0:00
so the quickest and frankly best hot hatch we've ever timed around the bedford west circuit
0:21
is still the mighty honda civic time bar limited which weighs a bit less than the goldfarr has a
0:28
touch more power comes on considerably more trick rubber than the Hankook equipped Golf R
0:35
but doesn't have four-wheel drive. So can the most powerful Golf you can buy use its clever
0:42
electronic diffs and its Nürburgring chassis setting to put one over the world's best hot hatch
0:49
Well what do you reckon? Yes or no? It's kind of the ultimate ideal everyday hot hatch isn't it, the Golf R. I'm not convinced
1:05
I still not convinced that the Mark 8 Golf full stop is just as sweet a car as the Mark 7 But it ain slow in a straight line and it ain slow around corners either and this gearbox seven speed dsg gearbox works really well with the four wheel drive system
1:26
the only thing you are aware of especially on a track well particularly on a track
1:31
is how much it weighs under brakes there's this hairpin down here
1:36
here, we'll show you that. You'll see on the hot lap just how soon, how early I've got
1:43
to get on the brakes in order to just not miss the apex by a mile. And it's the same
1:50
but to a slightly lesser extent into every single corner. You just need that much more
1:54
track and space to slow down it. Beyond that, though, I'm pretty impressed by this thing
2:02
on this track. I think it's one of these weird ones where this car suits this track really
2:06
Anyway, let's put the lid on and find out just how rapid it is
2:13
So correct drive mode selected and with the TC and stability systems switched off, here's the lap
2:20
Sorry about the sound Best if you turn it right up and just get ready to brace yourselves a bit across the kerbs
3:13
den Yeah In the end the golf fire was quick but not that quick with a time of 1 minute 23
4:05
leaving it just under a second shy of the mighty Civic. Now with a set of Cup 2s fitted
4:12
rather than the Hankooks that VW sends all its press cars out with nowadays
4:17
the Golf R would have gone quicker for sure. Even on a set of PS4s it would have been a lot closer to the Honda's time
4:26
But we can only test what we're given and in this case the VW's tyres did it few favours in relation to its key rivals
4:35
And in any case, subjectively, it's still a mile away yet from the brilliant Civic Type R
