It is of course not the case that the leaves fall off the trees voluntarily in the fall. No, they are too tightly attached to the branches for that. A breeze isn’t enough, it takes a strong hurricane like the one that sweeps across the land today. We drive on a totally deserted, twisted narrow country road in the area of Wolfsburg, which is surrounded by trees. When we’re done with the gas, the gentlemen of the municipal cleaning should come by and clear the leaves. A storm warning near Wolfsburg caused by two peppered Volkswagen station wagons. We get it: hearing the terms Golf and Variant may not make your mouth water. I can remember how I used to drive through the mountains with three friends with a Golf Variant in Bon Jovi version during a holiday, where I wondered whether we could not have gone better by train given the very modest power of 75 hp. . Today, however, everything is different.
No moving traffic obstruction
To be fair, if we hadn’t heard the green Golf III coming, but had only seen it, it would have spontaneously evoked associations with that slow Variant 1.6. However, this is not a moving traffic obstacle, but a VR6, and then also one with the large 2.9-liter engine, 190 hp and four-wheel drive with the name Synchro. The Variant was not even there with the normal 174 hp 2.8 VR6 and front-wheel drive.
Indeed, for those who had forgotten it: Volkswagen once built a six-cylinder in a Golf and mainly wanted to deliver refined top performance, in addition to the somewhat garish GTIs and 16Vs. It is of course no coincidence that the two key buddies Lars Kitzmann (29) and Mario Wipper (31) will be driving their VR6 precisely here and today. We want to introduce the new Volkswagen sports station to its spiritual example and give the Golf VIII R a meet and greet with the Golf III VR6. Volkswagen has about 190 hp Golf in its collection, but no Variant. As a result, an appeal was made via Volkswagen’s intranet among all employees, including those of the subsidiaries. Soon Lars and Mario showed up. “We have one and at first we didn’t know we had bought something so special.”
Before we set off, Lars tells his story. “I have a Golf II Fire and Ice and wanted to build it up to a VR6. So I started looking for a suitable engine,” he says. The mechatronics expert found what he was looking for, only the 190 hp six-cylinder with 259,000 kilometers on the counter will be available in a green Golf Variant. “I listened to the sound of the engine and it ran very nicely. I was allowed to take it with me for €1,450.” In the evening he took a look on the internet, where he quickly discovered what exactly he had bought, namely a real rarity! He is now a member of a Facebook group called Golf VR6 Variant, together with 70 others. “I estimate there are about 100 of these types of Golfs. That is not so strange, because in 1995 such a fast Golf station wagon cost you a sloppy 77,000 guilders.
Refined and well-mannered
You still notice that this was once a pricey car. Take the leather-covered seats, whose adjustment knobs are a bit difficult to operate due to the oversized center console, the electric window controls with buttons in the doors, the radio with cassette player and control of a CD changer and the automatic air conditioning of which the control panel is under the radio. Underneath is the poker of the five-speed manual transmission, just like in a Golf with 75 hp.
Lars stops, so we can drive a bit. The risk he takes is manageable, given the purchase price of this car. The engine makes a particularly refined and well-mannered impression the first time you step on the accelerator, a really nice piece of technology. You have to move the needle of the tachometer to the 1 o’clock position, because only at 4,000 rpm comes the true power. A torque of 245 Nm was a lot then, because a GTI 16V only had 180 Nm to offer. By today’s standards, it feels like Lars has been secretly hiding behind the car his huge amount of Corrado parts he recently picked up. The VR6 an insanely strong beast? Yes, in our memory certainly, but in our memory that blond girl with the braces was also the prettiest girl in the class. What matters is how it feels now.
Magic chassis
Now we are also on the road with the Golf R. We sit on the best seats ever fitted in a Golf. They offer a firm seat and excellent lateral support even in the tightest bends. We’re willing to bet that even with a station wagon rear, this Golf can quickly round even the most challenging circuits, because its developers have given it a truly magical chassis. It offers a lot of suspension comfort when you drive on country roads, while you stick to the road on the track. A handsome combination.
We choose the sporty driving mode, after which the driving dynamics manager gets to work. As in the GTI and Clubsport, the control electronics also provide the right amount of grip in the R. The four-wheel drive does not simply distribute the power in a 50:50 ratio between the front and rear axles, but also variably between the left and right wheels. The steering angle, the accelerator pedal position and the acceleration in the bend determine how much power the different wheels should receive so that the car always stays on the road like a rock.
That this car carries 35 centimeters more steel at the rear than a Golf hatchback, that the luggage compartment with a maximum capacity of 1,642 liters is 412 liters larger than that of the regular Golf and that the station wagon with 1,630 kilos is exactly 154 kilos heavier You hardly notice it when driving sporty. So strong and good drives this sports station. That’s what you can expect for this money, by the way. The price of the R Variant is not yet known, but the five-door already costs €66,390 and then 19-inch wheels and a navigation system are not even standard. Incidentally, the system now works very nicely, after the update of version 1.0 with the introduction of the new Golf to the current version 2.1.
Living room level
We are of course very curious what the gentlemen think of the new Golf R. “The decor is really great, the chairs have living room level,” said 29-year-old Lars. He also finds the high-quality finish top, which is typical of Volkswagen, according to him. Lars skipped four Golf generations and because of that, some things pass him by too. For example, when the two cars are parked side by side with the hood open, it is noticeable that both hoods are supported by a rod. Volkswagen has again opted for the mechanical solution with the Golf VIII, just like with the Golf III, after having installed gas pressure dampers in four generations.
When we’ve finally shaken all the leaves from the trees, we’ll all go our separate ways. We are looking forward to the return trip to Wolfsburg in the Golf R, because the new R sets the bar particularly high in terms of chassis and steering.
Lars and Mario drive back to the hall where they keep their Volkswagens. There are also a Golf I Cabrio, a Bora VR6, a Caddy and other cars with the Volkswagen logo. Perhaps a Golf of construction year 2021 will one day be here at the moment when the two key friends really only need a 320 hp engine and then buy a rarity.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl