New Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years 2022 review

Volkswagen has teased more power out of the Golf R, but can the 20 Years edition trade blows with the Mercedes-AMG A35?

Verdict

We don’t recall bemoaning the Golf R’s lack of straight-line pace, but Volkswagen has given the 20 Years edition a power boost anyway. It’s the most energetic version yet, but despite its fierce acceleration and astonishing cross-country pace, the 20 Years doesn't present a significant character change. A more tactile, expressive chassis would have elevated it among the very best hot hatches.

Since the Mk4 Golf R32 launched 20 years ago, Volkswagen’s string of devastatingly quick, four-wheel drive hot hatchbacks have set the tone for extracting sports car-baiting performance from humble beginnings. And now, to commemorate the first Golf to wear the R badge two decades ago, Volkswagen has built the Golf R 20 Years. Taking the Mk8 Golf R as a base, the 20 Years aims to inject more character into the package, potentially unlocking an extra sparkle to fight the world’s best hot hatchbacks. And there are many contenders on that list, with a new Honda Civic Type R about to join the fray too.

With a two-tier rear spoiler, 19-inch alloys and a hunkered-down stance, the 20 Years has the same visual aggression as the R-Performance Pack-equipped Golf R, albeit with optional blue wheel accents and subtle badging. The R’s subtly menacing design has always disguised the car’s potential, and the 20 Years does little to change that.

Inside, the special edition is equally restrained, save for carbon fibre trim inserts and flashes of blue on the steering wheel and upholstery stitching. The rest of the cabin is shared with the standard Golf R, so build quality is good rather than class-leading, and the infotainment system can be fiddly at times. Some ergonomic oddities – such as unlit touch-sensitive temperature and volume controls – mar what is a generally attractive, roomy cabin.

The chassis of the 20 Years is also familiar, with the same suspension hardware and calibration as the base R. The standard-fit four-wheel drive system remains, featuring a torque vectoring rear differential, which can apportion up to 100 per cent of torque sent to the rear axle to either rear wheel. It’s a key player in the R’s dynamic tool box, and as with R-Performance Pack models, a Drift mode is available to make full use of it.

The major changes relate to the powertrain. For the 20 Years edition, VW has squeezed 328bhp from the car’s 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder motor, making it the most powerful production Golf ever built. Peak torque is unchanged at 420Nm, but the power uplift trims the 0-62mph sprint to 4.6 seconds, and it’ll run on to a top speed of 168mph.

Along with the extra grunt, the 20 Years arrives with a new turbo calibration that keeps the throttle valve open to maintain boost pressure for sharper responses and reduced lag when you get back on the power. The seven-speed DSG gearbox has also gained new software to provide a thump in the back during manual upshifts – contrived, perhaps, but in response to customer demand, VW says.

Nevertheless, the 20 Years is startlingly rapid when you bury the throttle. Even in damp conditions, the four-wheel drive system claws at the surface and deploys all 328bhp with relative ease, drawing you into exploiting more of its potential.

The power increase isn’t transformative, but there is a fraction more urgency than the standard Golf R. The engine is keen and reactive to small throttle pedal inputs, providing a transparent feel when trimming the car’s line through a corner. The optional Akrapovic exhaust system sounds suitably rorty, too, with a chorus of gargles and crackles when you lift off.

As ever, there’s a range of driving modes available to tailor the car’s behaviour, including a ‘Special’ setting designed for the Nurburgring. This cranks up the powertrain response and steering weight but slackens the dampers to their Comfort setting, taking the edge off the ride and allowing the 20 Years to tackle bumpy roads with more finesse.

Even in this softer setting, the car remains resolute and well connected over undulations, and the extra degree of body movement unlocks more adjustability through corners. For what it may lack in feel, the R’s progressive-rate steering rack combines with the torque vectoring differential to provide crisp turn-in, and the car adopts a neutral stance when feeding in the power out of a corner. The tail does edge wide with more liberal use of the throttle, but the 20 Years feels mostly secure and unflappable. A typical Golf R trait.

This special edition certainly offers up some extra drama over the standard model, but the changes haven’t remoulded the Golf R. The powertrain tweaks are only appreciable having experienced the regular car, which is already an exceedingly capable machine and costs £5,400 less than the 20 Years. Still, for those who want the most powerful production Golf in history, look no further.

Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, four-wheel drive

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