American Volkswagen R enthusiasts Eugene Lee was given a MKVI Golf R to drive around early from VWoA (Volkswagen of America) - The Golf R will be released to the U.S. in January 2012
Eugene is a MKIV R32 original owner with an HPA Motorsports (HGP) Turbo Kit and he has also owns the MKV R32. He has been a big influence in the Golf R movement in the U.S. and his report plus insights on the latest Golf R are below.



Driving Impressions

Buttonwillow Raceway Park - Unfortunately, I only had three laps in the Golf R at the event (Fastivus), and while I probably could have run another 3 or 4 laps... I know that even some of the guys from VWoA didn't get a chance behind the wheel so I kept my track time to a minimum. I was also a bit nervous behind the wheel of a car that I was unfamiliar with and I happen to be out in the "Tornado Red" advanced run group too and that brings with it a whole different set of nerves.

The Golf R is noticeably lighter and more nimble/agile out on the track. In stock form, the car immediately feels much more balanced and sorted. The MKV R32 always had a very "piggy" feel to it and while I believe the actual weight difference of ~200lbs is substantial, the Golf R feels as if it's perhaps 300-400 pounds lighter than the MKV. I'm guessing this is due to the better weight balance thanks to the 2.0T vs the VR6.

While I definitely got passed by nearly everyone in the run session thanks to my intermediate driving skills and lack of muscle memory on driving a manual transmission on the track, I have no doubt that with all things being equal, this Golf R will easily outperform a stock R32 on the track. The immediate power boost when throttle is applied combined with the effortless handling and superior grip of the Haldex make this car simply fantastic straight out of the box.

In retrospect I wish I would have stayed out there longer... but it was long enough to tell me that I will be enjoying many track days once I get my Golf R. And yeah, I will admit that while I was driving, I did find myself missing the DSG from my MKV R32... with the DSG software upgrade, it really did make me a better driver on the track. I'm not complaining about it only coming over to the US in manual since I would likely still buy manual over DSG given a choice... but for out on
the track, personally, I do better driving a DSG.



Commuting in Traffic -
The Golf R is super easy to drive and I won't mind one bit having the Golf R as my daily driver. The clutch is super soft/smooth and easy to operate. The shifter is not notchy at all and changing gears happens without much thought. Oddly, while you would guess that I would want DSG for commuting... it's interesting that my love of DSG was on the track and it's "daily driving" where the DSG drove me nuts. Yes it's easier to drive an "automatic" but the annoying DSG characteristics like it's "uber economic" shift patterns won't be missed at all... I prefer the manual for freeway driving.

By the way, the MFD has a "shift indicator" that tells you when to shift for maximum fuel economy and it seems that the programming for this came straight off the DSG. It suggests 6th gear in situations where I'm normally in 3rd gear... super annoying and therefore worthless. It may be the most efficient way to drive the Golf R, but it's just not natural.

Fuel Economy -
Commuting from home to work over 25 miles in thick traffic I was able to get 27.1MPG as reported by the MFD... admittedly, I was driving very economically. Mashing the gas driving the car as if VWoA loaned it to me for a short period of time yields just 14.1MPG. Considering that I have the car just for just a short while and that I'll be doing different kinds of driving tests, I'm not sure I'll be able to report back on "real world" driving situations... but I think that 21+ MPG should be easily doable, maybe even 23 or so.

Acceleration -
The best I can compare it to would be my HPA FT-360 kit from my Golf IV R32. I absolutely loved that kit's linear power delivery and smoothness, often describing it as OEMish in how great it was. It's not quite the power of the FT-360 but it feels like a FT-300. 3rd gear acceleration is addicting and even when cruising at highway speeds in 6th... after a very short delay when you romp on the pedal, the car accelerates very nicely. There's no violent onset of boost or "lag" in the traditional sense where you get nothing then... BOOM! Rather, you get a quick onset of boost-enabled acceleration right away... then as the RPMs climb with your foot at WOT... you feel the boost continue to build until you run out of revs and need to shift. It really is a lot of fun to drive, especially with zero torque-steer.

I would have to line up an R32 with the Golf R to really know how much faster one is over the other, but it sure feels like the Golf R is a lot faster... and from a roll, I gotta imagine that the Golf R will absolutely walk a stock R32. A lot of it may be the "seat of our pants" feel you get from a turbo though. I know a lot of people love the low-end torque of the 3.2L VR6... but I have zero regrets on VW's decision to replace it with this tuned 2.0T motor. I can't wait to add a ECU upgrade to get it to 310hp to see what that feels like... for now, I even think that "Stage II" with ECU + Turbo-Back exhaust may be overkill... but that's never stopped me before.

Hill Assist -
It seems the car knows when you're on a steep hill and with the clutch fully depressed while braking... the car will "hold" for about 2 seconds as you release the brake so that the car doesn't roll back as you begin to accelerate up the hill. It makes it super easy to drive a manual on a hill without needing to quickly move your right foot from
the brake to the accelerator... or cheat by using the parking brake. It also seems to be "intelligent" in that it doesn't engage when you're on a very slight incline. Fantastic feature.



The Interior -
The Seats - I gotta say... I love them. I think it's a perfect balance between a true sport seat and a comfortable "everyday" seat. The side bolsters are aggressive, yet not intrusive. I sat in a Golf IV R32 on the way up to the Fastivus track day and while I love the aggressive look and the fact that they're so unique/special to the R32... I gotta admit that they're just not that comfortable to me anymore. I even sat in the backseat of the Golf R for three hours in traffic on the way home from the track day and they were quite comfortable...And I love the rear seat versatility

I can't tell if they're the same or different from the Golf V R32 seats... sometimes I think they're the same and sometimes I think they're different. Does anyone know? These feel more snug on the bolsters... more aggressive

Multi-Function Display (MFD) -
I'm very happy to report that the MFD displays Oil Temperature on the MFD! I had to add the Kufatec mod to my RNS-510 in the Golf V R32 to get this feature and I hope that it isn't something that gets eliminated as the car makes its way to America. Other features are all pretty standard, with the other 'new to me' screen being the one that shows your Bluetooth connected phone and it's battery life and signal strength.

The Stereo -
This Euro Spec Golf R has a RNS-315 installed and I believe that is the model the US spec cars will get, if you get the package that includes Navigation. I'm a huge fan of the more expensive RNS-510 and will be upgrading to that system, but for those who aren't that picky are in for quite a surprise because this unit is very nice for the price. It's about $1200 cheaper than the RNS-510 and has all the features, just a smaller screen and no hard drive for storing music. The hard drive isn't so important because it can play music off your iPod/iPhone or from a 32GB
SD card... but the screen on this RNS-315 is pretty darn small.

After listening to the DynAudio system for a few days, I would rate it a 6.5 out of 10... contrasted with the "Fender" system available in newer model VWs that easily gets a 9 or 9.5 score. I think that the Fender is so good, those who normally upgrade their car stereos in every car they buy may think twice before going away from the OEM goodness of the Fender system... but this DynAudio system in the Golf R isn't good enough to keep us "car audiophiles' from upgrading. The sound is decent, but has overly exaggerated highs and no true-bass... just a lot of "fake" sounding mid-bass that distorts very easily when listening at any substantial sound level. The mids are also very harsh and gets raspy at volume. As on most factory car systems, some types of music sound better than others, but for rock and multi-layered music, the system falls short.

The Climatronic -
I will also add that I've never been a huge fan of the Climatronic in the MKIV R32 but if the US spec Golf R comes over with this climate control system... I'll be happy. I find the system very easy to use and I especially like the heated seat buttons for some reason. And as odd as it may seem, it feels like there is a lot less "penalty" for running AC on this smaller 4-cyl motor than when we used it in the VR6 R32s... maybe it's a more efficient system but I really can't feel any noticeable power loss when using AC. I remember in the R32s, you could easily feel "lag" or a drop in power when you turned on the AC. Not sure what this is attributed to, or if it's factual or not, but that's how it feels and I've been using AC quite a bit over the past few days.



The Dash -
The design is so much better than the MKV R32... mainly because it no longer has that awkward "lip" just under the windshield. The dash is more "flat" and I like that... not sure why the lip thing bothered me so much. I do wish that the Golf R had a more unique dash like how the MKIV R32 had the dimpled/perforated looking dash... different from any other Golf/GTI but oh well. One major design that I'm glad VW went away from was that cheese "diamond plate" looking dash trim from the MKV R32. The Golf R has a nice, subdued medium gray dash trim that is unassuming and even has a nice quality textured feel to it. Besides this though, the dash and overall interior, while nicely appointed, is a bit dull... especially around the shifter area but this isn't a major concern of mine.

Lighting -
Bi-Xenon™ high-intensity headlights with Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) - Quite a mouthful but a pretty neat feature. I've never driven a car with "steering" headlights and I must say it's very cool. As you drive around at slow neighborhood speeds, as you turn the steering wheel, you see the lights aim toward the direction you're turning. It's quite noticeable and a pretty neat effect... so much so that I drove around the block a few times just to play with it. I also noticed on the MFD that you can disable "Beam Assist" or something like that which I assume turns off this feature. I think these lights also shoot "up" at high speed to give you greater lighting distances too! Like I said, a pretty cool feature, one that I could live without but one that I'll show off to people as I tell them why I love my VW so much.





Special thanks to Eugene Lee(aka Nebby) for allowing us to share the report

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