2024 Volkswagen Golf R review

Volkswagen’s Golf R has been the pinnacle of mass-production small-car performance for the German brand since its introduction in 2009 with the sixth-generation Golf.

However, before that it was the R32 and the VR6, meaning Volkswagen has been honing its GTI-topping go-fast hatchback for decades at this point, which leads us to the 2024 Golf R.

With competition from the Toyota GR Corolla, Honda Civic Type R, and even electric cars like the MG 4 X-Power now in the mix, is the Golf R still the ultimate sporty model available with the best balance between performance and practicality?

Volkswagen’s eighth-generation Golf line-up can be had from as little as $39,190 before on-road costs for the Life grade, but that escalates to $70,590 for the full-fat R variant like we have on test.

However, when this model was introduced in 2022, the asking price was $65,990, before moving up $1000 to $66,990 the following year, and then $68,990 from July 1, 2023.

While the price creep is noticeable, Volkswagen Australia has at least moved the premium Harman Kardon sound system off the options list to standard equipment to ease things a little.

Sadly, I’m also old enough to remember the days when a Golf R would set you back around $60,000, and even just as recently as six years ago with the outgoing 7.5-generation model, buyers could snap one up for as little as $47,490 for the Grid Edition.

Of course, that car and this new car are different, and you do get a lot more for your spend.

For starters, the 2024 Volkswagen Golf R is exclusively available with an automatic transmission – a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to be precise – whereas that sub-$48,000 model was offered only with a manual gearbox.

The 2.0-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder engine is also much more potent than before, outputting 235kW/400Nm, and of course, the current-generation Golf is more modernised inside and out with more bells and whistles.

In terms of specification and equipment, the headlining new features in a box-fresh Golf R include a drift mode that can send torque to the outside rear wheels to induce a tail-wagging slide.

Adaptive suspension, a sports exhaust, LED headlights, nappa leather interior with blue highlights, heated and cooled front seats, interior ambient lighting, tri-zone climate control, keyless entry, push-button start, wireless smartphone charger, and a head-up display are also all standard on the 2024 Golf R.

Aside from three exterior paint colours at no extra cost, the only option available to the Golf R is a panoramic glass sunroof that adds $1900 to the asking price – which our car came fitted with.

In terms of competition, well, the most obvious is the sizzling 235kW/420Nm Honda Civic Type R, which retails for $72,600 drive-away, while the 221kW/370Nm Toyota GR Corolla is also in the mix at $64,190 before on-road costs.

Granted, the aforementioned rivals are only available with a manual gearbox, so those with a brutal commute might want to give them a miss.

Something else to consider might be from Volkswagen Group’s own Cupra brand, namely the 221kW/400Nm Leon VZx that can be had for $61,690, while a left-of-field competitor might be the all-electric 320kW/600Nm MG 4 X-Power for $63,973 drive-away.

It is easy to see Volkswagen Australia’s rationale here. The Golf R is the only petrol-powered, automatic-equipped hot hatch with all-wheel drive, so if this is your particular need, it’s the only game in town.

Using the Golf as a base means the sporty R has a high level of practicality not seen in other performance models that come close to matching its outputs.

For starters, the 4290mm long, 1789mm wide, 1458mm tall dimensions mean the footprint is small enough to park with ease, while the 2631mm wheelbase affords an adequate level of room on the inside.

Up front, my six-foot-tall (183cm) frame has no problems slotting in and getting comfortable, even with the well-bolstered sports seats equipped.

Ingress and egress are aided immensely by an electronically adjustable driver’s seat with memory function that lets you slide the pew into place with the touch of a button.

Keep in mind, though, the front passenger seat is manually adjustable.

Storage options are also plentiful, with a door pocket that will take a full-sized bottle, rim-gripping cupholders, a shallow tray between the driver and front passenger for your keys, a wireless smartphone charging tray with a fold-out lid to rest your wallet, and an underarm storage cubby.

However, while we’re talking about the interior, I’d be remiss not to mention the shifter arrangement.

A lot has been said about it in the past, replacing a traditional shifter with a paddle-style selector, but I reckon Volkswagen has thought this through.

With the engine start/stop button positioned just ahead of the gear selector, and the park brake just behind it, it means – in just one motion with one hand – you can start the car, put it in drive, and disengage the handbrake for a speedy getaway.

And the same happens in reverse.

Maybe it’s all my years playing World of Warcraft and memorising different keystroke sequences to ensure my party was constantly healed, but it is so satisfying to execute in one motion.

Moving to the rear seats, there is ample room for adults sitting behind my driving position, though it can feel cramped and confined over extended periods of time.

Keep in mind, I’m talking about the outboard seats, as the middle pew does have compromised leg and shoulder room, and a raised position.

Passengers at the back also have access to a door pocket, USB-C charging ports, a fold-down centre armrest, air vents, climate controls, and back-seat map pockets.

I also managed to easily accommodate two child seats in the second row of the Golf R in my time with the car, but it was a little tricky to manoeuvre kids in and out due to the child seat’s heavy bolstering.

In the boot, there is capacity for 374 litres of volume – about what you would expect from a small hatchback – that is plenty big for a full-sized pram, as well as smaller items like groceries and a nappy bag.

That pretty much fills the usable space, though, so for families considering this as their only car, you might want to go with somthing still sporty, but more practical, like the related Skoda Octavia RS wagon.

Fold the rear seats down and space expands to 1230L of volume – easy enough to fit larger and longer items you might find from Bunnings or Ikea.

Volkswagen’s 2024 Golf R features a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There are also functions for satellite navigation and digital radio.

Much has been said about this infotainment system, and it does have a few ergonomic niggles, but in terms of software it feels snappy, quick and responsive.

There is a huge level of customisation in the menu system too, so you can rearrange functions as you see fit, but even in its default arrangement, all functions and settings are no more than a few taps away.

The wireless Android Auto system also works seamlessly and quickly - for the most part as in my time with the car, I did experience a few drop outs that automatically reconnected at the same toll-reading spots along Melbourne's CityLink freeway.

However, this is less an issue of the Golf R's system and more with the interference from toll gates as I've also seen this happen in other models from different brands with a wireless Android Auto connection.

The biggest bugbear for this infotainment system, however, is the fact that climate controls are integrated into a touch bar found just below the touchscreen.

It means if you naturally rest your palm on the dashboard to interact with the touchscreen, it will register volume up/down or adjust the climate temperature by mistake.

This touch bar also doesn’t illuminate at night, so you end up poking in the dark to change some settings and overall feels less polished than it needs to be.

However, this is something that will be directly addressed with the facelifted Golf, due in Australia around early 2025, with an illuminating touch bar and a larger touchscreen infotainment system.

Aside from that, the haptic-touch steering wheel controls have also been a point of controversy for this generation Golf, which will be switched to physical buttons again in the update.

In my time with the car, though, I didn’t find much of an issue with the way the multi-function steering wheel ‘buttons’ work.

My inputs were precise and accurate, and though it doesn’t offer the more tactile feedback of a button press, it really was a non-issue after learning what each button does and where it is placed.

Volkswagen’s entire eighth-generation Golf line-up, including the top-spec R, was awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2022.

The Golf scored well in the adult and child occupant protection tests – 88 and 87 per cent respectively – putting it behind the likes of the Mazda 3, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, and Toyota Corolla in the former, and Mercedes B-Class and BMW 1 Series for the latter.

The vulnerable road user protection test yielded a 74 per cent, while the safety assist category was marked at 76 per cent.

The VW Golf R comes packed with a long list of safety equipment – both active and passive.

For starters, there is autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, and safe exit warning.

The Golf R is also fitted with an automated parking function, which can swing the hatchback into a parallel park in the right conditions.

There are also nine airbags littered throughout the cabin.

However, missing from the safety equipment list is traffic sign recognition, as well as a camera-based driver attention monitor that is increasingly becoming common in new models, though behaviour-based fatigue detection is included.

I do have to shout out the matrix LED headlights that are fitted as standard on the Golf R, though, which are excellent at lighting up dark roads.

Like all new Volkswagen models, the Golf R comes with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty that matches the industry standard offered by Toyota, Mazda, Ford, and others.

Scheduled service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Based on Volkswagen’s service pricing guide, the first five services taking you up to five years, or 75,000km, total $3835.

This makes the Golf R much more expensive to maintain than a Honda Civic Type R ($995) or a Toyota GR Corolla ($1500).

An annual insurance quote for the 2024 Volkswagen Golf R is priced at $2124 based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The Volkswagen Golf R sports an official fuel consumption figure of 7.8 litres per 100 kilometres, and in my week with the car I averaged 10.0L/100km.

Most of my driving was through the peak-hour commute to and from the office, as well as dropping the kids off to childcare, so it is much more in line with the 10.1L/100km city-driving fuel-consumption figure.

As a performance engine, the Golf R drinks 98RON premium petrol, which will make it more expensive to fill at the bowser.

With a 55-litre fuel tank capacity, the Golf R has a theoretical driving range of around 705km, but based on my economy numbers, the hot hatch should do about 550km.

Hot hatches promise to blend the everyday useability of a small five-door with the performance and dynamism of a sports car, and key to this is the powertrain.

Under the bonnet of the 2024 Volkswagen Golf R is the latest version of Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous 2.0-litre EA888 turbo petrol engine, now punching out 235kW and 400Nm in Australia.

For keen-eyed pundits, that maximum torque figure is 20Nm less than that offered by European models, as well as the now-discontinued wagon version, due to the local hatchback not being fitted with a petrol particulate filter.

Despite featuring a ‘detuned’ engine, the Golf R is still a potent performer, serving up a 0–100km/h acceleration time of just 4.8 seconds thanks to its all-wheel-drive grip and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

And while the Golf R feels fast, it doesn’t sound it – or at least it doesn’t sound quite like it used to.

The characterful exhaust burbles and blarts from the previous-generation Golf R are missing here, a victim of ever-tightening noise and emissions regulations and fuel-economy gains, with up and down shifts not accompanied by much exhaust noise.

Don’t get me wrong, the sports exhaust does offer some aural sensation, but there’s a reason why a pop and crackle tune is one of the most popular aftermarket modifications on the Golf platform.

Aside from this, the Golf R is just damn good fun.

Even with its progressive variable-ratio steering, inputs in the Golf R are immediate and responsive, letting you carve out a long winding mountain road or Melbourne’s grid-like CBD with ease.

And while the selectable drive modes on other cars might feel like an afterthought, in the Golf R it is a genuinely useable feature because there is so much variability in the adaptive suspension.

In Comfort mode with the ride, steering and engine response all set to their tamest settings, the Golf R handles the daily commute or school run without any fuss. So much so that it feels like a standard Golf despite the 19-inch wheels and low-profile tyres.

However, with multiple drive modes on offer, drivers can dial up the edginess of the Golf R to a level that suits the road ahead.

The best part? There’s an Individual driving mode, which lets owners set up their own drive-mode configuration that is best for their driving skill level.

Steering, engine sound, drivetrain, adaptive cruise control, and electronic stability control – all of them feature multiple levels of adjustment to set up the Golf R in a way that is just right for you.

It can sort of function as a training wheel mode, where more engine response or less stability control can be dialled up or down once you get used to how the Golf R handles, and you can gradually work your way up to more hardcore settings.

Backing all this up are Drift and Nürburgring modes – the former able to swing the rear end out, and the latter dialling everything up for track days, but sofening the damping response slightly.

Obviously, we weren't able to explore either on public roads, but it adds another two feathers to the Golf R's already impressive repertoire.

To me, however, the Golf R doesn't quite feel as sharp and engaging pushing towards the limit, unlike some of its rivals.

Part of that is due to the automatic transmission, whereas competitors are served up with a manual gearbox. But it's also the all-wheel-drive system adds a level of grip that makes the Golf R feel more polished and refined overall, though at the expense of the thrills and edge-of-your-seat excitement.

To put it another way, the Golf R is very easy to drive fast and have fun with, but something like a Civic Type R demands more driver involvement.

It’s hard to argue that the 2024 Volkswagen Golf R doesn’t make a compelling case as the ultimate do-it-all hot hatch.

As a practical, comfortable, and even premium daily runabout, no other hot hatch comes close for around the same money – even if it is wearing a Type R or GR badge.

But the Golf R has a Mr Hyde persona to its Doctor Jekyll too, able to transform into a truly engaging driver’s car with all the thrills you’d expect from a performance model.

Is it as sharp and razor-focused on the limit as its peers? No, but those instances where you want to push a little harder are few and far between on a public road.

Before heading down to your nearest Volkswagen dealer to check out a Golf R, we’ll remind you that the brand has shown off an updated version of the Golf and Golf GTI already that is due to hit Australian showrooms around the start of 2025.

A new Golf R will also be joining them, so you need to decide if you want to put your money down for a soon-to-be-replaced Golf R or wait for the update.

Full pricing and specs for the 2025 Golf R are yet to be revealed, so also keep that in mind.

At the time of writing, Volkswagen Australia's website isn't showing any Golf R models in stock, though there is the now-discontinued wagon still available, so it's best to contact your nearest dealer here if you want to buy.

And to see which Volkswagen models are for sale on the Drive Marketplace, click here.

To stay up to date on all the latest VW news, however, you’ll want to check out this link here.