The facelifted Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR is a no-nonsense hot hatch, but it takes tuning to make it truly shine.
AutoTopNL was able to test one such tuned example on a German autobahn. The Golf GTI leaves the factory equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine normally rated at 290 PS (286 hp / 213 kW) and 350 Nm (258 lb-ft) of torque. This one benefits from improved catalysts and an ECU remap, which gives it 406 PS (400 hp / 298 kW).
The field tests saw the temperamental hatch zap from 100 to 200 km/h (62-124 mph) in 10.01 seconds, only 0.07 s slower than the Golf R did in another test by the same reviewer team. The R version has 50 horsepower (37 kilowatts) more straight from the factory, so the result is quite impressive, indeed.
The results were on par with the acceleration dynamics of the more upmarket Audi RS 3 Sportback and even the brand new BMW M240i xDrive. What also caught us unawares was the top speed, which amounted to 286 km/h (177.7 mph), according to the OEM speedometer.