Performance
The TCR isn’t a Golf R, but it isn’t a standard GTI either. The GTI has gradually got meatier as it has gone through life, and now you would expect to find nearly 250bhp if you bought the Performance version. The TCR elevates itself from its GTI siblings with 290PS (286bhp) and 380Nm (280lb ft), meaning you can now sprint to 62mph in 5.6 seconds and on to 164mph.
Some of you may be remembering the last runout edition Clubsport 40 and thinking that those figures sound similar. Well the difference is simple: the Clubsport had to go into its short reserve of overboost to get that power, the TCR has it on tap at all times.
That’s routed through Volkswagen’s natty electronically-closing, mechanic front differential. That means that while the TCR will never be able to demand the same grip as the Golf R, it does a damn good job at trying. The TCR feels secure as you corner, but rather than leaving you a passenger, demands a little respect as you go. The front-wheel-drive nature never always showing through the incredible performance.
That means that you can attack a corner in the TCR. But where the R would haul itself round, shooting power off to whichever wheel needed it, the TCR will break traction at the front at times. It’ll also do so when you floor it, but thankfully torque steer is kept to minimum, unlike some of its competitors, which try and drag you all over the shop like a desperate wrestler.
The thing about the TCR is that its performance comes with care. This is not a lairy chuck-it-around hooligan, speed comes with precision, which can be as rewarding as a proper chuck-fest when you get it right. The TCR won’t whisk you to where you’re going like the R does, instead it’ll do everything with ease – shifts from the seven-speed DSG ‘box are barely noticed and the torque comes from just 1,800rpm – while adding a little bit more engagement.