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The GTI, the S3, and the R make 3?
Fanboy kinds are always clamoring for somebody to construct a Subaru that Subaru doesn’t develop. And we get it. Fuji Heavy Industries is not recognized for its styling prowess or for its finely crafted interiors. And although Mercedes-Benz—of all companies—makes a credible WRX STI hatchback substitute in the type of the loopy-loon GLA45 AMG, you will spend all the funds and then some. Closer to the Subie in price is the Audi S3, but like the STI, it is available here only as a sedan. Which leaves the Volkswagen Golf R.
Starting at $ 37,415, the VW is priced a slight notch above the $ 35,290 STI, provides hatchback convenience, the new Golf’s excellent interior, and handsome, adult styling. May Goldilocks uncover Volkswagen’s hottest performance hatch the just-right resolution she’s been seeking for?
The Golf R adds a shade of motorsport-y purposefulness more than the GTI by dropping the suspension by .2 inch more than special 18-inch wheels, doubling the number of exhaust outlets at the bumper, and applying a lot more aggressive front and rear fascia treatment options with unique LED DRLs. Add 19-inch wheels, VW’s adaptive Dynamic Chassis Manage suspension, and a nav system with the DSG and you are at $ 39,910, which puts you inside view of the Audi’s $ 41,995 base sticker.
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The R, of course, shares its bony fundamentals with the 10Best-winning 6th-generation Golf. Its powertrain, however, is plucked directly from the S3, a 292-hp 2.-liter turbo 4 paired with the newest-generation Haldex AWD technique. Audi calls it Quattro. Volkswagen calls it 4Motion. The Native American lady in the 1970s commercial named it maize. You get in touch with it corn. Grab that cob on the console and stick it in gear, simply because unlike the S3 (at least for now), the 2016 Golf R will be available with a manual 6-speed transmission in the summer time. And it’ll come at an $ 1100 discount over the dual-clutch version. The 2015 vehicles, available this spring, will be DSG only.
It pains us to say this, but we might just have to recommend the DSG model over the manual—at least if maximum dynamism is a concern. We were considerably far more impressed with the energy delivery of the nigh-identical S3. We estimate that the DSG Golf R will make the sprint to 60 in about 4.7 seconds with launch manage enabled. Manual vehicles will most likely be about a half-second slower. Out where it gets twisty, the twin-clutch trans keeps the turbo engine on the boil, and the broadly spaced throttle and brake pedals take the joy out of heel-toeing the manual automobile when it comes time to slow for a bend.
On a a lot more relaxed back road, the pedal gap may possibly not be such an problem, but VW had invited us out to dusty Buttonwillow, California, to take Euro-spec, manual-trans versions of the R for a spin on the track. There, receiving the automobile down into the suitable gear prior to corner entry turned into a bit of a stab-and-pray workout. A track of many configurations, the version of the course we ran was mostly a third-and-4th-gear affair. Shifting troubles aside, the R hoofed itself about the circuit greatest if we manhandled it some, eliciting lots of yelping and yowling from the rubber. In comparison with the prior R, which landed right here for the 2012 model year, the new R tamps down the tail-happiness and amps up the energy. It’s far more satisfying to steer rapidly than the old automobile but does not feel really as flat-out alive as the significantly less powerful, front-drive GTI, which has the same quick steering (2.1 turns lock-to-lock).
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Our afternoon of abuse suggests that you will run out of tire ahead of the brakes get notably spongy. Credit the massive brakes cribbed from the GTI Overall performance Package, which cope properly with the extra heat generated by serving double duty apart from hauling the auto down with self-confidence, the binders also work as part of VW’s XDS+ program, braking the inside wheels to aid turn-in throughout quickly corners. We’ve discovered that the pedal in rapidly VWs with lesser brakes will get spongy when XDS+ is operating overtime, even if we’re not tramping on the center pedal. Since the Golf R is constructed at VW’s property plant in Wolfsburg, rather than its facility in Puebla, Mexico, the R characteristics an electronic parking brake.
As it was before, the new Golf R is its personal thing. The query is no matter whether it’s a issue you necessarily want. Its Audi sibling comes off as a shade sharper, Subaru’s competitor is magnitudes much more violent, and the R’s a lot more-entertaining GTI baby brother charges significantly less. Those 3 cars all tickle a primal gearhead sweet spot. In contrast, the R fills a want but doesn’t leave you quite as thrilled as you’d like to be.
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2016 Volkswagen Golf R Manual Driven: The GTI, the S3, and the R Make Three?
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