'BE CAREFUL, THIS IS THE ACTUAL CAR we'll be timing at the Nürburgring,' says Volkswagen R engineer Jonas Thielebein as I open the door to a pre-production Mk8.5 Golf R in the paddock of Germany's Lausitzring. It'll be a little while before we see the final car, but it's clear that the camouflage isn't hiding any sort of radical redesign, and the signs are that it won't be much different to drive than the Mk8 either. 'It was a case of refining a few things,' says Thielebein. 'We were very happy with what we had before.
It's fair to say that evo's assessment of the Mk8 R hasn't been quite as positive as that. It's a hot hatch we respect rather than adore, one which makes its performance effortlessly accessible but somehow doesn't deliver the satisfaction of the very best. On some of our favourite roads its point-to-point speed has left a big impression with a willingness to carry good momentum almost everywhere. However, alongside Honda's Civic Type R, with its crisper responses and sports car-like sensations, you feel that your inputs have far less influence on the car's behaviour in the VW. It's a good part of why the Type R won evo's 18-car hot hatch megatest in issue 318, while the Golf only just scraped into the top ten.
But this is a new day, a new(ish) car and a chance to approach the Golf R with a fresh mind. The Mk8.5 is very much an evolution of the recipe rather than an overhaul, and pretty much all of the mechanical hardware is carried over from the Mk8. The MQB platform is unchanged (and shared with the likes of the Audi S3 and Skoda Octavia VRS), so too the seven-speed DSG gearbox and four-wheel drive. The latter uses a variable torquevectoring differential to apportion power between the rear wheels, with the ability to overdrive the outside rear to rotate the car through corners - or induce bigger angles when using the track-only Drift mode.
Bu hikaye Evo UK dergisinin July 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Evo UK dergisinin July 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
