New 286hp VW Golf GTI TCR Is As Sharp As Street-Legal Golfs Come
As the fastest, most powerful production Golf GTI ever made (bar the Golf Clubsport S limited-run special), the TCR is certainly an intriguing proposition for GTI fans. Bridging the gap between the Golf GTI Performance and the Golf R, the TCR offers 290 PS (286 hp) at 5,400-6,400 rpm and 380 Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque constantly available from 1,950 to 5,300 rpm. Those are impressive numbers for a front-wheel-drive Golf and they鈥檒l certainly help bring people into showrooms. But what鈥檚 the Golf GTI TCR like to drive? We get the first answer from Autogefuhl which got up close and personal with the Golf GTI TCR both on the racetrack and on public roads at the model鈥檚 media drive event in Portugal. Also watch: Can The New VW Up! GTI Beat A 1980s Golf GTI Mk2 In A Straight Line? As always with Autogefuhl鈥檚 videos, it鈥檚 a long presentation that lasts almost three-quarters of an hour so you鈥檒l find absolutely everything you need to know about the range-topping Golf GTI. Surprisingly for an FWD car, the reviewer says there鈥檚 not much understeer as the GTI TCR features a front differential lock. As a result, there鈥檚 lots of grip available, and the semi-slick tires contribute to that as well on the track. The beautiful thing about the motorsport-inspired GTI TCR is when you鈥檙e done hooning it on the track it becomes a comfortable and practical hatchback you can drive on public roads like any other car.
This is where the R comes out on top. It includes Volkswagens 4Motion AWD system as standard equipment, and it鈥檚 able to distribute the power to all four wheels as required. It makes this a fun little all year-round car in all parts of this country. The GTI comes only as a front-wheel-drive vehicle. DH: Man oh man, what a drive. It doesn鈥檛 seem that long ago that this kind of power and poise was reserved only for sports coupes and sedans. Here in the year 2018, however, this little hatch can pretty much take anything you throw at it, from road surface conditions, to severity of curves and camber angles, to around-town cruising at a snail鈥檚 pace. It鈥檚 just so well executed in every way that you鈥檙e flabbergasted it starts life as a proletarian hatchback. You start to feel that fizz soon as you fire the engine; the off-beat warble you鈥檙e presented with is very circa 1980鈥檚 Group B rally, and right up my alley. It鈥檚 gruff without being brutal, authoritative without being too in-yer-face and does well to showcase the power you have underfoot.
Thing is, once you flex said foot, it鈥檚 about as in-yer-face as you can get. All four wheels scrabble for purchase as 280 torques are deployed at a lowly 1,800 rpm, so you鈥檇 better be ready. Make yourself aware of that fact, and you鈥檙e able to then focus on what the car鈥檚 doing below and around you. You can feel as 4Motion distributes power where it鈥檚 required, to help you better rotate around that turn, scrubbing off understeer with just a slight lift of the throttle. There are not many cars out there that respond to an aggressive drive with such vigor and panache, but the Golf R does so, with even more to give that you really can鈥檛 safely access without a race track. I鈥檝e had the chance to sample the Golf R in that scenario and - get ready for this - one of the cars that came to mind when I did so was the Porsche 911 Carrera 4. High praise? LE: The direct shift gearbox also comes with engine start/stop technology to get the most out of the fuel consumption.
1,500. This additional cash gives you blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, lane assist and autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian warning. These are things that quite a few auto manufactures are including for no extra charge. LE: Both cars have ups and downs when it comes to features and options. Both are very capable and enjoyable to drive. At the end of the day, the big question still remains: Do you spend your money on the Golf R or GTI? In my opinion, the extra 70hp isn鈥檛 worth the additional money. DH: I guess the real victory for the R is that while it no longer is the only player in the North American ultra-fast hatch game, it still manages to stand out among the crowd. I suppose it has its history of dealing with the European market to thank, where the likes of Renault, Seat and Peugeot have had vehicles like the R for quite some time. Even though it鈥檚 kind of the elder statesman now, it hasn鈥檛 really lost a step. Would I choose it over the GTI? It鈥檚 not an easy call, but if you鈥檙e smart with your option choices and willing to survive with a more standard colour, you can do a lot worse than the R in the big performance game. I think that鈥檚 a price I鈥檇 be willing to pay and the fact that you鈥檙e seeing more and more Golf Rs out there these days proves that I鈥檓 not alone.
