First things first, I love hot hatchbacks. In my opinion, a hatchback offers enough car for most people’s needs and with a little added spice, provides enough performance for most and certainly more than enough usable performance. Safe to say that a discussion about hot hatchbacks cannot be had without mentioning Volkswagen.
The Mk 1 Golf GTI is widely acclaimed as the first of its kind, spurring many other manufacturers in turn to create performance variants of their smallest, most affordable vehicles. This trend reached peak lunacy in the early 2000s when sizable V6s were being dropped in the front or middle of hatches like the Alfa Romeo 147, Renault Clio and the Volkswagen Golf of course. With the Golf R32 Mk 4, the R sub-brand was born. With R now nearing its 25th birthday, the Mk8.5 is here to resurrect the nameplate following the underwhelming Mk 8.
Golf R Mk 8.5 cuts a sharp figure in Lapiz Blue Metallic
In the years gone by, the regular Golf in its R-Line guise has almost taken some of the shine off the full blown R. Those lines became very blurred with the outgoing generation. The Mk 8.5 Golf R-Line is particularly good too as you’ll see from Harry’s review. However, one of the distinguishing hallmarks of the proper R cars has always been in the colour, particularly the blue hues. Thankfully, Volkswagen New Zealand and I appear to see eye to eye on this one since my review vehicle was draped in Lapiz Blue Metallic. In my opinion, this is the only way to go when specifying one of these but for those less bold, it’s also available in white and black. I also quite like the contrasting silver mirror caps, a subtle but effective design feature.
For those wanting even less discretion, there’s a large rear wing and diffuser that can be optioned as well a quad tipped Akrapovic exhaust system to really wake up the neighbourhood.
R continues to be the range topping Golf
In a way though, selecting those options sort of defeats the purpose of the Golf R. Its success has come from discretion and the fact that “it’s a Golf but with more power” as carwow’s Mat Watson said in his review of the Mk 6 GTI. The same statement can be applied to any performance Golf and summed up everything I loved about mine.
Gladly, the same can be said about this Mk 8.5 R. In the ever growing world of car dimensions, it still measures just shy of 4.3m long and 1.8m wide. Couple this with its relatively boxy shape and you have a car that can fit four adults easily with their luggage in tow (341L of boot space). The generous soft lined door bins still exist as well as a rubberized pad with a lid that keeps your phone both charged and in place, there’s plenty more thoughtful tidbits too! However, no one really had a problem with any of this stuff on the Mk 8, it did its Golf duties rather well.
Mk 8.5 R’s interior is an improvement over the previous generation
Where the Mk 8 was a letdown was in the user friendliness of its technology, a feature that has progressively become more important in vehicles over the last decade. The good thing is, Volkswagen listened to the feedback and lit up the touch capacitive slider under the now 12.9 inch infotainment screen which helps immensely at night. However, touch capacitive buttons still live on the steering wheel as before and can completely miss the mark when trying to make trivial adjustments to the volume for example. After some research, I understand that it was the cost of recalibrating/rewiring the R button on the steering wheel that led Volkswagen to retain the steering wheel even though they were well aware of the response it might receive.
Other than that, the technology feels like an improvement over the previous model. That aside, the blue lighting in the cluster, infotainment and cabin reminds you that you aren’t just in a regular Golf, this is the model’s halo version and it is meant to be driven. By the way, said colour can also be changed to your taste!
Reminders of the R’s performance credentials exist both inside and out
Fire up the Golf R and its 2L turbocharged four pot comes to life, a familiar sound for a former GTI owner like myself. The noise gets even more so on the move with its soundtrack interrupted albeit briefly by the DSG ‘pops’. Gosh, after daily driving a traditional torque converter automatic for the last few years, this was a stark reminder of the magic that the DSG holds. The shifts were snappy, the gearbox always responsive and the car was perpetually ready to go, regardless of the drive mode. Over the years, Volkswagen have continue to harness the power of a 2L turbo, its calibration just right for delivering power on the go as well as refinement in traffic.
And power it certainly has, 328ish bhp will catapult this hatch from 0-100 in a claimed 4.6 seconds. Wow! It is very nearly in supercar territory here and sources online have recorded faster times too. 245kW and 420Nm will keep the car pulling you well past the signposted speed limit without breaking a sweat.
The car is a rocket ship in a straight line, dial it up to ‘Sport’ or ‘Race’ mode and it somehow becomes even more responsive. Then when faced with a corner, just turn the wheel and it will go around. Physics doesn’t seem to mater to the Golf R because it just keeps going! The exhausts are vocal too, letting you and others know of the imminent arrival of a 2L turbo, DSG vehicle. Power would be nothing without control and the R certainly isn’t lacking in either department, the 4Motion system ensuring your torque is always going to the right place.
It’s almost all too easy for the Golf R and here lies its inherent issue, the performance on offer is exactly that, too easy to extract.
The Verdict
Why ‘comfortably numb’? Yes, I like Pink Floyd but that and the haptic steering wheel aside, the Mk 8.5 Golf R is great, too good in fact! It’s an ever practical Golf but with more power than ever and an ability to put it all down like never before but that was exactly the problem with the Mk 8. Somewhere in the transition from the Mk 7/7.5 to the current models, its soul was lost and this cannot be found simply by dialing up the power once again.
Mathematically and physically, this Golf R is an incredible feat of engineering, the best R there ever has been but there’s more to cars than just the numbers. Emotionally, it’s imperfect.
2025 Volkswagen Golf R Mk 8.5: 4.5/5
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Car courtesy of Volkswagen New Zealand and EMD. Words and photos by Matthew D’Souza.