2022 VW Golf R Review: 0-60mph, Drift Mode, Sound, Handling & More | Top Gear Tested
The latest Volkswagen Golf R is of course the most powerful and fastest Golf ever, but the new all-wheel drive VW super-hatch has apparently sprouted a (very German) sense of humour, thanks to a clever rear differential and Drift Mode. Yep, it’ll powerslide. But is that gimmick what you really want from a sensible, classy all-weather 316bhp superhatch? And has Volkswagen’s bizarre decision to replace buttons and logic with a laggy touchscreen inside wrecked the Golf’s sense of quality and maturity? Join Top Gear magazine’s Serious Car Tester Ollie Kew at the top-secret Top Gear Test Facility to see if the latest Golf R is truly worth in excess of £40,000. And how well it jumps…
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Is the UI perfect? Nope. Did it take me more than 10 minutes playing around with it to figure out everything I need to know? Nope. Did I buy one despite all the complaints from others about how bad the infotainment is? Absolutely. The car is a beast and despite the quirkiness of the software, it's not even close to an issue that most reviewers make it out to be. Use the shortcut menu to get anything you want to access frequently and get on with it.
Exactly. Anyone who can work a phone or computer, will blitz through these menus.
Those are « old school conservative car enthusiasts » problems. For the others, the car is fantastic, and the infotainment is great, though it needs a little getting used to. After a few days, it’s a 💥
@@geronimooo260 Nobody's complaining about the car's practicality or its driving dynamics. The complaints are centered around its pedestrian looking interior and about the UI and its lackluster capabilities which cannot be ignored. It is slow and cumbersome with much to be desired. A bland entry level interior in a car topping 40 grand is unacceptable. VW (as well as other manufacturers) needs to get a team together and focus exclusively on its UI over its entire group. Since its been mentioned, a standardization across the auto industry (similar to cell phones/computers) would be even better. Remember, there's a lot more to personal vehicle use these days than just its driving characteristics and getting from A to B. Nowadays, in a great many cases, people use their cars as an office/work space; and to some extent, a second home -- or at least a room added to it. The cars need to be functional, as well as look and feel inviting. To ignore that trend is just another way car makers will get left behind.
@@krane15 Have you seen one in person?
@@shawnfactorovich2960 Why, is the plastic different in person?
Two misconceptions made in this video: 1.) He failed to mention that there is an ESC shortcut. just swipe down, hold on on one of the icons and set one as your favourite (this includes the ESC). 2.) He criticized the car for auto-upshifting. The car does not auto-upshift if you are in special or drift modes
Exactly, they want to give a verdict, but they don't know their stuff. Really disappointing!
He also said you have to go into sport mode on the transmission first...but going into race mode does that automatically -_-
You have kind of proven the point though. - The interface is a mess so you have to rely on non obvious features to get what you want.
@@cheekychappy1234 The interface isn't a mess and anyone who has used a smart phone knows how to set up a shortcut. This review was lazy and for being this late in the game should have come up with something original. In 5 min with the car you can figure all of this out on your own. there are three pages you can customize with different information. You can access most of what you need to do with this car without taking your hands off the wheel. Hell you can tell it your hands are cold and it will turn on your heated steering wheel without touching anything. Placing the vehicle in either of the special race modes shows on the screen your are in sport to sport+. How did he miss that? This review was regurgitated from 30 min of watching other ill researched reviews on youtube and a 10 min drive. Top Gear is not what it once was.
Its a great car. I have one with performance pack. My friend and we are both in our 40s has a ford focus RS 16 plate. The golf just leaves that car for dust in the corners and the straights. Its that good.
The amount of misinformation in this video is really disappointing. Going into race mode changes it to sport transmission automatically. You can set a short cut for ESC from the pull down menu at the top of the screen. If you're in drift or nurburgring mode it doesn't upshift for you.
Completely agree.
OK then, you provide examples to support your claims. There is hope for our education system after all.
@@krane15 there are many videos that have the car banging off the rev limiter like AutomannTV’s autobahn videos with it in Nurburgring mode
@@krane15 I have the golf 8 R myself and he's right.
You are right
I traded in my 7.5 GTI for 8 R with a 6spd MT. I’m a month in driving it and I’ve gotten used to all the settings and touch buttons. Night and day a better car!
They need to fix the interior controls. It's a deal breaker. Need to go back to physical buttons and knobs.
100%, would actually prefer the 7.5 still
Looks like you're old school,the world's going hitech
@@buntyjha that isn't "high tech". That's just pandering to a generation who thinks like you but doesn't realize how dumb it is. There are countless peer reviewed human interface studies on why this is a terrible idea. Do a little research. Innovation doesn't mean eliminating buttons.
@@buntyjha it's not hi tech capacitive touch tech has been around since the last century, it's cost cutting. Capacitive buttons are cheaper and because they are still new to auto interiors they are novel, but they are inferior to physical buttons in an automotive application.
@@cwx8 I don't think they're really trying to appeal here... they're just trying to make the car cheaper. capacitive & software controls are easier/cheaper to install, requiring a whole lot less labor. I would rather pay $2k more for a car than have those stupid touch controls. I wrote VW USA that I've owned no fewer than 3 GTI's, and I would have bought another if not for the inane touch controls.
Great video very week presented got my attention straight away this guy should be a TV presenter keep them coming mate 👏🏾👍🏾👊🏽
They could have removed isolation material between the engine and the passenger compartment to make it sound better instead of the speakers. But then people would get annoyed because of vibrations and noises that are equivalant in a mark 4 golf coming through into the interior. The consumer market nowadays....... i want sportiness but i do not want the compromises. Its like ordering a low calorie salad but you also want some fries and could fancy a dessert afterwards.
I completely agree but then VW doesn’t seem to have an understanding on how to upsell their cars nowadays. Imagine they’d not fit the isolation material if you spec the “authentic racing” option costing, I don’t know, €250 extra
I like my stealthy R. I like it that no one, even the passengers, knows what it can do. Cops notice me, but then I take it out of sport mode and it simply vanishes. I've had it for 5 years now and I've gone full throttle pretty much every time I've driven it. Yet I currently have zero speeding tickets in the R. I had more tickets in my VR6 "yeti" even though I drove it much slower. But, I live in Vancouver Canada. We have a plague of Tesla's here. And a Tesla Model 3 Performance, in a straight line, invalidates my Golf R. Even tuned. It does it faster and with vastly more stealth (it makes no noise). I can still spoil some EV egos. It's great to watch their faces warp as they realize I'm in front of them. But, this is just a temporary victor. EV's are not the future here, they are the present. I wonder what EV hot hatches will be like? Makes this thread somewhat irrelevant, right? Especially as the Mk9 will almost certainly be an EV. I think an EV R will probably be the best R, given that the R has always leaned towards the understated. That said, I'll still keep my Gas R, hopefully for the rest of my life. I love that little farty thing.
@@EricWantz "VW doesn’t seem to have an understanding on how to upsell their cars" - Aside from the fact that the Golf has been around for over 40 years. Cleary VW know the market and how to sell cars.
Honestly, the engine is not that nice of a sound. I have a golf R and the front end sound is just fuel injectors ticking. The real noise comes from when you change the downpipe from the turbo to aftermarket. If someone was to install the acropovic exhaust themselves, an aftermarket DP would be a given. I guess VW cant do that due to noise emissions. Also, the fake noise generator which vibrates into the firewall in the MK7 sounds way better. What they did with this one sounds more like what Nissan has in their GTR- which sounds way too electronic. Possibly suggesting VW removed the firewall vibrator and just does it through speakers now.
There is a difference between making an engine louder and making it sound interesting. This car, when all said and done, has blown 2L four pot with all the necessary emissions control equipment of the moment on it. There really isn't a whole lot you can do with that hardward to make it sound "interesting" without resorting to fake noise unfortunately. Removing insulation it would sound exactly the same, just louder and harsher and VERY few people would want that. It is after all going to be bought by people who want a Golf, not a sports car.
Would you imagine Jeremy Clarkson/Richard Hammond/James May reviewing this car in Top Gear? I would definitely come back to the series.
Top gear really isn't the same without Clarkson
Good vid. I think it boils down to the fact that the interface isn't as good as you get on a Mercedes or BMW. But as others call out, you can set up shortcuts to take some of the annoyance away. The performance is phenomenal for the price point and perhaps needs to be said that the car is faster still on the standard 18inch wheels as seen in the early test videos.
0:30 that air! Impressive
Me : sees the video only fans dateme.name/AGNEZ " Alright I think that's enough for today " My mom: makes soup Me : OK IM DONE Ello everyone if you are bored comment in my comment cause I'm also bored. :)..
I'll be skipping all VWs in this era with daft touch controls. I'm sure they'll do a U-turn on this decision. More sub menus than an old school Motorola V3 RAZR.
Except for the fact that you get the same thing forced on you by most manufacturers these days. VAG are no worse/different to any other in that respect. It's an industy-wide trend unfortunately.
There won't be a U-turn mate, don't waste your time holding out for it. Hardware and software will catch up to design soon, but oldschool controls aren't coming back for a while.
I’m quite happy with my MK7.5 GTi I got mine with the 6 speed manual transmission ( Rabbit edition ) and don’t think I’m missing out on anything compared to the MK8
Good overview of the car but I can confirm that my MK8 with a standard exhaust is much, much louder than my MK7. Pops like crazy in any other mode than comfort.
You can create a short cut in a pull down screen to switch off the esc to use the launch control in a split second.... no faffing in the settings like he said
It really boils my piss when people who don't understand the tech in a Golf slate it while using it wrong.
Yeah they just like whinging about it.
Why do car journalist persist in quoting 0-60 times for the times when the manufacturers are actually quoting 0-100kph (62.5 mph). As an example the Porsche GT4 RS is quoted at 3.4secs 0-100kph and 3.2 0-60mph. Therefore-, the Golf R being 0.4 secs faster (4.3 secs in lieu of 4.7secs) to 0-60 is actually in line with the quoted figures! If the car journalists are going to test acceleration times maybe they should set there v-boxes to metric to get a more representative time?!
Representative to whom? Johnny Foreigner? 😂🤣
Brits still stuck on imperial units.
The real time for 0-100 kmh is 4.4 sec (in the wet!). . VW is traditionnally very pessimistic in the official figures.
This. Carwow does it too - confuses 0-62 and 0-60, then acts so surprised when the cars are much faster than claimed in the real world.
@@alunesh12345 Pass. Hell sounds more fun.
You can bounce of rev limiter in the 2 special modes!
And without automatic dowshifts
@@tuurbo It always downshifts automatically. You can't stall the car.
@@dacmm it does not i just tried, take special nordschleife mode and shift up manualy and try kickdown. It will remain in existing gear until revs drop to much
What’s wrong with physical buttons?Why can’t VW just give us a simple ESC button?!! This is just nut.
Young buyers illogically and unintelligently associated touchscreens with a high level of innovation when really its just pathetic and unacceptable cost cutting.
Me : sees the video only fans dateme.name/AGNEZ " Alright I think that's enough for today " My mom: makes soup Me : OK IM DONE Ello everyone if you are bored comment in my comment cause I'm also bored. :)..
"What’s wrong with physical buttons?" - Cost. Cheaper to stick everything in the software and the touch screen.
they fit touch screen for cost saving reasons
@@lewis72 funny thing is. In the long run it’s actually cost them more doing it this way.
The best TopGear video I've seen in a long time!
Doesn’t say a lot though does it!?
Would love to see the VW Up! GTI being TopGear tested !
The older I get, the more this just feels like I'm watching the launch of the same cars every 3 years. Why do I care?
This is so true! The car industry is bit of joke the last 10-15 years. Some are doing great things but most of it is nonsense
Me : sees the video only fans dateme.name/AGNEZ " Alright I think that's enough for today " My mom: makes soup Me : OK IM DONE Ello everyone if you are bored comment in my comment cause I'm also bored. :)..
I know I’m getting old. I switched off as soon as he mentioned it has a drift mode 😂
you can do a favorite (quick button) for the ESC just saying. (and then it takes one second from the top drawer)
The performace pack also gives you upgraded alloys, the bigger spoiler and not just the drift mode too
and it gives you full control of the gearbox
Cool to see them using a Nas track I would like to see it in person
I miss when Chris actually reviewed cars...
Chris Harris didnt do that for top gear magazine
Impressive and I really wanted one of these but had to prioritise house renovations 😡. £40k car with Hankook tyres.....🤦♂️
I drove different (sport)cars but the the Golf 8 R is one of my favourites! Except the infotainment system. The Nurnburgring modus is awesome with the steering shifting paddles. Without any interference what so ever.
This car seriously punches above its weight in terms of both performance and features. Like what other cars in this class can do a low 4 second 0-60 while cooling your ass and hauling entire families. It really is a bang for your buck (can't believe I'm saying that)
Maybe it's just because I'm young, but the infotainment system on my golf r isn't anywhere near as bad as every review I've read/watched makes it out to be. I don't mind the haptics either, they're actually quite nice to use once you get used to them, and they won't break down if you keep the car for a long time (which I very much plan to do)!
is the UI easier to deal with in the MT?
13:00 If you select Nurburgring mode, you can go into the limiter. it will not change gear automatically. Why don't you find out ?
Great vid, nice car. Although surely there's a dynamomoter (to measure the HP) available at that proving ground? Could have confirmed or debunked those conspiracy theories.
Probably on a gentlemans agreement not to do that sort of thing . Going against that would likely end up in the VW group not supplying cars in the future
I ve got one, with full options it can have :) next year aming for stage 2
to cancel the ESP you can create a shortcut in the menu. So with one touch you can desctivate it. So simple.
Exactly. I immediately chalk up any review that does not mention this as lazy.
I miss Jeremy Clarkson. He would've done this review more justice😔
But honestly this video is so disappointing..
does golf r have this autopark system? Can it park into a small garage?
Put the ESC into the shortcut menu, then simply pull down from the top of the screen!
I mean at the end he says the gearbox auto changes the gears... No it doesn't, you can bounce off the limiter, it's been very clearly demonstrated by many other reviewers.
At leas
Titanium exhaust is not just for weight it’s for sound as well Aston Martins have them
Performance pack incs 19" wheels plus a large rear spolier , its not just software for 2k !
I do wonder about drift modes on modern hatchbacks. Any serious drifters aren’t going to buy a 4wd hatch and you can’t exactly legally drift round your local Tesco roundabout.
Btw for the price of about a cup of coffee you can get a stage one tune on a gti or r and be around 360hp and 400hp with ALL stock hardware.
I’ve never found the buttons an issue. The menu structure isn’t great but the buttons are not the issues they are made out to be
As Beriech says below - it's not as bad as it's made out as you can short cut ESC and loads of other features. The infotainment and haptic buttons are no-where near as bad as people make out
Great video! The ESC turning off process is dumb. In my Mk7, there’s a button. Buttons are cool. We like buttons.
Buttons are dumb, 20th century dumb. Everything in this car is either automatic, voice or wheel controled. Who needs buttons, I mean really ? Unless you’re a former blackberry user of,course…
no, it's not. but i do agree, at least when it comes to esc, it should be good old knob (if not for drifting, for sure when you want to climb some hill in the snow)
Please read the first comment
3:48 - actually it can. You can set a quick setting by swiping from the top. Press and hold and youll have new options
Nice overview! Will help MK8 Golf R buyers for sure.......the future facelift MK8.5 Golf R will hopefully help resolve the problems with the tech 👍
The Mk7 R was always super popular because you could lease/PCP one for stupid-cheap amounts....Like sub £300/month when they first came out. The Mk8 may be a good car but I wonder with the price increases if this will still hold true? £40k is rather a lot, even in monthy installments (and thats ignoring the £6k worth of options his test car came with!!!) 😳 A good all rounder maybe, but is it still a bargain buy like the mk7 used to be?
So, when you say ‘secret testing facility’ you mean Millbrook Proving ground. I’ve driven the bowl there and it’s curious you make no mention of the surface. Some cars seem to glide over it with no problem and others feel like they are going to lose control at any second.
I miss old top gear
If I only had the money. Good review.
The music in the background what instrumental is it? 3:00
Where’s Chris Harris!!! This is his job!!
Who let the work experience kid out in a Golf R?
It’s inexcusable that the R button doesn’t put it in it most hardcore mode including launch mode availability
The materials in this car is just so poor, like the engine cover cmon guys you can do better. But still i like it!
yep its thats why its cheap and volswagen have a good suspesion compared to other expensive cars :)
Good suspension?? Do you drow an rs3 to know what is a good suspension
@@nico-vu7iy rs3 is expensive. i said golf have a good suspesion even though its cheap(sorry my english is bad ) ;)👍
The cost cutting is so obvious you can see it from a mile away. The Golf R is certainly not the type of car you'd want to just spend time sitting in. For that, I'm thinking of the likes of a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Not that's a design where you arrive at your destination, and don't want to exist the car.
Meanwhile me, in my 1.4 80hp MK6 golf with an R badge (letter) bought from Halfords 😂
Me : sees the video only fans dateme.name/AGNEZ " Alright I think that's enough for today " My mom: makes soup Me : OK IM DONE Ello everyone if you are bored comment in my comment cause I'm also bored. :)..
I've got an Mk7.5 bodykits fitted in regular Mk7 lmao
I hope everyone buys them just so more used MK7’s hit the market for me to choose from
I'm hanging on to my 7.5 R those dang touch sensitive buttons is what killed it for me
lol really!? It's Europe's best selling car, there's hardly any shortage of them! 😆
I want one !!!!
But you can get a Cupra Leon Estate? Failed to mention that as a rival....
Who remembers when top gear was something good
The ID3 needs a really good drift mode. It may lose all battles with Tesla Model 3, but it will won the harts of future generations with a cheap price and lots of smiles generated by drifting and doing donuts in the parking lot.
I imagine that with a stage 1, 2 3 the car will drift much more easily
I miss my mk7 r and now I can’t afford to buy another because the prices have rocketed 😂
Can we assume that VW didn't provide TG with enough incentives. Setting up the car via the touch screen. Easy once you RTFM. How often do you need to do this anyway? Setting up the SatNav - simple. Setting up the media player - simple. Using Android Auto - simple. Driving the car. Top tip turn off all the stuff you really don't want turned on. Most of it stays off once you do this and reduces the load on the processor into the bargain. The only thing you really need to turn off (in the UK) each time is lane assist and that says more about the state of UK lane markings than anything else. The actual real world performance is amazing, the torque vectoring makes the car feel totally planted in any condition and the chassis and electronics generally flatters the driver. It's easy to drive fast and comfortable on long drives. Best of all it'll do everything lesser Golf's do as well as eat Porches if needed.
Would love to see this guy review the new M135i
Me : sees the video only fans dateme.name/AGNEZ " Alright I think that's enough for today " My mom: makes soup Me : OK IM DONE Ello everyone if you are bored comment in my comment cause I'm also bored. :)..
Turn ESC completely off instead of to ESC Sport for the drift mode to not try to correct you.
i can clearly see why are most favorite top gear videos quite a bit old now :D GG bbc :D the main thing is that the moderators no longer offend anyone with their humor, do they?
Maybe its just me but the slo mo at 9:33 looked like front wheels were going backwards and rear wheels were going forwards...
An optical illusion.
Those are nice. Reset
omg it flies
Infotainment system is a bit clunky and needs software updates for sure. It is however nowhere near as bad as motoring journalists make out. Just requires some time and familiarity. I’ve owned my Golf R for nine months. There are things I’d change but it’s so easy to live with and quick enough for the UK roads. I don’t have the pack that gets you 19” alloys, rear spoiler and drift modes. Didn’t like the spoiler and would never use drift mode. I would like to have the Nurburgring mode though…..
Nürburgring mode is perfect for the rural area I live in. Sport+, everything on edge except the suspension which handles back road undulations without jarring your teeth out.
Press cars are sometimes juiced, that’s why you get those numbers. Plenty of independent journalists and youtubers will test the car and I’m pretty sure the numbers will match VW claims better.
you should check reviews, many of them actually got even faster times.
Whoever thought top gear would be the worse and most informative car Chanel on youtube in 2022
so you have to spec it up to a point where it costs more than a cayman for it to be decent, got it
At this price point I’ll spend a tad more and get the new m240i. The extra two cylinders alone makes it worth it
Secret facility aka Millbrook proving grounds, did fifth gear let you share it ?
TBF Topgear has been using Millbrook for decades too
exactly the type of guy id expect to drive a golf. And people really need to stop calling a power slide "drift" lol
Rocket in golf shape
Sadly it s missing the manual gearbox
Throw it on the ol' rollers and SEE how many whp it makes then extrapolate that to crank hp.
so many modes to drive this R. i'm not sure what is the best setting to launch. ive seen ESC = off mode = race thgis video is ESC = sport mode = race perhaps i'm losing my mind.
In the „special“ mode, it doesn’t shift up.
AHH drift mode... something the focus rs had way back when!
Yep, but this is much much more clever than one in a Focus RS. This one is the smartest 4wd on planet! Focus RS just use bigger gearing on rear axle compared to the front! This one is super smart with those clutches.
@@trader2473 But just Fry the clutch from Massive Drifting, and You will end up having a FWD Golf R. Hence the Focus is Better. and I Believe the Focus's Engine is better and has a Manual. That's a Win for me.
@@Vincent_Stevens The Golf R is available with a manual transmission as well. ( in north America)
@@trader2473 The focus RS also uses a solenoid actuated clutch pack system developed by GKN drive trains to send power to each wheel(up to 100% can be sent to each wheel, hence driftmode). It is also oversped by 2% meaning when engaged the rear wheels have a 2% overspeed vs the front.
@@trj1465 yep i know, but there is a problem, because of gearing. In normal condition if one axle has overspeed it means that it need to slip constantly, wich means overheating and parts wearing problem wich at the end result in brakedown, and that diff is not cheap to replace. So that is the reason why this Magna made diff in Golf 8 R and RS3 Audi is the smartest AWD system, you can use it how much you want and it never ever will overheat and put car in limp mode(fwd only) like Focus RS does. This system is really clever we all must admit! 🍻
YOU CAN CHOOSE THE GEAR AS WELL IT WONT AUTO CHANGE IN SPORT MODE...just saying n2
Slap a tune on it and your near 400hp on stock everything
The “Top Gear Test Facility” looks suspiciously like MIRA to me.
Me : sees the video only fans dateme.name/AGNEZ " Alright I think that's enough for today " My mom: makes soup Me : OK IM DONE Ello everyone if you are bored comment in my comment cause I'm also bored. :)..
oh by the way... swipe down on the screen turn esc off..... its that simple...
✨Yay drift mode✨💅🏻
I guess it doesn't matter how good these cars are. VW seems to only be stocking and selling SUVs in the United States now.
No mention of the fact it’s a five door only. Every VW I’ve owned since the late 80’s was a three door. Not for me I’m afraid!
Sad that y'all don't the 6MT in Europe. That infotainment is a deal breaker though.
It wasn't until the last few seconds of the video you could determine what he actually thought about it.
Nice vw golf r
They need to bring out a other R32 before we need to go all electrical
Bring back buttons!
holy cow the infotainment is truly depressing that they did that, but the fact that they made a car this good for the price gives me hope that one day they will correct this mistake and i will fork over the money
The front end styling looks like frowning Bert from Sesame Street.
I'm just surprised it wasn't stolen before the end of the test - theft magnets around here, Golf R's...
'who designed this...Michael Bay!? 😂🤣
9:25 let Chris at it. you won't need some fancy drift-mode to get it sideways with him at the wheel.
Drift mode is for people that don't how to do it and it's the same for launch control.