04:48AM - 27.01.'14
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News Source: autoblog.com
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Three cheers for the handbrake. For driving enthusiasts who live in climates where the winter months produce seemingly endless days of snowy, icy conditions, nothing cures the seasonal blues quite like finding yourself on an empty road, pulling the handbrake, halting the rear wheels and happily drifting around a turn. Hooligans, we are. And it's all great fun. Upon sitting in the 2015 Volkswagen Golf R for the first time, I immediately noticed its handbrake – or, should I say, lack thereof. Like many modern cars, its parking brake is electronic and can only be applied when the brake pedal itself is depressed. While I initially thought this would be a total buzzkill during my recent Ice Capades adventure in northern Sweden, the truth is, after a few minutes behind the wheel, I couldn't have cared less. This car is a silly, little monster, perfectly tuned for wintertime fun. The story you are about to read is a First Drive in perhaps the most literal sense. Yes, it is the first time Autoblog has driven the new Golf R. But if I called this a road test, I'd technically be lying. The term "road test" implies a car was tested on a road, and while I spent many hours behind the wheel of the hot new Golf R, at no point was any of my driving done on an actual road, paved or otherwise. My seat time was limited to courses carved out on a frozen lake, where the Golf R's electronic wizardry, combined with state-of-the-art studded winter tires, would be the only tools I needed to see what this car is all about. Spoiler alert: it's a riot. Arvidsjaur is a small city in the Lapland province of northern Sweden, situated some 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The name might not ring a bell, but if you've been following the pages of Autoblog, you've likely seen photos of this place without even knowing. Because of its proximity to the arctic climate, Arvidsjaur is a major hub for the European automotive industry; many automakers use this area as a home base for cold-weather prototype testing. So if you've ever seen a frosty set of spy shots, chances are they were snapped near Arvidsjaur. The city's population actually increases during the bitterly cold winter months, since so many engineers take temporary residence in the area. In fact, many locals flock to warmer climates in the winter, and rent out their homes to automotive engineers. During the 24 hours I spent freezing my butt off up there, I spotted groups of test cars from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. It's sort of like Detroit in that regard, only colder... somehow. Beyond cold-weather development, many automakers use the Arvidsjaur region to school enthusiasts in the art of winter performance driving. Volkswagen is one of those companies, and that's exactly how I found myself on an airplane destined for the regional airport northwest of Arvidsjaur. Our classroom would be a lake with just under 30 inches of solid ice on the top, and our teachers were made up of Europeans trained in the art of winter rally instruction. First, let's start with a quick refresher course. The 2015 Golf R builds upon Volkswagen's storied hotter-than-GTI history, with models like the Golf VR6 and R32 paving the way for what is now the most powerful version of the company's stalwart hatchback. The US-spec MkVII Golf R debuted at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, and the car will officially hit our shores in the first quarter of 2015 with pricing expected to fall very close to the $36,090 of the MkVI four-door model. So please note, the car tested here is actually a European-spec model. Despite its lower stance, aggressive fascia with LED running lamps and 18-inch wheels, I have to admit, the new Golf R doesn't look quite as handsome as its predecessor – my eyes feel the same about the base Golf and GTI, too. Even with its clean, taut styling, the front and rear fascias look a little droopy from some angles. And while the previous Golf R slid under the radar with a bit more subtle ferociousness, there's a healthier injection of boy-racery in this new model. That said, the enhanced styling further separates the R from its lesser kin; you certainly won't mistake this for a regular-strength GTI out on the road. The R's cabin is exactly what you'd expect from any hot Golf: simply laid-out controls, high-grade materials, sport seats and a clean, yet modern design. There's ample room for four adults (and a fifth, if you really need it), and the hatchback shape is just as functional as ever. Heads-up: the Golf R will be offered in two- and four-door variants overseas, but we'll only get the latter in the US. Volkswagen says demand is simply too low for the two-door. Even in Europe, that model only accounted for something like 20 percent of overall sales with the previous R. No matter – the four-door hatch is really what you want out of an everyday car, anyway. One of the best things about the Golf R – or Golf, or GTI, for that matter – is how truly premium the interior feels. I could totally live with this car every day, simply because when you're slogging through traffic or driving like a sane person, you'll find the seats comfortable, the stereo good, the tech plentiful, and the cockpit nicely insulated from wind and road noise. In terms of daily-driver ability, no hot hatch does the refinement thing quite like the Vee-Dub. |
