Volkswagen Golf GTI Goes Up Against "Mini Muscle Car" Golf R in Unwinnable Fight

Everyone knows about the GTI, but the Mark VIII Golf (like the Mark VII before it) can also be had as a GTE (plug-in hybrid) or a GTD (diesel). The top dog, though, is the R model, which brings over 300 horsepower to the table and better traction thanks to its all-wheel-drive system.

Great, but that surely must come at a cost. It does, but the price gap is not as big as you might expect, and if you lease the car instead of buying upfront, you'll feel the difference even less. Besides, you can drop the cost of a GTI even further by opting for the manual gearbox, a move that won't enhance your performance but will make the experience more enjoyable.

As far as the design is concerned, we honestly feel the Golf GTI looks sportier than the R. The honeycomb grille and that red stripe across the front (the R gets a less obvious blue one) makes it seem hungrier for asphalt; we even like the wheel design better, though that's entirely subjective. When you get to the back, though, the R makes up the lost ground with its quad-exhaust and more aggressive air diffuser, but it might just be too little too late.

However, it's how they behave out on the road that matters the most, and just by looking at the specs, it's hard to imagine the GTI could possibly stand a chance. It's severely short on power—239 hp (242 PS) vs. 316 hp (320 PS)—and it is front-wheel-drive only, whereas the R has a clever AWD system that can send all power to the rear wheels when needed. But it wouldn't be the first time when numbers are deceiving.

Except, in this case, they're not. Volkswagen really did a number with this iteration of the Golf R, and it looks as though it might have made the GTI quite redundant in the process. With only a few thousand dollars between them, the monthly price difference in the case of a lease can almost be negligible, especially when you consider the tremendous amounts of fun that extra money brings with no downside whatsoever.