A 2015 Golf R showed up at a dealer near me so I went out to give it a test drive.
The car was in very good condition and in a color I like, the Lapiz Blue. As first drives go I did not find anything objectionable about the car, well maybe the Soundaktor. Really? The first time I got on the accelerator hard I thought, “what’s up with this exhaust note, it’s unnatural?” I quickly realized the ‘Race’ setting was probably to blame. I made a note that should I purchase one of these cars I will be disabling this device.
The drive was mostly around town so I did not get much opportunity to push the car which drove home a point in my debate over the Golf R and Golf GTI, if you can’t use the cars capabilities why pay for them? Taking the Golf R to a road course is definitely a possibility I am weighing, but how frequently is undecided. Do I pay the premium for power and an all-wheel drive setup that I may have few occasions to capitalize on? The debate between these two cars is still undecided.