Driving the 2015 Volkswagen Golf R, the grown-ups' Evo

If the Volkswagen GTI has been one of America’s best cult cars, then its Golf R and R32 offshoots have been the cult-within-a-cult.

These are cars for a wafer-thin slice of the population willing to drop $35,000 and more on a hot hatchback with performance cranked to boiling point. The problem is that, while previous editions of these uber-Golfs have been a blast, they weren’t always blast-y enough to justify spending several thousand dollars beyond the already excellent GTI.

The 2015 Golf R changes all that. First, the redesigned, seventh-generation Golf makes an ideal building block for high performance. The Golf GTI captured our 2015 Yahoo Autos Car of the Year award, and both Motor Trend and North American Car of the Year followed suit handing out their trophies to the Golf family a short while later. This hyper-engineered German machine shares its luxury-level platform with the Audi A3 and S3 sedans and upcoming TT sports car. Yet a Golf is affordable, fun and comes in multiple great versions: A gasoline Golf TSI for $18,995 to start; a fuel-frugal TDI diesel at $21,995, and the 210-horsepower GTI at $25,215, with a fully optioned GTI sneaking past $30,000.

The all-wheel-drive Golf R is the fourth and most luxurious flavor, a spicy, caviar-topped morsel that’s the fastest Golf in history: A smoking 4.9-second trip to 60 mph and a 155-mph top speed, with 292 horses from an amped-up version of the GTI’s 2.0-liter turbo four. Just don’t choke on the price: $37,415 to start, equipped with the brilliant six-speed, dual-clutch DSG automated gearbox. Where the previous Golf R couldn’t be had with a manual transmission, this 2015 model will lure enthusiasts with an optional stick in the coming months, saving roughly $1,100 in the process. And what a manual: Light, buttery and perfectly mated to a sensitive clutch, it feels as good as any Porsche stick. On our test drive from San Diego to Julian, California – torching the Cleveland National Forest on some of the most adrenaline-pumping roads in the continental U.S. – the stick-and-clutch version proved notably more engaging than the automatic DSG model.

Kick the price to $39,910, and the Golf R adds a slick driver-adjustable magnetic suspension with a notably wide range of ride-and-handling settings – definitely recommended for drivers who deal with potholes and crusty pavement. That version also adds larger 19-inch alloy wheels, touchscreen navigation, Fender premium audio and Park Distance Control. That price is roughly $700 more than the 305-horsepower Subaru WRX STi Limited, and on par with a loaded Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, a car that’s enjoying its farewell tour in 2015.

The difference? The Golf R is the grown-up’s tuner car, with a vastly quieter, more luxurious cabin and fewer compromises than its Asian rivals. As fun as they are to drive, the STi and Evo are loud, brash, harsh and occasionally exhausting. And with their fast-and-furious bodywork, including gaudy rear wings that slice the air like a backwards baseball cap, the Subie and Mitsubishi have an adolescent, even delinquent vibe that’s charming to some, but immature to others.  

The Golf R, in contrast, is a car that a 40- or even 60-year-old could drive without explanation or embarrassment – while keeping up with the whippersnappers when no one’s looking.

Offered only as a four-door, the ultimate Golf is handsomely understated with more-aggressive bumpers, side skirts and enlarged air intakes; adaptive Xenon headlamps with LED turn signals and daytime running lamps; 18- or 19-inch alloy wheels, four oval exhaust outlets and a tasteful sprinkling of “R” badges. The interior is like the GTI’s – roomy and sumptuous, with a near-perfect relationship between driver and controls – only better. The flat-bottomed steering wheel and sculpted shift levers look like gear from an $80,000 luxury car. Gauge needles and ambient door lighting glow in cool blue, with aluminum and dark carbon-look trim and robustly bolstered, ribbed-leather seats. The 5.8-inch infotainment touchscreen features a proximity sensor that switches the display to input mode when your finger approaches.

The pace picks up with a 2.0-liter, direct-injected four with 292 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. A larger turbocharger, new cylinder head and pistons and higher-pressure fuel injection help deliver 82 more horses and 22 more pound-feet than in the standard GTI.

Ride height is 0.8 inches lower than the Golf, and 0.2 inches below the GTI. The 4Motion AWD system uses the latest Haldex-style coupling to send up to 50 percent of power to the rear wheels – and critically for high-speed handling, can deliver that power even before front wheels begin to slip. (Compared with the GTI, the AWD system, larger wheels and other gear add about 250 pounds of extra weight.)

Electric power steering is a paragon of weight and feel. The Golf R adopts the larger brakes of the GTI’s Performance Pack, with 13.4-inch vented rotors up front and 12.2 inches rear. And while there’s not a true limited-slip differential to maximize traction, you won’t really miss it: VW’s XDS+ system automatically dabs an inside brake – on either front or rear axles, as opposed to merely front wheels of the GTI – to help pivot the Golf R around turns like a genuine AWD beastie. An ESC Sport mode offers a wider envelope for the stability control. And for the first time, the Golf R’s stability control can be fully disengaged for track driving

In the desolate, scrubby California hills, the Golf R slingshots through turns in almost too-serene fashion, a heady combo of speed and train-on-a-rail confidence: Only the most idiotic, ham-fisted driver could get this car to slide into a ditch. At a lunch break in the quaint town of Julian, Hans Stuck readily agrees. This retired, legendary racer, whose resume includes back-to-back 24 Hours of Le Mans wins in a Porsche 962 in the ‘80s, helped develop the Golf R at Germany’s Nürburgring track, turning hundreds of test laps over many months – and fighting hard with VW management to get the suspension, brakes and steering just right.

Stuck chuckles when he recalls his own heroic drives in racing Porsche Turbos of the mid ‘70s, appropriately nicknamed “The Widowmaker,” for their volatile handling. “You needed four hands to drive that car,” says Stuck. “Compared to that, there’s a real safety factor with this car. It’s really hard to throw it away.”

Stuck still owns and drives a first-generation 1981 GTI, and he marvels at the difference: “That old car is still fun, but it feels centuries away from this one.”  

And that about sums it up: If stories of old VW’s and Porsches warm your heart, the Golf R may be for you. Fans of American muscle may scoff, noting that 40 grand will buy a modestly equipped V8 Mustang GT, Chevy Camaro SS or Dodge Challenger R/T. True enough.

But for people who prefer an overachieving German compact, the Golf R compares favorably with its vastly pricier sister, the Audi S3 sedan – a car with the identical platform, engine, AWD system and DSG transmission. The VW’s interior is every bit as deluxe as the Audi’s, and the S3 doesn’t offer a manual option. The Audi also starts at $41,995, and runs past $48,000 comparably equipped. A lightly optioned, 240-hp BMW 228i coupe can be had for the VW’s price, but the Golf R will smoke its performance and is more practical to boot. The 335-horsepower BMW M235i is beyond brilliant, but it also costs nearly $50,000 when all is said and done. Mercedes’ GLA45 AMG hatchback crossover serves up 355 AWD horsepower, but that baby starts above $49,000 and tops $60,000 with options.

In contrast, the AWD Golf R with a manual transmission can be had out-the-door for just over $36,000, and fully stuffed for less than $40,000. If you can live with a VW badge on the outside – knowing all the performance, luxury and technology you’re getting on the inside – the Golf R could make you a true believer.