Volkswagen Golf

The new Golf R is distinguished by more aggressive front and rear bumper covers, blue accents, unique wheels, four exhaust tips, and large rear spoiler.

Both largely retains the previous dimensions, but it is lower and a hint longer than before. The wheelbase is unchanged.

The GTI has a more aggressive stance, accentuated by large optional 19-inch wheels with low-profile performance tires. (The base configuration will use 18-inch wheels with all-season tires and 17-inch ones in Canada.) Twin chrome tailpipes again adorn the GTI’s tail. The front has a grimacing look, with the headlights having a pinched appearance. Traditional fog lamps are replaced with two clusters of five LED lamps, creating a rather unique appearance.

The interior looks like it belongs in an upscale sedan, rather than a feisty hatchback. The leather-trimmed, three-spoke steering wheel hosts numerous buttons for navigating menus and set cruise control, as well as touch-sensitive sliders for some audio adjustments. A heated steering wheel is now standard and with the optional leather seats buyers get heated and ventilated seats.

Drivers can personalize the displays, including adjusting the color range of the background lighting. An available head-up display is shown through the windshield.

The rather clean, businesslike dash design holds a large 10-inch infotainment screen that looks like an extension of the instrument panel. Unfortunately, it forces the center dash vents to be too low. We’ll have to assess the air conditioning distribution when we get our own GTI.

Plaid seat surfaces are available in a nod to the original GTI. This design is called Scalepaper, and it has red seams with grey and black plaid. Another throwback element is the golf-ball shifter atop the manual stick shifter.

True to form, these hatchbacks come standard with a six-speed manual transmission. A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is optional. Following tradition, both models are powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The Golf R now makes 315 horsepower—27 more than the previous model—and 295 lb-ft of torque with the dual-clutch automatic transmission, or 280 lb-ft with the manual. The GTI increased from 228 in the current model to 241 horsepower in the 2022.

To enhance traction and handling, the Golf R uses a new all-wheel-drive system that can route up to 100 percent of the power to the rear wheels. Further, it is engineered to direct more power to the wheel on the outside of a turn to enhance road-holding grip.

A new Vehicle Dynamics Manager control system manages the electronic differential and the optional adaptive suspension. The driver can select among four main driving modes (Eco, Comfort, Sport, and Snow) and further fine-tune the performance to suit their tastes and road conditions through the Individual menu. Volkswagen claims the GTI will have an even sharper driving character than the current, entertaining model. The company says that the chassis will virtually eliminate understeer, the common condition when a front-drive model plows into turns when driven above the limits of grip. A neutral behavior, where the car neither resists turning in nor rotates the rear end, is the balance sought after by most driving enthusiasts.

Volkswagen says that the new GTI out-handles the seventh-generation model, citing quicker lap times on a road course and higher speeds in lane change evaluations. Unlike the outgoing GTI, the stability control has a sport mode with reduced intervention, and it also allows for its deactivation unless the car’s brains detect an emergency situation.

Forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assistance, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, and adaptive cruise control will be standard.