You could only get the Limited in one color, black metallic,
and it had sick blue trim, and that's if you could
get one at all, Volkswagen only made 71 Golf Limiteds.
Of all the cars in this episode, this one
is potentially the coolest and certainly the rarest.
It would soon inspire a whole new generation
of high performance all wheel drive Golfs.
But those would have to wait
because Volkswagen then tried something really weird.
(engine revving)
Steyr helped Volkswagen develop one of the first Crossovers
ever, the Golf Country.
This thing is sick. (electric ring)
The Country was a Golf with nearly eight and a half inches
of ground clearance, a skid plate,
and a ton of suspension travel for a Golf.
And it also had a freakin' brush guard,
bull bar, cow pusher, whatever you want to call it,
it's a bunch of bars on the front of your car,
so you can run over them zombies.
Not today zombies.
(growing)
(thump)
(engine revving)
(squishing)
Volkswagen managed to sell almost 8,000
of these funky little things before ending the Country's
two year run in 1991.
Four years before Post Malone was born.
In 1992, the Hatchback was now in its third generation.
Oh, my favorite, MK3.
And Volkswagen thought that it was the perfect time
to inject a little performance into our boy.
They teamed up with Schmidt Motorsport to develop
a new all wheel drive Golf, code named A59.
This thing is sick. (electric ring)
Imagine like a hulked out (bell dinging)
marshmallow. (roaring)
(nervous laugh)
Schmidt developed a custom all aluminum, two liter engine
with a squad bore and stroke design.
A square set up like this makes the engine more balanced
and high revs which is great, because this car
could rev high.
(engine revving)
Topping it all off was a Garrett T3 Turbocharger
which helped the teeny fore-banger produce
a beefy af 275 horsepower.
This tightly wound little four pot
wasn't hooked up to the synchro system of the olden days
but to a totally custom system featuring
electronic differentials pretty similar to the Haldex
all wheel drive system that they use now.
Which we'll talk about a little bit later.
Schmidt also fabbed up an integrated roll cage
which did add weight but kept the occupants safe
in the event of a crash which sometimes happens in rally.
Can you guys please play a rally clip where no one dies?
(static)
The A59 was good for 0 to 60 in about 5 seconds
and according to people who have driven them,
and there's not many people who have,
the supped up MK3 is an annibel.
Even the average race car driver doesn't know that
because Volkswagen only made a couple of them?
Maybe they only assembled one, I think there is like
three body kits that remain, maybe four?
DO you know how many they made?
Let me know in the comments below.
Like we learned with the Golf Rally an expensive
homologation Golf, just would not be a money maker
for Volkswagen so they scrapped the project.
But that was not the end of the all wheel drive Golf.
Of course it wasn't, we haven't even made it to the car
that this episode is named after, you know that.
The year is 2002, the MK4 Golf has been out for six years
at this point and Volkswagen all of a sudden decides
to give us another all wheel drive chance.
(engine revving)
Volkswagen equipped the MK4 with their four motion haldex
all wheel drive, which had a heavy front wheel bias
like the old synchro system, but this one used a complicated
array of electro hydraulic components to control
the power delivery to the rear wheels.
Like the synchro, the back wheels would only get power
if they broke traction.
(engine roaring)
Otherwise, the front got 95 percent of the power.
This new all wheel drive Golf would have a new
all wheel drive name, the R32.
(skidding)
Nope, guys, actually not that R32.
That's the one, all right.
Now, let me tell you, the engine in this car,
she's something to behold.
The VR6 is a six cylinder engine with three cyclinders
per bank with one cylinder head, think about that.
The cylinders are arranged in a zig zag type pattern
in a narrow, narrow, narrow, 15 degree angle.
It's neither a V6 nor an inline-6, it's both, it's a
VR6.
The 3.2 liter VR6 made a respectable 237 horsepower.
(engine revving)
It's that juice for either a standard six speed.
(engine revving)
Or a Euro only flapple paddy DSG dual clutch transmission,
the first of its car in a production vehicle,
which is really impressive because
a lot of cars have them now.
The R32 is a very special car to me,
I think it's one of the best sounding cars ever.
(engine revving)
(roaring)
And the markboard styling has really aged very well,
it's very timeless.
When the MK5 generation Golfs were released
the little hatch got a complete refresh, as did the R32.
♪ German engineering in the house, ya. ♪
Power was boosted by 10 horsepowers,
it got to 60 miles per hour 0.3 seconds faster.
Oh, you're probably saying,
"James, 0.3 seconds, not a lot."
What if you're a surgeon for kids and babies
and stuff like that and you get a beeper page
(beeping)
"Oh no, I got to go do some surgery on a cute little baby."
(whooshing)
(long beeping)
- You're 0.3 seconds late, you shoulda had an R32.
(bright music)
- Sometimes, life is hard.
(claps) (bright music)
Critics all over agree that the R32 was the hot hatch
for grown up professionals who are still little racers
at heart, it was great, but it wasn't the craziest
MK5 VW ever built, not even close.
So this next car isn't actually all wheel drive,
but stay with me, I just thought I'd throw it in here
because it's awesome.
So every year in Austria they have a Volkswagen meet
called Wortherseetreffen.
Bridgit one of the editors of this show is going
there for her honeymoon next year, say hi.
She'll probably be wearing a donut shirt.
And it's so big that every year VW brings a concept car
built just for that show, for all the fans to see.
In 2007 they brought something absurd.
(thunder) They took the rear axle
from a Lamborghini Gallardo because they own Lamborghini
and the sub-frame from an Audi R8 because they own Audi
and a twin turbo W12 from a Bentley,
because they own Bentley.
And threw them all together under a MK5 golf.
The result was the Golf (thunderclap)
W12 650,
650, means 650 horsepowers.
(engine revving)
In a Golf, I'm looking at one right now, they're little.
Sounds scary.
To make the engine fit, the VW engineers ripped out
the rear seats and grafted in the R8 sub-frame,
that's right, this covers mid-engine
and rear wheel drive, oh and they actually drove it.
It was really fast in a straight line,
but according to my dad, it couldn't really go
that fast around corners.
Obviously this thing was never designed
for the production line, but the fact that
VW even built it in the first place is awesome.
That's why I love, I love them, I love them man,
I love my dad, and I wish he would call me.
I know it takes a lot of money to get a phone call
across the Atlantic ocean, but hey.
The sixth generation Golf debuted in 2008 and the much
anticipated all wheel drive model was close behind.
Fans like myself wondered, will there be a new R32
with a VR6, will it still use the four motion
all wheel drive system, will my dad ever call me?
Our questions were answered in September of 2009
at the Frankfurt International Auto Show,
the MK6 R32 wouldn't be called the R32
because this time the engine was smaller,
and you can't call a two liter, turbo charged,
four banger, 32 because it's not 3.2.
So Volkswagen called it Golf R.
(engine revving)
This new sophisticated Golf R was the most handsome
one yet but still had the heart of a monster.
The new engine made a shocking 266 horsepower,
almost 20 more than the MK5's VR6
while getting better mileage and making sweet turbo noise.
(engine revving)
MK6 R didn't come to America until 2012
right before the Mayan eclipse hit, guys that was crazy.
Volkswagen said the car was all about the driving experience
so over here it was only available as a manual.
Yes! (thunderclap)
Fast forward to today and it's all about that MK7 baby,
the MK7 Golf debuted in Europe in 2012 and 2014 over here.
A new Golf R also came along, this time a bit
more power, baby, and looking more aggressive than ever.
The new Golf R engine got a complete updated top end
with new valve springs, cylinder head, a bigger turbo,
better pistons, and the result is an astounding
296 horsepower in a four door hatch
that you can drive your fur babies
and real babies around in.
Volkswagen claimed a 0 to 60 time of 4.9 seconds
with the DSG Gearbox, but some independent tests
have times as low as 4.5.
4.5, I'll show you how long that is.
(engine revving)
You're at 60.
But what if I told you there was
an even crazier Golf R plan?
In 2014, Volkswagen unveiled the Golf R400,
a 396 horsepower concept they claimed could hit 60
in under 4 seconds, it had a sick rear wing,
(electric ring) and dope wheels
and was basically Germany's answer
to the upcoming Focus RS and Civic Type R.
Volkswagen was aiming to assert their Hatchback dominance
once and for all.
- We will make the greatest hatch of all time!
- Very good Hans, let's go get some wurstenspreiter.
- I love wurstenspreiter.
- Do you like your wurstenspreiter sweet or savory?
- I like a sweet wurstenspreiter in the holidays
and a savory wurstenspreiter on my day to day.
- But then, everyone found out that they were cheating
on their emissions testing,
so they scrapped the whole project.
The MK7 got a mild refresh in late 2016,
but it's technically not a new generation
so people call it the MK7.5, the looks got updated
and the R now makes 306 horsepowers,
it's sick. (electric ring)
Just get one before they go on hiatus again,
because apparently it's not coming back for 2020
for the MK8, but I am checking the internet every day
and I'm starting to hear some rumors,
and I'm hoping that it's going to have a manual,
and I think because it's Volkswagen, they might,
probably, yes, probably give us one.
(bright music) (flapping)
All of these Golfs is getting me fussy.
Hey what did the pirate say when you asked him
what he was doing on the weekend?
I don't know, what?
Golf
RRRR.
You are a treasure.
I love you.
(bright music)