Right as the 2015 Golf GTI is going on sale, Volkswagen gave us a quick ride in what's coming next: the Golf R. Rated at 300 PS (290 hp), the car we drove was a European-spec R with a manual transmission, DCC adaptive dampers, and a full complement of gadgets, including active cruise control and lane-keep assistant, a glorious 8-inch touchscreen, and a big ESP-off button. (US-spec GTIs have stability control that can't be defeated without aftermarket software. The Golf R is likely to have the same—and both are a stupid misstep by lawyers running amok. What's the point of a hot-hatch that you can't autocross without the nannies cutting power?)

Anyway, give us an inch, we'll turn off ESP and take a mile. Give us a quick drive, we'll strap on the test equipment and do a couple of 5000-rpm clutch dumps. Sorry, VW, but we had to know: just how fast is the new R?

Well, despite being a little gentle on it, the R is very quick indeed. Banging off the 0-60 run without a hint of wheelspin in just 5.2 seconds, the Mk7 Golf R is a full half-second quicker to 60 mph than the outgoing Golf R. And here's where it gets exciting: 1.8 seconds faster to 100 mph and almost 6 mph faster through the quarter-mile.

The new R also stopped shorter, needing 9 fewer feet to stop from 60 mph and coming to a halt a very significant 18 feet shorter from 80 mph.

It's safe the say that the new car significantly betters the old in every performance metric. (We didn't conduct a skidpad test because we would have destroyed the tires, and VW would have been quite upset.)

It's clear that the Golf R is quicker than the last one—but the big surprise was that it didn't feel all that much quicker than the Mk7 GTI. We haven't strapped test gear on a 2015 GTI yet, but our sister magazine Car and Driver did last year. Their GTI was a European-spec car, too. Our R was indeed quicker to 60 mph (5.2 versus 5.6 seconds), but the Golf R requires one additional shift on the way to 60, adding precious time to the run. By the quarter-mile mark, the Golf R is significantly ahead, as you'd expect.

In the real world, though, the R doesn't feel much faster. And in fact, our 5-60 rolling acceleration time was 6.3 seconds, the same that Car and Driver achieved for the GTI. The R's shorter gears (again, that second shift) and considerable turbo lag are what even that playing field.

In traffic, you're constantly aware of the need to work around the R's lag—something you don't experience in the GTI. And though it's faster, sounds great, and looks amazing, there was no time during my drive that I preferred the R to the GTI. In fact, excepting the need for the inclement-weather traction advantage that the Golf R's all-wheel drive offers, I'd say I prefer the GTI overall.

It's just another piece of evidence bolstering my personal belief that the 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI is the best car in the world, period. Still, I'd never fault you for choosing the Golf R (or a TDI or even the base 1.8T). But where the R is concerned, I'd recommend hanging tight until we've had the chance to drive the US-spec version. We're hoping to by the end of the year—and then we can see whether the R can unseat the GTI as the reigning champion.

0-60 MPH 0-100 MPH 1/4 Mile 1/4 Mile Speed 60-0 Braking 80-0 Braking

Mk6 Golf R 5.7 secs 14 secs 14.0 secs 100.1 MPH 130 ft 230 ft

Mk7 Golf R (Euro-spec) 5.2 secs 12.2 secs 13.6 secs 105.7 MPH 121 ft 212 ft

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io