Volkswagen Golf R Performance Pack Review

As the automotive world goes increasingly electric, the first victims that will be truly lost to time will likely be your 'affordable' performance cars - typically the realm of the hot hatchback. 

Think about it. 

The luxury performance car manufacturers, even if they are exploring electrification, will likely still continue to have internal combustion in some form. And they can afford to. With lower volumes, the overall environmental impact made by these companies (and their cars) are comparatively lower. 

The typical hot hatch formula - take a 'normal' car and bless it with more performance - is a recipe that will dramatically change in the coming electric age

With the volume manufacturers, there is an obvious need to go electric, and quickly. Their carbon footprints are much larger, and pressure to change and evolve is thus more immediate. And most brands are already committed to going electric. 

Hot hatchbacks (or most affordable performance cars) typically are based on a 'normal' mass market car - a base car tuned up to deliver more performance. Think about your Type Rs and Megane RSes, or even the GTI. Perhaps take a more powerful engine from another car in the range and plop it into a smaller, lighter car. That's basically the hot hatch formula, right? 

Based on the current Mk 8 Golf, the new Golf R is the most powerful series production Golf ever made

But once these 'normal' cars go electric, the performance variants inevitably will, too. There's no economic sense to transform production lines to deliver electric cars, yet still hold on to manufacturing processes (and resources) to still make low volume non-electric performance variants. 

Which brings me to this - the new Volkswagen Golf R, based on the current Mk 8 Golf.

315bhp and 430Nm of torque are sent from the familiar EA888 engine to all four wheels, delivering urgent pace across all road conditions

All power

This is the highest performing series production Golf ever made. That's always been the remit of the R model, after all. 

Power comes from a familiar EA888 turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, now tuned to deliver 315bhp and 430Nm of torque. Sent to all four wheels via a snappy seven-speed DSG, the Golf R is effortlessly quick across all situations and road conditions. 

With its relatively light and responsive steering, attacking corners is fun, helped by the available torque vectoring. And it's really easy to go quickly - keep the turbos on boost and you can carry tons of speed all the time, all doled out in a very mature and controlled manner. And while the car isn't that light, the bump in power does help hide that fact. 

The quad-tip Akrapovic exhaust system makes all sorts of smile-inducing noises (and it looks cool, too)

There are plenty of farting noises, too, courtesy of the Akrapovic exhaust. Put in its sportier settings, lift off the throttle in any of the lower gears and the pops will put a smile on your childish face. 

My favourite feature? The new 'Special' mode (it uses a Nurburgring logo, I will call it the Nurburgring mode). In many performance cars, the typical 'Race' setting is always too harsh for normal roads. This 'Nurburgring' mode sets the car up in how I would typically do it, which is everything hardcore, dampers comfort. The result is a sharp and aggressive drivetrain, but the car still feels pliant and responsive to the tarmac - there's a greater sense of flow on public roads. This is a B-road monster, the car that the Golf R has always meant to be. Even on limited Singapore roads, it feels necessarily alive. 

And 'Drift' mode? I literally couldn't care less about it. 

The new 'Nurburgring' mode sets up the car to tackle B-roads with absolute aplomb, and really accentuates the character and capability of the car

But it's not all about power with the Golf R. Put in its 'Comfort' setting, the Golf R performs faultlessly as a daily driver, and is no more intimidating to use than even a Cat A Golf. It's quiet, well-damped, and effortless to drive. 

The duality of the car is what gives the Golf R its particular character - sporty across all conditions (I struggled to induce wheelspin in pouring rain), but also practical and sensible anytime you need it to be. 

The exterior gets R-specific touches like the redesigned 'R' logo, blue accents, and blue brake callipers

All Golf

The rest of the car? It's familiar, for better and worse. The exterior is recognisably Mk 8 Golf, with your standard LED lights all around. This R model gets blue accents (blue is the R colour), R specific bumpers, and a redesigned R logo. The optional Performance Pack adds a sporty rear wing, and an Akrapovic quad-tip exhaust system with titanium mufflers (mmm, tasty). It's not subtle, this car. Sleeper car, this is not. 

The interior is pretty much a standard high-spec Golf. 

The infotainment system is crisp and well-featured (wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto), but operated through the same annoying capacitive touch controls and a user interface that needs refining. 

The interior is pretty standard Mk 8 Golf - nice to look at, well-featured, but the infotainment system can be annoying to operate

You get standard features like wireless charging, USB C ports, ambient lighting, all par for course for any modern car. Music is good, thanks to the 10-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system. 

The sports seats are supportive and comfy, but with no adjustable headrest it's not going to be too comfortable for people either end of the height spectrum. They are ventilated, which is nice. Oh, but the passenger-side seat is manually adjusted. Weight-saving. 

One thing that surprised me? The air-con is very strong and cold. 

Yes, of course a Golf R has to have blue accents throughout the cabin 

Of course, you also get blue accents throughout (stitching, piping, even the trim on the carpet) to really emphasise and remind you that you are in a Golf R. 

For the money, is it too similar to an R-Line Golf? Probably. 

The new Golf R takes a step up in terms of performance, handling and overall fun, but that comes with a hefty price tag

All wrapped up

The hard thing to swallow with the Golf R is the price tag. $372,900 (as of 8 Sep 2023) is a lot for a fast Golf (you can thank record COE premiums for that). A GTI can be had for 90 grand less. 

As a mechanical package, the Golf R is highly capable, very mature, endlessly quick, but admittedly not the most exciting hot hatch ever. It's not 90 grand more exciting than a GTI, that's for sure. 

And, I have never been the biggest Golf R fan. I always thought them a little too serious, though I am liking this one - it seems to have found a bit of humour back ('Nurburgring' mode is both super serious and intentional, but also quite fun and humorous). The desirability of the car grew on me the more time I spent in it. 

Beyond just the mechanical package, the desirability of this particular Golf R is inextricably linked to the fact that its days are numbered

However, when it comes to a hot hatch, especially one like this Golf R, rationality isn't everything. It's worth considering that this is basically the last super-hot Golf before performance goes electric. If you ever wanted a full-fat, full-blown petrol-powered Golf, this is it. This might be the last opportunity to have one. And in my mind, that has to count for something. 

I admit, it might be sentimentality talking. There is a narrative that surrounds this particular Golf R that distinguishes it from all the ones that have come before, and I think it's impossible to separate that from evaluating just the mechanical package alone. This could very well be the last of its kind (a phrase that I am now saying worryingly often). 

This current generation Golf will get a mid-cycle facelift. Perhaps the Golf R too. But this is the last ICE-powered Golf generation, so the Golf R's days are numbered. 

As performance cars like the Golf R approach their petrol-death, it's paramount that people savour (and preferably buy) every last one of them

The Golf R still occupies quite a niche space, as it always has. But for those enthusiasts who appreciate this sort of thing, this car is special, all the more because it might be the last time it will exist in this current form. Yes, maybe you are overpaying for a Golf R, but it could also be the last instance that you could overpay for one. 

That makes me sad, and that also makes me want one. 

More compact performance cars to whet your appetite? Check out these stories:

The GR86 is a heartfelt love letter from Toyota to all driving enthusiasts

The BMW M2 is a brilliant machine, but are you skilful enough to let it dance gracefully on the tarmac?

The Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 embraces a simple and rewarding sports car recipe