Volkswagen Golf R review

This is the new Volkswagen Golf R, the latest in an established line of Golfs with more than a little extra “Grrr”. Or perhaps just “Rrrr”.

So, is the Mark 8 VW Golf R still the cool kid at school who’s bulked up a bit at the gym? Well, it appears so. It has lowered suspension and a cool blue LED light strip between the headlights, plus LED tail lights, four (real) exhaust pipes, a rear diffuser and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Certainly it’s a bit more obvious that this is a performance variant than the last Golf R. Whether or not that floats your boat, or you prefer the ‘sleeper’ look, is entirely subjective.

Meanwhile, the interior is all very minimalist and classy like it is in the standard Golf, with few buttons and some fiddly details. There’s a dedicated R steering wheel with some bright blue trims (as well as some seriously annoying touch-sensitive buttons), plenty of sporty blue stitching, and one-piece sports seats with stripy blue trim that feels a bit cheap.

Those sports seats hold you really well when you’re making the most of a clear stretch of your favourite twisty road, and they’re very comfortable on the motorway, but because of the integrated headrests they’re pretty bulky when you’re sat in the rear, and so are difficult to see around.

Under the bonnet lies a 320hp turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, which also produces 420Nm of torque. It drives all four wheels through a DSG automatic gearbox; there’s no manual gearbox available this time. Truth be told, the auto suits the R, because it allows you to feel like a racing driver one minute and then lets you sit back and leave everything alone the next.

We recently tested the Golf GTI in damp conditions and got pretty close to VW’s official 0-62mph time of 6.3 seconds. However, a GTI driver will not see which way the new Golf R goes, so intense is the R’s accelerative ability. We tested it and it covered the 0-60mph sprint in a fraction over 4.0 seconds. Wow. It’s another league.

The Golf R still flies a bit under the radar, but there's nothing subtle about the way it performs.

As before the Golf R gets independent suspension all-round, which helps it feel agile through the corners, and the four-wheel-drive system means traction is never an issue. This Mk8 Golf R also gets an electronically controlled limited-slip differential on each axle to further enhance cornering balance and traction.

However, if you pay an extra £2,000 for the Performance Pack, your Golf R gets a higher top speed, larger alloy wheels and a ‘Drift mode’. Very un-Volkswagen.

You can also pay an extra £785 to have your Golf R fitted with adaptive dampers. These let you stiffen everything up for hooning it down country roads and soften the ride for cruising home on the motorway. The system works very well indeed, and we would heartily recommend that you tick that box.

You can personalise these settings through the infotainment system, too. So you can fine-tune your favourite set-up and save it for later.

An 8-inch infotainment system and a 10-inch digital driver’s display are both standard but you can pay extra to get a pair of 10-inch screens instead. Both displays come with R-specific blue graphics and you can customise the driver’s display using buttons on the steering wheel. You also have the ability to control lots of the car’s features using voice commands – just as you can in the standard Golf.

However, the ventilation and audio systems are controlled using touch-sensitive ‘sliders’ below the infotainment screen, and these are much less successful. What’s wrong with buttons? They’re not backlit at light, either…

You can add numerous options to your Golf R, including an Akrapovic exhaust system, which sounds better and saves 7kg. However, £3,100? You might be better going on a diet and making the noises yourself.

Space in the R is basically the same as in every other Golf, so there’s plenty of room for four adults (or five if they’re on speaking terms), and decent room in the 374-litre boot (down by seven litres on lesser Golfs because the four-wheel-drive takes up space), and there are all the usual hooks and lashing points to keep shopping where you want it to be.

So the Golf R is still the good-at-everything kid, and now it’s a whole lot stronger, as witnessed by our timing gear. Frankly, it’s a bit of a show off. If this sounds like your next car, take a look at the latest Volkswagen Golf R deals.

See how a Golf R measures up to an Audi S3: