Tuesday 12th May 2015

Volkswagen Golf R: PH Fleet

There are over 400 comments on the first story - what now for the Golf R?

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Much though it would be great to detail countless stories of fantastic adventures with the Golf R, it's been a fairly tame month for KX15PWV. A busy one, sure, but filled with the more mundane journeys rather than seat-of-the-pants hoons.

#BreakTheInternet

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.

"Now where's the launch control?"

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.

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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

[Driver Rider]

I have a mk5 GTI these Golf R cars look impressive on paper but don't know that it'll excite me anymore than my current car. I'm sure it'll impress with grip and pace but don't know if it'll get under my skin.....BMW m135i may just do it for me straight six(whilst we can still but them), rear wheel drive(whilst BMW still build small rear wheel drive cars) mean for me it's a case of job done.

I may have to organise a test drive.....