Volkswagen Golf R (DSG) 2.0 Review
Exuberance redefined

Scrolling through the Volkswagen pricelist, the first question on everyone’s mind when the topic of the new Golf R comes up is inevitably the price. With the GTI being already so brilliant as it is, is it really necessary to pay close to $30,000 extra for a fancier range topper? How much more can Volkswagen really perfect their hot hatch?

Perhaps it’s just another clever ploy to milk a couple more grand from you poor sods or maybe, just maybe the new Golf R really is the GTI in perfect form.

Volkswagen started the trend of their range topping hot hatches way back when Mercedes-Benz was still fumbling with their base A-class. And the new Golf R isn’t just another empty marketing blow. The ‘R’ is backed by solid heritage. With arched backs and frightened eyes, grown men in pubs around Nurburgring, still swap stories of R32s and Golf Rs challenging Porsches on the ‘Green Hell’.

Exterior

From past experience, the R family line have always come up with some pretty handsome variations of their basic models. And as defined by Volkswagen’s head of design, they’ve always strived to create “an exciting balance between respectability and sportiness, restraint and differentiation.

This achievement is made harder still considering the base car is a hot hatch to begin with. But Volkswagen managed this with a new bumper design shod with larger intakes than the GTI combined with a modified radiator grille adorned with a tiny ‘R’ badge.

Not only that, the flagship Golf gets its own set of alloys finished in gunmetal. But it’s in the rear that shows this is the more powerful Golf in the range. The ‘R’ receives twice the number of pipes as the GTI leaving no doubt of its top hatch status in the range.