2017 Volkswagen Golf R 7.5 review

If you’re going in hard and heavy with the performance guns like VW is with the new Golf line-up, then you need a flagship model that is not in the habit of taking prisoners.

Then again, you don’t want to screw the pooch with wholesale changes that somehow dilute the spirit of the car that helped put the Golf thing up on that pedestal in the first place.

Kind of a nice problem to have, and with the launch of the performance versions of the Golf 7.5, we’re inclined to think VW has struck the right balance.

Significantly, though, the basic look and feel hasn’t been altered. If ever there was a case of aint broke, don’t fix, this is probably it.

So what is different? Well, the new Golf R is pretty loaded with new kit, starting with the driver assistance package, dynamic LED indicators, the active dashboard, 19-inch alloys, leather trim, a power driver’s seat with memory and automatic high-beam which use a masking process and moveable LED light-source to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic. The only option amounts to the panoramic sunroof.

The 4-Motion all-wheel-drive system remains but the engine changes have led to a power-up to 213kW and there’s now 380Nm of torque. There’s now also a form of launch control fitted and the ESP can, in the R, be turned completely off, unlike the system fitted to the lesser GTis.

The new motor is completely bonkers, to be honest with you. It rushes up the face of the tach and absolutely monsters the redline in any of the first four gears.

It sounds and feels totally convincing, too, with enough mechanical-ness to avoid feeling like a sewing machine, but enough sophistication to keep your attention. The two-litre in R spec plays rhythm, not lead, but the song won’t work without it.

The R still feels totally glued to the track, too, and where you can feel the front diff in the GTi Performance model doing its thig in real time, the R has so much Velcro-action, that it never seems to get out of shape in the first place.

There’s no real sense that it’s electrons and not hydraulic pressure that’s helping you spin the variable rate steering, and that’s got to be the nicest thing you can say about modern power-steering. But one thing we did notice this time around that hasn’t surfaced before was a slight lack of suspension travel.

Clout a big enough crater fast enough and the front struts will find their bump-stops in a pretty dramatic way. It could easily have something to do with the 225/35 19s fitted as standard and it’d be very interesting to drive an R on an 18-inch combo.

Which is to say; fast Golfs are likely to be still in fashion long after mega-low-profile tyres have left the catwalk.

4.5 stars out of 5 Likes: Utterly stable, vice-free and dill-proof. Yet still good fun. Dislikes: Have we perhaps breached the sensible limit in tyre sizes?

2017 VW Golf R 7.5 Specs: Body: 5-door, 5-seat hatch Drive: all-wheel Engine: 1984cc 4-cyl, DOHC, 16v, turbocharged Bore/stroke: 82.5 x 92.8mm Compression: 9.3:1 Power: 213kW @ 5400-6000rpm Torque: 380Nm @ 1850-5300rpm Power/weight: 141kW/tonne Transmission: 6-speed manual/7-speed DSG Weight: 1429-1450kg Suspension (f): MacPherson struts, lower A-arms, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar Suspension(r): Four-link, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar L/W/H: 4263/1799/1436mm Wheelbase: 2626mm Tracks: 1537/1511mm (f/r) Steering: electrically-assisted rack-and-pinion Brakes (F): 340mm ventilated discs, single-piston calipers Brakes (R): 310mm ventilated discs, single-piston calipers Wheels: 19 x 7.5-inch (f); 19 x 7.5-inch (r) Tyre Sizes: 225/35 R19 (f); 225/35 R19 (r) Tyre: Pirelli P-Zero or ContiSport Contacts Price as tested: $52,990 to $55,490