Driving the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R

I’m considering joining a cult.

The Volkswagen Golf R has long had a cult following, and I’ve never understood it. I’ve driven several versions of VW’s sporty little hatchback over the years. I’ve never found myself in love.

But a week in the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R swayed me for the first time. VW’s sportiest car in the U.S. offers wonderfully adjustable levels of performance.

It can be a practical commuter with a little more cargo space than the average compact car when that’s what you need. Tap a few changes into the touchscreen, and it can be a performance car at a surprisingly affordable price.

The Golf R, even in its softest suspension settings, may be too stiff for some. But if you’re interested in a performance car that can double as a commuter for under $50,000, the Golf R is a versatile car that takes on the personality you give it.

Which Trim Level

The Golf R doesn’t have trim levels because it more or less is a trim level — it is the go-fast version of VW’s Golf hatchback.

My tester was the 2025 Golf R Black Edition, which comes in a glossy Mythos Black Metallic color with a Titan Black Leather interior. It was all a bit Lego Batman for my taste, but that aesthetic works for many. If you’re not one of them, you can save $1,315 by choosing another color.

Favorite Feature

Like most performance cars, the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R has several drive modes to choose from. Like the best of those, it also lets you tune your own.

In Eco and Comfort, it’s almost a sedate commuter. The suspension still offers a slightly stiff ride compared to, say, a Honda Civic hatchback. But it does a convincing enough impression of an everyday car that my passengers never complained.

Sport gives you sharper throttle response, faster shifts, and slightly firmer steering. Race adds stiffer suspension settings and further dials in the shift points. It’s simply ferocious.

I did not use Drift, as I didn’t get track time.

Best of all, an Individual mode lets you dial in the suspension, steering, and throttle settings you want. I like to tighten up the steering and suspension but leave the engine more relaxed, making the car fun at legal speeds.  

Some BMW and Mercedes cars give you similar flexibility, but this is one of the least expensive ways to get a self-designed tune.

Adjustable ambient lighting lets you further curate your experience.

What It’s Like to Drive

All those flexible settings mean the VW Golf R drives the way you want it to drive.

A turbocharged 4-cylinder engine gives it 328 horsepower — a lot for such a small chassis. Volkswagen no longer offers it with a manual transmission, but the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic it ships with is highly adjustable through the various drive modes.

Together, they make for a highly responsive throttle pedal. Grippy brakes help reel it in when needed, and cross-drilled rotors should keep them cool and effective even through a track day.

All-wheel drive and a torque vectoring system make this one of the sharpest-handling cars you’ll find in its price range.

Interior Comfort and Technology

Premium sport seats are comfortable without being too stiff. A leather-wrapped steering wheel gives slightly when squeezed, which is what you want in a performance car.

The brushed stainless steel pedals look fantastic. I wasn’t a fan of my tester’s almost all-black interior, but blue accents helped break the monotony.

Where the Golf R fails is in its frustrating touch-capacitive buttons and sliders. They’re exceptionally sensitive and located so that you can easily brush them by accident. More than once, I reached to reposition a vent and found the back of my hand changing the drive mode.

Designers also put a pair of touch-capacitive sliders right beneath the touchscreen. My hand wanted to rest a finger there while paging through touchscreen menus. Inevitably, I’d accidentally change the temperature or the volume doing that.

Volkswagen says it plans to move away from the highly sensitive interface. You’ll likely get used to the system if you buy the car, but the Golf R will be a better product when they’re gone.

Limitations

The touch capacitive buttons might be an issue for some buyers. Volkswagen made another curious technology decision my passengers hated. The car uses a voice enhancer — microphones pick up conversations and play them through the car’s speakers. That system is useful in some 3-row vehicles where the driver might genuinely struggle to hear rear-seat passengers. But this is a small car. The subtle echo effect of having your voice played back to you through speakers in a small space frustrated more than one passenger.

You can turn the voice enhancer off, but it turns itself on again every time you start the car.

Curiously, you can set off the Golf R’s alarm while driving if you accidentally press the alarm button on the keyfob. Ask me how I know.

Key Considerations

The Golf R has few natural rivals. Honda’s Civic Type R and Hyundai’s Elantra N are the closest things on the road. If I were in the market, I might test drive all three. That could make for a fun day. I think you’d find the Golf R the most customizable of the group.