Of course this video was filmed awhile back. Now I got an M3 🎉

People always say:" Who's gonna buy a $54000 CAD golf." Well, I did, picked up my 2024 R DCT for my daily, just loving it so much, insane power, fun modes to play, it handles lika dream. For people don't know about golf r, they will never understand how fun it is, this car is worth the price for sure, why? Cuz people buying the R, they are looking for the long term ownership, such a sleeper ride, just loving it. You see all kinds of compact turbo cars on the road, but you don't see golf R that often which makes the R unique. My insurance is super cheap as well, great gas consumption as I drive sport and race all day long, no problem at all. NO regrets, true car guy ride.

The front brakes are two pistons.

The golf r does 0-60 in 3.9-4.1s with the dsg. It has awd and rides well. For 44k nothing comes close

Brakes are amazing for the car's weight. 357mm is massive for a hatchback AND it is dual piston. It's also not like you will track the car either. Even the gti's brakes barely fade on track. Also find it amusing you almost never talk about the way cars handle. It's always about the power and engine. For me, the way a car handles is just as important.

My 2023 USA spec R has dual front calipers, the front is very different from GTI (compare them side by side), putting it in any of the race modes opens up the exhaust, it has launch control and can drive and park itself. Pretty good for a $48,000.00 car!! PLUS, when I compare it to my E46 M3 with a manual 6SP, I am very happy to have chosen the DSG transmission since the R is my daily driver. All the complaints about the touch screen and haptic controls are from people who have no spent much time behind the seat. VW did change the steering wheel for recent deliveries (still haptic, just improved) and there are short cuts to navigating the infotainment system you learn with use. For one thing the heated or cooled seats come on and off automatically as does the heated steering wheel. You can program when and at what level (L, M, H) so really no need to mess with the controls once you have your preferred temps dialed in. Then turning any of them off is just one touch. The owners manual is huge and detailed (unfortunately not country specific) I'm about 3/4 through it and learning more and more of this amazing cars ability each day. She is rocket that tracks as if on rails!!

@Sam If I may, I wanna correct you on a few things in your dislike section. This goes for anyone else who may be watching this. The car is arguably even more distinguishable from a GTI from the front than the rear. The little sections that “wrap” in the bottom corners aren’t on the GTI at all and the grille is honeycomb patterned on the GTI. The entire “mouth” is different. The car does have front 2 piston brakes. Not only that, but they’re actually really good. I don’t know if the one you drove is abused or faulty or what but I and many others have tracked these things already. There’s almost no fade and they perform very well. They even only ever so slightly lost the brake test to cars like the CTR which weigh much less and are more track focused. The heated seats actually can be activated by just tapping the hot and cold sections, under the infotainment, simultaneously. No need to interact with the screen really at all. Just a double press and bam, they’re on. There’s many short cuts in the car. I don’t know if you said this, I rewinded it like 5 times but, it sounded like you said the car didn’t have heated REAR seats. Which is false, it does. The controls for it are right under the vent in the rear.

Probably one of the best reviews I have seen. I agree with everything you said and I had it for about 10 months. Use it in harsh Iowa winters as a daily with kids and works fantastic

I've got a 2023 Golf R.. It's not perfect, but I do think it comes awfully close to the perfect car for me and my budget. That's why I bought one and waited many, many, months to buy one. I wanted something quick, practical, fun to drive, non-FWD, daily-able, and most importantly to me manual. I'm not quite sure what Sam is complaining about here.. 1) The front end has the blue bar, R badge AND the Golf GTI has that honeycomb grill pattern! Look at a picture of the two side by side the grills are pretty different! Those are plenty different enough for me (esp since we're just talking about the front!). I'm not sure how much more different it needs to be.. what more could you want? scoops? and fake grills? bleh. 2) The brakes are good! Like everyone else has pointed out they are 2 piston in the front. I think the one Sam drove might have needed a brake service. It looks like it might be a press car (manufacturer plates) so I assume it's been tracked and run really hard and now probably needs a brake fliud flush. 3) Infotainment. If you use one every day you get used to it. I personally think complaining about something **IF** it breaks is highly speculative. I also personally speculate that part of the reason for VW went haptic in part for the reliability, no moving parts means less to fail but only time will tell. 4) The exhaust is good. In comfort and sport, it is very quiet and tame and in all versions of race it makes enough noise (esp. the pops and bangs) that I don't drive in residential areas with it in Race because I don't want to be THAT guy. I prefer subtlety but if it were any louder I would personally hate it on the highway and probably be looking to make it quieter. I've seen other reviewers complain about the same thing and it's BS, they are complaining because they've got nothing else to complain about. For a stock exhaust on a car that is still expected to be a daily driver, I think it would be dumb to have a louder exhaust. If you want louder go aftermarket. It's A LOT harder to find a quieter aftermarket exhaust. 5) I don't understand, he complains about the price and then finishes by saying it's not a bad deal. I've got a Lapiz Blue and I love the colour! To me maybe the only colour I could see people wanting that isn't available would be a red (but with the mandatory R blue accents, I think, it would clash with red). Besides if you want another colour, get it wrapped, it'd probably cost less than what they probably would've charged for premium paint choices. The back seat does have heated seats and their own climate control zone! Power handbrake? Is he talking about a proper manual handbrake with a handle? I'm not sure which cars still get one of those in 2022, but there can't be many these days. Don't get brake hold? The car does have hill assist, actually some manual owners have been complaining about it because it's caused them to stall. You can get it for MSRP here in Canada you just have to wait, the current "used" prices are flippers hoping to find somone willing to pay 10K more to not have to wait. I can only assume he's talking to our unfortunate neighbours to the south. it sucks but you can't choose capitalism and then complain when it doesn't work for you.

I used to own a 2019 Golf R. I just rolled down the driver-side window when I drove it. Sounded great.

I ordered one a bit ago on the east coast and the expected arrival is next year in Dec. Wait time is wild but for MSRP I do believe its one of the best bang for your bucks car right now.

Just checked VW Canada, front brakes are 2-piston for 2023. They add like 2k to MSRP for the '23 and I was always wondering what changed from '22. Not sure about the '22 but maybe thats what.

it crazy to think this mk8 is still being compared to the 2016 focus Rs. I daily’d the focus RS for 4+ extremely fun years, im curious how this will match up.

Just picked up my 20th anniversary edition, and I love it!!!

My wife complained about the gear knob. She’s quite happy it’s gone in our Pilot.

BUY my 2003 GTI VR6! Original owner 'babied' and garaged, only 124K miles and 20 years old, Reflex Silver, 6-speed, upscale black leather interior (very Audi-like), and 'Monsoon' stereo with, get this... a real CD player! Now, I know many of you older folks invested a LOT of moolah on your CD collection, so you'd be able to get more miles out of it! Just kidding! I'll never sell this car!

Once they crack the ecu and get the stage one tunes out this thing is gonna be a monster I bet apr stage 1 will be at least 50hp 70 torque

Thanks for the video. How do do you compare The Golf R vs The Stinger/Genesis 3.3 T in terms of performance. Thank you

Some great video effects! I never really noticed the lower front end until you mentioned it. It does look kind of funky and too blacked out. The rear looks great! I really like this in white with the blue accent!. I think it sounds pretty good. It's nice to remain more stealth for some people. I also wonder if these are becoming more available now?

Can’t wait for VW to update the infotainment system. Wish VW would also offer a performance brake package…folks will look towards the aftermarket anyway, so why not?🤪🤪

The North American Golf R absolutely does have a 2-piston caliper setup on the front. As per VW Spec on the North American model: Front: Power assisted, dual circuit, 14.05 in. x 1.34 in. (357 mm x 34 mm) vented front disc with *2-piston floating calipers*

Is the version with the Akrapovic exhaust not available there?

Beautiful ride but not sure I want to pay for that or new type R. Both right up my price range.

I love these things and would trade my Veloster n but near me 53 k used isnt 2 bad Can’t find them new. I think I rather pick the 2023 s3.

Yep, a year and half maybe more delivery time. Ordered mine in Jan 2022. Been told Q2 or Q3 2023. I'm in the UK.

A lots of dealerships in Canada jack up the price to$62000. Sell it as used!

This or the S3?

Should I get this Mk8 R or a used RS3? they're both at 50K

Sam wasn’t the stinger gt faster on all the rolls from previous video ? You mean the golf r has a better dig launch ?

Love itt!!

The Volkswagen Golf R Is A Must Track Car!!

here in the US they are adding almost 10k markup!

Great review ! Agreed with the dislikes but compromised some of them, VW did a good job with the infotainment and allowed multiple ways of getting the same goal: ex; double tapping the temp with two fingers turns on the heated seats Or press and hold on the screen displayed temperature and it lets you adjust it quicker. Just a bit of knowledge nuggets you don’t get until you own it lol. We in US have heated seats in the back btw, I thought Canada did too

I have a 2023 and hardly use it 🙁

Best video ever!

It is not 47k in Canada it is 56k before tax and fees

The fact that it's less aggressive looking is it's biggest appeal. A grown up can drive it without getting gawked at.

nice video nice car 👏

I've never heard anyone ever complain about any of the MK7 model's brakes. I would imagine the MK8 models are the same or better.

I want i want!

I'm gonna be getting out of my 18 GT Sport soon and looking into some options, including this or the Stinger GT2. Biggest issue I have with this, is that the cargo area is still pretty small. Stinger has more, but it's a Sportback and not really able to fit taller items. Neither of them have the full panoramic sunroof like my current car unfortunately, which is a huuuuge bummer to me. But really what I think it comes down to is availability. Stinger GT2s are readily available at msrp or just slightly marked up. The GolfR in my area is like a 10% chance of being in stock once a month and when it is they're marked up to almost $60k USD, it's insane. Idk but either way it'll be either one of these, just not sure which one yet 🤔

2023 Golf R is $51,000 CDN, don't know where you get $47,000 that's USD my friend, please do your research.

47K is a good deal if you compare it to an Integra which costs 45K. I'm really torn on whether I should replace my 2016 S3 with this car, or going with another S3.

Front is Dual piston dude!

I wish Audi made an S3 fast back... or HATCH!

MIne if for sale in Mlt :p Lapiz Blue!

Every 3 years VW/Audi "finally fixes the handling" of the Golf R / RS3 and every following generation everyone admits it never worked and was still a front heavy, FWD-biased car that lacked personality.

alright you lost me at the type R sounding better lol. That thing sounds like a ricer and its not even freaking close. the n line cars sounds pretty good but id def say the golf R out of the already bad sounding 4cyc engines is the best.

Awesome review Sam ! I agree with you on everything!

Brakes are dual piston and they come from RS3

No ventilated seats in RS3. WTF?

In Ohio they are around 60k

Only person I’ve heard saying the brakes aren’t good. You’re wrong, the brakes are absolutely immense. This thing stops so well it really does. Also it’s a DSG not a DCT.

Dsg not dct trans

Would you get the FL5 Type R over this?

May as well get a forte gt, more legroom much larger vehicle overall. Its more like gti performance so its a lot cheaper but you definitely wont be waiting more than a few months to get it.

I like the new BMW X1. Chip it with Stage 1 and BMS with sport exhaust, 20 inch aftermarket wheels with wide tires, optioned with the M package with the sport diff and adjustable sport dampers and you have more room, more tech, a super cool 😎 interior and an amazing handling sport SUV that's very similar to a hot hatch. And at a very similar price to a chipped VW R. Don't get me wrong, I love GTIs but the R isn't cheap. Great review though. The reason for my pick is because BMW will have a hybrid version with more combined power and the cool interior and infotainment system.

Best car and beast for daily dsg

Not when it costs 70k

Eh, came back to this review while I am waiting for my R, and I don't care for your review as much compared to many others out there. Your dislikes and some of the stated facts are either wrong, or stupid. They are your opinions, I get that, but still.

Considering that less than 10 yrs ago, the Porsche Cayman came with a base 2.7 flat six which produced 240 hp and a scant 201ft lbs of torque .... This Golf R is truly a baby Porsche. The poor man's 718. However you want to describe it despite it's questionable reliability and typical German electronic issues, this R is a Monster.

The elantra N is fwd less HP , 10k$ cheaper and it's faster on the track. go figure🤔. (Watch throttle house) . The one that you tested goes for 52k before tax and markup. I would love to see how many km you can get from that over boost 2.0 engine before it will start breaking down like a typical VW. I'll stay with my 3.3T V6 engine.

The biggest problem is and always will be the fact that it is 4 cylinder. A 4 cylinder ecobox with numb driving feel going for over 60 grand. Ewwwww

The New Type R is much better

For the cost of this car a 1 piston front caliper is BS. TOTAL BS. It's like Hyundai not having AWD in the Kona N. Cheapskate !!!! This car is $9,000 overpriced, that is in MSRP form in the USA. Just like if there was a Kona N AWD .......Just add the $1,600 AWD option. As is GTI add the $1,700 AWD option. Stop the over charge and sell more.

But it’s boring

Ew , overpriced over hyped.

Honestly it looks like a cheap Korean car now not a German hot hatch

Mk8 golf r dsg vs honda type r 2023

The music is way to loud compared to the rest of the video. Unsubbed.