Few vehicles in Volkswagen’s current lineup are as divisive among the Car and Driver staff as the Golf R. Even a casual mention risks stirring the office pundits, triggering impromptu sermons dissecting the Golf R’s price-versus-performance statistics and quoting heavily from the holy book of the Golf GTI, a deity around these parts. It’s not that the R’s detractors don’t recognize its sublime blend of performance, comfort, and utility—after all, collectively, these same folks continue to vote the Golf R onto our 10Best Cars list along with the rest of the Golf lineup—but at $40,635 ($41,735 with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic), its critics say the Golf R simply doesn’t offer the same bang for the buck as the GTI, which starts at $27,265. Equally concerning to some is that it basically looks like a regular old Golf; if you’re going to cross the $40K threshold, they reason, why not move into a badge that carries more cachet? (The $44,625 Audi S3 has the same engine, for instance.)
Speak Softly and Carry 292 Horsepower
What these office-cubicle crusaders fail to grasp is that a certain type of individual is willing to pay for the elevated level of confidence that comes with flying under the radar. Speak softly and carry a big stick, as Theodore Roosevelt used to say.
Aficionados of bewinged extroverts such as the Honda Civic Type R and the Subaru WRX STI will never cotton to the Golf R, which in terms of exterior braggadocio barely manages a whisper. Sure, it sits 0.2 inch lower than the GTI and sports a small roundup of R-exclusive signifiers (R-specific front bumper, side skirts, rear diffuser, and spoiler; quad chrome exhaust tips; R badges on the front fenders; black-painted mirror caps; and standard 19-inch Englishtown wheels), but none of these details shout for attention. The punk kid sitting next to you at the light in the Civic with a fart-can exhaust will never know what happened.
The metaphorical big stick here is the Golf R’s turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and standard all-wheel drive. Rated at 292 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque, the Golf R engine outguns the GTI’s by 72 ponies and 22 lb-ft. A six-speed manual transmission dispenses torque via Volkswagen’s 4Motion all-wheel-drive system. Although essentially the same EA888 2.0-liter that is fitted to the GTI, the version in the Golf R has been thoroughly massaged and features reworked or entirely new components including the cylinder head, exhaust valves, valve seats and springs, pistons, fuel-injection system, and turbocharger.
Track Take
A trip to our testing facility confirmed what we already suspected: The Golf R is one of the quickest hatches on the market. Switching to Race on the driving-mode selector (Normal, Individual, and Eco are the other choices) for more aggressive throttle response, we found the most effective launch method is to catch the engine revs as they ascended to around 6000 rpm and then dump the clutch. This produced a 4.8-second zero-to-60-mph sprint and a quarter-mile time of 13.4 seconds with a trap speed of 104 mph. For those keeping score, the 2018 Golf R is 1.2 and 1.1 seconds quicker in these measures than the Golf GTI with a six-speed manual. Looking beyond sibling rivalry, the Golf R also eked out a tiny drag-strip win over the Civic Type R, bettering it in both tests by 0.1 second. The WRX STI is a tad pokier, trailing the Golf R by 0.5 and 0.4 second, respectively. Of its close competitors, only the raucous Ford Focus RS’s 4.6-second blast to 60 mph can knock the Golf R off its perch, and the quarter-mile contest between the two is a dead heat.
Human interaction with the Golf R is instinctive. While the shifter may lack some of the tactile nuance of the best of the breed, it moves from gate to gate with the same exacting confidence found in the GTI. The clutch-pedal action is light to a fault, though, and while it is progressively weighted, takeup starts abruptly at the top of pedal travel. The brake pedal is a veritable rock by comparison, and pressure rather than travel dictates the amount of stopping action. Requiring 159 feet to stop from 70 mph (previous tests of the Golf R produced 157-foot stops), it easily bests the 174-foot figure recorded by the GTI but simply can’t approach the supercar-like binders—and lighter weight—of the Honda Civic Type R, which stopped in 142 feet. The WRX STI and the Focus RS come in at 158 and 159 feet. Numbers aside, the Golf R’s braking action in traffic is smooth, progressive, and predictable, the trifecta of desirable braking attributes.
Handling It
At just 2.1 turns lock to lock—compared with 2.8 for lesser Golfs—the Golf R’s steering amplifies the point-and-shoot characteristics that make the entire Golf lineup so endearing. The Golf R builds on the inherent goodness of the Golf’s stiff, rattle-free structure with modified lower control arms in front and specific tuning for the multilink rear suspension. The Golf R loves a good winding back road, flowing from corner to corner with a sense of grace and confidence that makes average drivers look better than they really are. With the help of 235/35R-19 Continental ContiSportContact 5P tires, grip maxed out at 0.95 g, significantly lower than the 1.02 g and 1.01 g generated by the Civic Type R and the Focus RS.
But what neither of those can match—although the Civic Type R comes closer than the Focus—is the state of gentlemanly repose the Golf R can assume on a moment’s notice. Select Eco mode—or, our preference, choose Individual and place the Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) in its mellowest setting while retaining more aggressive steering and throttle calibrations—and the result is a smooth and quiet transportation device for those times when the conversation or soundtrack takes precedence over hitting apexes. (Track rats take note, however: Drivers are prevented from fully defeating the Golf R’s stability control from the factory. A quick internet search will provide you with the info needed to do so at your own risk.)
Another factor its critics seem to forget is that with the Golf R there’s very little guesswork in terms of the options sheet. The $40,635 price of our test example includes not only the DCC adaptive suspension and VW’s new, top-tier MIB II infotainment system with navigation and an 8.0-inch touchscreen display, but also a six-year/72,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. And that’s on top of the model’s feature-rich, all-in packaging strategy, which essentially makes the R the burrito supreme of Golfs.
