My 2013 6-speed VW R is simply a blast to drive! Before I bought my brand new black 4-door VW Golf R, I drove a much larger car, the 2004 VW V8 Touareg and I loved it. But after 10 years and with my kids grown and driving their own cars, I was initially interested in downsizing and intrigued by the amazing mileage advertised for the Golf Diesel -(this was long before VW was burned by the Diesel scam). At the time my VW dealer replied to my questions about leather seats saying "sorry no leather". Then he said, wait, have you heard of the Golf R? No, I’d never heard of the car but it had the leather seats and I test drove both of the two 6-speed models my dealer had on the lot. I bought the 4 door version and have never regretted it. My Golf R makes city and highway driving a pleasure. Something like a small land rocket or driving a really fast but very safe go-cart, especially so on the highway. And while I'm not interested in always jumping to the head of the traffic mosh, when I need it, by simply downshifting to 5th gear and from there powering up to 6th, I'm able to quickly scoot by the traffic and be on my way. I love the fantastic handling of the 4 wheel always-on drive that’s stock on the R. The rock-solid stability of my R is just outstanding. Invariably, my passengers are at first scared and then quickly amazed at the R's ability to tightly hug the road - even the steepest curves - while I'm accelerating into a highway on ramp, or smoothly passing other cars in the midst of heavy rain or in a snow storm! The auto-adjusted headlights with their auto washer squirt never fail to impress as with the many other safety features that came stock with the R's amazing build from the VW factory in Wiesbaden Germany. This is a very special little hatchback. Something like only 4000 were built for worldwide sales in 2013. To be perfectly honest, I knew very little of this when I bought the car. Since driving it I have come to learn and appreciate the brilliant pedigree of VW’s passion, heritage, and craftsmanship that are what makes my 2013 VW R the amazing little land rocket I so love!

Stop looking at 0-60 times and drive the car. I've had many quicker cars on paper, none of them combined the solid feel, driving position and performance that gives the driver confidence to drive a car fast in everyday conditions. The all wheel drive system makes the R worth the extra $ over the GTI. The manual gear box is a pleasure. You can always drive an automatic when you get old.

Car cruises like a car with stiffer sports suspension, and when you drop a gear(mine is manual) you feel the pull, and the stock exhaust sound pretty decent but is in no way loud lol. The fuel efficiency is good but if I'm being honest, can be hard not to achieve at times. But I've owed a v6 firebird and a 74 small block Camaro, and I like the golf r more than the big v8.