2019 Volkswagen Golf R
Volkswagen's given its seventh-generation Golf a bit of a mid-life refresh. Now all of the range gets slightly updated front and rear fenders and a tweaked cabin. The infotainment system is now a super slick touch screen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), and it works as well as you'd hope. Not laggy, not slow. It's all very dependable and Golf-ish. The tech works, then. Good. But there's more to the Golf R than toys. In European trim, it comes with 310 horses and 280 pound-feet of torque. As is the way with high-powered German cars, its top speed is limited to 155mph. In reality, that's more than you're ever likely to need, so no great shakes. It's the Golf R's acceleration that you'll fall for. A 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder may not sound like much, but it packs a heck of a punch. Twinned with the DSG 'box, it simply flies.
Alarmingly so, actually. Performance Golfs of old have always been swift -- look at the original Golf GTI onwards -- but the 310-hp R feels like it's in another league. Volkswagen's hyper-hatch lacks the power of the Ford Focus RS and the Audi RS3, sure. But stick the car in Race mode and its gearbox, dampers, steering and motor set themselves to extra angry and turn the wee Golf into a raging beast. It's a wonderful surprise, and probably the reason you rarely see a Golf R being driven below the speed limit in the wild. The facelift doesn't really hint at its potential. A passerby won't pay its quad tailpipes and subtle "R" badging any attention. It is, in many ways, the perfect sleeper. Unsurprisingly, the thing with lots of power is fast. But its grip makes it more than a powerful Golf -- it's more like a weapon. See, the Golf R is all-wheel drive and has more than a little in common with the Audi S3. You can cover ground at an alarming rate, taking corners at speeds that would turn a front-wheel-drive GTI in to an understeering mess.
It鈥檚 a good time to be a gear head. From 700-horsepower Hellcats to supercars that are ready to blast into the stratosphere, there are plenty of high-performance players to choose from. But they aren鈥檛 exactly practical and don鈥檛 make the best commuter cars. Luckily, there are some seriously fun dual-purpose options out there for those in need. And high on that list are the Volkswagen Golf R and Ford Focus RS, the hottest of hot hatches on the market today. There haven鈥檛 been two more natural competitors since Coyote and Roadrunner. Both hatches are based on commuter cars, have powerful turbocharged engines, and all-wheel drive. Get the Flash Player to see this player. Powered by a re-tuned version of the Golf GTI鈥檚 turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder, the Golf R makes 292 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, the latter of which kicks in at a low 1,900 rpm. The all-wheel-drive setup, Volkswagen鈥檚 4MOTION system, can send as much as 50 per cent of the torque rearward when needed, and uses what is essentially a brake-vectoring differential to help cut understeer.
Add in the adaptive damping system that can be set to comfort, normal or sport and drive mode selector, and the Golf R can be as uneventful or exciting as you want it to be. After collecting gallons of enthusiasts鈥?tears, Ford has finally unleashed the Focus RS on the North American market, and with it one of the wildest hot hatches ever built. Packing the same 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder found in the Mustang EcoBoost, the Focus RS makes a ridiculous 350 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque thanks to a new twin-scroll turbocharger and larger intercooler. Trunk Room 22.8 cu.-ft. Golf R 19.9 cu.-ft. The only gearbox available is a six-speed manual, but it is one of the finest examples on the market today, with short throws and a nicely weighted clutch that is neither too heavy or too light. One common thread tied rather unfortunately through both cars is their somewhat disappointing interiors.
