The Golf GTI is an icon, but it has no monopoly over the hot hatch market. There have always been rivals with a lot more power and excitement available. Volkswagen's answer has always been "yes, but this is a daily driver."
But does having a powerful engine automatically make a car uncomfortable? And can't drive modes somewhat alleviate the fuel consumption problem? With about a year to go before it launches the Golf 8, Volkswagen has officially admitted that it was wrong and gave us the GTI TCR.
It sounds like the name of a race car, and it is. But one quick look at this thing reveals it's like an updated version of the Clubsport that was available just before the facelift. Its 2.0 TSI turbo engine is pretty similar too, the main difference being that where the Clubsport S could only make 290 HP for 10 seconds, this one does it all the time... just like the Leon Cupra.
That's exactly 70 HP more than what the GTI 7 disappointingly started with back in 2013. And on top of that, you also receive more torque, a stiffer chassis and different bits of trim. If you ever want to drag race the Civic Type R or the Megane RS Cup, you'll need one of these.
With launch control engaged, the TCR rockets to 100 km/h in just 5.6 seconds. A few years back, Volkswagen would have said you need AWD for that kind of acceleration. Of course, the rubber on this is of a much sticker variety to cope with the extra pulling power.
Top speed is limited to 250 km/h (155 mph) as standard, but customers have the option to remove the limiter and keep up with base Boxsters all the way to 260 km/h (162 mph). Of course, the R is still king of speed, reach 1000 km/h a full second faster. It's worth noting that Volkswagen charges from €38,950 for the TCR, and that doesn't even include some of the more desirable options.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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