Golf 8 R First Drive

I finally got the monkey off my back when the Golf 8 R first touched the docks in Durban I had to get behind the wheel. Officially launched here on the 25th of April but due the worldwide semi conducter shortage it finally touched our shores last week. Patient owners have since been taking delivery and Vagcafe already started modding theirs.

Starting at an eye watering R912 800 with absolutely no extras it easily pops over a million with just a few add ons. In my opinion a million bucks for Golf I'm sorry but I just don't think it's worth that much. Not so much a peoples car anymore it's now only in the realm of the more affluent.The previous generation 7.5 R costed R679 990 back in 2017 and this golf doesn't feel R230 000 better than that. Don't get me wrong I'm a true fan of the R I love what it stands for but not it's recent price. If I had a million bucks and I was set on something German I'd much go down the route of a pre loved Porsche Cayman or Boxster. 

On the road the car feels more refined than the 7.5R. It gives a built solid sensation that we've come to expect from Volkswagen. Driven in a civilized manner it manages to pull the same trick off that all its predecessors have it feels like a normal "Golf". When you switch it in sport thats when you really feel this car come alive. It has that brilliant EA888 2.0 litre 4 pot singing a deep bassy tune, of course the one I drove had the Akrapovic exhaust which is an extra. The adaptive chassis is tweaked more on this model than previously so It actually feels like it makes a difference driving in sport rather than comfort. 

Performance figures are bumped up to 235kW and 400Nm but as seen those figures only tell half the story it has unbelievable acceleration. The 2.0 now does 0-100 in 4.8 seconds which is what we used to get back in the with old 8P model RS3. The 8 R has a flat torque curve from 1500rpm which keeps power on song right till the redline. The R is now also sporting the gear lever delete just like the GTI and it has a cute little toggle switch to select your gear. One thing I always found quite annoying was the small paddles behind the steering to shift up and down but it's been addressed in this model.

Time to get nerdy the where the R shines the most is the updates to its 4motion four wheel drive setup with R-Performance Torque Vectoring which is linked to the Vehicle Dynamics Manager (VDM), electronic centre and rear differential and Adaptive Chassis Control. In simple terms the cars computers decide in milliseconds which wheel has most traction and feeds power to those wheels it can now send 100% of power to one wheel.

Now onto the question on everyone's lips "Can I drift it?" Yes you can if you buy the "Black Performance pack which is a R27000 option you get Drift mode, an increase in top speed from 250km/h to 270km/h and black 19 inch Estoril wheels. Drifting this machine is nothing like old school there's no opposite lock or getting the ass to kick and holding a drift. Here you just turn hard into the corner and the computers will allow just the right amount of slip for the rear to hang out abit transferring the power left and right through the diffs keeping you in the correct direction. Even my mom can drift this car. It takes the skill out of drifting as it took the skill out of drag racing.

Summary

Love it or hate it. It's here to stay and to give Volkswagen credit where its due the technological advances this car has is nothing short of extraordinary. The only issue I'm having is hard to justify over a million for this vehicle. I mean coming out the dealership and telling my wife I just dropped over a million on a "Golf" just doesn't sit right with me. Well if you can justify it forget the R76000 Akrapovic exhaust or the Black Performance pack just opt for the autonomous drive extras and you will be set 

Pics and specs supplied by VWSA