What happens when Volkswagen turns a practical hatchback into a street-legal rocket? Can 13 extra horsepower and a slick new infotainment system really transform the legendary Golf R? Will all-wheel drive with torque vectoring make you forget this “hot hatch” isn’t built for a family of five? Buckle up for a review that proves small can be thrilling. From paddle-shifted bursts to drift-ready drive modes, John and Richard Rush put the 2025 Golf R Black Edition to the test—showing why this $50K machine is pure fun, straight out of the box. Hear the full ride on https://RushToReason.com and https://Drive-Radio.com
All right, you drove another car this last week as well. Actually, this was probably a couple of weeks ago where you got a little bit behind with me being out of town. So give us an update on the other car.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, Dad, and you’ve driven this car in the past. It’s the 2025 Volkswagen Golf R, which is the hot hatch vehicle, right, Dad? And the new things on here, manual transmission, unfortunately, is no longer available. It’s giving you 13 more horsepower. Some new infotainment system, which works really, really well, and this is part of the 8th generation Golf for 2022. The vehicle as we drove it, Dad, was about $53,731. And mind you, this is the Golf R, right, Dad? Some other people are going to say, well, that sounds pretty high for a Golf. Well, this is kind of the top of the line. Correct. This is the black edition, which has got some different styling and that sort of thing on it. I will say that the hot hatch piece of it, and you’ve driven this car in the past, it really stays true to form with this vehicle, doesn’t it?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, it does. And by the way, one of the more fun cars to drive, and I mean that, it really does put excitement back into that segment of the market. And you’ll probably talk about this. Not a huge car. It’s not one of those cars you’re going to put a family of four or five in. It’s not designed for that. This is more of the smaller, what I would call more economical type car. But they’ve made this car, how should I say it, Richard, just a lot more fun to drive in that section of cars.
SPEAKER 02 :
It is a blast. It’s got all these different modes that you can choose from. You can, in theory, take this car out and drift it, which we obviously didn’t do. It’s got a 2-liter, 4-cylinder turbocharged engine, all-wheel drive with torque vectoring on it, the 7-speed automatic transmission. So, again, in our up here, Dad, it does have all-wheel drive, which is fantastic, especially, again, with some of the stuff that does come in, that white stuff. Outside of that, it was a little rocket ship. You can put this car in manual mode. You can paddle shift. You can really have some fun with this vehicle. It gets up and goes. You mentioned size-wise. I was able to fit two kids and booster seats in the back, and the hatch does open up. You can fit some stuff in there, a ball bag or whatever it might be. It is not the biggest car out there, especially if you’ve got a taller vehicle. back seat, passenger side passenger, you’re going to have to scoot the passenger seat forward. Would it prevent me from buying the car, Dad? No, because I’m not buying the car for the back seat. I am buying this car because it’s just an absolute blast to drive. And it’s really hard, Dad, to find a car for, and real quick, I’ll give you the price on this before we get out of here, $53,731. Depending on what you get, you can get this car for right around $50,000. It’s really hard to find a car for $50,000, Dad, that runs this well and is this fun to drive. straight out of the box. And so I would encourage folks, if you’re in the market and you know who you are, if you’re in the market for this hot hatch, Again, 2025 Volkswagen Golf R Black line. And this car was fantastic. Really enjoyed it. Hedge your local Volkswagen dealer. Test drive them if they’ve got them. And when you do that, let them know that John and Richard Rush from Drive Radio and Rush to Reason sent you.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is John Rush from Rush to Reason and Drive Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Check out more of our podcasts at RushToReason.com or Drive-Radio.com.
