2025 VW Golf R first drive: The R stands for “really good fun”

I remain perpetually wrong-footed by the Volkswagen Golf R, the more powerful all-wheel drive upgrade to the venerable VW Golf GTI. I always expect I’m in for a driving experience that is as measured and calm as it is fast. I don’t know why I continually underestimate the R—Ars has driven a few of them now, and you’d think I’d remember that maybe the R should stand for “raucous.”

VW has been making hot Golfs for as long as I’ve been on the planet—next year will be the GTI’s 50th anniversary. The super-GTI is a little newer. In 1986, the GTI was joined by a more powerful version with a 16-valve engine—here in the US, they also got a capacity bump from 1.8 to 2 L. Later, the much rarer Rallye Golf emerged as a homologation special. Five thousand all-wheel drive, supercharged Golfs were built to make the car eligible for Group A rallying, and then VW Motorsport built a small number of G60 Limiteds—essentially the Rallye with some added luxury like leather, ABS, and power steering.

The Mk2’s straight lines gave way to the Mk3’s curves, and by then, VW had developed its VR6 engine. Most engines with two banks of cylinders have a V angle of 60 or perhaps 90 degrees; with a V angle of just 15 degrees, the VR6 engine was able to fit in the tight confines of the Golf’s engine bay. For the Mk4 and Mk5, this morphed into the Golf R32, where the VR6’s power and torque were better harnessed by all-wheel drive.

For the Mk6 car, VW dropped the 3.2 L VR6 engine and the “32” from the name plate. A high-output version of VW’s 2.0 L turbocharged four-cylinder replaced the bigger, heavier engine, and thus, the Golf R was born.

What’s new?

For model year 2025, the base Golf R is now $47,100, at least until next month, when the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs starts to become clear. While that’s a high price tag for a five-door hatchback, it’s actually noticeably cheaper than the Mk7 we tested in 2016 when you account for inflation. At a time when everything feels more expensive than ever—and when the average price of a new car rose by 25 percent during the pandemic and has remained there—that feels noteworthy.