This started out as a full review. I’ll say it up front, it’s not. The RFD staff ended up out of town during the time that Volkswagen loaned us this 2016 Golf R. So we figured we might as well turn it into a road trip film. Josh and I were heading the same general direction. South(ish). He needed to be in Myrtle Beach for a long weekend. I needed to be in New Orleans by Monday night.
That meant 1200+ miles of driving in one day. 17 hours of highway boredom.
So we mapped out a plan. Josh would head to Myrtle Beach in the R and leave his E92 M3 at my house. Watch the video for more background information on how the trip went, but see below for a short photo montage.
Leg One – DC to Myrtle Beach in the Golf R
Leg Two – DC to Myrtle Beach(ish) in the E93 M3
Then it was my turn. At 4:45 AM, I departed Maryland in the M3. The goal was to meet Josh somewhere along Interstate 95 and swap cars and continue my trek to New Orleans.
Leg Three – Myrtle Beach(ish) to New Orleans in the Golf R
After swapping from the M3 to the R, I kept plugging along and headed a bit more towards the West.
So that was that. 17 hours and over 1200 miles. One way. Some of it (the first 6 hours or so) in an 8 year old BMW M3 and the rest in a new Golf R. Both cars did well, the M3 is raw and feels “special”. It’s also surprisingly comfortable on the highway using the Electronic Damper Control (EDC).
The R, being a new car, rode quite well and the semi-autonomous features made for a ridiculously easy trip. The seats are a bit flat and my butt started to hurt, but set in “comfort” mode, it was a great road trip car. It has very good interior space, the hatch provided all the space I needed for a road trip.
In the end, is the Golf R worth $40K? I would definitely say so, it’s mechanically similar to an Audi S3 for a lot less. We’ll make sure we sweet talk VW into lending us this R again for a full review, but for now I hope you enjoyed the road trip.
