2025 Volkswagen Golf R Review – Letting the Wild Side Out

If the 2025 Volkswagen GTI is the civilized commuter that has a spicy side, the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R is the whole spice rack.

With more power and a more track-focused mission than the less-expensive GTI, the Golf R exists for the weekend warrior.

Like with the GTI, the Golf R loses the manual, and it’s just as sad as with the GTI. Also as with the GTI, there’s mixed news on the use of haptic touch – some buttons return to the steering wheel but the car still lacks knobs for temperature and audio controls.

While some things are lost, some things are gained – such as more horsepower.

(Full disclosure: Volkswagen flew me to Virginia and fed and housed me so I could drive the Golf R. The company also gave us some track time at Summit Motorsports Park in West Virginia.)

The Golf R gets a facelift for 2025, with a new front fascia, new front bumper, new grille, and new headlights. The VW logo is now illuminated and there’s now a mechanical adaptive front lighting system. New forged-alloy 19-inch wheels are four pounds (each) lighter than the previous wheels. The mirror caps are gloss black now.

A Euro Style Package is now available – this deletes the sunroof, adds a titanium exhaust, deletes most power-seat controls and the cooled seats, and adds ArtVelours seats with diamond-patterned fabric. VW says this package drops about 80 pounds of weight from the car.

There’s also a new Black Edition trim that replaces blue accents with black, darkens the headlight elements, has black badging, and has a black exhaust. The inside gets carbon-fiber décor and this package can be purchased with the Euro Style Package. Both the Euro and Black have 19-inch wheels.

Inside, the changes are similar to what’s seen on the GTI – a new 12.9-inch infotainment screen, the sliders for volume and temperature control, a one-year trial of in-car AI, a new ventilated wireless charging pad, and updated décor.

Carrying over is the 30-color ambient lighting, Harman Kardon audio, and Nappa leather seating.

Underhood remains the EA888 evo4 turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine – this year it gains 13 horsepower to take it to 328, and torque remains the same at 295 lb-ft. Your only transmission choice is a seven-speed DSG automatic with launch control. The Golf R remains all-wheel drive, and the system has a rear-axle, torque-vectoring differential that can send up to 100 percent of torque to an individual rear wheel.

There are seven drive modes: Eco, Comfort, Sport, Race, Drift, Special, and Custom. DCC adaptive damping and an electronically locking differential are standard. If you’re tracking the R, you can reduce the stability control’s intervention with ESC Sport or go ESC off completely.

If the driver puts the transmission in manual mode while using the “Special” or “Drift” drive modes, it will stay there.

The EPA has estimated fuel economy at 22 mpg city, 31 highway, and 25 combined.

Most of the IQ.Drive advanced driver-aid systems carryover – that’s travel assist, front assist, active blind-spot monitoring, rear-traffic alert, lane assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, and emergency assist. Newly standard for this year is park assist plus with throttle control. Other carryover safety nannies include dynamic road sign display, park distance control, head-up display, and light assist.

While the R and GTI might look the same and share a platform and powertrain, the difference is stark. The R is louder on road, both in terms of exhaust note and A-pillar wind noise. It rides more stiffly. It feels more powerful – and it carves corners even better than the GTI does. Sometimes it feels like a dog testing its owner’s grip on the leash – it wants to play.

And play we did, once us motley crew of journalists got to Summit Motorsports Park, tucked away in West Virginia. Track time was a bit limited by a need to catch a flight home, but I managed two sessions in each car.

I went GTI first because it makes sense to use the slower car to acclimatize oneself with the track – in this case, Summit’s Jefferson Circuit – and when it came time for the R, the differences remained apparent.

While it’s hard to notice the affect of 13 new ponies, the R’s general power advantage over the GTI was appreciated in the straightaways, and the R felt more planted and grippier in cornering. Like the GTI, it understeered when pushed, but I didn’t work the wheel as much to adjust my cornering line. I felt faster and more confident on track in the R. All-wheel drive and all the electromechanical gizmos work wonders.

The manual shift mode really does stay in manual, as I found upon pit out when I forgot to upshift and hit the rev limiter. The shifts are swift and crisp without upsetting the chassis – and not too harsh on the street.

As much as I enjoyed the R on track, I don’t know if I’d spend the extra money on it over the GTI if I didn’t plan on getting to the racetrack often. The GTI is a better street car, and while the R isn’t too high-strung to be a commuter, it does demand enough sacrifice in terms of ride and comfort that I’d prefer the GTI for any on-road driving short of, say, the Angeles Crest Highway.

You do pay a lot more for the R – it’s $47,100 to get in the door. Standard features not already mentioned include three-zone climate control, navigation, satellite radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, head-up display, heated front and rear outboard seats, keyless entry and starting, cooled front seats, sunroof, 12-way power driver seat, and driver-seat memory. The Euro Style Package adds $3,795. To get the Black Edition, you’ll lay out $48,415. Destination is $1,225.

From a pure performance perspective, the R is a clear step above the GTI. It pulls harder from a stop, handles better, sounds better at full zoot, and it seemed to grip better.

The question is – is that worth seven grand more? And do you want to drop almost four grand more on the Euro package, which saves a bit of weight but also takes away some comfort and convenience features?

Choice of option package is obviously up to the individual, but no matter how you’re R is equipped, it’s going to be a bit less civilized than its platform mate. And even if you don’t choose the Euro package, the R’s cabin materials don’t feel as special as they should in a car that’s nearly 50 grand.

Or over 50 grand -- the Black Edition with Euro I drove was $53,731.

Plus, there’s that infuriating lack of control knobs. And while the car is still great with the DSG, the loss of the manual is worth mourning.

All that said, if you plan to track your VW hot hatch, or if you have access to a great driving road, the R is the one to get. Just make sure you work out its wild side enough to make the extra coin worth it.

If you do, you’ll easily justify the expense.

[Images © 2025 Tim Healey/TTAC.com]

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