► Month six with the VW Golf R
► We take a look at its sibling, the Audi S3
► Can the Audi be better than the Golf?
All sorts of hot hatches are vying for your cash, but at ballpark £30k Golf R territory, many skew the balance more towards hardcore thrills – Civic Type R, Renaultsport Megane, Astra VXR – than the more grown-up Golf. What’s keeping those rivals honest, though, is that the R manages to balance its maturity with a bit of top-button-loosening tomfoolery.
So where else do you look if you don’t want something that doesn’t scream boy racer, but promises to deliver on a good road? There’s the BMW 135i and – much pricier – Merc A45 AMG, but the R’s closest rival lives in-house. The Audi S3 starts from £30,980 as a three-door, just £100 less than the Golf. It also uses the same 2.0-litre 396bhp/280lb ft turbo engine, same Haldex all-wheel drive. You can have both with three- or five-door bodies, manual or dual-clutch gearboxes. You’d have the Audi, wouldn’t you?
This month I tried both to find out, and I reckon I’d still buy the Golf. I liked the Audi a lot, and it’s a lovely thing to live with: beautiful build, great refinement, easy performance. But I prefer the Golf’s design – to me there’s something particularly satisfying about its chunky D-pillar – and when you drive both quickly, the Golf feels more interactive; the way the ESP subtly tweaks the brakes to tuck you into a corner and combines with the fast-acting all-wheel drive really heightens its agility. There’s a nicer texture to the steering too, I reckon.
CAR reader and pal Phil Short disagrees though, and we should probably listen when he speaks because he used to tell rally drivers like Walter Röhrl which way to turn the steering wheel.
‘My Audi S3 is just brilliant,’ he writes. ‘It’s an S-Tronic with Magnetic Ride and it’s a surprise to me that this model isn’t more widely appreciated. I think the Audi looks nicer inside and out, and it holds its value better. Okay, it’s mechanically identical to the excellent Golf R that another friend has, and with very little price difference, but I can’t see that the Golf is better.’
Want to pitch in with your take on these two mega hatches? Drop me a line.
From the driving seat
+ Bags of traction courtesy of Haldex awd, but turn-in agility too thanks to clever ESP tuning, and more useful rear bias than previous generations
– Plenty of performance, but our Seat Cupra 280 felt stronger with less
Logbook: Volkswagen Golf R
Engine: 1984cc 16v turbocharged four-cylinder, 296bhp @ 5500rpm, 280lb ft @ 1800rpm
Gearbox: 6-speed manual, all-wheel drive
Stats: 5.3sec 0-62mph, 155mph, 39.8mpg, 165g/km
Price: £31,475
As tested: £35,640
Miles this month: 1262
Total miles: 5921
Our mpg: 34.7
Official mpg: 39.8
Fuel this month: £189.38
Extra costs: £0