With the Golf TCR Volkswagen sends its last representative of the seventh generation into the race and at the same time honors an icon.
The Golf VIII is coming soon, but before that, racing fans can look forward to a last Golf VII special edition. The GTI TCR is perhaps the hottest compact from Wolfsburg and bears the abbreviation (Touring Car Race) of a motorsport series that has been established since 2015. To match this, Volkswagen has launched a customer sports racing car - also with the name TCR, but without street approval, weighing a maximum of 1.285 kilograms according to the regulations and quite powerful with 257 kW / 350 hp. But also very expensive - the racing enthusiast can get started from 95.000 euros. The conventional GTI TCR road car is cheaper to start with (38.950 euros). There is 213 kW / 290 hp and 1,4 tonnes empty weight - still enough fitness for one or the other sporty insert with a fair EU consumption of less than seven liters per 100 km.
To distinguish it from the conventional GTI, the TCR doesn't just start with more engine power; a specific pattern and the TCR lettering on the flanks show what is going on. Perforated brake discs, specific roof spoiler, distinctive diffuser and front splitter are the necessary tools to make the track a slender foot. If you want, you can get firmer shocks on the rear axle in combination with an electronic suspension control plus increase the maximum speed to 260 km / h (from 2.350 Euro surcharge).
The sound after tapping the start button sounds suspiciously like GTI. Under the hood works no other than the well-known two-liter four-cylinder. The Golf “R” cuts a good figure in a similar performance level. But psychology sweetened the ride, because the TCR is indeed the offshoot of a motorsport series, which he also shows on all occasions: decorative elements in the TCR trim, the sports steering wheel with the red twelve-o'clock marker and the newly designed armchair with the worked out Sidewalls, which this Wolfsburger also urgently needs. Because at the latest in the next turn the centrifugal force shows teeth and would like to hurl the passengers against the door panels - which does not work out thanks to lateral support in abundance. Not even in the next bend, into which the tamed TCR with announcement throws itself, always confidently kept on the track by sensitive, more pointed than with the conventional GTI-tuned steering.
Here it is fun to provoke a little oversteer and accelerate poisonously out of the turn. Traction is no stranger to the GTI TCR (mechanical cross lock as standard), but if you want, black lines squeak on the asphalt. On the other hand, it is also able to tour smoothly, and the seats are good at comfort as well as lateral support. The active cruise control adjusts the pace to the person in front and brakes accordingly down to a standstill - welcome to the age of assisted driving. Bumps paralyzed the thoroughly wiry chassis taut, but at least not stick-hard.
Otherwise, the Golf offers the typically tidy and well-made cockpit with a mix of classic and modern. Infotainment promises things like oversize touchscreen and an instrument cluster consisting of a pure display surface - honestly you don't need more. Maybe in the next generation please a conventional rotary control for volume adjustment, it is simply more practical. But that does not prevent the GTI TCR in any way from being most covetous. A must for all golf lovers and those who want to become one.
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR - Technical Specifications:
Compact class, length: 4,27 meter, width: 1,80 meter, height: 1,44 meter, wheelbase: 2,63 meter, trunk volume: 380 to 1.270 liters
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR: 2,0-liter four-cylinder direct-injection turbo gasoline engine, seven-speed automatic (double clutch), 213 kW / 290 PS, maximum torque: 380 Nm at 1.950 to 5.300 rpm, 0-100 km / h: 5,6 seconds, Vmax: 260 km / h, average fuel consumption: 6,7 l, CO2 emissions: 151 g / km, efficiency class: D, emission standard: Euro 6d-TEMP, price: from 38.960 Euro
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR - short characteristics:
Why: Because the GTI TCR is a collector's item
Why not: Because somehow it's just a profane Golf GTI
What else: Hyundai i30 N, Mercedes A 35 AMG 4Matic, Peugeot 308 GTI, Renault Mégane RS or the Golf R
When: immediately