Volkswagen Golf R Drag Races Audi RS 3 and S5, It's Over in 11.4 Seconds

Pictured at Ontario’s 1.375-mile Dunnville Autodrome, the Golf R is joined by its Audi-branded cousin and the S5. None of them are stock, which makes the following series of digs and rolls that more interesting.

First, let’s talk numbers!

The Volkswagen is a 2022 model for North America, meaning 3,417 pounds (1,550 kilograms) in terms of curb weight. Fully stock, the Golf R produces a decent 315 horsepower at 5,900 revolutions per minute and 280 pound-feet (380 Nm) at 1,900 revolutions per minute from a displacement of 2.0 liters. The four-cylinder lump of this particular example belts out in the ballpark of 446 ponies at the crank and 420 WHP.

In addition to a Unitronic Stage 1+ tune, the owner also splurged on a Raclingline intake, Remus exhaust, and a Unitronic intercooler. Also pictured in white, the RS 3 is a 2018 model with the very same transmission as the Golf R. The biggest difference between these front-biased siblings?

That would be the inline-five mill of the RS 3, a 2.5-liter turbo bettered by resonator-replacing midpipes from Unitronic, a carbon-fiber intake, downpipe, as well as a Stage 2 tune from the same company. The S tronic seven-speed DCT also benefits from a Stage 2 tune. All told, the sedan-bodied RS 3 is good for 500 horsepower at the wheels (compared to 400 horsepower at 5,850 rpm in bone-stock flavor).

Tipping the scales at roughly 3,600 pounds (1,633 kilograms), the RS 3 understandably makes a bit more torque than the factory-rated 354 pound-feet (480 Nm) at the crankshaft. As for the final challenger, the black-painted S5 rocks an 034Motorsport Stage 2 tune, a CTS Turbo high-flow intake, and a catless downpipe from the same outfit. With 93 octane in the fuel tank, the M440i-rivaling coupe offers roughly 480 horsepower at the crankshaft and something like 420 at the wheels.

Given its longitudinally-mounted engine, this fellow has Torsen-style quattro. The Haldex system is exclusive to front-biased applications like the Volkswagen MQB-based Golf R and Audi RS 3. As a result, the S5 is quite a bit heavier than both, weighing 3,847 pounds (1,755 kilograms) sans mods.

From the dig, the quickest of the three cars to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) is the RS 3 with 3.5 seconds, followed by the S5 with 3.6 seconds. The Golf R? Make that 3.79 seconds. The aforementioned order is unchanged for the quarter-mile times, namely 11.4 for the RS 3, 11.9 for the S5, and precisely 12.3 seconds for the Volkswagen Golf R.

The five-pot RS 3 further asserts dominance from a roll, accelerating from 32 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour) harder than the S5 and Golf R. Then again, the RS 3 in the clip below is the most powerful – and likely the torquiest – of the lot.