2025 Volkswagen Golf R Black - Cliff's Counterpoint Review Notes

DARK STAR EDITION OF PEOPLE'S UBER HEISS HATCH NR. 3.5 :

Given the revolving door of U.S. chief executives at Volkswagen, the ongoing issues with Chinese microchip supplies, and efforts combating J.D. Powers cellar depth reliability rankings, Americans are indeed fortunate to receive any prestige product from the Vaterland. Adding insult to injury, when the Mk. 8 Golf GTI was shipped across the Atlantic, two years after its European debut, it lagged the home market's more potent Club version and sported interior material pfennig pinching.

The "uber heiss hatch" rallycross 2022 VW Golf R, with standard 4Motion, was no timelier or prettier inside, arriving with a considerable price bump over the Mk. 7 forbear. Thus, the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R is a mid-cycle update attempting to assuage Yanks' expectations for German demi-prestige proto-rally sport compact experience.

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION super hot hatchback ingredients:

• up-powered EA 888 Evo4 turbocharged petrol inline-4 engine uprated to match Audi S3 specs
  • 328 horsepower (+4%)
  • 295 pound-feet torque
  • 12.7 pounds / horsepower
  • 4.1 seconds 0-60 m.p.h.
  • 28 miles per gallon, 450 miles highway driving range
• exclusively 7-speed in-house DSG automated dual clutch helical transaxle; (manual transaxle discontinued for 2025 Golf R and Golf GTI)
  • Updated to remain in manual mode to redline when set to Special or Drift drive modes
• variable electronic viscous coupled all-wheel drive
• electro-mechanical limited slip rear differential
• Fully independent sport suspension + oversized vented four wheel disc brakes
  • electronic 13-level DCC damping adjustment
  • +10% stiffer suspension springs, greater DCC variances, front & rear
  • revised front bump stops, bushings, transverse link rubber mounts
  • +10% stiffer front anti-roll bar
  • extra -1.2 degrees negative front camber
  • updated rear control arm mounts, hub carriers, damper bearings, links
• Quick ratio steering, heavy weighted resistance
• Lower mass four-wheel disc brakes
  • Front mono-bloc caliper, two piece rotors
• 235/35-Y Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 high performance tires
• 20% lighter Y-spoke, forged alloy wheels
• "R" fender badges relocated to front doors

2025 VW GOLF EURO DELETE PACKAGE KIT:

• Revised, black on body color trestle lower front airdam
• lightweight Akrapovic titanium alloy exhaust
• lightweight manual adjustment 1st Row seats (w/ power recline)
• diamond pattern cloth + ArtVelours seat covers, matching upper door cards
• Moonroof deleted

2025 VW GOLF R BLACK PACKAGE KIT (suggested price $3795)

• 80 pound weight reduction
• Black replaces blue colored exterior "R" accents
• "BLACK" A-pillar front door badges, blacked out front & rear VW logos
• Darkened headlight character lines, black tipped quad exhaust outlets
• Gloss black finished forged wheels

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R DSG 4MOTION still is:

an all-wheel drive, high performance sport compact hatchback

• front transverse engine, all-wheel drive layout
• 2+3 adult occupant capacity
• 5 doors, generous cargo bay
• Raked hood with intercooler intake, emphatic fender flaring, boomerang lighting, full body cladding, aggressive front air dam & rear lower valance + dual twin pipe exhaust
• Golf Mk. 8, MQB modular platform
• Assembled in Wolfsburg, Germany
• Base price - $48,325 M.S.R.P. (as tested, $53,721 in Mythos Black Metallic)

2025 Volkswagen Golf R DSG - Re- Tuned, Update Driven Review

PEOPLE’S UBER HEISS HATCH NR. 3 MID-CYCLE CATCH-UP: By now Yanks are accustomed to denials and delays from Volkswagen when it comes to the German automaker’s better offerings. A final generation Touareg never arrived, and, and rest assured, we’ll never see a Passat B9 Variant wagon. Even the baited breath

RoadBlazingGeorge Straton

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R DSG 4MOTION safety factor:

• IIHS - Top Safety Pick (2022 MY, since de-rated for average headlight broadcast)
  • IQ.Drive advanced driver assistance, Level 1.5 autonomy
    • Travel Assist, Head Up Display
  • 6 SRS airbags, rear camera, sonar perimeter park distance warning, blind spot warning & avoidance,
  • Automated parallel, perpendicular parking assist
  • Tall greenhouse outward visibility

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION look:

A blocky, wedge shape and upright stance will interminably define Volkswagen's most produced car since the Type 1 Beetle. The Mk. 8 generation is more tautly defined and slim illuminating than other Golfs before it. Being the brawniest trim, the Golf R displays a more formidable vented rear roof spoiler, lower rear diffuser and front air dam, the latter revised for 2025 with thicker uprights for improved air flow.

True to it's calling card, the "Black package" darkens all trim and insignias, with a badge applied to front door B pillars.

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION on road:

The triple 8 turbo four-pot has evolved as far as it likely can, and to an Audi S3 state of tune. Docile around town, the powerplant throws more power down well into triple digit velocity territory. The available Akrapovic exhaust emits a burble without being boisterous, even in bat-out-of-hell acceleration use. An exclusive seven-speed automated dual clutch transaxle is equally mature. Approaching torque converter gentleness when touring, hand-offs in sport mode get downright aggressive. All this muscle comes without the muscle car consumption penalty, managing an efficient 28 miles per gallon.

The Mk. 8 Golf's low mass, high rigidity MQB underpinnings allowed chassis engineers to dial in equally generous doses of compliance and wheel geometry. Inherited from Audi, VW's DCC 13-step electronic variable damping makes the Golf R part-time waltzer and part-time disco dancer on its feet. Steering heft is on the heavier side but never taxing, while the brake pedal travel is responsive.

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION on track:

The special track sauce that no GTI features includes Haldex IV mode + traction variable viscous clutch all-wheel drive, equipped with launch control. A trick twin clutch limited slip rear differential, allows the barest inside wheel slippage, then locking it out for stable rotation. That is unless Drift mode is chosen. The DCT gearbox, manumatically controlled via oversized (if overly plasticky) dorsal steering wheel paddles, will hold ratios up to the fuel cut-off.

This year's updates to the Golf R chassis revolve around spring, bushing, bump stop stiffness and stabilizer bar thickness, along with additional negative rear camber. These revisions all point to enhanced contact patch for the superb Hankook Ventus S Evo series rubber. Grip is ever so progressive, without crass stiffness or coarse road noise. Moreover, the variable ratio electro-hydraulic steering rack communicates the tenacious grip.

Monobloc cross drilled front rotors handle lots of the front mass bias braking, and they brush off the speed with predictably linear aplomb.

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION driver operation:

At its launch, the Mk. 8 Golf R was already at the head of the sport compact class in terms of cockpit space and the business of driving. Despite the loss of most power adjustments for weight savings, (except for driver back tilt), first row sport seats cough-up impressive support, long distance comfort and superior control reach & peripheral views. A wide alloy-capped brake pedal ensures heel-to-toe accessibility.

VW helms are wondrous to behold and embrace, so the thick, flat bottom piece in the Golf R, with perforated grip patches and blue stitching, is no exception. With all Golf R's now exclusively manu-matic dual clutch gearbox driven, shift paddles are generously sized on the steering wheel dorsal side. However, the flippers lack any exotic material construction, hence feeling ordinary. VW hockey stick stalks have been around for years, but are in search for tighter seams.

A sliding front center armrest is a nice luxury that hasn't been spared. The stubby center-console shift-by-wire drive position lever, duplicated from brand relatives, fatuously detaches Park position onto a console button, itself easy to confuse by touch with the adjacent forward ignition button.

Digital Cockpit Pro instrumentation carries the banner for high-resolution variability and data displays, including vital track displays for lap times & lateral forces. Nonetheless, the learning curve for the haptic smooth horizontal steering wheel spoke controls make adjustments less intuitive. Additionally there is a decently informative, if low brightness, head-up display.

The now upsized to nearly small laptop 12.9" MIB 3.0 Discovery Pro touch LCD infotainment screen lacks not for crisp colorful pictograms and videograms. Despite three screens worth of configurable windows, and a helpful frequent used app box, there are no performance graphics to be found. VW's UI being closed source implies only apps are either native or wireless Android Auto / Apple CarPlay projection. Protests from from media and public concerning the frustrating slim haptic sliding touch temperature and audio volume control panel, located below the display have proven futile. Fortunately, voice commands can take care of all those functions and entertain with the standard sanitized jokes.

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION OCCUPANT TREATMENT:

Cabin space inside the Mk. 8 VW Golf R is downright cavernous, shaming its only direct competitor in this market, the Toyota GR Corolla. It's easy to understand how, in other markets, the Golf is so popular as an urban family car.

Apparently, Europeans prefer colorful blue check pattern cloth, blue piping & microsuede to hides and that should suit Yankees fine. Classiness on the tiered dash is limited to a mix of gloss black framing, a swath of carbon fiber and streamlined middle chrome strip accents that camouflage vents. Carbon fiber does reach the front door cards, though it is clipped from the second row. While most touch points are padded, the first row center console saddle is hard. the door wrist-rests are cast in a cruder hard plastic. Gratefully, door pockets are felt-lined, to avoid content clanking, and the first row seats rear upper pockets cleverly complement the lower map pockets. Along with lower walls, which have taken a step back in finish, carpets are wont for a tight pile weave.

The first row center console accommodates a wireless device fore, retracting blade cup holders mid and a compact storage bin aft. In the premium sport compact category that the Golf R occupies, dual front climate zones are expected, although a third row zone, including heated outboard posts, operated from a digital controller on the aft first row center console bin, is unexpected. Thus, nary a USB charging port for Row 2 is an whiff.

A tight web headliner, grab handles at all posts, and full dash board and cabin door variable cabin lighting, each are treats. However, the traditional, if sparse, physical switchgear hears the 1990's calling.

Fully conscious that industry prices are on the rise, and the performance creds and coddling occupant features in the 2025 Golf R are undeniable, sitting inside this machine, as spacious as it is, doesn't quite feel like the 50,000 simoleons the owner had to plunk down. Perhaps that sensation only comes after coming out of the related Audi S3 and realizing the substantial savings.

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION cargo wise:

Adopting the flexible MQB platform allowed designers to pack a lot of cubes inside the Mk. 8 Golf. Retaining a representative upright liftgate profile hands a cargo swallowing handicap to the Golf R over rival Toyota Corolla GR. Few do a dense cargo floor board and raised position latching like the Golf. Coming from the Alpine European continent, a passenger compartment pass- through, ostensibly for skis, hasn't been forgotten, complementing the 60:40% 2nd Row seatback fold.

• +1 Tow rating: 3063 lbs. > Toyota Land Cruiser 250

2025 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R BLACK DSG 4MOTION competitive class:

• Toyota Corolla GR