Volkswagen South Africa has launched a car that should shake up the hot hatch turf wars.
The Golf GTi, with its 155kW output, is on paper weaker than most of its rivals but in the real world punches above its weight with class-leading acceleration figures, as confirmed by independent tests including ours. The trouble is, some non-Golfers have trouble believing that a GTi is capable of out-sprinting its more powerful peers.
The new Golf R, all 188kW and 350Nm of it, should be more convincing at settling those pub arguments. The new big daddy of the Golf range was launched to media at Kyalami today in two versions that go on sale at VW dealerships: a six-speed manual selling for R408 930 and a seven-speed DSG auto for R423 430.
With a governed top speed of 250km/h and claimed 0-100km/h sprint in just 5.5 seconds for the DSG version (0.2 secs slower for the manual), the Golf R is well poised to take on missiles like the Ford Focus RS, Subaru STi, BMW 135i and its own cousin the Audi S3, with which the Golf R shares its 2-litre turbocharged petrol direct-injection engine. The turbo is intercooled and has up to 1.2 bar boost pressure.
The benefit of the turbo engine is that it suffers minimal performance losses at high altitude, unlike its normally-aspirated R32 predecessor which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment in traffic lights Grands Prix on the Reef.
Further distinguishing the Golf R from the two-wheel drive GTi is a 4Motion all-wheel drive system that can divert up to 100% of the power to the rear wheels, sports suspension lowered by a further 10mm, more direct steering, and a raft of cosmetic tweaks.
The visual venom includes LED daytime running lights, LED tail lights, beefier-looking bumpers, gloss black side mirrors, Bi-Xenon headlamps with cornering function, 19-inch 'Talladega' mags wearing 235/35 tyres, and liberal use of the R logo inside and out. Subtle cabin jewellery comprises white illuminated speedo and rev counter with blue needles, aluminium pedals, sports leather seats with the R emblem, and a three-spoke steering wheel with the R logo, but the overall effect remains the sombre and solid Golf look.
tyre pressure monitoring and park distance control also come standard in the R.
Extra money buys you optional features like racing bucket seats and Dynamic Chassis Control, which offers three button-selectable modes to change the damper stiffness and steering response.
The Golf R comes standard with a 5-year/90 000km service plan and 3-year/120 000km warranty.
Grab a copy of Star Motoring this coming Thursday for our racetrack driving impressions from Kyalami.