2022 Volkswagen Golf R Review: Catch my Drift?

Auto123 reviews the 2022 Volkswagen Golf R.

It seems like just a few months ago – because it was just a few months ago - that I headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a pretty positive first contact with the new 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R. One of my goals at the time was to determine which one I should most recommend to buyers. I’ve tried to do that before, mind you, and never got a clear answer I have to admit. These are two pretty exceptional variants of an exceptional model.

This time, I was going to be on much more slippery ground. Literally, because as fate would have I was getting a week with the new Golf R when conditions were cold and icy.

Not that that was a problem, because a few snowflakes, some icy patches and plunging temperatures weren’t going to get between me and this car, the third edition of the R model (if we exclude the R32 that preceded it). In fact, I've always preferred the R in winter and the GTI when the weather is fine, not because the two-wheel drive version is unpleasant in winter, but because the Golf R is a monster when the conditions are right. And right they were for this second contact.

I won't beat around the bush - the main purpose of this winter test drive was to put to work the car’s Drift mode, the settings that make the car more playful when you push hard in the corners.

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