Volkswagen Golf R: PH Fleet
There are over 400 comments on the first story - what now for the Golf R?
So it's been used to attend weddings (a good way to make yourself feel old), to move house (an exemplary way to make yourself feel old), plus endless trips to the office and airports. It was at Bruntingthorpe with a BMW M135i recently as well but there's more to follow on that very soon...
Unsurprisingly the Golf has proved superb at day-to-day stuff. It's been interesting to notice the reaction also, how the R fits in everywhere and still attracts attention. Taking it to the same people and places where the Leon Cupra didn't elicit any response, the Golf was received with "Ooh, nice Golf" and "You are very lucky, aren't you?". The latter was a from a friend and not exactly those words but you get the picture - a Golf still resonates as desirable with a lot of people and will explain its popularity to an extent. My hot hatch choice remains the Renaultsport Megane but the Golf evidently still has that classless appeal that its rivals don't.
What else is good? The deceptive speed and stellar refinement probably register as both pros and cons. It requires so little effort to reach great speed, meaning ground can be covered very quickly but also without the driver realising quite how rapid it was. At motorway speeds in particular the speedo can typically be reading 15mph more than expected. Where the Leon always felt fast, the Golf masks its performance just a little more. Again it's personal preference as to whether this appeals, but I would enjoy just a little more excitement from a hot hatch.
With just over 3,000 miles, the Golf's fuel economy is still quite a way from the official claims. My most recent effort yielded 35mpg at an average of 40mph across 40 miles or so. Room for improvement with both driver and car!
Where it's tough to fault the Golf is from inside. Yes, it's a predictable observation but it does all the phone, media and navigation tasks exceedingly well. Especially having come from the Leon, the improved graphics and speed in particular are noticeable. On fairly routine drives they are very welcome, I have to say.
So yes, not the most PHey of months for the Golf R. We aim to resolve the situation very soon! There will be more on that BMW comparison in the next couple of weeks and we probably should do a proper track day as well. Until then it will probably continue being a talented and fast Golf, while attracting plenty of debate on the Internet. Can we beat 461 comments this time? Watch this space.
FACT SHEET
Car: 2015 Volkswagen Golf R
Run by: Matt, or James when there's fun stuff
On fleet since: March 2015
Mileage: 3,222
List price new: £32,220 (£36,055 as tested including £895 for 19-inch 'Pretoria' wheels, £1,765 for Discover Pro Nav, £815 for Dynamic Chassis Control dampers and £360 for Winter Pack).
Last month at a glance: Golf R does A-B with an A*
Previous updates:
All The Internet owns one, now PH has a Golf R!
Photos: James Arbuckle
I may have to organise a test drive.....
I may have to organise a test drive.....
I ended up with a Gen 1 Cayman S (new vs old, but it was a genuine choice) which makes 295bhp feel like 295bhp, where the 7R made it feel like 240....
Theres very little in it between an R and a GTI PP when rolling between 40-80.
FYI i own an R so im not just gassing.
The performance gap's "feels" too small, there's no comparison in any weather other than dry though if I'm honest, especially on the twisty's.
I think the 300HP is fine I just think it needed more Torque for a bigger shove when rolling.
I ended up with a Gen 1 Cayman S (new vs old, but it was a genuine choice) which makes 295bhp feel like 295bhp, where the 7R made it feel like 240....
Didn't realise a Golf R was well north of £100k, those lease deals must be pretty immense.
Couldn't care about speed, times, cornering etc. I'd still take an M135i! The 'R' just seems too 'chavvy' for me!
I am afraid that is all you get with the Golf R, its too lifeless to feel any fun!
I also find myself nodding along with some of the comments in the article, often i'll look down at the speedo and I'll be doing 90+ whilst it feels like I'm going 75ish. For me I'm a big fan of that. It's a comfortable cruiser when it wants to be, and a hooligan also when prodded.
Also just to add, the front bumper sensor really did save my bacon the other day. Long story short, my view was blocked from the dust of workmen on the street drilling/cutting into concrete. This also caused the car infront to slam on their brakes which I did'nt see. All of a sudden the car slams on the anchors and I came to an immediate stop. Without the Golfs safety systems I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have reacted in time.
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