Summarize

Volkswagen never made much of a fuss about the fact that its glorious Golf R was mapped back to cater for South Africa’s once crap for fuel. However, more recent changes, both in local fuel quality across the board and advances in black box wizardry have conspired to see Uitenhage’s engineers no longer deem it necessary to pull back R’s boost and timing and new Golf R owners can now look forward to the full fat version in SA too.

But what does that mean? Well firstly the guys and girls in VWSA’s press office made no bones about those restrictions being lifted, going so far as to launch the fact and we were fortunate to be among the first to taste that new delimited version.

Not that this is the first time that R has enjoyed a reprieve – it enjoyed a slight power increase to 213kW about 18 months back and that already trimmed two-tenths of a second off the car’s zero to 100km ability to post a 4.70-second run in our tests on that car. So, the first thing we did when the now fully delimited car arrived, was to strap our VBox to it and blast it down our test chute.

The result? 0-100km/h in 4.40 seconds to take back its erstwhile four-cylinder record on our run with a further 3 tenths improvement; over a second quicker to 160km/h in 10.20 seconds, three-tenths quicker and a full 6km/h faster to the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds at 178km/h. R also chopped another third off from 80-120km/h at 2.94 seconds and pulled and over half a second better from 120 to 170 kays an hour. 

We are certain that Volkswagen has spent a lot of time honing Golf R’s launch control system too – it is Ferrari like now to blast the car off the line in an astounding manner, but the power hike along with that flawless seven-speed DSG transmission also add to the mix to conspire in record setting four-cylinder performance. 

In fact, the only hatchback we have ever tested quicker than this is the five-pot Audi RS3. Now we await the next step in this ongoing spat, but will that 45 have enough bore to beat this New King?

There’s far more to R than just straight-line pace too – still among our favourite cars, the brilliantly balanced King of Golfs is powerful, fast, frugal and dynamically brilliant, while all at the same time offering a stylish and attractive set of wheels that proved a cracker on more than one spirited spin across the Cape’s finest roads. 

Wonderfully powerful in a band that stretches quite literally from the basement to the penthouse, its all-wheel drive brings a rare level of confidence to the driver without unduly stealing the car’s feeling. Switch it to comfort mode and cruise sedately and it will use ridiculously little fuel, deliver a most appealing ride and keep you beyond happy. If you want it bareback though, simply select Race, turn off the nannies and it transforms into an absolutely brilliant car to drive by the seat of the pants.

Smart as ever inside, Golf R includes VW 23cm screen Discover Pro Active infotainment that can bring up a sport display indicating the likes of current engine power and G-forces and a lap timer among its myriad duties as it blends the large centre screen with an interactive dash and boasts gesture control among other tricks.

That has its challenges though – I’d prefer traditional knobs for the most basic controls – especially when driving in R mode on a dodgy surface. And the centre screen gathers dust at a sneeze. I suppose we have to find something to moan about...

Sublimely equipped, Golf R has everything the executive driver craves for – from those lovely wheels to a panoramic sunroof, quad pipes and all that R trim to set it apart as the King of Golfs it is. And it delivers beyond reproach so much so that it’s our new Four Cylinder King too. Long may it live! 

ROAD TEST: Volkswagen Golf R 

ENGINE:  1984cc DOHC 16V turbo petrol I4

POWER:          228kW @ 5500-6500rpm

TORQUE: 400Nm @ 2000-5400rpm

TRASMISSION: 7-speed double clutch AWD

SPECIFIC POWER: 115kW per litre

POWER TO WEIGHT: 151kW per ton

MASS: 1495kg

TESTED PERFORMANCE:

0-60km/h 2.04 sec

0-100km/h 4.40 sec

0-160km/h 10.20 sec

400m 12.6sec @ 178km/h

80-120km/h 2.94 sec

120-160km/h 4.22sec

Claimed Vmax 250km/h

CLAIMED CONSUMPTION 7.2 l/100km

CO2: 165g/km

RANGE:          770km

TANK: 55 litres

WARRANTY: 3 years/120 000km 

SERVICE PLAN: 5 years/90 000km 

LIST PRICE: R675K

RATED:          92%