Long-term test: Volkswagen Golf R

Verdict

The latest Golf R has some enormous shoes to fill. I have fond memories of the old car, so I’m intrigued to see if this new model can get under my skin in the same way. First impressions are good, but it’s got some tough hurdles to clear if it’s going to prove its mettle over the coming months.

• Mileage: 5,658 miles
• Efficiency: 29.1mpg

If you enjoyed our recent hot-hatch twin test, you’ll surely not mind reading through another page on one of their toughest and best-established rivals: the Volkswagen Golf R.

It’s the latest addition to the Auto Express fleet and is a car I hold particularly close to my heart. To understand why, you’ll need to rewind the best part of a decade, when I grabbed the keys to VW’s then-new Mk7 Golf R for the two-week festive break. I’d been using it to tour the country, seeing family and friends, loaded with gifts and other gubbins; everything my then-fiancée and I would need for a fortnight away from home.

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Yet I don’t think I was prepared for the lasting effect it would have on me – that’s me, reminiscing in the main image. It spent a lot of its time slogging between London, Hampshire and Devon, but when it wasn’t sitting at an indicated 70mph on a monotonous stretch of the M4 or A303, it transformed into one of the finest all-rounders I’ve driven. Compliant, fun on the right road and, from what I remember, blisteringly quick point-to-point.

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So, I’m really intrigued to live with the newly updated Mk8.5 for the next few months. My life has transformed since that fast and furious Christmas of 2015; with a young daughter in tow, I’ve now got my reservations about whether or not the Golf will be big enough for our needs – a big ask, following on from a BMW 5 Series Touring.

Another area I’m looking forward to unpicking is the latest Golf’s cabin. There was plenty of furore when the eighth-generation car launched in 2020, with complaints about quality and the clucky user interface, some of which the company claims to have fixed for this facelifted model. There’s still a lot of touch-sensitive surfaces, but the whole thing feels reasonably well screwed together.

So it should; our car is the all-singing, all-dancing Golf R Black Edition, priced at an eye-watering £53,845 including options. And yes, I know it’s white – maybe that’s a conversation topic for a future report –  but there are plenty of dark details that mark it out from the regular car. 

Included in the standard kit list are the black 19-inch Estoril alloy wheels, black mirror caps, black strips on the radiator grille and headlights, black brake callipers and black badges. This flagship model also gets its electronic speed limiter removed, meaning, in theory, it can hit 168mph flat out.

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On top of all that, my car has almost £7,000 of options, including an upgraded Akrapovic exhaust system, a panoramic tilt-and-slide sunroof, and adaptive chassis control. I’m also making good use of the area-view 360-degree cameras when parking. Given the choice, I’d probably not spend £810 on ‘carbon decorative inserts’, although they do look smart.

The final, and probably most important option, is the retailer-fit Vodafone SCD60 S5 Thatcham Tracker with a six-month subscription: one of those things you hope you won’t need, but are grateful to have. It’ll help me sleep at night, along with the fact that I keep the keys in a sealed Faraday bag.

Shamefully, the car has so far been largely restricted to airport runs and taxi trips to swimming lessons and girl guides, but I’ll be stretching its legs in the coming weeks – with a number of longer journeys and even (hopefully) a track day with my friends and colleagues over at evo magazine.

As I start to get stuck in, I’m hoping I'll see some improvement in the stated fuel economy, which is currently hovering around 29mpg. I don’t miss having to plug the car in every night – as I did with my 530e – but I’m undoubtedly spending more time at the pumps. Still, there has to be some trade-off for the pleasure of running a five-seat family hatchback with 328bhp and the ability to sprint from 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds…

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.

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