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VW Golf R Mk8: An honest review, is it better than a Mk7?
120K views
Jan 1, 2025
I was lucky enough to be given this Mk8 Golf R for 48 hours to test, this isn't a car you can judge on a 20 minute test drive! I'm not a Youtube personality, I'm not a professional reviewer or test drive guy. I tune Volkswagens all day every day, so lets see my journey from pickup to handing it back and get the facts.
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0:00
well here's something a bit different
0:02
for a Monday morning I find myself being
0:05
given the keys to a 72 plate mar8 Golf
0:10
R and being told to see what I think of
0:13
it we get these cars into tune and we
0:16
have tuned a few of them but I've never
0:18
lived with one of these on a daily basis
0:21
so I've got this for 24 hours to tell
0:24
you the ins and outs of what a Mark 8
0:26
Golf R is like and show you this
0:28
particular car in a a little bit more
0:32
detail now have to put me sunnies on for
0:34
this it's a bit
0:36
bright I haven't got a clue how to use
0:39
this not a clue let's get this back to
0:43
headquarters and then I can work out
0:45
what I'm going to do with
0:48
it where's me Buttons where's me Buttons
0:52
anybody that follows our business page
0:54
will know that I don't mess about if
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something's not very good I'll say it's
0:59
not very very good if something's
1:01
great I'll tell you it's great
1:05
immediately this feels like a car that
1:08
you could drive very fast very easily
1:12
desire
1:14
Euphoria
1:17
Vitality
1:19
eternity
1:20
Infinity oh we've got a heated steering
1:24
wheel well we're
1:28
back no one died on paper a Mark 8 golf
1:32
doesn't look like that much of an
1:33
improvement over a Mark 7 the stats and
1:36
figures are fairly similar I've driven
1:39
this one for about 10 minutes today
1:41
getting it back to the
1:43
workshop it's different usually when
1:46
models progress they get softer and
1:49
slower Volkswagen have done the opposite
1:51
with this this Mar 8 R feels harder
1:54
racier and sportier than the outgoing
1:57
Mark 7 and 7.5 the interior of a Mark 8
2:00
R is very very modern it's completely
2:05
done away with analog buttons the only
2:07
analog buttons in the whole car really
2:09
are the window switches the virtual
2:12
dashboard is lovely it's a really nice
2:15
upgrade over analog clocks the radio on
2:18
a Mark 8 Golf R is housed in this touch
2:21
screen up here it's got this gesture
2:24
control so all you have to do is just
2:26
wave to it you don't actually have to
2:28
touch it and you don't have to get
2:30
smudgy fingerprints all over the screen
2:32
it's got Wireless Android auto and
2:34
carplay so when you get in you can just
2:36
drop your phone into this wireless
2:38
charging port here this is pretty decent
2:41
in the back as well to be honest I've
2:42
got the driver's seat where I would have
2:44
it I am exactly 6t and I've got ample
2:47
leg room there's at
2:49
least a hands width in there there's
2:53
these little pockets on the back of here
2:56
I don't know what they're for that's a
2:59
fairly decent boot space as well for a
3:02
car with halex these golfs when they've
3:04
been all-wheel drive they've always got
3:05
a
3:06
much shallower boot because the hdex
3:10
system lifts the boot floor up so yeah
3:13
decent there's no better measure of if a
3:17
car's any good or not by trying to pay
3:19
your phone to the Bluetooth and seeing
3:20
what a disaster it is push the button
3:22
that's the home thing push the telephone
3:24
button settings select mobile
3:29
okay I think that's
3:31
worked
3:36
yeah okay that was a completely easy
3:39
process that was awesome yes thank you
3:42
Volkswagen that is easy should we use
3:44
Android
3:50
auto all in all I think the interior on
3:53
a mark a r after the initial change and
3:57
getting used to it that's beautiful
4:00
place to be the magic on a Mark 8 golf
4:03
starts in the front suspension the front
4:05
hubs are completely different the way
4:08
this car drives on the road the way it
4:09
turns in the way it Corners at speed
4:12
this is leagues ahead of what you would
4:14
see on a mark 7.5 this is a real step in
4:17
the right direction with the Mark 8 gol
4:20
R we've moved away from the traditional
4:22
HCK systems to a Magna torque vectoring
4:25
system we've got a continually running
4:27
drive line from the engine to the rear
4:29
differ differential there's then
4:30
multiplate clutch packs in line with
4:33
each drive shaft to allow it to Vector
4:36
the torque side to side and front to
4:38
back it gives much more of a split and
4:41
it allows you to have a more rear wheeel
4:42
drive bias that coupled with the sharper
4:45
steering and the happier tail end is a
4:48
massive win for Volkswagen there's times
4:51
when you're driving this car that it
4:52
feels rear wheeel drive the Mark 7 and
4:55
7.5 were a fairly numb steering feel
4:58
that maybe centered a bit towards under
5:01
steer this
5:03
thing Miles Ahead driving Dynamics on a
5:07
Mark 8 go R wipe the floor with a s or a
5:17
[Music]
5:20
7.5 initially this video is going to
5:23
seem quite dark outside and I've done
5:26
that for a reason because I want to show
5:28
you guys how a amazing the lighting is
5:31
on a Mark 8 golf not just the interior
5:34
Ambiance but the exterior lighting is
5:37
incredible so let's take this for a
5:39
short drive whilst it warms up and see
5:41
what a mark a is all
5:44
about anyone who's owned a modern
5:46
Volkswagen will love this we sat in
5:49
economy mode we're pulling out of a
5:55
junction it just does it without any lag
5:59
that is my number one bug bear of every
6:02
modern Volkswagen and they fixed it on a
6:04
mark
6:05
8r thank you
6:08
Volkswagen we're just going to go for a
6:10
very gentle drive at the moment just to
6:12
get the car up to temperature while
6:15
we're talking about temperatures
6:17
Volkswagen have finally put a gearbox
6:19
oil temperature in the dashboard this is
6:23
a car that was designed to drive fast
6:27
just driving along like this I could be
6:29
in a 1.5 TSI this does not feel like a
6:34
300 plus horsepower all-wheel drive hot
6:38
hatch I wanted to do a bit of everything
6:41
in this gol R I didn't just want to take
6:44
it out nail it up and down between a few
6:46
roundabouts and say it was mint if I'm
6:48
going to endorse a car and say yeah
6:50
that's great I need to know the facts so
6:53
we taking this car out this morning to
6:55
drive through what is rush hour traffic
6:57
it's it's 8:00 8:00 in the morning
7:00
everyone's getting up and going to work
7:02
kids are going to school it's
7:04
busy this car to drive on a daily basis
7:08
just like this feels no different to any
7:10
other Golf and that's what you want you
7:12
want the ability to drive it around in
7:15
Comfort mode nice and
7:18
[Music]
7:24
sensibly the AR badge on this golf isn't
7:27
just a trim level when you push the R
7:30
button and put this into race mode it is
7:33
a completely different
7:36
Beast the way that this thing drives in
7:38
race mode it's like a track car
7:42
everything tightens up the throttle
7:44
response becomes sharper the gear
7:45
changes get sharper they change their
7:48
set points as well so it shifts a little
7:50
bit higher up the Rev range and when you
7:53
start to press on in this car you find
7:55
out the differences between a Mark 8 and
7:57
a mark 7.5
8:00
the front hubs and the suspension
8:01
geometry on the Mark 8 make it a much
8:04
more shooted and more responsive Drive
8:07
than the 7 and
8:09
75s where the 7 and 75s can feel a
8:12
little bit numb the mar 8 just feels
8:15
completely alive
8:25
[Music]
8:30
this is a car you can drive incredibly
8:33
quickly with absolutely no Talent OR
8:36
effort at
8:40
all I'm going to get out of this car
8:43
with a completely different view on Mark
8:45
8 gol RS I want one everything is
8:49
effortless because fundamentally the car
8:51
is set upright I didn't get the Mark 8
8:55
Golf R until I borrowed this one for a
8:58
couple of days and took it out and
8:59
enjoyed it and used it in every aspect
9:03
this is better than a 7 or a
9:06
7.5 I don't want to give it back can I
9:09
keep it okay I'm converted that mar8
9:14
goar is one of the best cars I've ever
9:17
driven as a daily driver it's fast when
9:21
you want it to be the gear changes are
9:23
amazing the torque vectoring from the
9:25
all-wheel drive system is perfect you
9:27
don't even know it's there the front
9:29
suspension geometry is sharp it's not
9:31
numb it's got great feel to it the
9:34
power's excellent I could wax on about
9:37
this car all day that car has completely
9:41
converted me and now I cannot wait for
9:44
these to start dropping out of the
9:45
warranty period so that I can get my Ms
9:47
on them and start modifying
9:50
more Blown Away
9:58
[Music]
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