2022 Volkswagen Golf R Review _ The most fun Golf EVER!

315 horsepower, a six-speed manual transmission, even a drift mode. Yes, you can get all that on a Volkswagen. It's this, the 2022 Golf R. So, is this hot hatch worth the money, or is it really just an overpriced GTI? What's up, folks? I'm Dave Undercoffler, Editor-in-Chief of Autolist.com, a sister company to CarGurus. We're testing the 2022 Volkswagen Golf R. It's been completely redesigned. It has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a slick adaptive suspension, and a clever all-wheel drive system. So, is it worth the $45,000 price tag? Let's go find out. All right, before we get started, be sure to like and subscribe to this channel, so you can get alerts for all of our future reviews. All right, let's take a look at the exterior styling of the Golf R. And now, some people have said it's too boring, it's too understated. I like it. I've got a little gray hair. I'm 40-ish. This is a car I could be seen in comfortably. Some styling cues, you've got a horizontal light bar across the front here. That's also in the GTI. On the brake rotors, you've got 14.1-inch rotors in the front, 12.2-inches in the back. You also have these alloy caps in the mirrors. Moving around the back, you've got 19-inch alloy wheels all around. You've got a more aggressive spoiler on the R than you do on the GTI. What I like is that there's very subtle R badging on this model. Really cool. You've got a lower diffuser that's a little more aggressive than the GTI, and of course, quad exhaust tips. One thing to point out is that there are only three colors available on the Golf R, this blue, or a white, or a black. What do you guys think? Overall, is this too understated, or does it meet the mark for a hot hatch? Let us know in the comments below. All right, let's take a quick look at the engine. 315 horsepower, 296 pound-feet of torque. That horsepower rating is up 27 horsepower from the previous Golf R. This is the most powerful Golf Volkswagen has ever made. It'll do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds. Now, it comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission, or you can get a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The one we're testing today has a six-speed manual transmission, and it's rated by the EPA at 20 miles per gallon in the city, 28 on the highway, and 23 combined. And that's pretty good, considering, remember, this is an all-wheel drive car. The Golf R's four-motion all-wheel drive system uses a rear differential and two clutches to send up to 50 percent of the torque to the rear axle. Then 100 percent of that torque can be distributed to either of the rear wheels in the torque vectoring system. That torque vectoring system is also what the car uses for its drift mode, as it directs 100 percent of that torque to either of the rear wheels. What's more is this system can decouple the rear wheels in limited situations for better fuel economy. One thing I like about the Golf R is there are no options. You choose your transmission, and you choose your color, and that's it, so everything you see here is standard. That includes panoramic sunroof. You've got Nappa leather seats. These are heated and cooled up front. I've got a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Steering wheel is also heated. And then you've got the car's two digital displays. You've got a 10-inch instrument panel and then a 10-inch infotainment system. The instrument panel can be configured up to 21 different ways to show all kinds of different information, and that also will vary depending on which setting you have the car in. As far as the infotainment system, this has wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, and a host of other tech-savvy features. Those include Bluetooth, high-definition radio, satellite radio, navigation, and VW's app connectivity. And that brings us to what I like least about this car, and there aren't many things, but it is what you don't see here. You don't see any buttons. You don't see any knobs. If you want to control anything related to the climate control or the volume, you've got to use this touch-sensitive panel, and it doesn't work, and it's very frustrating. And it's also pretty unsafe. If I'm driving down the road and I'm looking to turn up the heat or air conditioning or the volume, I don't know which button I'm hitting because there's no way to differentiate by feel which is the climate and which is the volume. Now, there are redundant controls for the volume on the steering wheel, and that's a nice touch, but there's no such redundant control for the climate control. What I also don't like is that to turn up the fan speed, you have to go through some menus rather than just having a button in the front like every other car today should. What Volkswagen will say is that, well, we built in a voice-activated feature, and they did, and let's try it out, but it doesn't always work well. So turn on the heated seats, and now they're on. So that's nice, but that's not a solution for just smartly designing this setup. But what I like most about this screen is that this is where you access the car's drive modes. So you hit the R button on the steering wheel, and you've got the six different modes displayed. So you've got comfort, sport, and then race. In addition to race, you then have drift, and then the special Nurburgring, which will set softer suspension settings and maximize the torque vectoring. And then you've got my favorite setting, which is custom, and this is what I've been driving the car most in throughout the week. Within custom, you can set all the different parameters. You've got steering, drivetrain, engine sound, adaptive cruise control, and then lots of different settings for the suspension. So that's pretty cool. All right, let's take a look at the rear seats. I've got the front seat adjusted to where I would have it. I'm 6'1", so you can see I can fit behind myself with plenty of room. My knees aren't hitting, my head isn't hitting. It's not super spacious, but it's plenty comfortable for a nice long ride. There's some other nice features back here. You've got your own climate control settings, plus heated seats and USB chargers. I also like that these seats are also a little bolstered. You don't always see that in the back seats of a car. Sometimes they get short shrift, but not so in the Golf R. And finally, nice little armrest with cup holders. In terms of cargo space, Volkswagen says there's 20 cubic feet of space here in the luggage area itself. If you need more than that, the rear seats are split 60-40 and fold down flat. All right, driving impressions. This thing is a riot. I don't think I've ever had so much fun driving a Volkswagen. 315 horsepower, that's a 27-horsepower bump over the previous Golf R. That's even more than the Audi S3, which this car shares pretty much everything else with. What I like is that the torque band is nice and fat. We're on a twisty road right now, and I can basically leave it in third gear, sometimes fourth if it's straight. The all-wheel drive system is phenomenal. This car has grip for days, and I really like that as well. When it comes to the drive settings, what's nice is they give the car different personalities depending on which setting you have it in. So, comfort or sport is great for everyday driving. I've got it in custom right now. That's where I've sort of found the sweet spot for really aggressive driving. The Nurburgring, I haven't really used that one. That almost seems like more of a marketing gimmick than anything. And then, drift mode, well, that's for closed courses. So, as I mentioned, this tester has a 6-speed manual transmission. That's the base gearbox. You can get the 7-speed dual-clutch, but man, if you're going to have a cookie, have a cookie. Get the 6-speed manual. It has a great feel. The shifter is nice and precise, but also a little rubbery in a good way. It has a sort of high-end feeling on a manual transmission, and the clutch pedal feels great, nice and linear, so I really like that. When it comes to steering feel, I'd give it maybe a B+. It's good, but not perfect. It could have a little more feedback, but on the flip side, other cars in this class do get too synthetic, and they feel overly fake, so that's nice that this is pretty real. I also like the brakes in this car. 14.1-inch rotors up front, really doing the work today. We're out on the mountain road, we're driving pretty hard, and I'm not feeling any fade, so that's great. Finally, the seats. They're the hero of the day. Nicely bolstered, feel really thick, hold you in as you're going around these sharp turns. Definitely a comfortable car to drive hard. Now, in terms of competition, there are certainly some models that you could stack up against this, but they don't quite match the Golf R shot-for-shot, feature-to-feature. You've got Honda's Civic Type R, which is a blast to drive, but a little too much wing for me, and that's front-wheel drive. You've got Subaru's WRX, which is down on power and a little less refined. There's no more Subaru STI anymore, and that's really a shame. You've also got Hyundai's Elantra N and Veloster N, but those are also a little too boy racer and not as refined as this car. The closest competitor actually might be Toyota's GR Corolla. It's new, it's 300 horsepower, it's all-wheel drive, it's got a six-speed manual, but not quite the level of refinement as this Golf R. All right, folks, there you have it, our review of the 2022 Volkswagen Golf R. Pros, it's got refined styling, plenty of grip from the all-wheel drive system, and a lot of power. Cons, well, we hate the buttonless setup in the infotainment system. It's also maybe a too subdued styling for some people, and the price increase was a bit much over the previous Golf R. So for reviews or listings of the Golf R or anything else you're shopping for, be sure to check out CarGurus.com, and like and subscribe to this channel so you can be alerted on all of our future videos. We'll see you out there.