The Drifty New VW Golf R Starts At £43,320

We’ve known about the Mk8.5 VW Golf R for months, and we’ve even had a brief go in a prototype version. Now, we finally know what sort of cash you’ll need to part with to get behind the wheel of the latest version of VW’s four-wheel drive mega-hatch in the UK: £43,320.

That’s the starting point for the ‘basic’ Golf R hatchback. If you fancy the Estate version (and of course you do, it’s a fast estate), you’ll need at least £44,685, while the Black Edition hatch, which nets you some stealthy black exterior details, will set you back £44,570. 

Exterior changes are minimal for the facelift: a tweaked bumper and redesigned headlight units up front, and some redesigned taillight units. Oh, and it has a light-up VW badge now. Make of that what you will.

To further differentiate this Golf R from the pre-facelift model, it’s also possible to spec a set of 19-inch ‘Warmenau’ forged wheels which weigh just eight kilos apiece. They’re also better for brake cooling, to the point where VW development drivers were able to do a further three laps on the Nürburgring Nordschleife before pulling in than they might have done otherwise.

The engine is still, of course, the tried and tested EA888 2.0-litre inline-four lump, but now, in Race mode and under partial throttle load, the turbocharger is kept spinning faster than it really needs to be, making it faster to spool up when you hoof it. The new Audi S3 is set up the same way, and both cars keep the throttle valve open on the overrun in a kinda/sorta anti-lag fashion.

From our drive in a prototype, we learned that these changes were much more noticeable than the rise in power, which is all of 10bhp, giving a new figure of 329bhp. Power goes to all four wheels, with the rear-bound thrust making its way through a tweaked torque splitter. The response of this has been softened, which means the Golf R feels a bit more natural when oversteering under power. Further improving the dynamic side of the equation, the software that controls the adaptive dampers has been fiddled with.

Top speed, rather inevitably, is 155mph, unless you spec the R Performance pack. This not only ups the V-max to 168mph, but also throws in two extra drive modes, designed for track use: the self-explanatory Drift, and the rather vague ‘Special’. The Black Edition gets this package as standard.

Unlike other Golf 8.5s, you don’t get ‘proper’ buttons on the steering wheel, as switching to the older setup would have meant ditching the ‘R’ button. VW has at least increased the pressure needed to engage that button, so you shouldn’t be accidentally pressing it all the time, as was the case in the outgoing car.

Another annoyance on that vehicle was the infotainment setup, which has been radically overhauled here. The new 10.9-inch touchscreen has a new menu structure and improved graphics, while the lower part of the bezel with the temperature shortcut keys has been illuminated, so you can see them at night as well as other road users can see that big light-up VW roundel.

Order books for all three versions of the Golf R open on 8 August in the UK, with no timeline yet given for deliveries.