2015 Volkswagen Golf R
Type of vehicle: Five-passenger, all-wheel-drive, compact sedan
Price as tested: $39,910
Fuel economy: 23 miles per gallon city, 30 highway
Weight: About 3,400 pounds
Engine: Turbocharged, direct-injected 2-liter four-cylinder with 292 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed, dual-clutch automatic
Performance: 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds
Sources: Volkswagen Group of America; Car and Driver
The limited-production 2015 Volkswagen Golf R enjoys high standing as one of Europe’s better hot hatches.
Considered a step up from the vaunted Volkswagen GTI, the R can rip through the Alps in the morning and make a sausage-and-beer run in the afternoon — all while averaging 25 miles per gallon.
The R crackles with interesting changes this year, appropriating the same 2-liter turbo four and all-wheel-drive powertrain that propel the superb Audi S3.
You’ll need to look hard for clues of that move, though.
From 10 feet, the glossy silver R sedan I had recently appeared to be just another stylishly square, two-box VW Golf, a practical front-driver for Unitarians.
Get closer, however, and you may notice four small “R” badges on various panels of the car, as well as large 19-inch alloy wheels wearing fairly meaty 235/35 tires.
In back, dual twin-tipped exhausts poke from beneath the bumper, suggesting that this might be something more than a tepid mid-level Golf.
If you like square lines and subtlety, you’ll appreciate the unassuming R.
Low and clean
Low and clean, the R had a sleek blacked-out grille flanked by fairly conventional wrap-around headlamps.
A prominent character line beneath its door handles cut crisply though mostly flat sides, and the R’s big wheels and low-profile tires fully occupy the car’s corners.
Unlike me, it seemed more serious and purposeful up close.
Just pop the hood, for example. Volkswagen-Audi’s ubiquitous 2-liter four, which seems available in just about every model of their vehicles, is tweaked and turbocharged in the R version to 292 horsepower.
It twists a dual-clutch six-speed automatic with considerable authority, putting its power to the pavement through all four wheels.
The Haldex all-wheel-drive system and other upscale options add minimal weight, pushing the R to a little over 3,400 pounds, about 100 more than the front-wheel-drive GTI.
That likely plays a role in the R’s acceptable economy: 23 miles per gallon in town and 30 on the highway.
The turbo-squeezed four spins out 280 pound-feet of torque at an impressively low 1,800 rpm.
The R leaps away from stops and efficiently rips its way to 60 mph in 4.5 very fleet seconds, according to Car and Driver.
It felt quick, too, surging a little at around 3,000 rpm and emitting a small exhaust “woof” with each paddle shift of the transmission.
But when I added everything up, the R just felt slightly less intense and focused than its little brother, the GTI, and it costs $40,000, about $6,000 more than a GTI with a few options.
Hmmm. Did the R catch some residual dust from VW’s bad juju?
Good grip
Likewise, the R is equipped with a fairly sophisticated “adaptive sport suspension” that provided flat, balanced cornering with good grip from the all-wheel-drive system.
While a bit numb, the steering felt nicely weighted, precise and extremely quick.
Consequently, I could sail hard into tight curves and stay on the accelerator, moving the unflappable R around between curbs as it drifted lightly.
But the R just didn’t seem to turn in with the razor-sharp aggression or corner with the unabashed joy of the supposedly lesser GTI.
As you might expect in a high-performance sedan, the R rolled firmly over smooth pavement, getting kind of rowdy on the weather-beaten stuff.
Most of the time, the R’s black interior seemed high-end hot hatch.
A flat-topped dashboard curved stylishly over the instrument panel, for instance, while a broad center stack trimmed in piano black looked proportional with its 5.8-inch display screen.
Even better, simple buttons and knobs below the screen controlled the car’s climate system.
Meanwhile, VW provided a little flash with the function, trimming the dash and door panels in a carbon fiber-like material.
The seats and flat-bottom steering wheel fit especially well. Black seats stitched in decent leather offered comfortable support, and the legroom and headroom in back were reasonable.
But would I buy an R? Maybe. It delivers performance similar to the wild-child Subaru WRX STI and is easier to live with.
The problem, as I see it, is that the R doesn’t feel $6,000 better than the excellent GTI.
Give us a bit more edge and excitement, though, and the R could dominate the hot-hatch segment.
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