Sittin Waitin Wishin: 2015 VW Golf R

"Jonathon Klein" (jonathon-klein)
05/27/2014 at 12:23 • Filed to: Sittin Waitin Wishin, Golf R

Here in the States we have been waiting and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that this car would someday be offered to us lowly American's. With our limp wristed sedans and no love for hot hatchery VW has been want to give us the proper Golf. That has all changed. We've had hatches here in the States for a long time, but no real love has been given to them. That is until Ford started to bring us hot hatches a few years ago.

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Now the Fiesta and Focus ST are everyone's favorite new thing to toss around an autocross. Not to be out done by said American's, ze Germans are again bringing over the Golf R to give the blue oval a run for its money. We have had similar versions of the Golf R brought to the States, but those were a diluted version. For 2015, the Golf R will be almost identical to the European version. A 300hp AWD evil hot hatch that will turn pretty much everything in the segment into last year's milk!

So rejoice good people, auto manufacturers are finally listening to what we enthusiasts want! Rejoice! Now that Volkswagen has our attention, can they actually make our dreams come true and offer us something that these enthusiast buyers will want to fork over their hard-earned money for?

Let's start off with the biggest concern and the most prominent feature or rather lack of feature on this car. The handbrake. Long has the handbrake been the tool for hooligan's to get their car's sideways, either in an empty parking lots, or used in snow to pretend you were Petter Solberg flicking his car through a winter rally stage.

( You do not belong here! )

However, for 2015, the new Golf R no longer has a manual operated E-brake, rather it now has an electronic one. And for those that say, well it still has one, it's a button, not a lever. You can't crank on it. You can't pull it in anger. You can only use it for parking, not hooning. It's a travesty for a hot hatch not to have this hooning tool at its disposal. It could be one of the best hot hatches around, but the lack of a proper E-brake will definitely turn off some potential buyers. Look at the ST lineup, they both have conventional E-brakes because Ford knows what these cars are made for.

Moving away from the obvious to the more practical side, the interior of the Golf is really just a great place to be. The seats are wonderful, as they should be for a more luxurious hot hatch. The bolstering in the seats are right where you want them to be, and going around fast turns these seats will keep you stable without much shifting. They aren't full race seats, but they perform great. The leather is smooth and soft, giving a much more comfortable ride than conventional harder bucket seats. They wrap nicely around your waist and let you sink your butt into them.

Moving up in the driver's seat, you are greeted with a flat-bottomed steering wheel for those larger fellows, or for those that want to set their seat position more in a race car driver setting closer to the wheel. The wheel itself feels very nice with thumb detents making it perfectly suited for enthusiastic driving. What isn't so nice about the interior was again, the Piano black surfaces. Luckily, VW didn't go crazy with this car and only accent pieces were that color.

The entertainment console is nicely apportioned and is not button crazy like many of the new cars coming out. The steering wheel receives most of the buttons and leaves the center console with more basic functions that encourage the driver to control the cars entertainment more often with the steering wheel, meaning a greater push for safety from VW. The car's gauges are directly in front of you and nicely trimmed with brushed aluminum and a blue indicator bezel. It looks great with the car lights off, and looks just as good with the lights on.

Since this version was the 2 door, the rear seats are virtually nonexistent and would only be useful in one had small children or one used it as a larger trunk. However, where this car doesn't fall down on is the amount of headroom. Very often I start off these rants by stating that the car doesn't have enough headroom for my gargantuan frame. This car had room for miles. Even this model with the optional moon roof, had a good 5in's of room between my head and the roof. This is practically unheard of with a hot hatch and me trying to wedge myself in it. The Fiesta definitely doesn't have this much room. But this car is in more lines with the Focus ST and that still doesn't have as good of headroom as this car has.

Therefore, does Wolfsburg deserve your hard-earned hot hatch buying money? According to Doug, probably not. That is unless you get a warranty that lasts forever. For me however, this car is a somewhat confusing prospect. On the one hand, the interior is so nice and so roomy, at least in the front seats, that this car is a great buy. Coupled to 300hp and AWD, it's a steal. But certain things bother me about this car. The lack of a proper E brake, and that the price, at almost $40k is a heck of a lot of money for not a lot of car. I can't give this a yes, or a complete no. I think a solid eh determines this cars value. If you need German luxury coupled with a hot hatch and don't do a lot of hooning, then this is the car for you. If you want a cheap hot hatch that can do everything this can, but live without that much hp, the Ford's are definitely the better buy.

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DISCUSSION (4)

BadMatt > Jonathon Klein
05/27/2014 at 12:53

This is the S3 that everybody wanted: 5 doors hatch, 3 pedals and likely 6000$ less...

Great for a young family: I am seriously considering this fun car as my next purchase!

Saracen > Jonathon Klein
05/27/2014 at 12:54

I looked at the MKVI Golf R at the 2011 LA Auto show and didn't think it was worth the money overall.

Ended up buying one seven months later (granted, for $1200 below invoice...)

Sitting in a car is not the same as evaluating it during a drive.

A couple of months later I thrashed a Focus ST on an autocross course. Very fun car, but it did not make me regret my decision.

Janson Rodger > Jonathon Klein
05/27/2014 at 13:41

I have had adult sized people in the back seats of my MKV GTI for a two hour road trip and, while a little cozy, nobody felt cramped. Did the back seat area shrink for the MKVII?

Jonathon Klein > Janson Rodger
05/27/2014 at 14:19

For the two door it felt mighty cramped