Volkswagen Golf R review

Category: Hot hatch

Fast and more fun than its direct rivals, but the Golf R doesn't thrill like the best hot hatches

VW Golf R front cornering
  • VW Golf R front cornering
  • VW Golf R rear cornering
  • VW Golf R interior dashboard
  • VW Golf R interior back seats
  • VW Golf R interior infotainment
  • VW Golf R right driving
  • VW Golf R Estate right driving
  • VW Golf R front cornering
  • VW Golf R left static boot open
  • VW Golf R Estate left static boot open
  • VW Golf R alloy wheel detail
  • VW Golf R badge detail
  • VW Golf R badge detail
  • VW Golf R interior front seats
  • VW Golf R interior steering wheel detail
  • VW Golf R interior seats detail
  • VW Golf R interior detail
  • VW Golf R boot open
  • VW Golf R Estate boot open
  • VW Golf R front cornering
  • VW Golf R rear cornering
  • VW Golf R interior dashboard
  • VW Golf R interior back seats
  • VW Golf R interior infotainment
  • VW Golf R right driving
  • VW Golf R Estate right driving
  • VW Golf R front cornering
  • VW Golf R left static boot open
  • VW Golf R Estate left static boot open
  • VW Golf R alloy wheel detail
  • VW Golf R badge detail
  • VW Golf R badge detail
  • VW Golf R interior front seats
  • VW Golf R interior steering wheel detail
  • VW Golf R interior seats detail
  • VW Golf R interior detail
  • VW Golf R boot open
  • VW Golf R Estate boot open
Golf
Star rating

What Car? says...

Question: Is the Volkswagen Golf R a sizzling hot hatch or estate car, or an out-and-out performance car? Well, this VW Golf variant happens to be all three.

You see, the Golf R is indecently powerful and savagely quick whether you go for the five-door hatchback or the estate version. What it's not, though is inexpensive. Indeed, if you think the best hot hatches are all about cheap thrills, you might be taken aback when you see the price.

Sure, Volkswagen sells the Golf R for less than the mighty Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45 but it still costs roughly the same as the limited-run Honda Civic Type R and the arguably more premium Audi S3 and BMW M135i.

Your money goes towards some serious kit, though. The VW Golf R has a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine that packs 316bhp in standard form, or 328bhp when equipped as the limited-edition R 20 Year version. Both have four-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

That’s enough to hurl this range-topping Golf from 0-62mph in an official time of 4.6sec – although our own testing using the car’s launch control feature comfortably beat that.

So, the Golf R is clearly fast – but how much fun is it to drive? Is it as easy to live with as a common or garden Golf? Will the estate car version get all your garden waste to the tip before everyone else? And is it a better buy than its closest rivals (the S3 and the M135i)? This VW Golf R review will answer all those questions and more.

Once you’ve decided which make and model of car is for you, make sure you get it for the lowest price possible by searching our free What Car? New Car Deals pages. There's no haggling involved, and it has lots of the best new hot hatch deals.

Overview

Fast and more fun than its direct rivals, but the Golf R doesn’t come cheap and won’t thrill you quite like the very best in the class.

  • Savagely fast
  • More fun than the Audi S3 and BMW M135i
  • Comfortable ride, especially with optional adaptive suspension
  • Won’t thrill you like the very best hot hatches
  • Lacklustre interior and infotainment for a car of this price
  • Relatively expensive to buy and run

Performance & drive

What it’s like to drive, and how quiet it is

So, just how fast is the Volkswagen Golf R? Well, in our tests, the hatchback managed to sprint from 0-60mph in just 4.3sec – faster than the Audi S3 and BMW M135i on the same day. The estate car version, despite the weight of its extension on the back, did the same sprint in 4.4sec.

To help it achieve such times, a launch control system is standard. That's essentially a computer that makes it super-easy to get the perfect getaway every time, no matter what your skill level. And because the R has four-wheel drive, there’s plenty of traction in the sort of slippery conditions that the front-wheel-drive VW Golf GTI and Hyundai i30 N would struggle in.

Volkswagen Golf image
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Indeed, when we put the stopwatch on the R 20 Years in sodden conditions, it managed to sprint to 60mph from rest in 4.5sec – a whole 2.2 seconds quicker than the front-wheel-drive Honda Civic Type R we timed on the same day.

It’s a shame the engine doesn’t sound a bit more tuneful, though. The noise it makes isn’t unpleasant but it is very obviously synthesised. The optional Akrapovic titanium sports exhaust provides a rawer sound and some humorous exhaust pops as you lift off the accelerator, but it's not cheap.

Some four-wheel-drive hot hatches – including the S3 and the M135i – feel rather sterile through corners, gripping the road well but without any sort of playfulness to their handling. The R is different because you can feel power being sent to the rear wheels to help the car rotate on the way out of corners, especially in Race mode.

The R Estate rotates just as well, if not better, than the hatch because it has a more evenly split weight distribution due to its elongated boot area adding more weight to the rear. If that sounds scary or intimidating, it really isn’t – it just adds another layer to the driving experience.

Mind you, the Mercedes-AMG A45 is a rawer and altogether more thrilling drive, and has steering that gives you a more natural sense of connection with the road, as does the Civic Type R. The Type R's steering streams more feedback to your fingertips, and the whole car feels much sharper and more agile than the Golf – if you're a fan of track days, there's no contest.

So far we’ve sampled the R with standard springs and 18in wheels, or with the optional adaptive suspension (DCC in Volkswagen speak). The standard set-up provides excellent body control and a perfectly agreeable ride for a hot hatch that avoids feeling harsh over potholes. With the adaptive system switched to its most comfortable setting, there's extra suppleness and it's a little more forgiving at town speeds than a similarly equipped S3.

Whether you tick the adaptive suspension box or not, this is a car you can use every day without fear of ending your journey feeling bruised and battered. It’s also much quieter than the Type R on a motorway.

VW Golf R rear cornering

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

The driver’s seat in the Volkswagen Golf R is figure-huggingly bolstered and holds you in place well during quick changes of direction. It has adjustable lumbar support as standard and there’s plenty of reach adjustment in the steering wheel. We also love that the pedals are placed neatly in line with the wheel and seat, helping you to feel right at home.

Visibility isn't a problem, either. The large windows and relatively slim windscreen pillars make it easy to see straight ahead and to the sides. The rear pillars are fairly chunky, but front and rear parking sensors are fitted as standard, so you shouldn’t find slotting into a tight parking space too tricky. 

Front and rear parking sensors are standard, and a rear-view camera is optional. Adaptive matrix LED headlights are standard too, and can stay on main beam at night without dazzling other drivers.

So far so good, then – but then we come to the Golf R’s dashboard. It has no physical buttons, just silly touch-sensitive controls for the lights and a few other features, plus touch-sensitive sliders to adjust the interior temperature and volume. This makes everything needlessly distracting to operate while you're driving, because a touch-sensitive button is impossible to find unless you take your eyes off the road.

Even the controls on the steering wheel are part touch-sensitive, so it’s all too easy to trigger a driving mode change accidentally by brushing the wrong part of the wheel. The Audi S3, the BMW M135i, the Honda Civic Type R and the Mercedes-AMG A45 all have much more user-friendly interiors.

Those functions that are not controlled using the touch-sensitive buttons are operated using the touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard – and that's no better. The software is clearly designed to look good, but Volkswagen forgot to make it intuitive, so you find features buried in menus that make no sense. For example, the traction control switch is in a sub-menu for the brakes. We much prefer the infotainment systems in the S3 and M135i.

On the plus side, the screen is mounted high up, is a decent size (10.0in) and is fairly high definition. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration are included, along with wireless phone-charging and a DAB radio. A more powerful Harman Kardon sound system is a reasonably priced option.

The R's interior quality isn’t bad by any means, but it's not as upmarket as the premium-badged rivals it's priced in line with, and the S3 and M135i have fewer hard plastics and more lavish materials.

VW Golf R interior dashboard

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

There's loads of space in the front of the Volkswagen Golf R. The interior is broad, so you sit with breathing room between you and your passenger, and there's more than enough head and leg room to accommodate anyone tall. 

Rear-seat space is a little less generous. The latest VW Golf has dropped behind the leaders in this area, and both the Ford Focus ST and the Skoda Octavia vRS (especially in estate car form) will offer your rear passengers more room to lounge about in. Mind you, the R is fractionally roomier in the rear than its closest rivals – the Audi S3 and the BMW M135i – and two tall adults will be fine in the back.

There's more than enough storage space, with compartments and cupholders in the front, plus a decent-sized glovebox and door bins. 

The boot is okay in the hatchback version, but like the rear seats, isn’t mammoth compared with in some hot hatches. It'll fit a buggy but will struggle to swallow a set of golf clubs lengthways.

In our test, the hatch swallowed five carry-on suitcases beneath its parcel shelf, the same number as the S3 and M135i, but the Honda Civic Type R took eight. The estate swallowed a whopping nine. Note that the limited-edition R 20 Year version is only available as a five-door hatch, not an estate.

You get a height-adjustable boot floor on both the hatch and estate versions for added flexibility, plus 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks and a ski hatch.

VW Golf R interior back seats

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

The price of the Volkswagen Golf R – roughly the same as its premium rivals, the Audi S3 and the BMW M135i – might raise eyebrows, but there are some mitigating circumstances. It has a more powerful engine and comes with more standard equipment, including adaptive cruise control, keyless entry and three-zone climate control (with controls for back-seat passengers).

Mind you, you have to pay extra if you want heated seats or a paint colour other than white. There are plenty of other options worth considering, including adaptive suspension (DCC). Sneakily though, the R Performance Pack that adds larger 19in alloy wheels (you get 18s as standard), increases the top speed to 166mph, and adds a gimmicky drift mode is reserved only for the range-topping R 20 Years trim.

Standard safety equipment includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assistance and traffic-sign recognition. You also get something called Car-to-X as standard, which allows cars fitted with the same feature (not just VWs) to share information on the traffic conditions and any hazards within a radius of 800m to give you an early warning. 

The R comes with a three-year warranty, but Volkswagen didn’t perform brilliantly in the 2022 What Car? Reliability Survey – it finished in 20th place out of 32 brands. That’s above Ford and Mercedes, but below Audi and BMW.

The VW Golf achieved a five stars (out of five) Euro NCAP safety rating, with excellent category scores that all but matched the best family cars. For even better protection, you can add front side and rear curtain airbags for a reasonable price.

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VW Golf R interior infotainment

FAQs

  • If your budget can stretch to it, the Golf R is a much more exciting choice than the VW Golf GTI. The R has more power, plus its four-wheel-drive system adds an additional layer of dynamism to the handling that the GTI (which has front-wheel drive) can’t match.

  • Indeed it is. Our testing suggests that even the already quick 4.6sec 0-62mph time might be a little conservative, and its limited top speed of 155mph is easily believable. The R 20 Years doesn't have a limiter and can hit 166mph. That’s seriously fast for any car, let alone a practical family car.

  • If you can afford a Golf R over a regular VW Golf GTI we think it's worth the extra. Price-wise, the Golf R sits between the Ford Focus ST, the Hyundai i30 N and the GTI, and the very quick (and far pricier) Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45.

  • It's the most potent of the production VW Golf range, with a far more powerful engine and a four-wheel-drive system you can't get in the standard car. There are also unique colour and interior trim bits that separate it from an R-Line trim Golf.

  • In basic terms, the R-Line is a VW Golf with sportier looks but no performance benefits. The Golf R has a far more powerful engine, giving far greater performance. It too has more aggressive exterior styling, but that all serves a greater purpose in terms of high-speed handling and better cooling for the engine.