Volkswagen Golf R

Volkswagen Golf R – Overview

The Volkswagen Golf is not only the most recognisable car in the carmaker’s stable, it is one of the most iconic cars in the world, and in February 2022, Malaysia finally got her hands on the fire-breathing, all-wheel drive version of this hatchback, the Volkswagen Golf R, now in its eighth generation, or more famously known as Mk8. As the pinnacle of the range, this latest superhatch is only available as a fully-imported model, unlike its other two less muscular siblings, the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Volkswagen Golf R-Line, both of which are put together in Pekan.

This means that this new 2022 Volkswagen Golf R Mk8 is priced at RM391,162 on-the-road sans insurance, which makes it almost RM100k more expensive than the outgoing model.

Volkswagen Golf R – Exterior

Its aggressive exterior certainly sets the Volkswagen Golf R apart from its other siblings. The VW Golf R gets a unique front bumper with an incorporated splitter, unique R-only air intakes, and black elements finished to glossy black all around the car. Not only that, stretching across the entire front of the car is a blue crossbar that can light up to give the car that extra pizzazz.

Other R-specific exterior bits are the matte chrome side mirror caps that emits R logo puddle lights, blue-finished brake calipers, rear diffuser, roof spoiler, and quad chrome-plated Akrapovic exhaust pipes. Finally, the Volkswagen Golf R also rides on unique 19-inch Adelaide aluminium alloys.

Is the iconic Lapiz Blue colour not to your taste (no judgement, to each their own)? You also have the option of Deep Black and Pure White.

Volkswagen Golf R – Interior

Inside, the Volkswagen Golf R Mk8 is laid out much laid the everyday Golf, peppered with R bits. The 10-inch Discover Pro infotainment touchscreen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto is also found here, but the driver of the VW Golf R gets a configurable and fully digital instrument display. The seats up front are finished in Nappa leather with carbon-look elements, blue accents, an R logo sewn into the backrest, and the sport steering wheel has a dedicated R button to cycle through the various driving modes. Only the driver’s seat is electronically-adjustable, and it also has lumbar adjustment and memory settings. 

Volkswagen Golf R - Features

Climate-control can be performed automatically across 3 zones, self-dimming rear-view mirror, and there are 5 different presets for its interior ambient lighting. Outside the car, the Volkswagen Golf R has automatic headlamps, automatic wipers, heated side mirrors, full LED headlights with cornering lights, LED DRLs, and LED taillights with ‘dynamic’ indicators. Also, when the driver wants to listen to something else besides the sonorous exhaust note, they can pump up the 480 W Harman Kardon 10-speaker sound system.

In the safety department, the equipment highlights are Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, Automatic Coming/Leaving Home lights, rear-view camera, and Side Assist with Rear Cross-traffic Alert.

Volkswagen Golf R - Powertrain

This is the most powerful Volkswagen Golf R to date, with 320 PS and 420 Nm of torque from its EA888 2.0-litre TSI engine. This plant is paired to the 7-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission, and power goes to every corner via the 4Motion AWD system. However, in Malaysia, only 400 Nm of torque is available, and the slight detune is thanks to the local fuel conditions.

The 4Motion AWD system can split power not only between front and rear axles, but between both sides of the axle as well, and 100% of the torque can be sent to the outside wheel for increased ‘oomph’ out of a corner, which Volkswagen calls R-Performance Torque Vectoring.

As usual, managing all this torque is the Vehicle Dynamics Manager, which works in tandem with the electronic differential locks (XDS) and DCC adaptive dampers to give optimum handling in all conditions. This system also manages the torque vectoring via braking and has the 4 modes we’re accustomed to by now – Comfort, Sport, Race, and Individual. The Special and Drift modes available in most other markets are not found on our Malaysian VW Golf R.

Volkswagen Golf R - Driving Performance

The century sprint is completed in 4.8 seconds, and the superhatch will go on to a limited 250 km/h. These figures are exciting, and as we have found out in our review, the Volkswagen Golf R is highly, highly capable, but it still leaves us wanting more.

Volkswagen has successfully dialed as much understeer as they could from this platform, and the nose of car will simply turn into a corner and out, with the tail following beautifully. The torque vectoring system which brakes the inside wheels and powers the outside works without fuss and intuitively for fast and drama-less cornering.

However, the steering, while fast and responsive, is numb and there’s no sense of what the front wheels are doing – it does not weigh up under cornering load, and the extra heft in Race mode just adds artificial weight. 

Volkswagen Golf R - Ride Comfort

Overall, the Volkswagen Golf R Mk8 is definitely a less comfortable car than its predecessor. Everything is a little bit firmer, and while a good thing in a sporty vehicle, it is a little jittery at lower speeds when driving around the broken tarmac of our cities. Having said that, however, we still think the superhatch is still on the comfortable end, especially when you consider the other competing superhatches.

Volkswagen Golf R - Fuel Consumption

The Volkswagen Golf R Mk8 has a fuel consumption of 7.8 l/100km.

Volkswagen Golf R - Conclusion

Perhaps the new Volkswagen Golf R’s greatest competitor is not from without, but really, from within, as the previous generation Mk7 Golf R is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, performance Golf, ever. That’s quite a hard act to follow, and sadly, the new Volkswagen Golf R is not able to do so. What’s more, its price of RM391,162 makes it more expensive than every major competitor out there, and these competitors have more desirable badges as well.