While in the United States, the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf’s flagship version isn’t exactly ready to shine on the dealer lots just yet, European fans already have the chance to observe its performance qualities in the best possible road conditions: on summer tires and the Autobahn.
The 2022 Volkswagen Golf R can’t come soon enough to the United States to wipe off the bad impression given by the company’s U.S. subsidiary handling of the “Voltswagen” debacle. We know it’s already up there in northern Michigan observing the spring thaw alongside the ID.4 and Tanner Foust, but frankly, we prefer an independent opinion over marketing stunts.
During the cold winter days, the good folks over at the Automann-TV channel on YouTube got the chance to test some of the performance capabilities of the 2022 Golf R, but the sprints to 62 mph (100 kph) and 124 mph (200 kph) were performed when equipped with a set of winter tires.
Probably impressed by the feistiness exhibited by the range-topping hot hatchback, the host has seemingly decided to check out the Golf R once more, this time around packing the proper set of summer rubber. And he’s clearly waiting for some spectacular results, given the recent news that VW has actually underrated the model's power credentials.
On paper, the Golf R sports 320 PS (316 hp) and should be more than properly AWD-equipped to reach an official top speed of 155 mph (250 kph). That’s about to be subjected to the Autobahn trial, but not before some zero to 62 mph (100 kph) and 60 mph (96 kph) trials. By the way, the last time it was on trial, the Golf R stopped the 62-mph clock at 4.4 seconds.
This time around, the RaceBox GPS comes up with mixed results, nailing either 4.5s or 4.3s runs depending on the chosen settings. We’re even more interested in the North American 60-mph benchmark, though, which comes down to an almost completely flat 4.09 seconds.
From the 2:35 mark, it’s time for the Autobahn portion, where the Golf R swings from 62 to 124 mph (100 to 200 kph) in just 10.8 seconds on its way to a top speed run of 289 kph (almost 180 mph) on the speedometer. The GPS, on the other hand, shows an equally impressive result of around 277 kph (172 mph).
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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