Granted, we're a little late with this test. We were already driving the Volkswagen Golf R Variant last October - which means that there is already a model-updated successor.

The good thing is that with the revival of the seventh generation golf at most atmospherically a few things have changed, the big picture has remained as it was. And so may the words to its predecessor also apply to the now 10 PS stronger successor.

There are two numbers: 300 and 60.615. In between is then still: four-wheel drive, station wagon, double clutch. The R as a Variant is undoubtedly the most expensive way to drive golf, but is it the best?

Driving Report: Golf R Variant 2016

300 hp meet 1620 liters

As for the noise, at least not the worst. It sputters and seethes, if you ask him correctly, it flops when switching from all tubes and at the push of a button you intensify the whole thing, when in the exhaust the flaps open and the software suddenly plays rally music in the interior. Suddenly there is a grudge from behind and from the front blows a timbre, which actually sounds like five-cylinder. Mind you all only if you get it right. Without any compulsion, the Golf does not make a fake or disturbing sound as R - but it also shows that all the acoustic beauty is more staging the Sound Design department than it comes from the 2.0 liter TSI itself.

Split personality?

But that's okay, maybe it doesn't matter, because that's exactly what you want when you buy a Golf as an R and then as a Variant? It is this torn personality, this Jekyll and Hyde, this golf combiding on the one hand and Reindeer on the other that fascinated us.

Because from the outside he is not really noticeable. At most, the four tubes at the rear betray him for the initiated, but most will miss the fact that here is a Golf in front of them, who likes to triple the basic model costs. He lies a little lower, absorbs a bit more air and tightens his rims on larger brakes - nothing more. And in the right weather then - really nice bad, with wet road, cold, like also with leaves and other greases on the matter - he hangs in the Winkelwerk the really fast of the industry loose at the rear. And to provoke this without fear sweat behind the valance.

Seriously, the set-up of the DCC chassis is really fine. Tight and yet with a liveliness that VW would not have expected a few years ago. He turns on the brakes and fires from every corner with no loss thanks to the merciless all-wheel traction. It is certainly not as natural as in a rear-wheel drive sports car and not as crazy as in a Megane RS or a first-generation Mini JCW, but the Golf R's seamless roadholding is great pleasure. But if you force it a little to be happy, drive with a hard hand, maybe even a little angular, then it works best.

Above all, it's then: fun! All the expertise that Volkswagen packs in the Golf is there, of course. But if you want to be really wild, then the R is your congenial partner. This spread is simply not available on the market. On the one hand there is the up to 1.620 liter cargo space, the competence to drive the family with children and dogs on summer vacation and to mimic the noble carriage that reveals the price tag. Solidly processed, high-quality interior world, the large and equally high-quality world of good sound and the comprehensive multimedia system. It's great to sit by the way. And on the other hand, the 300 hp turbo engine. The DSG with the most jagged maneuvers, the traction until you drop - packed in the solid body of the Lower Saxony. A balancing act so far - that it poses problems for other manufacturers.

Of course, one must not forget that 60.615 EUR are a lot of money, but who really is missing something here, sitting in the wrong car. One will, if you get involved in it, not even complain about the consumption, which are mostly above the 10 liter mark. Because complaining is difficult. Performance, versatility and user-friendliness combined with inconspicuousness - that's where the Golf R Variant stands pretty much alone in the distance.

And he's in good shape. Since its facelift with new LED headlights, gesture-controllable infotainment and 10 additional horsepower. Would it have needed that?