Little did it know, but when Volkswagen released the original Golf GTi on an unsuspecting world in 1976, it was creating history. This skunkworks special, dreamed up by a small team of engineers in a back room after-hours, was to become one of the greatest motoring icons in the 20th century.
Yet, for some, driving a legend is not enough, and there is still demand for an ‘ultimate Golf', something even more focused, more sporting, more extreme than the latest GTi. Enter the R. Does it live up to the hype? We hit the road to find out...
He says
Jonathan Castle is a writer, speaker and chef with petrol in his veins. He can’t decide what he loves more, cars or food, but few things get him as excited as a new car to drive.
"The latest version of Volkswagen's hottest hatch is an interesting decision. The simply badged Golf R is a replacement for the very popular R32, which used a 3.2 litre V6 engine driving all four wheels to achieve a significant performance advantage over the front-drive only GTi. The R follows the same pattern, but with two important changes. Gone is the heavy, thirsty (but audibly magnificent) V6, and in its place is a more highly tuned turbocharged version of the Group's ubiquitous 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine. This puts power on the road through an upgraded version of VW's 4Motion all-wheel drive system.
First things first - that choice of engine. The old V6 was mellifluous and powerful with a lovely spread of instant torque for a snappy and responsive drive. But it was heavy and not particularly efficient. The new engine, despite losing two cylinders, is actually more powerful than the larger old one delivering a fat 255 bhp and 350 Nm of torque. More importantly perhaps, is the fact that it does so while consuming 21 per cent less fuel. The new Golf R sips a miserly 8.4 litres for every 100km, and reduces CO2 emissions by the same percentage - so you can go faster with a clean conscience.
The other advantage of the new engine is weight, or rather, the lack of it. Despite a significant amount of strengthening and reinforcement to critical components, the new engine and its DSG gearbox bring the weight of the new R down substantially to around 1,541kg wet. This makes for a big improvement in the handling and steering response.
Think the new four-cylinder engine is going to sound less melodic than the old six? Think again. Volkswagen have learned a great deal about how to make a car sound good, and the dual chrome tailpipes of the sound-optimised exhaust system display a significantly broader ‘sound spectrum'. It sounds guttural and garrulous and glorious.
Suspension-wise, the R is much stiffer than the GTi. It also sits a significant 25mm lower, and on versions equipped with DCC (Adaptive Chassis Control) offers a range of driving modes.
On the move, it is a surprisingly different car than the GTi it so closely resembles. It puts on speed at a phenomenal rate, but it is still noticeably a turbo-engined car - instead of instant response, there's a rising tide of power that just keeps growing. The faster you go, the faster it gets - a complete contrast to the predecessor R32.
However, such is the urgency of this relentless shove that it soon becomes quite addictive, something to experience again and again whenever an empty stretch of road appears. Keep an eye on your licence.
Allied to this ample power is unfaltering traction. Simply nothing will unstick the R (short of switching the Traction Control off). It lunges away from lights without a squeak, and powers round bends with determined precision. Grip is phenomenal. And it is this grip that ultimately separates the R from its front-wheel drive sibling, the GTi. The R is simply so much more secure, so much more capable, so much more accomplished that it delivers all you could possibly ask for, and more.
Verdict: Tenacity defines this car. The Golf R is remarkably different in character from the regular Golf GTi - it is harder, faster, and is a lot more focused.
That said, it lacks the subtlety of the GTi, demanding more of your concentration and more of the time to get the best from it. You are unlikely to even approach its limits outside a racetrack. If you can live with such an uncompromising car, then the R rating is well deserved."
She says
Jonathan’s wife, Susan, is a corporate coach who, having started driving when she was
just 11 years old, shares her husband’s passion for cars.
"When I first drove the R, I thought there was something wrong with the suspension - it was so stiff and uncompromising. Every line on the road sends a thump through the steering, and speed bumps are something you quickly learn to avoid if at all possible. But, as a car-lover myself, I liked the way it drove. These sorts of cars often get described as ‘rocket-powered roller skates', but this is the one that comes closest to that description. It's a real hooligan car.
That boy racer image is carried through in the interior, which seemed rather basic for a top-of-the-range car. OK, I understand that in order to go faster you need to save weight, but having a manually adjustable passenger seat is a bit much for a premium vehicle.
To be fair, everything you really need is present and correct - keyless entry, push button start and a big multi-function display for the SatNav. The sports seats themselves take a bit of getting in and out of, but they do hold you very securely in place once you finally get settled. Again, fine for a weekend racer but not so much fun if you're just popping down to the supermarket for groceries.
The car also has a very good Dynaudio system with eight-channel surround sound and a good sub. Needless to say, it had to work well because of the loud exhaust fitted to the R. You could hear the exhaust all the time, and there is no way of making it quieter for when you want a more relaxing ride on a long run. It's great fun when you're just playing around, but a bit of a headache when you just need to cover the miles.
I loved the steering and the grip of the R. It really is a point-and-shoot sort of car. You could fling it into a roundabout with real enthusiasm and it would just hang on - it's a car you can push really quite hard and trust implicitly because there is so much grip at all times.
Verdict: The Golf R is such a boy's car. The exhaust is too loud, the suspension too stiff, and the seats too hard. It's not practical at all. But that's exactly what makes it so much fun - as far as driving a car for the sheer thrill of it is concerned, few compare to this one."
