300-mile test VW Golf R: most powerful ever
We’ve been waiting for a car to bring VW’s techy, slightly aloof but talented Mk8 Golf to life. Perhaps in the new R – the most powerful Golf yet – we’ve found it
Reunification had some very negative e ects on the old GDR, including the arrival of radar speed traps…
Within a 50-mile radius of Wolfsburg, the countryside is about as featureless as the Sahara desert. For real variety and driving pleasure, you can do a lot worse than head into the former East Germany, taking in parts of the Harz mountains and historic cities such as Quedlinburg.
Although reunification had some very negative effects on the old GDR – from unemployment and higher taxes to the arrival of radar speed traps – thankfully it did not mess with some of the country’s greatest driving roads. Some have survived in their original form, namely a cobblestone centre strip much too narrow for two vehicles, flanked by extra-wide and accordingly slippery loam shoulders. While the main thoroughfares were speedily reconstructed with EU money, these minor roads have barely changed in decades.
It’s no surprise that in this part of Germany, companies doing very well for new-car sales include Dacia (cheap) and Hyundai and Kia (with their seven-year warranty). This is challenging turf. And yet the new Golf R feels instantly at home here, not once chafing its protruding chin spoiler, kerbing a vulnerable 19-inch wheel or denting the precious low-riding exhaust.
The Golf R formula remains the same, but there are a great many changes from the last model. The ride height is now 20mm lower, front camber increased by a smidgeon, springs and anti-roll bars beefed up 10 per cent, upgraded dampers and bushings, the front subframe is now lightweight aluminium, and the rear transverse links and wheel carriers have been redesigned for a more direct response to steering inputs.
To improve traction, the R engineers increased the locking ratio of the torque-splitting clutch. Understeer is reduced by sending more oomph to the outer rear wheel while, if need be, decelerating its opposite in a move to speed up the turn-in action. This standard-fit system is called R-Performance Torque Vectoring. There’s a bunch of new software to co-ordinate the various dynamic control systems. And there are new drive modes, including the gimmicky-sounding Nürburgring mode.
It could all so easily have ended up feeling artificial, digital and intrusive. But as the miles mount up, and as we get further from the sprawl of VW’s home town – heading first east, then south – it’s obvious this is an excellent car, one that manages to bind its disparate elements into a slick whole.
There’s a lot to take in at first. The transmission lever, for instance, has been replaced by a stubby by-wire shifter that lets you select between Drive and Sport, and automatic or manual. Theoretically, you could reach down and change gears by flicking the knuckle-size device up and down, but the enlarged shift paddles are so much more intuitive and rewarding to use.
And it’s worth taking the time to get familiar with the Golf R’s drive modes, which unlike those in many cars bring out significantly different aspects of the R’s capabilities, and ask for different degrees of involvement from the driver.
Sport brings a pleasingly quick throttle response, but Race mode – which can be accessed directly by pressing the R button on the left of the steering wheel – is better for avoiding premature upshifts; but then again, this setting punishes you with premature downshifts.
Individual mode offers a wide choice of tweakable parameters, and lets you fine-tune via a 10-step touchslider. So if ⊲
Comfort is not cushy enough, there are 10 minor increments towards an even more compliant ride. At the other end of the spectrum, Race can be further sharpened until you’d better have the first aid kit handy. Even in Sport with ESC fully active, the seat of the pants can sense that underlying loose-cannon effect the rear axle has in store for us.
The R Performance Pack is a must-have option. As well as raising the top speed to 168mph (not, in itself, particularly worthwhile), it brings two new driving programmes on top of Comfort, Sport, Race and Individual. While Drift – the dashboard lighting turns fire red – is self-explanatory, Special – the illumination switches to viper green – is also called Nürburgring. This calibration was created after hundreds of laps on the Nordschleife. Don’t dismiss this as marketing nonsense; it’s a mode that really has benefitted from intensive work on a circuit that’s challenging and varied, not least in terms of surfaces. The Nordschleife – like the roads on this trip, and like so many of CAR’s favourite roads in Britain – is all bumps and ridges, ups and downs, banked corners and surface changes.
Compared to all this, the engine doesn’t offer much to grab the headlines, being yet another evolution of the long-running GTI engine – now producing 316bhp and 310lb ft. But the reason this engine is used so widely across the VW Group is because it’s very good, and this is a particularly effective manifestation, propelling the Golf R from zero to 62mph in 4.7sec. It lays down maximum torque between 2100 and 5350rpm, with peak power arriving at 5350rpm, but it’s happy for you to approach the 7000rpm cut-out speed. It’s not an engine that relies on high revs to deliver the goods, but the long legs are helpful on fast autobahn stretches. It’s as if all the black boxes have been programmed to encourage a ‘take it to the limit’ attitude. ⊲
The reason this engine is used so much across the VW Group is simple: it’s very good